Joshua 18:1-10 | Overcoming the Giant of Complacency
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Overcoming Giants: 7 Keys to a life of success and transformation
Today we will look at the Giant of Complacency. The Giant of Complacency has brought destruction and ruin to many individuals, families, marriages, careers, families, nations, organizations and churches.
The reason why the Giant of Complacency is so dangerous is because is like carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is odorless, colorless and tasteless yet is a very lethal gas.
The Giant of Complacency is also hard to detect and lethal.
Complacency:
self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies. (Merriam-Webster)
smug and uncritically satisfied with oneself or one’s achievements. (Concise Oxford Dictionary)
When it comes to experiencing the transforming power of God in our lives we must be careful not to fall in the hands of the Giant of Complacency.
"Most Christians expect little from God, ask little, and therefore receive little, and are content with little." (A.W. Pink)
Makes you think doesn’t it?
Today we are going to look at Joshua 14-19 (six chapters).
In these six chapters you can get a profile of the Giant of Complacency and how to overcome it.
The middle two examples are negative.
The first and last examples are positive.
Thumbs up | Caleb’s attitude (Joshua 14:6-15)
Thumbs down | The people of Joseph attitude (Joshua 17:14-18)
Thumbs down | Seven Tribes’s attitude (Joshua 18:1-10)
Thumbs up | Joshua attitude (Joshua 19:49-50)
Sermon Map: Joshua 17 & Joshua 18, followed by Joshua 14 and Joshua 19.
The Giant of Complacency
The Giant of Complacency
Desires growth and transformation but is unwilling to put in the effort.
Desires growth and transformation but is unwilling to put in the effort.
Desires growth and change only if it’s easy. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.
Setting. In Joshua 17, we see the people of Joseph (Ephraim & Manasseh) need more territory because there are too many of them and the not enough land. So they go to Joshua to request more territory (Josh 17:14)
Joshua 17:15 “15 And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up by yourselves to the forest, and there clear ground for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.””
“Go up by yourself”
“Clear ground for yourselves.”
Who’s responsibility is it if you want to see transformation in your life? YOURSELF
Joshua is saying, “Look, the Lord has allotted you plenty of land. All you have to do is go take it. But in order to take it you’ll have to put the hard work of driving your enemies out and and clear the forest so you can expand.
Their reply is
Joshua 17:16 “16 The people of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us. Yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain have chariots of iron, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those in the Valley of Jezreel.””
Their reply is simply, “It’s too much work.”
To their credit, it is a lot of work. There are giants (Rephaim). In addition the Canaanites have advanced weapons.
Joshua: “Yeah, so…”
Joshua, once again puts the responsibility back on them.
Joshua 17:17–18 “17 Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only, 18 but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.””
Joshua does not budge an inch. “No excuses. You have been provided what you need. You’ve been alloted plenty of land. There is lots of you to get the work done.”
The question becomes, “will you make the effort to do it?”
A second distinctive of the Giant of Complacency is that it,
Puts off taking possession of what God has already given.
Puts off taking possession of what God has already given.
Now we go to chapter 18 where we find Joshua confronts seven tribes for developing an attitude of complacency toward the task of possessing the land.
Joshua 18:2–3 “2 There remained among the people of Israel seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned. 3 So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?”
There seems to be a tone of frustration on Joshua’s part due to the fact that these seven tribes have not yet claimed their inheritance. You could say they have become complacent. They have become somewhat uncritically satisfied with their current situation.
Perhaps they reasoned,
I’m just glad we are no longer in the dessert.
Hey, at least this is better than Egypt.
Doesn’t the Bible teach about being content with what you have?
I want you to see something very important in Joshua 18:1. It states that “the land lay subdued before them.”
This is a crucial time for these seven tribes. The land is “under Israelite control.” (NLT). All the Israelites have left to do is to take advantage of the situation and take possession of the Promised Land. “But here they remain—letting the opportunity slip away.” (Dale Ralph Davis)
Verse 3 reflects the tension of much believing experience, ancient Israelite and contemporary Christian. Yahweh has promised the land and yet it must be possessed. It is Yahweh’s gift and yet that does not cancel human responsibility. Yahweh’s promises are intended not as sedatives but as stimulants. (Dale Ralph Davis)
How long will you put off…?
Do not wait any longer!
Everybody loves the idea of possessing the Promised Land but few are willing to engage in the hard work it requires.
Is there an area in your life where the Holy Spirit has been nudging you about waking up?
How to Overcome the Giant of Complacency
How to Overcome the Giant of Complacency
First
Don’t settle for what’s easy and convenient. Take God at his Word!
Don’t settle for what’s easy and convenient. Take God at his Word!
We find a wonderful example of this in the life of Caleb.
Joshua 14:6–12 “6 Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. 8 But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God. 9 And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’ 10 And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. 11 I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. 12 So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.””
Caleb takes God at his word. He wont settle for complacency: “Give me this hill country and I will take it over.”
What was the basis for this? The promises of God.
What the Lord said (v.6)
The Lord has keep me alive just as he said (v. 10)
The Lord spoke this word (v.10)
Give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke (v.12)
Just as the Lord said (v.12)
Joshua: No Falling Words The Energy of Faith (14:12)
An American shoe company sent a salesman to a foreign country. He had hardly arrived before he cabled for money to come home. His reason: ‘No one over here wears shoes.’ The company brought him back and sent another salesman over. Soon he cabled: ‘Send me all the shoes you can manufacture. The market is absolutely unlimited. No one here has shoes.’
Surround yourself with Calebs and Joshuas.
Surround yourself with Calebs and Joshuas.
Caleb finished well. Joshua finished well.
Joshua 19:49–50 “49 When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the people of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun. 50 By command of the Lord they gave him the city that he asked, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he rebuilt the city and settled in it.”
Make it your ambition to experience more of Jesus’ transforming power in your life.
Make it your ambition to experience more of Jesus’ transforming power in your life.
Application for NT believers.
2 Peter 1:3–4 “3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”
Notice what God has provided to us:
God’s divine power
God’s precious and very great promises
Better promises than Caleb & Joshua (Heb. 8:6)
What now?
2 Peter 1:5–8 “5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Application
There is God’s responsibility and then there is my responsibility.
This is why Scripture uses active verbs to describe the Christian life. “Draw near, persevere, fight, strive, walk, stand firm, hold fast, and labor just to name a few.
Don’t settle for just a “get out of hell free” card. Jesus has so much transformation to offer for us in this life.
Joshua commands three men from each tribe go to survey the land.
Take a moment to reflect on your spiritual journey over the past few months.
Take a moment to reflect on your spiritual journey over the past few months.
Would you describe your spiritual life as vibrant, or do you sense a spirit of complacency in your walk with Jesus?
Consider the authenticity of your relationship with God. Has complacency led to a surface-level connection in your prayer life and Bible reading?
As we gather to worship, ask yourself: Is my worship characterized by genuine passion and gratitude, or has it become a dull routine?
Reflect on the impact of your faith on those around you. Are you actively sharing your faith, or has a sense of complacency hindered your ability to share Christ with others?
Has complacency resulted in a decrease in your commitment to love and serve our church?
Does the gospel of Jesus continue to create a sense of awe and wonder in your heart?
Pray: Oh, Lord, please light the fire
That once burnt bright and clear
Replace the lamp of my first love
That burns with holy fear
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