Series: Youth for Jesus
Number: Vol. 8, No. 23
“But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live.” (Numbers 33:55NIV)
Whose words do we have here in our opening text? Moses’ words. And who did he say them to? He said them to the children of Israel. Why? It was to give them the wisdom of God for their survival and enjoyment in the land that God was giving to them.Evidently, God was set to give them the land of Canaan, as He had promised their forefathers.
However, their enjoyment of the blessings of that land was not automatic. They would also need to live according to His wisdom there. Otherwise, not only would they not enjoy His goodness in the land as they ought to, they may also end up losing the land to their enemies.Now, in His wisdom, He told them to get rid of all the original inhabitants of the land. He told them not to be merciful to them and spare them.
Otherwise, they would become barbs in their eyes and thorns in their sides.What does that mean? Well, it means that those people that they refuse to drive out of the land would become a constant source of irritation or trouble to them. How? By constantly seeking ways to take the land back from them, by luring them into unholy marriages and by seducing them into the worship of idols and other wicked practices.
But then, did these people listen to the wisdom of God and act accordingly? No, they did not listen. So, what He had said would happen to them eventually happened to them. The inhabitants of the land of Canaan that they refused to completely drive out became barbs in their eyes and thorns in their sides. They continued to harass them and to seduce them to act against the will of God. So, they could not enjoy the blessings of God in the land as they could have. In fact, they were, at some point, driven away from the land into slavery. What a shame!
Now what is the point of all this? It is that there are people and things that can only be barbs in our eyes and thorns in our sides, as long as they are with us. And that may not be because they are evil in themselves. Rather, it is just because they are channels through which trouble, pollution, discontentment or destruction may constantly gain access into our lives.
So, we need to pay attention to our relationships with people and with things and what sort of things are gaining entrance into our lives through them. That way, we will know who and what we need to stay away from or to send away from our lives. This is said to us in the bible about Abraham: “Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.” (Gen 25:5-6NIV)
Why did Abraham send away from Isaac the sons of his concubines? It was so that they would not become a constant source of trouble for the young man. And when did he send them away? It was when he was still alive and could properly see to it that they obey him.
So, he took care of what could end up becoming barbs in the eyes of Isaac and thorns in his side when he had the breath of life, the strength and the resources to do so. And we never see in the bible any record that any of these sons of his became a problem for Isaac after Abraham’s death. We too need to take care of anything or anyone that may end up becoming or that has already become barbs in our eyes or thorns in our sides without any form of hesitation.
That, of course, may not require sending them away, for it is not everyone that is in a relationship with us that we can send away at will and not sin against God. But it may require putting some measures in place that will make it impossible for anyone to become a barb in our eyes or a thorn in our sides.
Now will that be easy? It may not be easy. It may not even be possible without some immediate problems erupting. But if we will pray to God about this, He will supply us with sufficient strength, wisdom, determination, courage and opportunities to do the right thing. We just need to keep in mind the fact that we must take care of the barbs and thorns in our lives before it is too late.
Cheers!
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