In the 10 verses of this chapter, the boundaries of Ephraim’s and Manasseh’s inheritances in Canaan were defined. There were grass, river, and many fields in the land God gave to the tribe of Ephraim. It was a fertile land suitable for farming and shepherding. It was God’s blessing to the tribe, and yet the decedents of Ephraim did not follow exactly what God had commanded; they did not cast out all the Canaanites living in Gezer. Because of their failure to understand and obey God’s will, and because they forsook God’s command for their own benefit, the offspring of Ephraim encountered many difficulties and stumbling blocks due to the Canaanites they kept.
It is written in Kings that Solomon became a good and important servant to God because he revered God. However, when his power grew, and his kingdom became stronger, he forgot the God’s decrees and laws. Solomon not only went into large-scale construction, but also married many gentiles by his own will. So, at the end, Solomon was led away from God by his wives and concubines. God warned Solomon in his dream, yet he did not heed God’s caution. Solomon wrote Proverbs to warn his children not to leave God, but it did not work; because, as a father, he did not show his children how he revered God. This is a very important lesson to us! If we, as parents, do not learn to love and revere God and follow His orders, it would be extremely difficult for us to ask our children to do so.
We often judge what God does with our very limited wisdom and our ignorant way of thinking due to disobedience. God alone does marvelous deeds! We need to know that everything God does, He does it for OUR benefit! We should not add anything to, or cut down anything from, God’s command just because we need to know “why”; just like what the Ephraim did. They thought they are more loving and merciful than God by not casting out the Canaanites in Gezer; they handle God’s work with man’s self-defined mercy.
It is written in the Bible, “To obey is better than sacrifice ” (1 Samuel 15:22). In our church and in our interactions with others, do we only want to be “good people” in front of others? Or are we willing to obey God’s command and convey God’s words exactly the way God had spoken them? We should not say what is preferable to the ears of others, but what God wants us to say. Orders are to be followed, not negotiated. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). When you carry out God’s order, you may be afraid or discouraged, but God said to you, “Do not be afraid.” God will be with us! He will guide us on the track He had set for us.
”But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way” (1 Corinthians 14:40). Our God does care about what is fitting and orderly. We cannot just talk about love and the Holy Spirit in our church and ignore the rules and orders. There was an article titled “12 Signs of a Mediocre Church” in The Christian Post on 15, June, 2015. It instructs us to break away from and rise above mediocre as a church, and to become a church of excellence that truly reveres God. This is echoing what Joshua 16 teaches us. We must learn to see God’s will from the weakness of the Ephraim.
