Technology changes how we do things. Technology seldom changes why we succeed or fail at what we attempt to do. The reasons that the Israelites failed in their attempt to take the land of Canaan are quite often the same reasons the church fails to accomplish it’s mission. There are many reasons for failure, and because technology does not change human nature, those reasons have been repetitive throughout human history.

The Israelites started out strong, and “the Lord was with them”, but by verse 21 it had started falling apart. “The Benjamites, however, did not drive out the Jebusites…” The way it is written in the Hebrew makes it clear that the failure was a choice. It was not that they could not, but rather they “did not” do what God told them to do. The rest of the chapter is a list of cities that the Israelites did not drive people out of.

The author does not make totally clear why they failed, but he gives us enough insight to see several possible motives. In one case the Canaanites were more determined to live in the land than the Israelites were to drive them out. If we are not determined to succeed, failure will always result when we are faced with determined opposition. In another case, some of the Israelites pressed the Canaanites into forced labor. Seeking profit, even at the expense of the mission failing, results in short-term gain, but long-term bankruptcy. The greatest reason for their failure was willful disobedience. They chose to make a covenant with the people of the land in order to avoid bloodshed and danger. The long-term result was devastating for the people of Israel. The bloodshed and danger they attempted to avoid came back upon them many times worse than they could’ve ever imagined.

If we are controlled by fear, greed, timidity, rebelliousness or a desire to compromise, failure becomes an option. The Lord is with us, but if we are not with Him, we make failure possible.