Avoiding Avoidance 101

          Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh also had Beth Shan, Ibleam and the people of Dor, Endor, Taanach and Megiddo, together with their surrounding settlements (the third in the list is Naphoth ). Yet the Manassites were not able to occupy these towns, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that region. However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they subjected the Canaanites to forced labor but did not drive them out completely. The people of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one allotment and one portion for an inheritance? We are a numerous people and the LORD has blessed us abundantly.”

          “If you are so numerous,” Joshua answered, “and if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go up into the forest and clear land for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaites.” 

               The people of Joseph replied, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the plain have iron chariots, both those in Beth Shan and its settlements and those in the Valley of Jezreel.”

                But Joshua said to the house of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—“You are numerous and very powerful. You will have not only one allotment but the forested hill country as well. Clear it, and its farthest limits will be yours; though the Canaanites have iron chariots and though they are strong, you can drive them out.” (Joshua 17:11-18)

          Sometimes, sins are stubborn. They're determined and they make our lives miserable. We think we should have victories, but days, months, or years later we're still stuck in our same old lives. We think we should grow, but nothing happens. It's easy, when things aren't, to look for an answer elsewhere. Manasseh couldn't evict the Canaanites from the plain. They were stuck in the hill country and that was too small for them, so they complained to Joshua and told him to give them more land.

           They claimed they needed more land. First, half of the tribe remained on the east side of the Jordan, so the land given them west of the Jordan need only support Ephraim and half of the tribe of Manasseh. Secondly, the allotment given to them was disproportionately large. They were not being shortchanged. Instead, it appears that they were attempting to get a double measure of inheritance of the sort that would be given to the heir. Their official complaint was that they were too numerous to dwell in the land given them because they were too weak to drive out the Canaanites who lived there. 

          Rather than give them their request, Joshua reminded them of what they had just said - how numerous they were. He suggested that obey what God had commanded them to do by destroying the Canaanites. 

          We fall into this foolishness sometimes. We neglect to do what we know we should. We refuse to deal with the sin in our lives, then ask God to give us more blessing, more responsibility, more of the Promised Land. We claim we can't defeat those sins. They're too big. They have the best equipment around, but do we take them to God and ask Him what to do? No, if we did, then we'd have to take responsibility. What Manasseh forgot and we forget is that the same God who helped them against Jericho and the 5 kings (remember, hail killed more Canaanites than the Israelites did) is the God who is waiting to help them and us defeat the enemy He's commanded us to defeat.