Taking Ground | Week 8

Day 2

“The Manassites were not able to occupy these towns, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that region… When the Israelites grew stronger, they subjected the Canaanites to forced labor but did not drive them out completely. The people of Joseph said to Joshua, ‘Why have you given us only one allotment and one portion for an inheritance? We are a numerous people, and the Lord has blessed us abundantly.’” - Joshua 17:12–15

The land had already been promised.

God had sworn it to their fathers. He had brought them across the Jordan. He had caused Jericho’s walls to fall. The inheritance was not theoretical, it was unfolding in real time.

Yet here we find Ephraim and Manasseh complaining.

Notice what the text says carefully: they were not able to occupy these towns… for the Canaanites were determined to live in that region.

Of course they were determined.

Strongholds never surrender politely. The enemy never hands over territory willingly. Jerusalem was elevated, fortified, and engineered to resist invasion. Its roads were winding. A direct assault was nearly impossible. The Canaanites had architecture and geography on their side.

But obstacles are not proof that God has failed. Often they are proof the ground is valuable.

Instead of fully driving out the Canaanites, Israel compromised. When they grew stronger, they subjected them to forced labor, but they did not remove them.

Partial obedience feels productive. It feels strategic. It even looks strong on the surface.

But it is still disobedience.

And here is where the spirit of entitlement surfaces.

“We are numerous. The Lord has blessed us abundantly. Why have you given us only one portion?”

They were blessed, and complaining.
They were strong, and dissatisfied.
They were positioned for expansion, and focused on limitation.

Entitlement is ancient.

It whispers, If God loves you, it should be easier.
It insists, If you are blessed, you shouldn’t have to fight.
It assumes, You deserve more without sacrifice.

Joshua does not indulge their complaint.

“If you are a great people,” he says, “go up to the forest country and clear land for yourselves.”

In other words: Stop arguing about portion. Start climbing mountains.

You say you are strong? Then act like it.
You say you are blessed? Then fight like it.
You say you are numerous? Then expand like it.

The mountain country is yours too.

Taking ground generationally means rejecting the lie that you are owed ease.

All you are owed is opportunity.

God gave them opportunity. He gave them promise. He gave them presence. He did not give them a couch.

Many families today subtly adopt entitlement without realizing it.

We want spiritually mature children without daily discipleship.
We want strong marriages without intentional sacrifice.
We want financial stability without disciplined stewardship.
We want generational blessing without generational courage.

But inheritance always costs something.

The problem was not that Israel lacked strength. The text says, “When the Israelites grew stronger…” The problem was that they stopped short. They tolerated what God told them to remove.

Numbers 33:55 had already warned them: If you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides.

What you tolerate today will trouble you tomorrow.

And history proves it.

For the next 400 years, Israel struggled with the very things the Canaanites represented: sexual immorality, greed, false worship, idolatry on their own terms. They learned to function in dysfunction. They blended into the culture they were supposed to transform.

Compromise never stays contained. It multiplies.

What begins as convenience becomes captivity.

This is why Joshua calls greatness out of them instead of sympathizing with them.

Joshua refuses to let them shrink their identity.

You are not small. You are not limited. You are not victims. God has blessed you abundantly, now live like it.

There is something powerful about spiritual leaders who refuse to affirm mediocrity.

Sometimes we do not need more encouragement, we need more challenge.

Affirmation does not always lead to accomplishment.

The greater Joshua, Jesus, does not affirm our entitlement. He confronts it.

He tells His disciples to take up their cross.
He tells the rich young ruler to sell what he has.
He tells Peter to get out of the boat.
He tells the church to deny themselves.

Not because He is harsh, but because He loves us too much to let us live small.

The cross itself dismantles entitlement.

We deserved judgment.
We received mercy.

We were not owed grace.
We were given it.

When you understand that everything you have is gift, entitlement dies and gratitude rises.

And grateful people fight differently.

They do not complain about portion.
They steward opportunity.
They climb mountains.
They clear forests.
They press into discomfort.

Taking ground generationally requires parents who say, “We are not owed comfort. We are called to courage.”

It requires husbands who say, “I will lead spiritually even when I feel inadequate.”
Wives who say, “I will pray when anxiety tries to rule.”
Young adults who say, “I will not inherit compromise.”
Grandparents who say, “I will leave faith, not just finances.”

The mountain is yours.

But you must climb it.

It will not be easy.
It will not be quick.
It will not be handed to you.

But it will be worth it.

Because when you clear that mountain country, your children will not inherit cramped quarters, they will inherit spacious faith.

And when they ask how it happened, you will not say, “It was given to us.”

You will say, “God promised it, and we went and got it.”