The Ground You Refuse to Take

Joshua is dead. God had promised Israel the land. Much of it had been won and divided among the tribes, but the work was not finished. The chapter reads like a battle report. Judah takes ground. Benjamin does not drive out the Jebusites. Manasseh and Ephraim also fail. Zebulun makes the enemy work for them. Asher and Naphtali live beside the enemy. Dan is pushed back into the hills. Israel goes from winning, to living with the enemy, to losing ground.

• Verse 1 begins well. They ask the LORD what to do. The chapter falls apart because they do not finish what God told them to do.
• Notice the repeated phrase 'did not drive out.' It is stated without excuse the first time, with an excuse the second time, and as normal by the end.
• At age eighty-five, Caleb is still asking for hard hill country. His courage shows how little effort the younger men are giving.
• Forced labor in verse 28 looks like a win. It is not. Israel was told to remove the enemy, but chose to manage them instead.

1. 01What sin have you chosen to manage instead of remove? Be specific. Name the habit, relationship, person, or time of day.
2. 02Israel gained money from its compromise. What do you gain by leaving part of God's command undone? Are you willing to give that up?
3. 03What sin have you called impossible to defeat, even though the Bible tells you to put it to death?
4. 04Caleb still asked for hard ground at age eighty-five. When did you last ask God to help you do something truly hard?
5. 05Judah succeeded and still let Jerusalem stand. How does a season of real ministry success make a man careless about a private area?
6. 06If the men you teach copy the way you deal with sin, what will their lives look like in ten years?
7. 07The chapter tells us what Israel did, not what they meant to do. If God looked at what you did this week, what would the honest report say?

• Joshua 23:12-13

  Joshua warned that the nations Israel spared would become traps and thorns. Judges 1 shows that warning coming true.

• Numbers 33:55

  Sin that is left alone will not stay harmless. It will turn against you and cause pain.

• Romans 6:12-14

  Paul gives the same warning: do not let sin rule you. The issue is not temptation. The issue is letting sin be your master.

• Colossians 3:5

  'Mortify' means to put to death. Paul tells believers to kill sin instead of letting it stay.

• Hebrews 12:1

  Lay aside every weight — including the ones that are not obviously sin but are obviously slowing you.

God does not want you to keep living under sin's control. He can cleanse your heart and set you free. You do not have to accept sin as part of your life. Name one area where you need God to set you free. Tell the other men, and ask them to pray with you.

Some men you work with may get their addiction under control and call that freedom. Judges 1 shows that controlling sin is not the same as getting rid of it. Before you teach this truth, make sure you are not making the same mistake as Israel in verse 28.

Ask God to show you what you have only been managing. Ask Him for Caleb's courage to face hard things. Pray that all three of you will finish what you start this year.