Joshua
15:63 But the Jebusites, the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out, so the Jebusites dwell with
the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.
Three verses in chapters
15-17 depict a hidden problem. The Israelites were to purge the lands they
conquered. God had directed them to kill all the inhabitants of the lands.
Total obedience to this matter of conquest was important to God. Trouble would
follow their failure on this. .
We see that in this verse,
Judah failed to drive out the Jebusites from Jerusalem. The Jebusites live
among the Israelites, not as subjects but as fellow residents of the territory
allotted to Judah. We can only presume that their daily lives and their
families intermingled socially. The false beliefs of the Jebusites could have
also influenced the Israelites.
In 16:10, the tribe of
Ephraim did not dislodge the Canaanites from their allotted territory. They remain living among God’s people. The
written account notes, however, that they are required to do forced labor for
the Israelites. The Israelites assumed that forced labor was sufficient
obedience. In 17:12-13 we find the tribe of Manasseh unable to fully occupy
their territory. The Canaanites were determined to live in that region. They
did not care that Israel’s God had told them to conquer the land. The best
Manasseh could do was to place them into forced labor.
It is easy to listen to
God’s commands and give mental ascent to His will. But to live our lives in
total submission to Him requires faith, trust. It requires that our reasoning
be displaced with a total willingness to do what seems out of sorts to do. God
wanted the inhabitants of the land destroyed, killed, eliminated.
Israel rationalized
their way around this by forcing them into labor, leaving them in a small
encampment outside the town or only destroying their leaders. Any
rationalization is a failure to do as God had directed. Sin has subtly had its
way into the camp.