Judges 1:21 The Benjamites, however, did not drive out the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.
Sometimes we get confused between the words can not and will not. We mix up the ability to do something with the willingness to do something. And our ability and our willingness are two very different things.
In this first chaper of the book of Judges the phrase “did not drive out” is repeated several times. It highlights the failures of various tribes of Israelites to be obedient to the LORD. They were setting themselves up for failure as the people of God.
The LORD told them inadvance that the people of the land would become a snare to them, that they would lead them into sin, and that judgment from the LORD would follow. They knew this in advance and yet they disobeyed anyway.
The LORD had promised to be with them, to go before them, to fight their battles. The LORD had promised them victory. But they weren’t willling to walk that out in their lives. Maybe they go tired of the battle. Maybe they were fighting in their own strength. Maybe they just lost the will to walk in obedience.
Obdience is a long road walked in a single direction. You have to stick with it even when the sticking gets sticky. But compromise leads to a restricted life.
We see it as they didn’t obey, parts of their land did not become their territory. One tribe was restricted to the hill country and couldn’t go down into the plains, the fertile green plains, the plains with the pastures and fields for plowing and planting. The choose a harder life rather than one of obedience.
What are the areas where we compromise and limit our access to the abundance promised in the Gospel?
The Arnold Journey 