Isra’el’s Enemies
33: 50-56
Isra’el’s enemies DIG: Why did the resident nations in the Promised Land need to be exterminated? How would that protect the Israelites? How had they fallen prey to idolatry in the past? On what basis would the Promised Land be divided among the twelve tribes? Was that fair? Why or why not. What would be their punishment for rebellion? What was the outcome?
REFLECT: When Ha’Shem told Isra’el to utterly destroy the inhabitants of the Promised Land, does that seem unusually cruel to you? Why? Why not? Who are those in the world today that God doesn’t want you to be unequally yoked with? Are you intermarrying with them? Are you having your children over to them? In what sense can you destroy them? What will happen if you don’t?
If you don’t drive out the inhabitants of the land from in front of you, then those you allow to remain will become like thorns in your eyes and stings in your sides.
Introduction (33:50-51): ADONAI spoke to Moshe in the plains of Mo’ab by the Jordan, across from Jericho, where the conquest would begin in the near future. He said.
Here is an example of chiasm with introversion (to see link click Ac – Numbers from a Messianic Jewish Perspective: Chiasm and introversion). The first A is the opposite of the second A. But both A’s speak of the decisions of the whole population. The pivot, C, focuses on the criterion of the population. Both are factors of the land distribution in 26:54-55; they are summarized in this introverted, but symmetrical scheme.757
A. Reward for obedience (33:52-53): to tell the people of Isra’el, “When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, you are to expel all the people living in the land. You are to destroy all their stone figures, destroy all their metal statues and demolish all their high places of idol worship. Drive out the inhabitants of the land, and live in it, for I have given the land to you to possess.” The tragedy of Isra’el’s history was that they failed to follow faithfully these commands from the LORD, so their demise at the hands of the Assyrians and the Babylonians was largely due to their tendency toward idolatry.
B. The division of the Land (33:54): Here is the theological climax of the book. The Land belonged to ADONAI, and it was His to grant to whom He desired. By His love, grace, and mercy He had promised and was now presenting the gift of the Land to His people. The distribution among the tribes was to be proportionate, based on the size of each tribe and through the casting of lots. Those lots were cast with the confidence in the providence of God to apportion justly and fairly among the different tribes of Isra’el. You will inherit the land by lot according to your tribes. You are to give more land to the larger tribes and less to the smaller ones. Wherever the lot falls to any particular person, that will be his property. You will inherit according to the tribes of your ancestors (see Eq – The Division of the Land).
A. Punishment for disobedience (33:55-56): The reward for obedience is now contrasted with a stern warning and potential curse that would follow if the nation was not faithful to the LORD alone. But if you don’t drive out the inhabitants of the land from in front of you, then those you allow to remain will become like thorns in your eyes and stings in your sides — they will harass you in the land where you are living (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Ca – Warning Against Idolatry). And in this event, I will do to you what I intended to do to them. The opposite to the Israelites driving out the inhabitants of the land would be that of being driven out themselves by the hand of the One who had given it to them in the first place. Joshua issued a similar warning to Isra’el in his farewell address to the nation before his death (see the commentary on Joshua Cs – Joshua’s Farewell Address).758
In six short verses, we learn so much about the enemies which Isra’el would have to face when they entered the Land. ADONAI told them while speaking to Moses on the foothills of Mo’av, that they would have to totally destroy all the religious trappings of the Canaanites and dispossess the inhabitants when they entered the Land. The LORD told them while speaking to Moshe on the foothills of Mo’ab, that they would have to totally destroy all the pagan practices of the Canaanites and utterly destroy them when they entered the Land. The consequences for disobedience to His commandment would be tragic. Ha’Shem declared: But if you don’t drive out the inhabitants of the land from in front of you, then those you allow to remain will become like thorns in your eyes and stings in your sides – they will harass you in the land where you are living. And in this event, I will do to you what I intended to do to them (33:55-56).
Just like the plagues of Egypt, so also would be the battles in Canaan – a religious war! The religious systems of both civilizations were actually quite different although they had many common features. Some of these common features were idolatry, polytheism, demonization, and occult practices. Both societies (Egyptian and Canaanite) had their own version of these common features. So, one of the first instructions that God gave Moshe concerning the Canaanites was to destroy all their religious implements and worship places. Also, there are several teachings scattered throughout the Torah specifically directed toward the Canaanites.
Even though the religion of the Canaanites was spoken of rather frequently in the TaNaKh, nevertheless, it was not until relatively recently that scholars knew many details about the Canaanite religion. The latest information came with the discovery of the now famous Ugaritic tablets found in the late 1920’s near the Syrian village of Ras Shamra, located close to the Mediterranean coast. Here for the first-time archaeologists found written documentation of the many religious practices about which the TaNaKh speaks. It is true that archaeologists have found many cult objects such as sanctuaries, deity figurines, incense burners, and altars in excavations scattered throughout Isra’el. However, the Ugaritic texts provide authentic Canaanite records that confirm firsthand expressions of Canaanite religious thought and practice.
