In today’s reading we have an account of the inheritance of Joseph divided between his sons Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim’s allotment was a beautiful and fertile area. Howbeit, the difficulty of possessing the land included clearing out additional hill country and removing the Canaanites from the land. There was just one issue: “And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites unto this day, and serve under tribute” (Josh. 16:10). They excavated the hill country, but allowed some of the Canaanites to stay in the land. This is the first mention of Israel’s oversight of God’s command to expel the land of all its idolators (Deut. 20:16).
Manasseh didn’t do much better. Manasseh’s land was just as rich as Ephraim’s but they too left some of the Canaanites in the land: “Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out” (Josh. 17:12-13).
Ephraim and Manasseh accommodated the Canaanites when they should have annihilated them. The Lord told Israel that the residents of Canaan must not stay in the land (Ex. 23:33). The Canaanite’s false worship would surely infect Israel unless they eliminated it like a surgeon removing a cancerous growth (Ex. 23:32-33; Deut. 7:4).
Ephraim and Manasseh attempted to enslave their foes. Their attempts to train their enemy was all but futile. Herbert Lockyer wrote, “The spiritual application is obvious. Victorious in so many way, there are yet those Canaanites we are unwilling to part with. ‘Destory all,’ says God. Alas, however, we find it hard to slay some darling sins.”
Brothers and sisters, sin will not be trained or restrained. Sin only seeks to enslave and rule. Don’t allow darling sins to dwell where God has given you dominion. As the great puritan John Owen wrote, “Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.”