It is found in the book of Joshua.
Now at first you might think that's a strange
passage to memorize!
But I believe you will change your mind as we
study it.
Notice who is doing the talking here.
Joshua is.
Of course he is doing so through the
"inspiration" of the Holy Spirit too.
"Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost." 2 Peter 1:21
Joshua as a name means "Jehovah is
salvation!" It even approximates (is nearly the same as) the
New Testament Name for our Saviour, JESUS!
Joshua reports that victory is coming to
God's people! And in this age Jesus reports victory to you and
me! Remember what Paul said in Philippians 4:13 ---
"I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me."
Also realize that this verse is a "knowing"
verse! It is an assurance verse. There are several of these in
Scripture! I call them "proof" texts!
John 13:35 --- "By this shall all men
know that ye
are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
1 John 2:3 --- "And
hereby we do know
that we know him, if we keep his commandments."
1 John 4:2 --- "Hereby
know ye the
Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh is of God."
1 John 4:6 --- "We are
of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God
heareth not us. Hereby
know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error."
1 John 4:13 --- "Hereby
know we that we
dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his
Spirit."
The verb "know" in our text is in Hebrew "yada"
and can mean "to know for sure!" It also can have the idea of
"knowing by experience!" It is a Qal stem verb with a sense of
"time" that reveals incomplete action. That suggests that you
know this right up to the present moment! Abiding assurance!
"Proof" that God is among you!
There are just certain "fruits" of the
Presence of God with a people!
(Just as there are certain "fruit" of the
Holy Spirit traits! "But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
Galatians 5:22-23)
I will tomorrow, Lord willing, look with you
at the beginning of this "list" of enemies God will drive out of
our lives!
It will amaze you!
Here's a "hint."
Each of these 7 enemies represents some
weakness or even sinful area of our lives that must be
eliminated! And they can be exterminated with God's help! We
will have to analyze their definitions one by one!
You will ENJOY this study I believe!
These 7 "traits" being expelled from your
life (via the Power of the Holy Spirit) will be living "proof"
that God is among you (within you)!
I can promise you that on the authority of
the Word of God!
1 John 5:4 --- "For
whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the
victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."
John 16:33 --- "In the
world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have
overcome the world."
Praise His (victorious) Name!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
JOSHUA 3:10 (LESSON 2):
I have
challenged you to memorize a verse of Scripture with me!
It is found in
Joshua 3:10 and contains a startling declaration from God!
"And Joshua said,
Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you,
and that he will without fail drive out from before you
the
Canaanites,
and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the
Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites."
I have "highlighted" the Canaanites because they
are our focus today.
God has forcefully stated that IF He is present
... the Canaanites must go!
Who are the Canaanites?
Precisely ... they are the inhabitants of the
land God promised to the people of Israel. They were extremely
wicked people.
The name "Canaanite" is used 67 times in the
King James Version of Scripture.
However ... twice the word is translated in
unusual (but very accurate) ways. Let me show you what I mean.
In Job 41:6 God is talking about a huge beast
called leviathan. He asks: "Shall the
companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the
merchants?" That words "merchants" is our Hebrew word
"Canaanites!"
And in Proverbs 31:24 we have an identical
situation. Speaking of the virtuous woman King Lemuel says:
"She maketh fine linen, and selleth it;
and delivereth girdles unto the merchant."
Then in Isaiah 23:8 this same Hebrew word "Cananites"
is rendered differently yet again. "Who
hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city,
whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers
are the honourable of the earth?" See it?
"Traffickers!"
The Canaanites were men who dealt with
money!
Salesmen! Merchants! Men of commerce! (But
always in a godless or a pagan manner!)
They were (as Paul would have said) "lovers
of money!"
Listen to God's scathing denunciation of
Ninevah in Nahum 3:16 --- "Thou hast
multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven."
Obviously God is upset about their obsession
with money! His judgment is about to fall!
Let's now apply this truth to our lives in
today's world.
