“I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land. And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River. For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
In outlining his covenant with Israel, God described the boundaries of the land they were to possess. This land would become theirs not in an instant but over time. There are two things that strike me most about this passage. The first is that God is the one doing the work in ridding the land of those who are not his children. It is God who will drive their enemies from there. Second, this land is not without bounds. There is a specific territory set aside for Israel, and that is where they are meant to prosper in safety. These critical elements of God’s covenant with Israel have much to do with his warning them not to enter a covenant with any other gods or any of their enemies.
God described this covenant of safety and protection with limits, and it rings true to us even today. If Israel wanted to stay within the bounds set by the Lord, to please him and prosper in security and safety, all they had to do was trust him to provide. After all, He was the one preparing that place for them. God could tell them exactly what they should expect as long as they lived within those bounds and according to his ways. For Israel to enter into a covenant with those who did not serve their God or with the gods of those people would be to reject the blessings made available through this covenant. They would be stepping out of blessing and safety, and stepping into a trap designed to deceive and destroy.
There is a simple and basic message here that applies even to us today. God prepares a place for his people, and He gives them provision and instruction. His word tells us how we are to live for him and how to do so fruitfully. If we deviate from that, we run the risk of encountering every danger and curse there is. For the Israelites here, God’s warning was vague but still critical; specifics were not necessary. They only needed to know that following anyone other than the Lord would be a snare to them, and it is no different for us now. Father, help us to live as those who are in covenant with You because we are, remaining faithful and wise to bind ourselves to no other.