What do we know about the religion of the Canaanites? The best summary is that the Canaanite religion is in part, “a human response to the environment.” In other words, religion is expressed as a pattern of human behavior in the face of life’s difficulties. To that end, nature is full of extraordinary power, such as storms or heat. The Canaanites thought that the forces of nature were personified. Thus, they created a deity for each of these forces. Interestingly enough, since the language of Canaan was a language very close to Hebrew, many of these gods or goddesses were called by common Hebrew names. For example, the Canaanites chief god was El, also a common Hebrew word for God; Ba’al was a second most powerful Canaanite god and his name means lord; and Yam was the god of the sea, and the Hebrew word yam means sea. Another important Canaanite goddess was Asherah (or Athirath or Astarte) the wife of Yam.
These countless deities often fought each other. The evidence for this was observed in the cycles of nature in the land of Canaan. For instance, Ba’al was the storm god who brought the essential rains in the winter, the season for rain. But, in the summer, the god Mot (from the same Hebrew world which means death) overcame Ba’al for a time and killed him. In the fall, Ba’al was resurrected, and the rains resumed.759
Their religion often consisted in reenacting those dramas through the recitation of the myths that were invented to narrate those dramas. When they did, there would have been weeping and lamentation or joy, depending on what the drama was about. Moreover, scattered throughout those festivals was magic and sacrifices. Thus, by myth and ritual as festivals through the maintenance of temple, and through the power of magic, the Canaanites sought to survive in the face of the many forces that pushed in against their lives.760
This makes it sound like the Canaanite religion was rather morally sterile. However, things got rather complicated in their religious practices, depending on which god they were worshipping and by what myth. The worst scenes were when the fertility goddesses were worshipped. Since the Canaanites did not know or believe in the One true God of Isra’el (who is the giver of life), they resorted to appealing to false gods, goddesses, or even demons to help make them fertile. In addition to open sex, and bestiality, child sacrifices were also common so that their gods would bless the fertility of their soil, and consequently, their crops. The people merely acted out what the myth said about their gods.761 Molech was the god of fertility and the Canaanites sacrificed their babies to gain fertility of their crops.
To summarize the situation of the Canaanites, they were a people whose religion was polytheistic, mythological, ritualistic, and was centered to a large degree in a keen interest in the fertility of the soil, but also in the fertility of human beings. Hence, it was difficult for Isra’el to resist the attraction of the Canaanite cult and worldview, with its emphasis on fertility.762 The Holy One knew full well the religious danger that the Israelites faced when He sent them into the land of Canaan. Consequently, He gave them the most appropriate instructions about how to handle the enemy. They were to destroy the Canaanite religious practices and their destruction was to be complete: every man, woman, and child was to be killed (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Ag – The Problem of Holy War in the TaNaKh). Just as a contractor must demolish buildings and clear land to make room for a new structure, so, God had to wipe out the pagan societies in Canaan so that His people might move in and build a nation that would glorify YHVH. During their wilderness wanderings, the Israelites revealed their appetite for the things of Egypt, and at Ba’al Peor, they succumbed to the seductions of Ba’al worship (see Ea – Taking a Stand for God). If the pagan shrines were left standing, it wouldn’t take long for Isra’el to forsake the LORD and start worshipping idols. Unfortunately, Isra’el didn’t obey God’s commands and ended up being snared by the practices of heathen peoples left in the land (see the commentary on Judges As – Cycles of Disobedience and Deliverance).763
Today, we live in a world where we are surrounded by “Canaanites.” We live in a sex-saturated society. Sins that used to be kept in the dark are now flaunted in public. Our sense of shame has been replaced with brazen defiance. Norms that used to be accepted are now being challenged; people living abnormal lifestyles now want to be accepted as normal. Sex sells everything today. It is in every industry, all the time, year after year, day after day, every minute, every second. We cannot escape it. Like Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah, we are swimming in an ocean of sexual excess and perversion while trying to stay clean. Sex crimes are at all-time highs, while infidelity, divorce, and perversion are now commonplace. We are obsessed with sex to a degree perhaps never seen before in the world. In addition, the worship of false gods is now the norm, and child sacrifice in the form of abortion has never been more condoned. In short, we are not much different than the Canaanites. The question for us is this. Can we be a light in the darkness and resist the culture war that we are in, or will we succumb to the world?
Dear Heavenly Father, praise You for Your wonderful, steadfast love that so mercifully provided the path to eternal joy and peace in heaven for all who choose to love and to follow You. How foolish it is to follow the god of sex. Just as You destroyed the inhabitants of the land of Canaan for their sinful living, so all who follow the path of selfishly living for themselves will also suffer the natural consequences of your wrath. He who trusts in the Son has eternal life. He who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him (John 3:36). Yeshua paid the high price as the Lamb of God (John 1:29) to conquer death. The price has been paid, the gift has been offered; however, the gift only belongs to someone if they choose to receive it. The gift of salvation is a gift of relationship with You as their Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9-11).
Thank You so much for Your fantastic love that offers Messiah Yeshua to dwell within the hearts of those who have faith in Him, Your abiding presence is such a comfort in these troubling times. What peace it brings that our Lord is the steadfast anchor of our soul, who has entered heaven as our high priest forever (Hebrews 6:19-20). How glorious it is that He saves all who draw near to God through Him. Therefore He is also able to completely save those who draw near to God through Him, always living to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25). All praise, honor and worship belong to You our great and awesome heavenly Father! I look forward to praising You in heaven thru all eternity. In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen
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