If God truly lives in a human heart ... one
thing that will be "driven away" is the spirit of the old
Canaanites! The spirit of commercialism only! The obsession
with money and all that it involves!
I really believe that's one reason God
established the "tithe." To illustrate to us weekly that our
money is not to be the central focus of our attention. It is
given to us of God ... and the "firstfruits" of it must be
returned to Him in a spirit of worship.
Paul, particularly in his "Pastoral Epistles"
warns godly people against the dangers of financial obsession!
In 1 Timothy 6:10 he says: "For the love
of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted
after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves
through with many sorrows."
And 1 Timothy 6:6 --- "But
godliness with contentment is great gain."
The man Achan in Joshua chapter 7 sure learned
this lesson the hard way!
Plus 1 Timothy 6:8 ---
"And having food and raiment let us be therewith content."
But Paul admonishes us again in 1 Timothy
6:9. "But they that will be rich fall
into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and
hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition."
Jesus added in Matthew 6:24 ---
"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one,
and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise
the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." The term
"mammon" is one meaning treasure or riches!
Dear Believer friend, be sure that the MORE
the Lord reigns in our lives ... the LESS any love of money will
remain!
Conquer the Canaanites!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
JOSHUA 3:10 (LESSON 3):
When the Lord
saves us ... there are just certain "things" that must go from
our lives!
I believe this
truth is illustrated in the Old Testament again and again.
For example,
Joshua 3:10.
"And Joshua said,
Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that
he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites,
and the
Hittites,
and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and
the Amorites, and the Jebusites."
You will notice that I have colored the name
"Hittites" in red!
God says that IF He is among us ... the
Hittites (along with others) will be driven out of our lives!
Of course the Hittites historically were a
pagan group of people who worshipped vile (unspeakably so) gods!
But what do the Hittites represent to you and
me today?
If you consult a Bible dictionary or Hebrew
lexicon you will learn that "Hittites" simply means "descendants
of Heth." Then we must discern what "Heth" means. That's not
too hard to do. Upon investigation we find "Heth" means
"terror!" Or "fearful!"
The "root" word from which it is derived
means "to prostrate oneself." To fall down on one's face ...
either by violence or by confusion and fear!
This "root" stem ("chathath") in the King
James Bible is translated in such ways as: terrify, beat down,
scare, discourage or dismay!
Yes, definitely ... the "Hittites" MUST go!
One cannot be a successful growing Christian
if filled with constant fear and worry and fretfulness!
Neither can one live for God wholly if he or
she is always dismayed or discouraged!
Nor if one constantly falls down in the face
of the enemy!
Let me try to give you some Scripture to
prove what I have just said.
2
Timothy 1:7 --- "For God hath not given us
the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound
mind."
Proverbs
24:19 --- "Fret not thyself because of
evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked."
Of the coming Messiah (Jesus) we are told in
Isaiah 42:4 --- "He shall not fail nor be
discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the
isles shall wait for his law." Jesus was NEVER
discouraged!
Christians may get discouraged ... but not
stay discouraged!
1 Samuel 30:6 --- "And
David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning
him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man
for his sons and for his daughters:
but David encouraged
himself in the LORD his God." David encouraged
himself! So can you via the Holy Spirit! His Bible Name, the
"Comforter," really means "One Who Encourages!"
And concerning that part about "falling down"
in abject fear or "submission" before the wicked ... read
Proverbs 25:26 --- "A righteous man
falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain,
and a corrupt spring." Stand up, O child of God!
"If God be for us, who can be
against us?" Romans 8:31
Christian friend, ask the Lord today to
remove your fears! With the Lord your God you can face whatever
comes your way.
In fact, listen to the way Solomon words it.
Proverbs 28:1 --- "The wicked flee when no
man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion."
Listen to David again. Psalm 3:6
--- "I will not be afraid of ten thousands
of people, that have set themselves against me round
about."
I found 63 times in Scripture where the words
"fear not" are used! That's just another way of saying:
Hittites, GET OUT!
Praise the Lord!
