Josh 16:10, But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites live in the midst of Ephraim to this day, and they became forced laborers. 
We are in the midst of a sad state of accounting from the Lord to us through the example of the Children of Israel. They were to utterly devastate and eliminate the inhabitants of the Land of their promise from God. The Israelites were tasked with the duty before God of clearing out those people who had so egregiously brought the Lord’s wrath down upon their heads. The Canaanites had practiced the most defiled and despicable of activities in the sight of God and therefore were to be absolutely eradicated from the land.
Unfortunately, the Tribes of Israel did not follow through with these instructions, as we will see. In this morning’s passage, the sons of Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites in Gezer. In last week’s reading of Chapter 15, in verse 63 we are told the following - Josh 15:63, Now as for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the sons of Judah could not drive them out; so the Jebusites live with the sons of Judah at Jerusalem until this day. 
This is in spite of the very specific directions that were given to the nation by God through Moses. In Num 33:51-56, the Lord made it abundantly evident exactly what He expected of the manner in which the Children of Israel were to inhabitant the Promised Land fully, without the inclusion of those who were being dispossessed. It was utterly necessary for those former inhabitants, who had defiled themselves before God, to be totally removed from the land. Please turn to Num 33:51-56 in order to get the clearest understanding of exactly what was put before the people by the Lord. Not only was the manner of the splitting up and allotment of the Promised Land spelled out, but the fact of what would result if they did not completely remove those defiled nations that were in the land before them.
Num 33:51-56, "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places; and you shall take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. 'And you shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger you shall give more inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give less inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to anyone, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. 'But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land in which you live. 'And it shall come about that as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.'" 
    	The Lord made it very plain as was so clearly emphasized …'But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land in which you live. 'And it shall come about that as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.'
	It was made abundantly evident that the nation would suffer from the inclusion of those dispossessed people in their midst. They would not be just an irritant to the people of God. They would be as pricks in the eyes and thorns in the side. This would be a major cause of pain and anguish to the Israelites. They would suffer daily from the hurts and the agony of their disobedience before the Holiness of God. And furthermore, God made it clear that it would be so bad, that the Children of Israel would be themselves dispossessed for their lack of obedience to honor the Holiness and the Majesty and the Righteousness of God. 
	This was because they would eventually adapt themselves to those things which these wicked nations were doing. The people of God would forget Him and choose to practice all the sickening actions of the Canaanite nations. This would be so horrific in terms of knowing absolutely the best and most holy way to live and the life that they had in the care and the protection and the provision of the Lord God Almighty. Then, despite that bountiful measure of God’s love, they would utterly abandoning the Lord God Jehovah, the Only Living and True God, the Lord and Creator of all that is created! They would willingly practice the rites and rituals of those hand hewn idols which were nothing more than the vile images created from the depths of man’s imaginative depravity. 
The Canaanites might have had some type of excuse for their behavior since they had only heard about the God of the Children of Israel from the rumors and the stories of His deliverance of this people from the hand of the Egyptians. But for God’s own people to so turn against Him would make them all the more horrid in their actions and their vile disregard for The Lord God Who had so proven Himself to them over and over and over again.
That is why God was so very specific and unyielding in His demand that they utterly clear out all those nations in the land. There was to be no compromise, no rationalization of behavior, no excuse for anything less than the utter destruction of those who would only serve to tear the hearts of the people from the righteous desire to be the Nation of God in this world. 
Hear once more the voice of the Lord, declared in Deut 7:1-6, to His people as they were getting ready to enter into the Promised Land. It was very clearly stated what the people were to do in their filial obedience to the Lord. Please turn to Deut 7:1-6, so we can read this together. As we do so, let us take to heart that this is, as well, a message to us in our interactions in this world. This was not just for the Children of Israel; it is for the nation of the Lord, the True Church of God in our entering into the inhabitation of our Promise in Jesus Christ.
