The Covenant Community's Failures

Aim: To be faithful in our own day—as the church of Christ.

Doctrine: Israel's inability to totally cleanse the land left them vulnerable to generations of trouble. At first this was not so apparent, but very soon it became blatantly manifest.

Exegesis: Three consequences of the church's failures: God's enemies get emboldened (vv. 27-28), get ''credibility'' (vv. 29-33), and get tyrannical (vv. 34-36).

Further application: How the church is to wipe-out ''Canaanites'' today: through our gospel-laden Sunday worship, whereby God's foes are eventually either converted or quieted.

Key phrases: vv. 27a, 29a, 30a, 31a, 33a ''However, Manasseh did not drive out...Nor did Ephraim drive out...Nor did Zebulun drive out...Nor did Asher drive out...Nor did Naphtali drive out...''