--- Dr. Mike
Bagwell
JOSHUA 3:10 (LESSON 4):
The Lord
promised the Israelites that once they had entered the land of
Canaan, He would "drive out" certain wicked inhabitants.
Here, through
His servant Joshua, is the Lord's exact commitment to His
people. The reference for the verse is Joshua 3:10.
"And Joshua said,
Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that
he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites,
and the Hittites, and the
Hivites,
and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and
the Jebusites."
Now all the Old Testament truths are
"examples" to us Believers living today! Paul said so in 1
Corinthians 10:11 --- "Now all these
things (in the Old Testament) happened unto them for ensamples:
and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of
the world are come."
We have the same God as did Israel of old.
We even have our own Joshua! (Joshua and Jesus are from the
same word stem!) And we are also promised the land of Canaan!
(That's victorious and Spirit-filled living!)
Therefore we can believe that God wants to
"drive out" certain wicked traits from our lives as well!
For example, the Canaanites (by King James
Bible definition) represent people who love money! They are
apparently obsessed by it! Well, that has to GO in the life of
the new Christian! He is a lover of God instead!
And the Hittites (by lexicon definition) mean
those who are always fearful and discouraged. They must be
expelled too! God has given us a strong spirit of boldness and
victory!
Even the "Hivites" will be eliminated.
Now, who are they?
Just another heathen tribe who lived a wicked
ungodly lifestyle. They were pagans. It seems that little is
known about them even unto this very day!
Their name is spelled "hivviy" in Hebrew. It
seems to mean "a villager." (One who lives in a village) Yet
the dictionaries continue with the word ... tracing it back to
its very root ... which is the Hebrew verb "to live."
When these thoughts are combined ... the "Hivite"
is one whose very life depends upon the village where he or she
lives!
This is someone who is so linked to the world
around them that they cannot live without it!
A politician who is popular with many
liberals wrote a book a few years ago entitled "It Takes a
Village." In it she suggested the non Biblical idea that the
whole community (world system) must be involved in our lives ...
especially in the rearing of our children! How very wrong she
is!
The Lord says in 2 Corinthians 6:17 ---
"Wherefore come out from among them, and
be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing; and I will receive you."
Look again in that same chapter. 2
Corinthians 6:14 --- "Be ye not unequally
yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath
light with darkness?"
We Christians cannot live by the rules of
this world ... nor can we have as intimate friends those who
do! "Worldliness" has got to go!
1 John 2:15 makes this very clear!
"Love not the world, neither the things
that are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him."
Jesus, in John 16:33, says:
"These things I have spoken unto you, that
in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have
tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
The deceitful "league" the Hivites made with
the Israelites in Joshua 9 typify the dangerous allurements of
the world! Say away from them!
But ... preacher ... how can one overcome the
world?
Here's the best verse I know on that
subject: "For whatsoever is born of God
overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh
the world, even our faith." 1 John 5:4
What's so dangerous about the world?
Their leader!
In 2 Corinthians 4:4 Paul is speaking of the
devil. There he says: "In whom the god
of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine unto them."
1 John 5:19 adds ---
"And we know that we are of
God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness."
Away with the spirit of worldiness!
Depart ye Hivites!
Drive them out of your lives!
At the Judgment Seat of Christ you'll be glad
you did!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
JOSHUA 3:10 (LESSON 5):
Joshua 3:10
names some "enemies" to the Christian life. In fact the Lord
promises that if He is present ... these certain kinds of people
(actually the character traits they represent) will be expelled!
Here's the
exact verse:
"And Joshua said,
Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you,
and that he will without fail drive out from before you
the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the
Perizzites,
and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites."
Let's today study those people known as the "Perrizites."
The first time we see them in Scripture is in
Genesis 13:7. Thereafter they are mentioned about 24 more
times. The Bible connection that I've found most interesting
concerning these people is mentioned in Joshua 17:15 ---
"And Joshua answered them, If thou be
a great people, then get thee up to the wood
country, and cut down for thyself there in
the land of the Perizzites and of the
giants, if mount Ephraim be too
narrow for thee." Here obviously they are linked to the
giants!
