FOLLOWING OUR OWN UNDERSTANDING

 

 

Why don’t many believe. It is certainly not a matter of a lack of evidence. The Canaanites had an abundance of evidence that God had been working great miracles on behalf of the Israelites, and they were terrified:

 

·       As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel. (Joshua 5:1)

 

According to Rahab, the Moabitess, they had also heard of other miracles:

 

·       “For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.” (Joshua 2:10-11)

 

However, out of all the nations in Canaan, Rahab was the only one who acknowledged the God of the Israelites and even became an ancestor of Jesus. Instead, the Canaanites and Amorites fought the Israelites to their own destruction rather than to embrace their miracle-working God.

 

They acted against reason and their own welfare. Reason should have led them to join the Israelites and their God based upon all the evidence that they had at their disposal.

 

What had caused their mental blindness? Sin had blinded them:

 

·       They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. (Ephesians 4:18-19)

 

Their hardened minds were the result of their sin-hardened hearts. Even though the hearts of the Canaanites had “melted” at the knowledge of what they heard about the power of the Israelite God, they quickly fortified their melting hearts with bars of iron, further imprisoning their minds.

 

Call it what you want - “confirmation bias,” a “defense mechanism,” or just a “stubborn hardening.” It killed them.

 

Being aware of my own blind spots, I need to pray continually for my Savior’s guidance and correction:

 

·       Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5-8)

 

Today, we do the same thing. We sin and harden our heart against our only hope.