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“But You Have Not Obeyed”
“and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land … But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?” Judges 2:2. In a preview of what was to come four generations from then, God tells Abraham that his descendants would return to the Promised Land to be His weapon of judgment as the sins of the current inhabitants had not yet reached its full measure. Over four hundred years later, Joshua had every intention of annihilating all and making no covenants with the Canaanite tribes but did not inquire of the Lord when the Gibeonites deceived (Joshua 9), and the Israelites failed to take possession of the land after Joshua’s death—though the Lord still commanded them (Judges 1). It was good that they inquired of the Lord but bad that considered their enemy’s strength rather than the Lord’s. Peter also intended to have faith but saw the wind rather than Jesus as he sank beneath the waves. Intentions aren’t obedience. When we shrug off our Christian walk when it gets hard believing that God will forgive us, we too don’t obey God’s voice and leave many thorns in our sides that hinder us from loving Him fully. What covenants do you make with the world?