Perhaps we are here being taught that some
wicked people appear as
giants in the eyes of the followers of the Lord. They
must be "cut down" to size too! The world today certainly
portrays certain of its "heroes" as giants! (And some of the
strangest folks, too!) You hear me today! I am NOT going to
look at some sex pervert as a giant! Nor some reprobate with 5
or 6 living wives! Nor some foul mouthed man or woman either!
The wicked GIANTS of this world are enemies to the cause of
Christ! (Christian, we are going to have to reverse the world's
priorities!) I'll tell you who my heroes are! These men are
the GIANTS in my life. PREACHERS of the Word who have stood
true to the Bible over their lives! Godly saints who have lived
for Jesus and taught their youngsters the things of God! A set
of Grandparents and Parents who lived what they professed ...
consistent Christian lives! Maybe somebody today needs to drive
out one of the world's giants from your life! And in his or her
place ... put some godly example.
I also notice from the Bible that our root
word for "Perrizites" (in Hebrew "Perizziy) is once translated
"country" as in country villages! (1 Samuel 6:18) Hear me.
There are not only very wicked people in the cities of our land
today. They are now in the "country" too! I am amazed at how
wickedness has infiltrated our rural areas ... seeping in like
sewage ... from the large cities of America! Today country
folks can live ungodly just as city folks often do! (Perhaps
due to the all pervasive influence of television, movies, the
mass media and a shrinking global society). Do this, Christian
friend desirous of spiritual growth. Kick the wicked people out
of your life ... whether they live in Hollywood or New York city
of the farm ten miles down the road!
Lastly the word is translated "unwalled"
about 3 times in the King James Bible. Both Deuteronomy 3:5 and
Esther 9:19 speak of "unwalled towns" and Ezekiel 38:11 mentions
unwalled villages. Now, as you know, in the Bible city "walls"
speak of protection. (Walls keep the enemy out!) We sure do
need some walls built into our Christian lives! This crowd of
Perrizites do not believe in such walls of safety! They want to
mix and mingle with the wicked world around them!
Walls also speak of "separation" from the
world and its influence. Obviously an "unwalled" village is
open to any influence that comes along! We need more separated
living today so much!
Let me summarize. Deport the Perrizites from
you life and you have ridded yourself of ... the wrong kind of
GIANTS (heroes of the world)! Also you will have "cast out"
wicked people from the "country" as well as the "city!" (Wrong
friends are wrong friends no mater where they live!)
Furthermore you have expelled the crowd that builds no walls of
protection into their lives! You must have them as a
Christian! And you've eliminated those who do not believe in
any form of separation from the world!
Sounds like the beginning of revival to me!
What do you think?
---
Dr. Mike Bagwell
JOSHUA 3:10 (LESSON 6):
There were
some things that just had to GO from the lives of God's people!
In fact God
told them that if HE was present ... these other people HAD TO
BE ABSENT!
Here's the
verse:
"And Joshua said,
Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that
he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites,
and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the
Girgashites,
and the Amorites, and the Jebusites."
Joshua 3:10
Now, what's so "dangerous" about these
folks? Of course we understand that they were all inhabitants
of the land of "Canaan" prior to Israel arriving there from
Egypt. And we all remember that they were very wicked people,
worshipping many other gods of their own making. (And our God
is a "jealous" God! He allows no other gods before Himself!
And this is for our own good too!)
I personally believe each of these "tribes"
has a counterpart in our land today. There are just some things
right now that the Holy Spirit of God is going to DRIVE OUT of
our lives!
For example the "Girgashites," who only
appear in Scripture 7 times, must be expelled from our Christian
experience.
These peoples fought against Israel with a
vengeance! Listen to the Lord: "And ye
went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho
fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the
Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the
Girgashites,
the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your
hand." Joshua 24:11 They
are your enemies. They are not compatible with godly holy
living! They are not passive elements of your spiritual warfare
... but active ones!
Now, whom do the "Girgashites" picture?
