“Why Are THEY Still Here???” – FBC Morning Light (4/18/2023)

Well, a good Tuesday morning to you. I hope your day has started well and your week has gotten off to a good start as also. Today we're reading in Judges 3 and 4, in John chapter 9 and the 77th Psalm.

Why the Canaanites Remained in the Land

Yesterday I promised we'd come back to the book of Judges because we get a fuller understanding of what's happening with the Canaanites who are left in the land. I think what we discover in the early part of chapter 3 is sort of like an initial big picture understanding of why, even in the era of Joshua and the conquest of the land, there were still Canaanites left in the land.

Let's notice in verses 1 and 2 of chapter 3, we read this, it says, Now these are the nations which the Lord left, that he might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not known any of the wars in Canaan.

Notice this, this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it. Then there's a listing of some of those Canaanite groups of people that were allowed to remain in the land.

We discover that part of the reason that when Joshua led in the conquest of the land of Canaan, that not every pocket of Canaanite resistance was eradicated, that there were still Canaanites left in the land.

After Joshua died, and even those who outlived Joshua, after that period of time, there were still Canaanites in the land. One of the reasons we discover here is that God allowed those Canaanites to remain in the land so that future generations, the generation that followed Joshua and those of his contemporaries, would know how to do battle against an enemy.

They would eventually face enemies from outside the land, the borders of Canaan, and how would they know how to deal with such enemies if they did not know how to war against those who would attack them?

That was one of the reasons, but there is an even deeper reason, a spiritual reason, that's offered as well in the first part of verse 1. Judges tells us, verse 1, that he, the Lord, might test Israel by them.

He might test Israel. Test how? Test in what way? Remember yesterday, we read that as a result of failure of that test, the Lord was not going to drive out the Canaanites. He was going to allow them to remain, and they would be a thorn in the side, and that their gods would be a snare to them.

Why? Because they failed the test. In the initial conquest, here's the timeline, if you will. Joshua takes the children of Israel into the land of Canaan. They're very successful at overcoming so many of the enemies—Jericho, Ai, the confederated groups of Canaanites, and so on and so forth.

They conquered the land enough that they could divide the land into the territories for the tribes to settle in. But there were still Canaanites there. Why? Why didn't they eliminate all the Canaanites?

Here we find the answer to that. So that those who succeeded Joshua and that generation would know how to do battle, and secondly, so that God could demonstrate, put them to the test, prove whether they would be loyal to the Lord or not.

Back in chapter 2, we discover they failed that test, because the Lord said, here's what you need to do to pass that test. You need to tear down their altars. Don't tolerate the idolatry of the land. Chapter 2, verse 2, the Lord says to the people, you have not obeyed my voice.

Why have you done this? Why have you tolerated the idolatry? Why have you left the altars to remain? This gives us a deeper insight into why the Canaanites were still in the land, to teach war, to serve as a test.

And by the way, verse 5 of chapter 3 tells us that they obviously failed that test. Verses 5 and 6 says, the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and they took their daughters to be their wives, which was a violation of God's law, and they gave their daughters to their sons, and they served their gods.

There is a deeper thing to be concerned about here, and I think it's an application to the Christian life, and that is this. I need to learn how to war against the enemy. Why is it that when you came to know Christ as your Savior, all of a sudden, all temptation completely departed, and you never faced any kind of onslaught from the wicked one again?

Why is that? So that you might learn how to war against the enemy. And furthermore, in the face of these temptations and onslaughts of the wicked one, I also need to be faithful to Christ in spite of the enticements to ungodliness.

This is the lesson from Judges chapter 3. I trust we'll learn it today. And so, our Father and our God, we do thank you for this challenge. As we see the failure of Israel, oh Lord, may we learn from it and avoid their failure, we pray in Jesus' name and for his sake.

Application: Learning to War Against Temptation

Amen. All right, well listen, have a good rest of your Tuesday, and by the way, we're going to remind you that this coming Sunday, we begin the Eternal Issues Bible Conference with Pastor Aaron Hoke from Warsaw, Indiana, and that'll be regular services on the Lord's Day, and then we also have some special meetings Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night.

Hope you can join us. Have a good day.