Deut 7:1-6, "When the Lord your God shall bring you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and shall clear away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, and when the Lord your God shall deliver them before you, and you shall defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will quickly destroy you. But thus you shall do to them: you shall tear down their altars, and smash their sacred pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire. "For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 
	However much the Israelites may have entered into the land with the intention of following through with this plan of God, they got bogged down in their efforts. The actual manner of their actions with regard to these other nations is recounted in total for us in the first chapter of the book of Judges, verses 19-35. 
They were looking for their inheritance in the land, but they were not willing to completely honor the Lord. As we read this passage, please realize that it is much like many of us may be in our walk with God. We are open and willing to go so far, but not all the way. We will trust God to a point, and then fall back on our own understanding and our ideas of what makes sense to us. We will carry the battle in some areas of our lives, but not into that arena which we want to carve out as strictly for our own use. We stand before the Lord and utter those platitudes of how much we love Him, and yet we harbor and try to protect those thoughts and those concepts of what else would make us happy along with the blessings that we can grasp from the Lord.
	Judg 1:19-35, Now the Lord was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots. Then they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had promised; and he drove out from there the three sons of Anak. But the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. Likewise the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. And the house of Joseph spied out Bethel (now the name of the city was formerly Luz). And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, "Please show us the entrance to the city and we will treat you kindly." So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go free. And the man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city and named it Luz which is its name to this day. But Manasseh did not take possession of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; so the Canaanites persisted in living in that land. And it came about when Israel became strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely. Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who were living in Gezer; so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them. Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and became subject to forced labor. Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, or of Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob. So the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out. Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them. Then the Amorites forced the sons of Dan into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the valley; yet the Amorites persisted in living in Mount Heres, in Aijalon and in Shaalbim; but when the power of the house of Joseph grew strong, they became forced labor. 
	We think that we can control those elements, those incendiary aspects of our lives that would otherwise distract from the Lord. Much like these remnants of the Canaanites left in the land to be used as slaves and as the means of making our lives easier in our own eyes, we are kidding ourselves. The Lord knew that only the absolute removal of these nations would prevent His people from becoming the same in their own estimation. Such is the case with us. We cannot compromise our hearts before the Lord with all the manipulations and ideals of this age and expect anything other than complete disillusionment within this chaos that surrounds us.  
    	The Psalmist details this so succinctly for us in Ps 106, verses 34-48. It is very necessary that we root out and destroy all those elements that are targeted by the Lord in our lives in order to not fall into the snares and the entrapments which so easily beset us. 
	Even so, we know that the Lord will work effectively if our hearts are truly focused on the reality of Jesus Christ. As God worked and ruled and overruled in the lives of that nation of old, so are we well in His hands today.
	Ps 106:34-48, They did not destroy the peoples, As the Lord commanded them, But they mingled with the nations, And learned their practices, And served their idols, Which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons, And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and their daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with the blood. Thus they became unclean in their practices, And played the harlot in their deeds. Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against His people, And He abhorred His inheritance. Then He gave them into the hand of the nations; And those who hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, And they were subdued under their power. Many times He would deliver them; They, however, were rebellious in their counsel, And so sank down in their iniquity. Nevertheless He looked upon their distress, When He heard their cry; And He remembered His covenant for their sake, And relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness. He also made them objects of compassion In the presence of all their captors. Save us, O Lord our God, And gather us from among the nations, To give thanks to Thy holy name, And glory in Thy praise. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting. And let all the people say, "Amen." Praise the Lord! 
    	We will draw to a close, this morning, with the encouragement of the Apostle Peter to each one of us, individually and corporately. This is recorded for us in 1 Peter 2:9-12, if you would open to it. He details who we are and why it is so vital that we hold to the course that the Lord has set before each one of us in His Only Begotten Son. It is all the work and the maintenance of God Almighty in the every detail of how our testimony of Him is seen as a witness to those who are perishing without hope in this world. We are not to allow all those earthly lusts and cravings to have any place in our heart and in our soul. Our fidelity needs to be such a witness of God’s Holiness through the grace and the power of God that is seen in our complete obedience unto the will of The Lord. 
	1 Peter 2:9-12, But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. So be it!
	But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites live in the midst of Ephraim to this day, and they became forced laborers. Amen.

			
This morning’s benediction is Gen 49:10. "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Amen.