The Leaven of Compromise: Joshua 17:7-13
Introduction: The Devil is in the Details
When we come to a passage like this one in the book of Joshua, our modern sensibilities are tempted to skim. We see a list of unfamiliar names, a description of borders that are no longer on any map, and we think it is little more than dry, historical record-keeping. We want to get to the exciting parts, the battles and the miracles. But in so doing, we miss the profound theological freight that is packed into these verses. God does not waste ink. Every detail in the allotment of the promised land is instructive for us, because the allotment of that land is a type, a foreshadowing, of our spiritual inheritance in Jesus Christ.
These chapters are not just about real estate; they are about faithfulness. They are not just about geography; they are about obedience. And what we find here, embedded in the mundane details of Manasseh's inheritance, is a cautionary tale of the highest order. It is a story about the subtle, creeping, and deadly nature of compromise. It is a lesson in how a great victory can be soured by a small failure, and how the leaven of incomplete obedience can work its way through the entire lump.
The central command of the conquest was clear: drive out the inhabitants of the land completely. This was not a suggestion. It was not a guideline. It was a divine command rooted in God's holiness and His desire to protect His people from the corrupting influence of pagan idolatry. The Canaanites were not to be tolerated, negotiated with, or put to work. They were to be expelled. But here, in the portion of Manasseh, we see the first cracks in the foundation of Israel's resolve. We see a failure that seems small and pragmatic at first, but which will grow into a snare that will plague Israel for centuries to come. This passage is a warning to us that the most dangerous compromises are often the ones that look the most reasonable.
The Text
And the border of Manasseh ran from Asher to Michmethath which was east of Shechem; then the border went southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah. The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the sons of Ephraim. And the border went down to the brook of Kanah, southward of the brook (these cities belonged to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh), and the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook, and it ended at the sea. The south side belonged to Ephraim and the north side to Manasseh, and the sea was their border; and they reached to Asher on the north and to Issachar on the east. And in Issachar and in Asher, Manasseh had Beth-shean and its towns, and Ibleam and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, the third is Napheth. But the sons of Manasseh could not take possession of these cities because the Canaanites persisted in living in that land. Now it happened that when the sons of Israel became strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not dispossess them completely.
(Joshua 17:7-13 LSB)
A Complicated Inheritance (vv. 7-11)
The first several verses give us the geographical particulars of Manasseh's allotment. And it is messy.
"And the border of Manasseh ran from Asher to Michmethath... The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the sons of Ephraim... these cities belonged to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh..." (Joshua 17:7-11)
We see a tangled arrangement. Manasseh has cities within the territory of other tribes, Issachar and Asher. Ephraim has cities within the territory of Manasseh. This is not a mistake in the surveying. It is a picture of the necessary interdependence of the people of God. Though each tribe had its own inheritance, they were not meant to be isolated islands. They were one people, one Israel, bound together by covenant. Their borders were intertwined because their lives were to be intertwined. They were to be a blessing and a help to one another.
This is a principle for the church. We have different gifts, different callings, different local congregations. But we are one body. Our lives are meant to overlap. The health of one part of the body affects all the others. The idea of a completely independent, Lone Ranger Christian is as foreign to the Bible as the idea of a completely isolated Israelite tribe. We are woven together, for better or for worse. And in this case, the failure of Manasseh would not be contained within its own borders.
Manasseh was given a significant portion, including some of the most strategic and fertile land in the north, such as the valley of Jezreel where Megiddo was located. They were given a great inheritance, a great responsibility, and a great test. And it is in the face of this test that they begin to falter.
The Seed of Disobedience (v. 12)
Verse 12 is the pivot point of this passage, and indeed, a dark foreshadowing for the entire book of Judges that will follow.
"But the sons of Manasseh could not take possession of these cities because the Canaanites persisted in living in that land." (Joshua 17:12 LSB)
Here we have the first explicit statement of failure in the land allotment. "They could not." Now, we must be careful here. Was this an absolute inability? Was God's promise insufficient? Had the arm of the Lord grown short? Of course not. The God who toppled the walls of Jericho and stopped the sun in the sky was more than able to deal with the Canaanites in Beth-shean.
