Joshua 18:3 –
Then Joshua asked them, “How long are you going to wait before taking possession of the remaining land the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given to you?
How long are YOU going to wait? That is an excellent question to the people. They were given this land that required some effort to take. Once met with adversity they found excuses not to battle. Before the tribes banded as one army and took their lands, now each tribe was responsible for the final cleanup of their allotted lands. None really seemed excited to do this and dragged their backsides.
Joshua finally pushed them to do what they needed to do to get an allotment. The fact they were not anxious to take the Promised Land is odd, but the Canaanites seemed to be a serious threat. Now were they not taking the lands because of a lack of faith or just plain out being lazy? Once they received “marching orders” from Joshua, they set out and did what was asked.
Although the people did not argue their lack of action could be viewed as sin. Think about how the behavior of a lazy person or “sluggard” is addressed in the Bible and ask if it’s not a sin. A “sluggard” procrastinates doing what is required and will rationalized not doing the work, like these final 7 tribes. They do things as “slack” as they can to finish a job and often take risks that are unnecessary and foolish so not to have to work hard. They also require constant supervision, like Joshua is required to do here. Proverbs 6:6-8 teaches the “sluggard” to learn from the ant, who works tirelessly to finish their work.
Joshua is in a difficult place and many “managers” find themselves in all the time. There are books out that glorify being able to draw a paycheck and not do anything for it. Jeff Foxworthy has a comedic slant to his actual performance on a job in How to Really Stink at Work. I see kids today protesting Wall Street “fat cats” and expecting a job without there being a “need” or a specific valuable skill available. There is nothing new between today and then, people still want something for nothing and will do the least amount of work necessary to get it. It’s almost like this is the first recorded instance of an “entitlement” mentality. The key to take from here is to work hard at whatever you do and don’t just expect rewards.