Covenant's End - Exodus 23:27-33

23:27-33 - One of the overarching themes of the Book of Mormon that I find so fascinating is the concept of personal righteousness being the deciding factor in war and all the supernatural ways that God plays into that victory. And it’s not just the Book of Mormon, but the Old Testament as well. I’m excited to get into the nitty gritty of individual engagements, but here God gives us a preview of one of the ways that He can ensure victory regardless of the abilities of Israel’s army. He says that he will instill “my fear before thee, ad will destroy all the people of whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.” He will send fear into the hearts of their enemies and personally defeat them.

Additionally, something that I found interesting was his promise to “send hornets before thee,” which will drive out certain enemies. Interestingly, the word “hornet” is cross referenced with Joshua 24:12 where God says, “I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you.” So it goes to show that he promised it, then decades later, delivered on that promise.

But there are other factors in play here because God caveats here that this will not be a quick process that happens within a year, but “by little and little I will drive them out from before thee.” Why? TB explains, “because if all the inhabitants of Canaan flee at once the land will go fallow from lack of care and then wild animals will take over. So God is going to have Israel take over Canaan step=by-step at a rate they can properly assume stewardship over the rich land and resources.” Interesting perspective that I hadn’t considered before and applicable in our own lives too. We can only be blessed with things that we have resources to support.

The land that Israel is going to inhabit, God says that He “will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.” Here’s a general map that shows the vastness of the area that God has promised to Israel. Interestingly, TB points out, “this is a very large tract of land, which Israel has yet to EVER fully possess.” Must be one of those eternal promise things that has yet to be fulfilled.

With all the lands that Israel is promised to possess, God commands them, like he has previously, to “make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.” We know how this plays in the future, with Israel constantly incorporating other cultures and religions, just like we do now.

Interestingly, TB notes, “as we’ll see in later studies, during the time when Joshua was leading Israel, in their human idea of mercy, they ignored God in this and made treaties, allowed intermarriage, practiced tolerance, and Israel suffered from this disobedience to this very day.” This is an interesting concept to think about because, as we’ll see, conquering Israel was commanded to kill everybody and everything, I think, and that seems pretty crazy to me, and we’ll have to work through it when we get there. But how that applies to us and the eternal perspective is going to be enlightening, hopefully.

Anyway, I know that I’ve been working on this section, chapter 19-23, since July and that’s a long time, but TB gives us a preview saying, “what we have been witnessing since Chapter 19 of exodus is the making of a covenant; or in a more exact Biblical language, the cutting of a covenant. Chapter 24 is all about the ratification of the covenant that has been spelled out over the last few chapters… In Exodus 19-23, we saw the TERMS of the covenant between Israel and Yehoveh being laid out… The covenant of Moses was quite unique; it was even a departure from the previous covenants that God has made with Noach, and then with Abraham. For in both of those much earlier covenants, they were but one-sided promises… the Covenant of Moses was bi-lateral, that is, both sides had obligations and responsibilities. The Covenants of Noach and Abraham were UN-conditional… nothing man could do would cause God to retract His promises. The Covenant of Moses was conditional… The people of Israel had to follow through with their end of the deal.”