Drive Them Out Completely
The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds....And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord. When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.”
Judges 6:1-2, 6-10
So the Israelites finally settled into the Promised Land. Things were good. They had food, shelter, foreign men and women to marry, faiths and believes according to their preferences. Each of them did what was right in their own eyes (Judges 17:6). Yet what is right in man's eyes is evil in His eyes, so God gave Israel up to her enemies.
Before the Midians, there were several other attacks from different enemies all over the land of Israel. These attacks were the result of Israel's disobedience and failure to complete their conquest of the land.
Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” Judges 2:1-3The covenant was simple: God bring them out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, they shall not spare the inhabitants of Canaan and anything that breathes. In my perspective, the deal was actually quite one-sided, with God doing most of the work. When God promised to bring them into the land, He was also swearing His allegiance in this ongoing war against the Canaanites. All that were required from the Israelites, were their complete obedience and commitment to see it through.
In the Israelite's conquest of the land of Canaan, He was trying to hit two (or probably more) stones with one bird: fulfilling His promise to Abraham, and breathing out His wrath and judgement against the wicked inhabitants of Canaan.
“Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Deuteronomy 9:4-5God was driving out wickedness before the Israelite. The Canaanites were like parasite and was completely hopeless. From the time of Abraham to the Exodus, God gave more than 400 years of mercy that they may not be destroyed. When the Israelite in the desert disobeyed God, He extended their expiry date for another 40 years. And yet they refused to repent. God waited about 500 years before finally decided to give them up completely.
It must be done. As people set apart for the Lord, the Israelite must not be influenced by the wickedness of the Canaanites. Sins must be banished and eliminated completely. But the Israelite were unwilling. Why must they go to war? They have enough land to settle down; they have flowing milk and honey. Why trouble themselves and risks their comfort and lives? This was good enough for them.
Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. Judge 3:1-4But wickedness will give them no rest, because God will give us no rest. The Canaanites continued to haunt and harass them.
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God is interested in all areas of our lives. He doesn't just want the best of our lives, He wants our worst and our brokenness too. He is far more interested to mend us back to perfection. But we are unwilling to give our sins up. We are unwilling to let God work in us that we may have a perfect life in His way. Sins and brokenness in our lives, if left undealt with, will continue to haunt us for the rest of our lives, and we shall have no rest, just as the Canaanites left the Israelite no rest.
In what areas of our lives that we have not given up to God? What are the sins in our lives that we are unwilling to unroot completely? What are some areas in our lives that we are unwilling to forgive and drive out? Let us reflect, forgive and obey, that God may give us the eternal freedom that He has promised us, in Christ.
God's Character, My Encounter.
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