The Sons of Canaan, Part Two
A Devotional Series from Genesis
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
7/27 Reading Portions: Judges 10:1-11:11; Acts 14; Jeremiah 23; Mark 9
Genesis 10:16
and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites,
STRENGTH
As mentioned yesterday, the descendants of Canaan lived throughout the territory known as the Promised Land. The Canaanites were never completely conquered by Israel after God’s people entered the land. One of the reasons for this is that entering the Promised Land was a foreshadow of entering the promises of God’s gospel through faith in Christ. Although we are saved, there are still spiritual battles to be fought in our lives. These descendants of Canaan reflect those battles.
The tribe of Benjamin failed to conquer the Jebusites (Judg 1:21). The Jebusites lived in Jebus, a city so fortified that the Jebusites boasted that their blind and lame could defend the city from attack (2 Sam 5:5). David, however, defeated the Jebusites and conquered the city, renaming it Jerusalem (2 Sam 5:4-10). The Jebusites foreshadow our struggle to overcome worldly wisdom and physical strength. When we are faced with such odds stacked against us, we must rely upon our great King, Jesus Messiah, who will conquer the Jebusites of our lives, just as David went forth to win the city for YHVH God.
The Amorites in the land of YHVH’s promise were formidable foes. God’s Word presents them as being large of stature and physically strong:
“Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars and who was as strong as the oaks; I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath.” Amos 2:9
We must remember that when encountering men, situations, or circumstances, that oppose the gospel by the height of their worldly authority or by the strength of their hardened resolve, they are no match for our Lord and King dwelling in us by the Holy Spirit. It is written,
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
Hallelujah! What a Savior!