This "could not" was not a failure of God's power, but a failure of Manasseh's faith. The Canaanites "persisted" in living there. The Hebrew word suggests they were stubborn, resolved, determined. And in the face of this determined resistance, Manasseh's own resolve crumbled. They looked at the difficulty of the task, perhaps at the iron chariots mentioned later, and they concluded it was impossible. Their "could not" was a declaration of unbelief. They exchanged the promise of God for the problem in front of them.
This is always the anatomy of our own spiritual failures. God gives us a command, to mortify a particular sin, to forgive a particular person, to undertake a particular act of obedience. And we look at the situation and say, "I cannot." We look at the stubborn persistence of our own sinful habits, or the deep hurt of an offense, and we declare the task impossible. But what we are really saying is that we do not believe God is able to do what He has promised. Our "cannot" is a confession of faithlessness.
The Logic of Compromise (v. 13)
The initial failure of faith now blossoms into a calculated act of disobedience. The problem was not a lack of strength, but a lack of will.
"Now it happened that when the sons of Israel became strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not dispossess them completely." (Joshua 17:13 LSB)
This verse is utterly damning. It exposes the lie of their earlier "could not." When they "became strong," when they had the clear upper hand, what did they do? Did they then fulfill the command of God? No. They saw an opportunity, not for obedience, but for profit.
Their thinking was entirely pragmatic, entirely worldly. "Why destroy a perfectly good source of free labor? We are strong enough to control them. We can make them tributaries. We can use them to build our cities and harvest our fields. This is not disobedience; this is just smart economics." They traded radical obedience for comfortable convenience. They chose mammon over God.
This is the logic of all compromise. We don't abandon God's commands wholesale. We just trim them a bit around the edges. We domesticate them. We find a way to make them serve our own interests. We keep the forms of religion, but we gut them of their power. We don't drive out the sin, we put it to forced labor. We try to manage it. We try to make it useful. We tell ourselves we can handle a "little" bit of worldliness, a "little" bit of envy, a "little" bit of lust. We think we are strong enough to make it our slave. But we are fools. The sin you think you are enslaving is, in reality, enslaving you. The Canaanites you put to forced labor will soon have their idols on your mantelpiece and their children intermarrying with yours. The compromise that seems so practical today will become the snare that destroys your children tomorrow.
They "did not dispossess them completely." This is the story of the church in every age. We fight the big dragons, but we keep a few of the smaller ones as pets. We win the battle for orthodoxy on the Trinity, but we allow the idolatry of materialism to run rampant in our homes. We preach against abortion, but we tolerate gossip and slander in our pews. Incomplete obedience is just a polite term for disobedience. God does not grade on a curve. His command was not to "mostly" drive them out. It was to drive them out completely.
Conclusion: No Truce with the Canaanites
The story of Manasseh is our story. God has given us a glorious inheritance in Christ. He has conquered our greatest enemies, sin, death, and the devil, at the cross. He has brought us into the promised land of His grace. And He has given us a clear command: drive out the remaining inhabitants. Mortify the deeds of the flesh. Make no provision for sin. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.
But like Manasseh, we grow weary of the fight. We see the stubborn persistence of our old habits and desires. We see the iron chariots of the world's temptations, and our faith falters. We say, "I cannot." And then, when we feel a little stronger, we don't go for the kill. We make a truce. We decide that a little bit of Canaan can be tolerated. We put our sins to forced labor, trying to manage them for our own benefit.
This is a fool's errand. The Canaanites left in the land became, as God warned, "a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes" (Joshua 23:13). The sin you tolerate will become the source of your greatest pain. The compromise you make for the sake of ease will lead you into bondage.
The good news is that we have a better Joshua. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not engage in partial obedience. He fulfilled all righteousness. He did not make a truce with sin; He crushed its head. And He has given us His Spirit, so that our "cannot" can be transformed by His power into "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
The call for us today is to repent of our compromises. To see the Canaanites we have allowed to remain in the land of our hearts for what they are: a deadly threat. We must not put them to tribute. We must, by the power of the Spirit, drive them out completely. There can be no truce with the enemies of God. The battle is not for peaceful coexistence, but for total conquest, until Christ is all in all.