There is a difference between obeying God and halfway doing it. A big difference.
The beginning of Judges sets us up for a period of time in history when God’s people continually turn from Him to serve other gods and serve their own interests. Every time this happens, Israel finds itself in slavery to another nation, and God sends a judge (basically a hero) to deliver Israel and turn their attention back to God.
God commanded Israel to remove the Canaanites (non-Israelite peoples) from their land completely. There was no other option. Instead of completely removing these other idol-worshiping nations from their presence, only minor attempts were made (or not at all) to drive out the inhabitants of the surrounding land.
But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem…Manesseh did not drive out the inhabitants…Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites…Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor…
Judges 1:21, 27, 29, 30
And this just keeps going. The tribes of Israel failed to see how important obedience to God was. They only partly removed from their presence what would soon be their downfall.
When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.
Judges 1:28
It was difficult to drive the Canaanites out, but God said He would fight for them. They half-heartedly did what God commanded them.
You have not obeyed my voice…so now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in you sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.
Judges 2:2-3
Here is where it gets terrifying. For the people of God, the Israelites, this part is unreal. For the New Testament reader reading this aloud in the synagogue, his listeners would have been taken aback to hear this next part, as I imagine gasps filling the room as he uttered this next part:
And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.
Judges 2:10
Of course it gets worse. Slavery, bondage, persecution—all of this happens as a result of Israel’s disobedience to God’s command.
And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger.
Judges 2:12
Here’s the takeaway from this—are you being obedient to God or half-heartedly following him?
Christians can’t remove sin from their lives if they don’t completely remove it from their presence. The Israelites fell into slavery and bondage because they didn’t completely remove from themselves what would eventually ensnare and capture them—the Canaanites.
Christians fall prey to the enemy when they don’t completely remove themselves from temptation and sin and surrender their lives to God.
Obedience to God is our first step. Complete obedience. The second step is completely removing from our lives anything and everything that draws us away from the presence of God.
The last step is simply finding your joy in Christ, and allowing him to be your everything.
I know of no other way to triumph over sin long-term than to gain a distaste for it because of a superior satisfaction in God.
- John Piper
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