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A Promise and a Warning
The Lord said:
20I am sending an angel to protect you and to lead you into the land I have ready for you. 21Carefully obey everything the angel says, because I am giving him complete authority, and he won't tolerate rebellion. 22If you faithfully obey him, I will be a fierce enemy of your enemies. 23My angel will lead you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. 24Don't worship their gods or follow their customs. Instead, destroy their idols and shatter their stone images.
25Worship only me, the Lord your God! I will bless you with plenty of food and water and keep you strong. 26Your women will give birth to healthy children, and everyone will live a long life.
27I will terrify those nations and make your enemies so confused that they will run from you. 28I will make the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites panic as you approach. 29But I won't do all this in the first year, because the land would become poor, and wild animals would be everywhere. 30Instead, I will force out your enemies little by little and give your nation time to grow strong enough to take over the land.
31I will see that your borders reach from the Red Sea to the Euphrates River and from the Mediterranean Sea to the desert. I will let you defeat the people who live there, and you will force them out of the land. 32But you must not make any agreements with them or with their gods. 33Don't let them stay in your land. They will trap you into sinning against me and worshiping their gods.
Reflect
Many years after these words were written, the apostle Paul asked the rhetorical question, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Paul then went on to emphatically assert, “no one!” (see Romans 8:31-34) This should not come as a surprise given all that God has done for his people down through the years. In the New Testament the greatest evidence of God’s power is the redemption he accomplished in his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. But in the Old Testament it is God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt and their settlement in Canaan, the Land of Promise, which proclaims God as the God of salvation.
There are a number of features in the present passage that we should note. First, Israel would never enter Canaan if they relied on their own strength. Second, God brought them into the land by sending his angel ahead of them to guide them and secure the victory.
Beyond these observations we should also note the emphasis on obedience and the repeated warnings against peaceful coexistence with idolatry. Ideas have consequences and error is contagious. God wants his people to walk in victory and to experience all of the blessings he has in store for them. Sin will spoil everything and so they are commanded to worship the Lord their God in the way he has laid out for them. The same applies to us today. We need the Lord and his salvation in Christ. Knowing and obeying him is always the way to blessing.
Respond
Heavenly Father, Thank you for your salvation which has delivered us from our enemies and brought us to yourself. Help us to walk in faith and obedience and to look forward in hope to the new heavens and earth, our future home of righteousness. In your Son’s mighty name. Amen.
Kirk Wellum
Kirk Wellum is the Principal of Toronto Baptist Seminary and Bible College where he also teaches Systematic Theology and Pastoral Theology. Before coming to TBS in 2006 he served as a pastor for a total of 24 years in three churches in Southern Ontario, but primarily at Sovereign Grace Community Church in Sarnia where he was the founding pastor. He has written numerous articles for a variety of Christian magazines and has contributed chapters to a number of books. He speaks at conferences in Canada and the United States, as well as in other parts of the world. Kirk is married to Debbie and they have four children.