Joshua 16:1-10 – Dealing with the little foxes of life

By right, Reuben being the eldest son of Jacob should have received a double portion of the inheritance. However, it was not to be. In Genesis 48, Jacob adopted the two sons of Joseph. Then in his dying, pronounced blessings over them in Genesis 49. He implicitly gave the double portion to Joseph. Hence Manasseh and Ephraim, the two sons of Joseph, each inherited portions of the land on behalf of the tribe of Joseph. In Joshua 16:5-8 is a list of the cities and villages distributed to the descendants of Ephraim, one of the sons of Joseph. Regretfully, we again see a fault-line in verse 1o. It reads “But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites live in the midst of Ephraim to this day….”

This is an indication of the failure of the Israelites to fully walk in God’s will. And without a doubt, this failure came back to trouble them. Those unpurged Canaanites became a constant source of temptation for them to indulge in immorality. Their failure is an indication for us to deal with weaknesses in our life. We should not conveniently dismiss and think nothing of them. Left alone, they will become potential danger points in our spiritual life. Like the Canaanites that were not dislodged from the land, any weakness we feel inconvenient to deal with will eventually surface to stumble us in our spiritual journey. Let us not trade our spiritual wholeness because of convenience.  

Remember the word of the shepherd recorded in the Song of Solomon 2:15. It is the little foxes that will ruin the vine, while the vineyards are in blossom. Our wonderful relationship with God can be ruin by not attending to little weaknesses that we encounter in our spiritual journey. There is a necessity to identify the little foxes, the remaining Canaanites in our life. We must not allow them to spoil the wholesome plan that God has installed for us. The fruit of self-control cultivated with a close walk with the Lord will help us eliminate the little foxes in our life. Be sure to be led by the Spirit so that we will not gratify the desire of the flesh!