Joshua 16:1–10 (ESV)

The allotment of the people of Joseph went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel. Then going from Bethel to Luz, it passes along to Ataroth, the territory of the Archites. Then it goes down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of Lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and it ends at the sea.

The people of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance.

The territory of the people of Ephraim by their clans was as follows: the boundary of their inheritance on the east was Ataroth-addar as far as Upper Beth-horon, and the boundary goes from there to the sea. On the north is Michmethath. Then on the east the boundary turns around toward Taanath-shiloh and passes along beyond it on the east to Janoah, then it goes down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah, and touches Jericho, ending at the Jordan. From Tappuah the boundary goes westward to the brook Kanah and ends at the sea. Such is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Ephraim by their clans, together with the towns that were set apart for the people of Ephraim within the inheritance of the Manassites, all those towns with their villages. However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor.

This time it doesn’t say they “could not” drive them out; it just says they did not. The verb is simply “drive,” preceded by “not” (לֹ֣א הֹורִ֔ישׁוּ “Lo Hor-e-shu”). There’s no mention of what they could or couldn’t do.

As noted in the previous lesson, “could not,” was just a failure of the will, not of the physical ability granted by God.

But the words here are different. This time the failure is greater. It’s one thing to lack the will and the faith to complete a task. It’s quite another to turn it down in the first place.

The report here is brief, but it sounds like the Ephraimites simply decided to make the Canaanites slaves instead of driving them out. We aren’t told whether this was in response to some kind of negotiation.

But the important thing is it doesn’t seem to be in response to how battles were going.

The Ephraimites didn’t even try.

These failures are going to come back to haunt Israel, for two reasons.

First, the long-term consequence of servitude isn’t more servitude; it’s resentment. The Canaanites will be a great headache in the long run.

But the bigger problem is with the Israelites themselves. While servitude isn’t permanent, the attitudes of disobedience and quitting are.

Israel is developing deadly habits.

These Monday—Friday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Weekend DEEPs are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to all the DEEPs click here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

The weekly study guides, which include the Monday–Friday devotionals plus related questions for discussion or meditation, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.