According to the word dictionary in the back
of the huge Strong's Concordance, the meaning of this word is
yet uncertain! Furthermore one of my lexicons says that the
exact territory they people inhabited is also unknown!
So far all we know about them is that they
were very wicked, being descendants of Canaan, son of Ham.
(Genesis 10:15-16) They headed a wicked line of human beings
according to God Almighty!
We also know that if left alone ... these
"enemies" would be "snares and traps and scourges and thorns" to
the people of God! ("Know for a certainty
that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of
these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and
traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your
eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD
your God hath given you." Joshua 23:13)
I believe the "Girgashites" represent the
"unknown" factor in this lost world of wickedness. ("Well, I
don't know anything about that new employee, but I believe he's
pretty friendly!" Or maybe this: "I don't know a thing about
this new book, but I'm going to read it anyway." Or even, "I've
never heard anything about that activity, so I'm going to go
check it out for myself!")
WE HAD BETTER BE CAREFUL WITH THE "UNKNOWN"
ASPECTS OF THIS DANGEROUS WORLD SYSTEM IN WHICH WE LIVE!
Carefully watch a man or woman's life before
you become "buddies" with them!
Find out about that author before you read
him!
Learn a little about a meeting before you
unadvisedly attend it!
Be careful!
Proverbs 4:23 admonishes us to:
"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for
out of it are the issues of life."
And Paul adds that we should
"Abstain from all appearance of evil."
1 Thessalonians 5:22
There are just many "unknowns" about sin! We
don't yet know the deadly evils and dregs of some forms of
wickedness. BUT we do know "The wages of
sin is death." (Romans 6:23) We also know
"The way of transgressors is hard." (Proverbs
13:15) And we have been warned that there is a "Deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish." (2
Thessalonians 2:10)
By the way ... even if you know nothing about
a crowd or a person ... LOOK AT THE COMPANY THEY KEEP! (Look at
those with whom the Girgashites are listed in our Joshua 3
verse!) Proverbs 13:20 thunders out to us:
"He that walketh with wise men
shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed."
But here's some "good" news. One (and only
one) source did take a "stab" at a meaning for the Girgashites.
This is what they got: one who dwells on a clay-like soil.
(Sticky gooey clay! Wet dirt! Mud! Like in a deep wet pit!)
This of course reminds me of Psalm 40! "I
waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and
heard my cry. He
brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay,
and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto
our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in
the LORD." (Glory to God!)
Apparently He can even save a filthy old "Girgashite,"
bringing him or her UP out of the miry clay!
In fact, that is exactly where he found me!
How about you?
Let's praise His dear Name today!
(And ... please ... do expel those "Girgashite"
elements from your life this very hour! You will be so glad you
did at the Judgment Seat of Christ!)
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
JOSHUA 3:10 (LESSON 7):
Today we
notice something that is just incompatible with Christianity!
The Lord said
it had to be "put away" from the life of a Believer in Christ.
I base these
statements on a verse in the Book of Joshua.
"And Joshua said,
Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you,
and that he will without fail drive out from before you
the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the
Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the
Amorites,
and the Jebusites."
Joshua 3:10
Here God has promised to "drive out" certain
tribes of people! They represent various ungodly traits common
to man. (Yet traits that are
unacceptable to
the godly man or woman.)
Let me show you what I mean.
Take the "Amorites,"
for example.
The name "Amorites" is spelled like this in
Hebrew: "emoriy." It is developed from a basic verb, "amar,"
which means "to say or speak or tell or answer."
The implication is that these folks are real
"talkers!"
The name "Amorites" is found 73 times in the
King James Bible and the name (in the singular) "Amorite"
another 14 times.
They were extremely ungodly people. Listen
as God describes their lifestyle: "...
for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full."
Genesis 15:16
Here is perhaps another "hint" about them.
We know the name of one of their earlier Kings, "Sihon."
(Numbers 21:21) The name means "warrior!" These people are not
just talkers ... they are warlike "vicious" talkers!
