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.
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