LIFE SCRIPTS

20 “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. 22 If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. 24 Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. 25 Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, 26 and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span. 27 “I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. 28 I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. 29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. 31 “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out before you. 32 Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.”
Exodus 23:20‭-‬33 NIV

https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.23.20-33.NIV.

God promised to send an Angel to lead the children of Israel to the promised land. They were to heed to his voice and he would guide them. If obedient, the angel would bring them to the territory of several nations and the Lord would drive them out before them. God’s promises over our lives are dependent on our obedience to Him. Just as He sent an Angel to lead His people those days, today He’s sent His Son, Jesus Christ to redeem us. He’s also sealed us with His Holy Spirit Who leads us through unfamiliar territory. As we obey Him, He gives us victory against our enemies. One would wonder why God chose to drive off these nations and grant their land to Israel. These are nations which were given to idolatry. In the days of Noah, God destroyed the whole earth because of sin. In times to come, God would use nations to deliver His judgement. Years later, Babylon, that sinful nation would be used by God to deliver His judgement upon His own people. It wasn’t Israel who would drive the nations, God would. In verse 29, God stated His plan for leading His people to the promised land. God would drive out nations bit by bit to prevent it’s occupation by wild animals. The conquest of the promised land would take years and not a one time event. When God leads us towards an assignment, He may give us instant victory but if not, then we must be encouraged that He’s still at work. Bit by bit…step by step He’s leading us through. The land of Israel was bound to be extensive. Stretching from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates, it would occupy large swaths of land upto modern day Iraq. A reference to River Euphrates takes us back to the creation story where it was used to define the location of the garden of Eden. But it also takes us towards the story of Babylon, a city state which grew between it and another river, the Tigris both flowing in modern day Iraq. But it also takes us to Revelation 9 when the vast horde marching against Israel would cross where the river used to flow after it’s dried up. A land that’s so significant yet inhabited by sin. God was sending His people to possess it. But He would grant victory to them bit by bit. He would fulfill His will even though it tarried. Israel only occupied the full land of the promise during the reign of David. It has shrunk geographically ever since with the main reason being God allowing their enemies to run over them. Among those enemies, the most significant were Assyrians and Babylonians. Israel’s sin prevented them from stretching to their full potential much in the way our sin blocks us. Sin disables and impedes the fulfillment of God’s perfect will over our lives.