Joshua 3:10 And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

What does it mean to you to take possession of these lands? God has after all driven the occupants out before you. Maybe if you dig deeper into those people dispossessed you will discover things which God wants driven out of your new life as you take possession.

Canaanite: peddlers or merchants of astrology.

Hittites: fear, terror

Hivites: belonging to a village (think the opposite of sojourner here)

Perizzites: again belonging to a village, intractable, unmoved

Girgashites: dwelling in miry clay, those who fashion their own idols

Amorites: clairvoyant

Jebusites: a place trodden down

We often overlook what God has done for us in coming into His Kingdom. We should be careful not to take up once again those things which the Lord wants left behind, on the other side, in a former life. Perhaps the greatest example of a transformed life is that of the Jebusites. The most famous of the trodden down places in their possession became Temple Mount, the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

Granted, I had to dig deep into the word, history and meanings to discover the deeper meanings here. I believe this is part of seeking God, His character, His ways, and His intentions for us, His children.

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

That means you should investigate for yourself and not to leave the dividing up to others, not even me.

Joshua 3:10 And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

If you thought that the title of this devotional is in any way related to being left behind after the rapture, well it is not. But then again, let God speak in your heart.

How do you know with any certainty that you are walking with God? Joshua promises victory to those who possess the promise land. Allow me to move ahead to the issues that directly affect success.

Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

At first glance your mind might be drawn back to Noah’s flood and the old gods. Not so for many other versions of the bible use a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew word nahar which is river or stream. What river and why the condition of a flood?

Joshua 3:15 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)

The flood Joshua was referring to here was the flooding of the Jordan and the parting of those waters by the entry before them of the Ark of the Covenant. He made a way where there was no other way.

Having entered into this covenant, have you left the gods you served behind you?