But the children of Manasseh could not dispossess [the inhabitants of] those cities; and the Canaanites would dwell in that land.
Joshua's record of Manasseh's land ends on a sour note. He names the cities and hands them out, but the Canaanites stay put. The verse raises a question the rest of Israel's history answers: was this inability, or unwillingness?
The next verse gives the test. When Israel finally grew strong, that strength exposed the excuse.
"Now when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor" (v. 13). Their strength revealed the secret of their inability. They "could not" because they "would not" drive them out. They preferred to make a profit out of these nations instead of obeying God. And so, after a time, Israel learned all the detestable practices of the Canaanites, and served them as a punishment for their sins.
The Canaanites were stubborn. But how big that obstacle looked depended on where Manasseh was looking.
Had Manasseh looked to God, the stubbornness of the Canaanites would have proved a weak defence. … Israel suited their own convenience, without care for the word of the Lord.
Israel had already beaten these nations in battle. The problem was what they allowed to remain afterwards.
The enemies are all conquered, but not all driven out. There will always be enemies, until the coming of the Lord. "The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (1 Cor. 15:26). But Israel has to dispossess them. As long as the enemy holds anything, the joy of the people of God is not complete. Worse still, they are leaving among themselves what could keep making them fail. If the enemy is not destroyed, he will be quick to lift his head and corrupt the people, if he cannot overcome them.
Making the Canaanites pay looked like victory. It was something less. (The older translation Rossier follows reads "would dwell"; the ESV has "persisted in dwelling.")
Notice the wording: "the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land." The world has more power over a Christian in a low state than the Word and promises of God have. It is true that when Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor. But that was ruling them, not driving them out.
The same deal repeats itself whenever God's people trade obedience for advantage. It never ends well for them.
Putting false things under tribute is a common practice in the church of God, but playing with evil will end in ruin and misery. Spiritual enemies placed under tribute will do what these Canaanites did: they will claim the right to rule. … Turning a blind eye to evil, giving in to sin, smoothing over the false teaching or practice of favourite leaders — that is simply putting the enemy under tribute. Disloyalty like this to the Lord always ends with those under tribute mastering the people of God and enslaving them.
Manasseh was not the only tribe to fall short. God's gift was complete and carefully mapped. The taking was not.
God gives the whole country to Israel, and each tribe has its share. So the Lord Himself gave each tribe its portion in full right. He marked out their borders, for the Spirit of God notices everything when He hands out the spiritual inheritance, and gives to each according to the mind of God. There is nothing uncertain in God's arrangements. But we find that not one tribe drove out all the enemies of God from His inheritance. Not one took possession of all that God had given him.
Reading such chapters is uncomfortable because the pattern has not changed.
We may be enjoying the pure truth of the living Word of God to some degree. Yet our inheritance — that great land of the heavenly places with its countless blessings — is still largely untaken by the people of God. Lack of faith, lack of spiritual energy, lack of real love for Christ, has left us too indifferent to the precious fullness of what is truly ours.
- Given — God Himself drew the boundaries and gave each tribe full right to its share.
- Not taken — not one tribe drove out all the enemies. Not one took everything God had given.
- Could not — later strength exposed the real reason. They would not, because profit from the Canaanites suited them better than obedience.
- Tribute — taxing an enemy is ruling him, not driving him out. The enemy you tolerate will claim the right to rule you.
- Today — our inheritance in the heavenly places lies largely untaken, for the same reasons: little faith, little energy, little love for Christ.
And it came to pass when the children of Israel were become strong, that they made the Canaanites tributary; but they did not utterly dispossess them.
Israel finally grew strong, and used that strength to tax the Canaanites instead of driving them out. The verse records a choice, not a defeat — commentators read it as the point where Israel traded obedience for profit.
Older translations call it tribute. A Bible dictionary explains what that arrangement was.
Several Hebrew words are translated this way. In general it means what one nation or people paid to another, in money or in goods (2 Kings 3:4), to be left in peaceful possession. Some of the Canaanites were not driven out of the land, but they paid tribute to the Israelites, and Solomon put others under tribute. Joshua 17:13; 2 Chronicles 8:7-8. Later, because of their sin, Israel had to pay tribute to Assyria, Egypt and others.
So the Canaanites kept their homes and bought peace. Israel took the income and left the land in enemy hands — and later paid tribute itself.
Verse 12 said Manasseh could not drive them out. Verse 13 says that once Israel was strong they still did not. One writer points out what that sequence proves.
Their strength exposed the secret of their inability: they "could not" because they "would not" drive them out. They preferred to make a gain of these heathen rather than obey God. And so it happened that, after a time, Israel learned all the abominations of the Canaanites, and served them as a punishment for their sins. Making terms with the enemy, in disobedience to God, is a short-sighted principle. In the end those who paid tribute became thorns in their eyes and pricks in their sides, and at last their masters. Some exchange faith in God, with its demanding life, for compromise with evil and a life of self-seeking. The reaping day will then show, by its sorrowful fruits, the bitterness of departing from God.
The obstacle was real: the Canaanites meant to stay. Manasseh weighed it without looking to God.
Had Manasseh looked to God, the stubbornness of the Canaanites would have been a weak defence… They suited their own convenience, without care for the word of the Lord.
Manasseh was not an exception. One writer stands back and looks at the division of the whole land.
A large part of the land still had to be taken. Even so, Joshua divides the whole of it among the tribes of Israel, as the Lord commanded. The Lord declares that He will Himself drive out its inhabitants before them. But the people responded poorly to this promise… Wherever there is faithfulness, there is rest… God gives the whole extent of the country to Israel, and each tribe has his share… Yet not one tribe drove out all the enemies of God from His inheritance. Not one took possession of all that God had given him.
Subduing an enemy is not the same as removing him. Whatever he still holds costs God's people twice.
The enemies are all conquered, but not all driven out… But Israel has to dispossess them. As long as the enemies hold anything, the enjoyment of the people of God is not complete. More than this, the people are allowing in their midst what might continually cause them to fail. If the enemy is not destroyed, he will not be slow to lift his head and corrupt the people, if he cannot overcome them.
That corruption is what followed. Israel learned the ways of the people it had spared.
One writer takes the same arrangement into the church today.
Putting false things under tribute is a common practice in the church of God, but trifling with evil will end in ruin and misery. Spiritual foes placed under tribute will claim the right to rule, just as these Canaanites did… Do we not see Christian men putting up with known wrongdoing in their communities? Do they not allow among them people and practices that are enemies to God? Closing our eyes to evil, indulging sin, smoothing over the false doctrine or practice of favourite leaders — this is putting the enemy under tribute. Such disloyalty to the Lord always ends with the tributaries mastering the people of God and enslaving them.
- Tribute — The Canaanites bought the right to stay. Israel took the payment and kept the problem.
- Would, not could — Strength removed the excuse. They could not because they would not, and they chose gain over obedience.
- Convenience — Manasseh suited itself instead of caring for the word of the Lord. Had it looked to God, the enemy's stubbornness would have been a weak defence.
- Incomplete — God gave every tribe its full share, yet not one took all of it. Whatever the enemy still holds, you do not enjoy.
- Mastered — A spared enemy lifts his head. Those who paid tribute became thorns, then rulers. Tolerated evil in the church ends the same way: in slavery.