"These [in Berea] were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so." - Acts 17:11

(23) For My Angel shall go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. And I will cut them off. (24) You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them. And you shall not do according to their works. But you shall surely tear them down, and surely you shall smash their standing images. (25) And you shall serve the LORD your God, and He shall bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. (26) None shall cast their young, nor be barren in your land. The number of your days I will fulfill. (27) I will send My fear before you, and will destroy all the people to whom you shall come. And I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. (28) And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite and the Hittite from before you. (29) I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become a waste, and the beast of the field multiply against you. (30) But little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and inherit the land.

A Faithful Version copyright © 2013 A Faithful Version. All Rights Reserved.

Some people draw a careless assumption from a surface evaluation of Exodus 23:20-33, leading to a shallow conclusion: that if the Israelites had just obeyed God, they would have marched into the land and taken it over without a fight. Such submission would have undoubtedly made their course easier and produced better results.

However, many other contexts show that God tests His people because He is preparing them for future responsibilities. Israel failed many tests. The march through the wilderness and the conquest of the Promised Land was a school, a vast, almost fifty-years-long training ground, for appreciating, using, and governing the Promised Land. This "schooling" included tests by which the Israelites could measure their progress, and at the same time, prove to God their growth and readiness.

We concluded that God's promises in Exodus 23 were indeed conditional. Their fulfillment depended on Israel's obedience, and part of that obedience was confronting their enemies, the people of the land, in warfare. The episode recorded in Numbers 13-14 reveals that the Israelite spies fully expected to have to fight the Canaanites, Hittites, Jebusites, etc. They did not understand Exodus 23 as a free pass, as many do today. Their responsibility was to drive them out in cooperation with God, as He promised to be with them, enabling them to drive the people out, which they were incapable of doing without His involvement. But they refused to do their part.

They were to drive out the inhabitants even as we, in cooperation with God, are to confront and drive out old habits, attitudes, and loyalties. These are negative characteristics left over from our pre-conversion days. Christian living parallels this Old Testament instruction. This is one reason why the New Testament has so many illustrations and exhortations regarding Christian warfare.

Our warfare is in many ways different. It does not involve bloody engagements featuring swords, spears, or rifles with bayonets. It is a spiritual warfare, one that takes place primarily within ourselves. Nonetheless, it requires qualities such as loyalty, patriotism, courage, self-denial, vision, understanding, and sacrifice for us to be victorious overcomers.

— John W. Ritenbaugh

To learn more, see:
The Christian Fight (Part Two)



 

Topics:

Christian Fight

Christian Warfare

Cooperation with God

Overcoming

Overcoming, Mankind's Participation in

Preparation for Rulership

Promises, Conditionality of

Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth, Process of

Spiritual Warfare

Testing

Tests

Trials

Trials, Purpose of

Trials, Shaping Power Of




Back to top