The Book of the Covenant III: Worship and Kingdom (Ex. 23)

[Sung Psalm: 80]

God says that he will blot out the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, etc. And he commands Israel: “You shall utterly overthrow them… I will drive them out before you.” In the modern world this would be called “ethnic cleansing” or “genocide.”

How can God command this?

One of the benefits of preaching through the whole Bible is that it forces us to deal frankly with the hard teachings of Scripture. We can’t just pretend that these things don’t exist.

So how can a just and merciful God command the extermination of an entire people group?

Think about the principle that we see in the Flood and at Sodom and Gomorrah: the iniquity of a people is “complete” when God says “time’s up!” Noah was a righteous man – but no one listened to him. Lot sought to dissuade the men of Sodom – but no one listened to him.

When a people refuse to repent and believe in the LORD – when they refuse to listen to his prophets – that is a good sign that their iniquity may be complete.

So it’s not that the Amorites and the Canaanites were the worst sinners on earth. It’s rather that “time’s up” for them. The Final Judgment is coming upon the Amorites and the Canaanites – just as it had come for Sodom in the days of Lot, just as it had come for all humanity in the days of Noah.

And in each step, the son of God takes a more direct role. With Noah, God simply told him what he would do. With Abraham, God asked for his counsel. Now with Israel, the son of God will take the sword – even as God himself declares that he will be the one that drives the nations out before Israel.