Joshua 16 JOSEPH'S DOUBLE PORTION - BUT... To some who didn't know their history, it may have seemed unfair that Ephraim and Manasseh got the largest portion of land in the northern part of the country as well as land east of Jordan. But they would be informed that Joseph's two sons took his place as Jacob's sons and the Levites became a serving people acting on God's behalf for the people, and on the people's behalf before God. Now four hundred years later this was the reward of Joseph's offspring because he had preserved the nation's identity. We may not always grasp the importance of an event in life nor see the future benefits of a particular action we take. But God, who lives in an "eternal now," sees everything through the eyes of His own divine purpose.
The best we can do in times we don't fully understand, is to do what we do "with our might as unto the Lord and not unto men." Then we leave the results to God to accomplish His purposes and rest in faith that His will is being done. It may seem like we have done our best, and yet leave some things undone because of our weariness or lack of motivation. We need to remember there are consequences to every action or lack thereof, that cannot be avoided, and with which we will have to live and endure.
Failure to deal completely with a matter in the way we should have, leads to problems later on. The "children of Ephraim and Manasseh" had been given a great privilege and the benefits were obvious. But for some reason they did not drive out the Canaanites who were living in Gezer, but kept them as laborers to serve them. The serious problems they had in the future because of this lack of total commitment, was that there was a pagan people in their midst who worshipped idols and served the false gods the idols represented.
We cannot accept the mixture of spiritual truth and falsehood that appeals to the world. It may seem like it is easier to live in this compromising situation, but it is only a spiritual twilight that confuses everyone to the extent that we hardly know right from wrong. Problems will remain as long as the people of God try to coexist with the children of darkness. The light of the Gospel of the glory of God exposes every evil way of the powers of darkness. When we walk in the light as our Lord is in the light, we will have fellowship with God's people. That will mean there will be a separation of that which is of God and that which is unclean. There is a cost to receiving a double portion of God's blessings that we cannot avoid paying.