Joshua 16

"But of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 20:16-18)

And they did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day and have become forced laborers. (Joshua 16:10)

The Israelites have forgotten about God’s commandments! Even when these instructions are direct and non-ambiguous, these people quickly forgot about them. It could also be worse: perhaps the Israelites have ignored or dismissed them?

We might then question or even rebuke them in our hearts saying, how is it that they dare to ignore God’s commandments as though His words are nothing important! Why did they do that?

But isn’t it the same with us today?

Perhaps we do not mean it as an outright challenge against God’s word. We definitely still believe in God and want to follow Him. However at times, have we not also allowed certain small sins into our life, thinking that it is okay, we are in control, we know what the Bible says, but hey we know what we are doing and we would not allow ourselves to cross the boundary okay?

The Ephraimites in today’s sharing probably also felt the same. They have conquered the land and perhaps they felt superior to the Canaanites. The Canaanites became forced labourers and perhaps the Ephraimites felt that they have control over them, no problem at all. What can these Canaanites forced labourers do to us? Some of them might even say, yeah! We have God on our side!

Probably, the Ephraimites also saw the benefits of keeping these Canaanites as forced labourers and hence decided to keep them.

Similarly, we also often weigh the costs and benefits of things before we decide whether to go ahead with it or not. Even when the instructions are clear in the Bible, we leave some leeway for ourselves. Wow, this seminar is once-in-a-lifetime and it can greatly help me in my professional development! But hey, it is on a Sabbath Saturday.... it should be okay just to go this once?

The commandments of God are very clear: let nothing that breathes remain alive. God knows what a little sin or a little leeway can do to us. Leave the devil a foothold and he will grab your feet!

Every choice we make comes with a consequence. In the case of today’s sharing, the consequence was spelt out in Deuteronomy 20:16-18 and we see it in the later part of the history of Israel when they continually sin against God by being led astray to worship false gods. We cannot ignore the influence of “little sins”. We should not be haughty to think that we have control over them and thus allow them to dwell within us. A little drop of ink will taint the entire glass of water.

Let us strive to keep our glass of water clear. Let us learn to drive out the Canaanites within us. For the God we worship is a holy and perfect God. And He calls us to be holy and perfect as well. J

Joshua 2

Most of us are relatively familiar with the story of Rahab.

This is the story of a harlot girl who later found herself in the genealogy of our Lord Jesus (Matt 1:5). Her story was one about true faith and acting upon it - to the extent of betraying her own country and risking the death sentence. Her story was also one about the amazing grace of God – how God’s abundant blessings could come upon a sinner, allowing her to leave her world of sins behind and enter into the household of God.

Other than in the Book of Joshua, there are two other mentions of Rahab in the Bible.

By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. (Hebrews 11:31)

Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? (James 2:25)

Rahab was placed on the list of those who have triumphed by faith in Hebrews 11, the only woman besides Sarah.  She showed us an example of faith by which we should learn from. Because she had faith in the God of Israel, she received the spies. Because of her faith in God, she pleaded to be saved. Faith is not merely a confession by mouth, saying, “I believe”, but entails acts of faith that will speak louder about what you really believe in. Few might be as courageous as Rahab, hiding the spies and risking her life. She must have really believed in the true God to be able to do that!

Rahab was also the perfect example of one who trusted and obeyed God. Every game has its own rules and the participants have to keep to them. Even though Rahab really did have faith in God, had she not keep to the “rules” of the agreement (not to tell others about the spies, tie a scarlet cord by the window, have everyone stay within the house), she will also not be saved.

The boundary that God has set is meant to save us, not to make our lives miserable. One who does not wish to be restricted within the house can choose to leave the house and face the eventual utter destruction by the Israelite army. Similarly today, do we keep to the “rules” in the Bible regarding salvation? Are we able to trust and obey?

Lastly, her concern for the safety and salvation of her loved ones was admirable. While pleading to be saved from the impeding calamity, she did not forget about her loved ones but included them. Likewise, as we have received the good news of salvation today, let us remember to share this with the people around us!