Rev. Don Campbell
Joshua 16-18
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, March 27, 2019
“ENTITLEMENTS”
On July 4, 1776 by unanimous declaration, the 13 states published some of the most famous words in human history: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” In other words, every person created by God is entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Today, the nation debates entitlements. We won’t enter the political debate except to point out that there needs to be a clear understanding of the difference between an entitlement and an entitlement mentality, which has been defined as “an unrealistic, unmerited or inappropriate expectation of favorable living conditions and favorable treatment at the hands of others.”
The entitlement mentality is not new: “Then the people of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, ‘Why have you given me but one lot and one portion as an inheritance, although I am a numerous people, since all along the Lord has blessed me?’” (Joshua 17:14). Caleb at age 85 said, give me this hilly land where the Anakin (giants such as Goliath who was about 9 feet nine inches tall, 1 Samuel 17:4) live in great fortified cities and I will kick them off the mountain. Judging by Joshua’s response to their complaint, they wanted Joshua to send troops to fight their battle and workers to clear the land.
His rebuke was, “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.” 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.’ 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, 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 17:15-18).
CONNECTIONS
1. Some animals—bears for example—will sometimes trade their freedom and nature as bears for the scraps they find in trash cans. Do you believe some people are willing to trade their freedom, their dignity, and even their souls for a government handout?
2. To what depths did the people of Tyre and Sidon stoop for an entitlement from Herod? (Acts 12:20-23)
