“Adonai spoke to Moshe in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Yericho. He said to tell the people of Israel, “When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, you are to expel all the people living in the land from in front of you. Destroy all their stone figures, destroy all their metal statues and demolish all their high places.”-Numbers 33: 50-52
Verse 50 of Numbers 33 brings us to an area called ABEL-SHITTIM.
This area is located in the steppes of Moab and is mighty significant because this is where God gave Moses specific instructions concerning what the Israelites were to do with the Canaanites once they entered the Promised Land.
The instructions are simple.
ALL THE CANAANITES ARE TO BE DRIVEN OUT OF THE LAND.
NOT ONE OF THEM IS TO REMAIN.
PERIOD.
In addition, Israel is to destroy all of their idols and accompanying idol worship objects, tools, and items.
And wherever there is a pagan altar, temple or high place to some heathen deity standing, IT IS TO BE TORN DOWN!
God has had enough of the Canaanites and their detestable child-sacrificing religion.
One point needs to be made concerning a common misunderstanding of these passages.
Israel did NOT order genocide on the people of Canaan.
Rather, they were to be driven out.
However, those who resisted the Israelite soldiers or those who refused to leave after the war were to be slaughtered.
I don’t know any nice or more palatable way to present this portion of Scripture.
HASHEM’s instructions are as clear as day here.
I will say this however.
Any Canaanite who decided to forsake their false gods and agree to be grafted into Israel were welcome to do so.
This was a God-principle established long ago and still stands today.
Yet it must be understood that under no circumstances whatsoever were the Israelites to allow any clan, tribe or nation to remain as a separate people group inside the land HASHEM decided to set apart for His People.
“No other Gods but the One True God of Israel” was the one unbending, unswerving, uncompromising, and non-negotiable condition that if broken would spell disaster for God’s People.
Keep this set of instructions firmly embedded in every brain cell you possess.
Because we’re going to see that whenever Israel decided to rebel against or modify God’s instructions due to some BS notion of being merciful, fair, loving, politically correct or whatever, the results and God’s reaction were anything but pretty.
One final point before I close today’s post.
Let’s take a look at verse 54.
“You will inherit the land by lot according to your families. You are to give more land to the larger families 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.”
What?!
Didn’t God already apportion out the land in Numbers Chapter 26?
So why is he doling out instructions about this again?
Well, here’s why.
The land apportionment in Numbers 26 was based on the census taken at that time.
However, do you recall what major event occurred that obviously would have a huge impact on how the land is to be apportioned?
These three words should be more than a hint and a half for you: Reuben, Gad and Manasseh.
That’s right, Reuben, Gad and 1/2 of Manasseh deciding to settle on the east side of the Jordan River threw a bit of a monkey wrench into the original land allotment plan.
Hence, the original plan had to be modified to deal with the new reality that only 9 tribes and 1/2 of Manasseh would be settling in the Promised Land.
See ya all next time!
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