Just think of the talk, the language, the
vocabulary of the lost world! Think of their movies ... what
filth! Think of their literature ... books with profanity
galore! Think of their television ... empty vain talk. Think
of their jokes ... vulgar and wicked. Think of their
conversation ... lustful and suggestive.
Christian, it has to GO!
IF the Holy Spirit dwells within one's heart,
he or she will speak like this: "Let no
corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which
is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto
the hearers." Ephesians 4:29
Psalm 19:14 may say it best of all. The
Believer's goal with his words (and thoughts):
"Let the words of my mouth, and the
meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my
strength, and my redeemer."
Here's another good prayer for a proper
vocabulary. The word "watch" here means a "guard." Psalm 141:3
says: "Set a watch, O LORD, before my
mouth; keep the door of my lips."
Why is this so important?
"Death and life are in the power of
the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."
Proverbs 18:21
I've known some Christians who used their
tongues to fight and argue and sling fierce words all around!
That's behaving just like the "Amorites!" Psalm 64:3 describes
them: "Who whet their tongue like a
sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows,
even bitter words."
It is said of (and to) Jesus in Psalm 45:2
--- "Thou art fairer than the children of
men: grace is poured
into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever."
GRACE is poured into His Lips! (So we should also speak
graceful words!)
Then, Preacher, what must we Christians
finally do about
the wicked language and the fighting words and the ungodly talk
of the world? Numbers 21:32 tells us.
"And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages
thereof, and drove out
the Amorites that were there."
Dear believing friends, we just cannot
consistently be around that kind of talk!
Expel it from your life.
If necessary, change what you watch, read,
hear and discuss!
Build a holy environment ... one in which you
constantly fight to "tame your tongue!" Of course James says
that no "man" can do that! (James 3:8 ---
"But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil,
full of deadly poison.") But ... what man can not do,
GOD CAN DO!
Goodbye, Amorites!
Hello, Holy Spirit!
(Or ... is it Hello, Holy Spirit! Then
Goodbye, Amorites!)
Either way ... they "wicked talkers" are
gone!
May God give us the victory!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
JOSHUA 3:10 (LESSON 8):
As
you grow in the Lord you will notice that He tends to ADD some
things to your life ... and REMOVE others!
(Like Paul's
beautiful "put off" and then "put on" passages! For example:
"But now ye also
put off all
these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out
of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put
off the old man with his deeds; And have
put on the new
man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him
that created him." Colossians 3:8-10)
This same Bible principle even held true for
Israel of old. When they first entered the promised land of
Canaan, God told them that the evil influences in that territory
just HAD TO GO!
God's PRESENCE simple demands the ABSENCE of
some things!
Here's the verse I have in mind:
"And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know
that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail
drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and
the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the
Amorites, and the Jebusites."
Joshua 3:10
God is here expelling seven tribes from the
land of Israel.
We shall notice one of them today. You can
see that I have "marked" the Jebusites with red letters.
Of course we know that they were wicked
God-rejecting people who worshipped idols and lived filthy
lives.
BUT what do they represent for us Believers
yet today?
I studied the origin of the name "Jebusite."
It is interesting. One source just says, "descendants of Jebus!"
That immediately drives one to discover what "Jebus" means! I
found it! "Threshing place!"
A "threshing place" is the location where the
precious grain (the real wheat) of the field is taken and
thrashed and winnowed by being mercilessly beaten and bruised!
That's a pretty good picture of what the
world does to us Christians!
Listen to what Jesus said in John 16:33 ---
"These things I have spoken unto you, that
in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have
tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
That little noun "tribulation" means pressure (like
comes from "threshing")!
The world will thresh you! It will rob you
of your peace ... and of your victory ... and of your holiness
... and of your communion with God! Remember what James said
about it: "Ye adulterers and
adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is
enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the
world is the enemy of God." James 4:4
Joshua 11:3 tells us that the Jebusites lived
in the "mountains" too. That makes them even harder to
conquer. This takes extra effort ... extra leaning on the Lord!
