“But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.” (Joshua 17:18)
The tribe of Manasseh came to Joshua asking for more land because part of the land God gave to them was covered in trees and the other part was inhabited by Canaanites. They couldn’t get victory because of the trees and the Canaanites.
Yesterday, we saw that the first thing Joshua told Manasseh to do in order to get complete victory was to:
FIRST—Remove the Things That Were CLUTTERING the Land.
They were to cut down the trees which would give them the land they needed. Today, we will look at the second thing Joshua told them to do.
SECOND—They Were To Remove Things That Were CORRUPTING the Land.
These are the two types of things that keep us from being all we ought to be: the things that clutter our lives and the things that corrupt our lives.
The Canaanites were ungodly people and because Manasseh was allowing them to stay in the land, they were becoming a corrupting influence on them. That is why God told them to cut down the trees then drive out the Canaanites from the land.
You say, “But, hasn’t God gotten it backwards? Shouldn’t we drive out the Canaanites, and THEN clean up the woods?” That’s not the way God told Joshua to do it. See, before you get ready to go to battle, you’d better clear off a spot to fight from! There might be some Canaanites in those trees!
Christians, today, are not living in complete victory and it is because of things they are allowing to either CLUTTER their lives or things that are CORRUPTING their lives. Which is it for you?
Ask God to help you identify things that may be cluttering your life; things that are taking up some much of your time you don’t have time for God. Ask God to also help you identify anything which may be corrupting your life: a bad friendship, relationship, or sinful desire.
Cut down those trees and drive out those Canaanites, and then you will have the victory God wants for you!