“I will send my terror before you, and I will destroy all the people whom you encounter; I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. I will send hornets before you that will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you.”
Exodus 23:27, 28
This is one of the major promises God gave to Israel after they left Egypt and before they came in to the Promised Land. Like the rest of His promises, this one was conditional. The Israelites had to obey God’s commands and not worship the gods of the inhabitants of the land (verses 22-24). Unfortunately, Israel didn’t uphold their end. Although, God did help them push out the inhabitants on a couple of occasions, it didn’t go as planned.
This may seem like genocide and completely against who God is. Our God is a God of love. But with love comes justice. The people of the land had fully rejected their Creator and now was the time for them to be judged. The same thing will happen at the end of time for the rest of the world.
God doesn’t promise us today to wipe out entire populations. When He sees fit, He will push back our enemies from harming us. He will make things easy for us, sometimes. Sometimes we must go through our own desert experience to discipline us and eliminate our bad habits and sins. You may be in the desert now but God has a promised land waiting just for you. Just be patient and allow Him to lead.
This is an excerpt from the upcoming companion devotional to Combat Ready. These devotionals are not in the same order as they will appear in the printed book and may not be in the final form. To read more devotionals click here. To purchase the original book, Combat Ready, click here or go anywhere else books are sold.
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