“The story is not so much about God’s wonderful plan for your life as much as it is about your life for God’s wonderful plan. God’s purposes are central, not ours.”
Greg Koukl (The Story of Reality, p.44)
When we read the historical records of the Israelite people, we witness the steadfast tendency of men and women choosing to do what is right in their own eyes (Judges 11:25; Prov 12:15, 14:12).
And if any of us (you and I) thinks we would have handled those trials “better” than the Israelites, we are even more foolish. The Israelite people were witnesses of God’s power, love, and judgement. And yet, despite seeing incredible miracles, their hearts continued to follow what seemed right to them.
In Judges chapter one, we read how God lead Joshua and the Israelites into the Promised Land, only to discover that the tribes of Benjamin, Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, and others did not “drive out the inhabitants” of their respective regions. From a Twenty-first century perspective, not “driving-out” groups of people from an area sounds merciful and right. However, God was not judging the Canaanites based upon their ethnicity but upon their worship.
The Canaanites were born out of the genealogy of Noah’s grandson, Canaan. The Canaanite people were known to be idolatrous and wicked (Leviticus 18), and therefore God did not want the Israelites to adapt to the Canaanite way of life.
God was protecting His people for their good, and according to His purposes. However, per the ESV Study Bible (p. 435), “The land of Canaan was all inspiring to the Israelites… to recently freed slave people, accustomed to the hardships of life in the wilderness, the cosmopolitanism and material wealth of the late-bronze-age Canaan, with its larger urban centers, could not have failed to impress.”
Their eyes saw what appeared to be prosperity . It looked good to them. And when something looks to be “good,” it’s often immediately equated with “right.” Today weight fall this “Pragmatism.”
Therefore, pragmatism…not God’s word, led the Israelites into the land of Canaan.
“The Israelites were apparently satisfied with a comfortable home and a productive land and we’re not jealous to achieve God‘s full purpose for their life in the land.” (ESV Study Bible, p. 440)
Friends, every moment of every day we need to ask God to help our hearts to desire His purposes. We need to ask ourselves, “Who am I serving?” am I more concerned with my glory? Am I focusing upon my own abilities/personality? Or am I trusting God with the purposes he has for my life.
We need his help to remember (as Greg Koukl said in his book story of reality) that God doesn’t exist for our purposes, but we exist for God’s purposes.
“ All servants of God‘s purposes, for his people have their flaws; the question is whether God should choose to allow those flaws to bear their bitter fruit. Even in these circumstances, God is working out his plan; he is not thwarted, even by human failure.”
ESV Study Bible, p. 435.
Hold Fast Apologetics 