(Remember how old Caleb said "I want that mountain!" And ... at
eighty years of age, he "took" it too! Joshua 14:6-14)
Some of these "enemies" are hard to expel ...
but the price is heavy if we don't! They will "thresh" us all
our Christian lives!
By the way, the little tribe of Benjamin got
the territory of the Jebusites! (Joshua 18:28) The final
conqueror of this wicked area ... the mighty warriors of
Benjamin! And what does Benjamin mean? "The son of my right
hand!" Precisely ... that is Jesus! Only HE can conquer these
filthy enemies!
Also remember that the ancient city of Jebus
became the city of Jerusalem, the city of peace! (If you don't
drive the Jebusites away ... you may not enjoy the full peace
God has for you!) "Threshing" has a subtle way of disturbing
one's peace!
And according to 2 Chronicles 3:1, the Temple
(the House of the Lord) was ultimately build on the site of the
threshing floor in Jebus! Maybe we must defeat these people in
order to worship the Lord as we should!
And ... just how important could it be to
destroy these Jebusites? Very! Look with me at 1 Chronicles
11:6 --- "And David said, Whosoever
smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. So Joab
the son of Zeruiah went first up, and was chief." A
special reward for getting this tribe!
Now don't make the mistake Solomon did!
Instead of conquering the enemies ... he just charged them a tax
and left them alone! See 1 Kings 9:20-21.
"And all the people that were left of the ...
Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel,
Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the
children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon
those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day."
I am afraid that's what many Christian have done today.
They've settled in with the worldly tribes ... calling them
"enemies" but enjoying their so-called "benefits!" (Making
money off wickedness!)
And lastly, do remember that if we don't deal
with this wickedness ... it will influence us eventually! See
Ezra 9:1 --- "Now when these things were
done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and
the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from
the people of the lands, doing according to their
abominations,
even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the
Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the
Amorites." (That word "abominations" means something
"disgusting" to God! Something He "hates!" Something that makes
Him "sick!")
It looks to me like we can conquer the
Jebusites ... or they will harass us for all our days on earth!
Do you need a verse to prove that? Here's one now. Joshua
23:13 says: "Know for a certainty that
the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these
nations (including the Jebusites) from before you; but they
shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides,
and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land
which the LORD your God hath given you."
Snares and traps and scourges and thorns!
Look at how sin "threshed" (and "snared" and
"trapped" and "scourged" and "pierced") the lives of the men and
women of Scripture who fell into its depths!
Here's one example: David sinned with
Bathsheba (adultery) then had her husband killed (murder) ...
then began his days of "thrashing" at the hands of the world!
(Incidentally, all this happens while he is living in the
ancient city the Jebusites ... which means "threshing place!")
The little baby died! One of David's sons raped one of his
daughters! Another of David's sons killed the rapist, his
brother! One of David's boys rebelled against the Throne and
sought to kill his own Daddy! David even died in turmoil as
another son tried to take the throne from David's appointed
heir! I'd call that "life" a pretty good "thrashing," wouldn't
you? Truly God was right when He told David (as a result of the
King's "worldliness") --- "Now therefore
the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast
despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be
thy wife." 2 Samuel 12:10
Oh! Dear friend! Get rid of the worldly
influences in your life today!
Do I hear a note of despair from someone?
Preacher, I could never conquer all of these enemies!
Listen to me. God asks us to fight the
filthy critters! He says that HE will drive them out! Look
here. Joshua 24:11 --- "And ye went over
Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought
against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the
Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites,
and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand."
The verb "delivered" means ("nathan") to give! We fight! God
GIVES the victory!
Do what Deuteronomy 20:17 says without delay!
"But thou shalt
utterly destroy
them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the
Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites;
as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee." (The
expression "utterly destroy" is in Hebrew: "Charam! Charam!"
It doubles the verb which means "to devote to destruction!" To
"exterminate!" To put to death! Paul said it clearly in
Colossians 3:5 --- "Mortify
therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and
covetousness, which is idolatry.")
If not ... get ready for a real "threshing!"
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
