Joshua has now died. The people of God have beseeched the Lord to direct them. And He has called first Judah, and then Judah asks Simeon to go with him to begin to expel the Canaanites. And then we'll pick up in verse 21 this morning and see how the other tribes fared in seeking to exterminate the Canaanites that God had called them to do. Let us hear God's Word. from Judges 1. Judges 1.21 and following, And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. And the house of Joseph sent to describe Bethel, Now, the name of the city before was Luz. The spies saw a man come forth out of the city and they said unto him, show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city and we will show thee mercy. When he showed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword, but they let go the man and all his family. And the man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city and called the name thereof Luz, which is the name thereof unto this day. Neither did Manasseh drive out the inheritance of Bethshean and her towns, nor Tayanak and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Iblium and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns. but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. And it came to pass when Israel was strong that they put the Canaanites to tribute and did not utterly drive them out. Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer, but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Chitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol, But the Canaanites dwelt among them and became tributaries. Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Ekkot, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Elab, nor of Exod, nor of Helba, nor of Aphic, nor of Rehob. But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out." Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath. But he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became tributaries unto them. And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain, for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley. that the Amorites would dwell in the Mount of Heraz and Ajalon and in Sheolimphim. Yet, the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed so that they became tributaries. The coast of the Amorites was from the going up of Arachphim, from the rock and upward." Thus ends the reading of God's holy and inspired Word. Just several comments of how these tribes did and how they fared in terms of dealing with the Canaanites in the land. We see in verse 21, the tribe of Benjamin failed to drive out the Jebusites that were in their lot. In verses 22 through 29, we find the two sons of Joseph, or the tribes of their names, not getting much victory. They do get possession of Bethel, we're told. And so it's likely that half of it went to Benjamin and half of it to Ephraim because it appears that Benjamin had already, will pick up some of that. But evidently Ephraim dominates and eventually that's Ephraim's city because later on Jeroboam places one of the golden calves there of idolatry when the northern kingdoms come out of northern tribes. Then in verse 30, we find Zebulun who we find later on inclining to be a sea trading people, neglecting to reduce the various cities and the Canaanites there become tributaries to them. Then in verses 31 and 32, we find Asher does the same thing. Even they do worse. They submit to the Canaanites. In most cases, The tribes don't conquer the Canaanites or put them to death. They become tributary to them eventually. But here, Asher even submits to the Canaanites. Then we find in verse 33, Naphtali permitting the Canaanites to live among them. And then in verses 34 through 36, we find the tribe of Dan willing to allow the Amorites to retire into the mountains and to leave them alone. But what do we learn? in this chapter. We see some reasons why, or at least are hinted at, as to why the people of God do not fulfill the command that God had given them to exterminate the Canaanites. I think these are at least five reasons. First, their slothfulness. They were told to do it. They were too lazy to do it. They were also cowardice. Many believe they were also covetous. They'd rather have the labor and the money of these peoples amongst them rather than to exterminate them as God had told them to do. But another issue clearly is the fact that they did not detest adequately the idolatry of these peoples amongst them. And eventually, for failure to detest the idolatry as they ought to, they will eventually imbibe the idolatry. And also, I think it's clear, because they failed to obey God, that unbelief was at the heart of these things. So, the very thing that kept their forefathers wandering in the wilderness for 40 years is the same sin of the corporate people of God as they come into the promised land and fail to do the mop-up operations which God in His prophecy tells them will ultimately bring about their demise and their destruction as a nation. As we continue to read through the Scriptures, we'll see that. And obviously, in the book of Judges, we'll see that in a microcosm as the people of God give themselves over to the idolatry of the land. And then eventually, God brings them a judge, leads them to pray for that judge, brings the judge, brings them under some conviction. They get deliverance. And then upon deliverance and that judge's death, they fall right back in to the same sins of their forefathers. and over and over again in cycles of repentance and of only living at some level, but then decline and falling back into sin over and over and over again.