More Than Conquest
In Numbers 33:50-56, there are instructions regarding the conquest of the promised land. They are told to drive out the inhabitants, destroy items associated with their pagan worship, and don’t let even a remnant of them to remain in the land with them. It sounds like a straightforward “battle plan” of conquest, but it is much more.
First, the inhabitants have been judged by God. It was not arbitrary that this was the land that was promised. This is important to notice so that we do not think of God as being unjust. He has acted righteously in taking away the land from this pagan people and giving it to His people.
Second, they were to expel ALL the inhabitants. If they leave any, they will be “barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.” We are looking backward in history and see that very thing happen. They didn’t follow all of God’s instructions, leaving some of the inhabitants and the result was they learned their pagan practices, intermarried with foreigners, and compromised themselves spiritually in so doing. (take some time to consider Psalm 106:43-49 and 1 Kings 11:1-8)
We are not of the Hebrews who were conquering the promised land, but we are a spiritual people of God and there’s lessons to be learned from these commands and their actions in following (or not following) them. The biggest one is to understand the need to rid our lives of impure influences. We may think something is small and poses no threat, but over time, influences can creep in. Our attitudes can change, we no longer hold the line of faith as we once did, or we slowly adopt practices that may be questionable at best. The culture around is always going to be used by our adversary to create conflict and try to convince us to compromise the truth. We need clarity in moral decisions and an unwavering consistency in following God. Paul said:
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Cor 6:14–18)
The Israelites didn’t follow God’s commands completely, They absorbed some of the impurity of the peoples God had already judged, and it was to their detriment. We must value purity and holiness as people of God, not allowing ourselves to be influenced, but rather for us to be an influence for good in the world we live. We need to be the salt and light in the world and not lose our savor! (Matt 5:13-16)