“Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:
And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it– Numbers 33: 52, 53 (KJV)
First, the Promised Land belonged to God long before the Canaanites established temporary residency there. It had always been his plan to give this land to the descendants of Abraham: But in the fourth generation they(your descendants) shall come-hither again” – (Gen 15:16a) – emphasis mine.
Secondly, the Canaanites lived in wicked rebellion against the will and purposes of God. The Lord had predicted that Abraham’s descendants would claim the land when “the sin of the Amorites” was full (Gen 15:16b). The Canaanites were the generation after tha Amorites.
The Canaanites sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire, practiced divination, sorcery, interpreted omens, engaged in witchcraft, and casts spells. They also engaged in mediums, spiritism and consulted the dead” (Deut 18:10-12).
God wanted to keep the Israelites from the influence of sinners without or within their nation. The holy God who gave them their land would uproot them from it if they rebelled against him (Deut 28:63-68). This warning came to pass centuries later at the hands of Assyria and then Babylon, and ultimately in the national destruction wrought by Rome in the first century of the Christian era, God destroyed the sinful Canaanite civilization. His salvation plan required a purified nation through whom he could bring the Messiah of all mankind.
The blessings we procure when we strive for righteousness transcend our generations. God will always exalt the righteous. He surrounds him with favour.
Prayer: Father, command your blessings on my generation as I make a choice to be Holy.
Bro Favour Ejemi