An Ominous and Tragic Warning (Numbers 33:50-56)

As we approach the final instructions for the new generation preparing to take the promised land (chapters 34-36), God issues a stern warning. He instructs Moses to warn the people that they must drive out and thoroughly conquer all of the land. They must leave none of the pagan and idolatrous peoples, or their idols, or their cultic sites in place. If they fail to drive out all of the peoples, then those people will be a temptation and source of apostasy for Israel. In the same way that Moab at Baal Peor had caused the people to fall into idolatry, so would the Canaanites.

So, how is this going to go?

If we jump ahead to after the (ultimately failed) conquest, we can see. Judges 3:1-6 says,

“Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.”

In the progress of salvation history, we will see that isolation from pagan idolatrous cultures is not the answer. Israel is also a sinful nation, despite their salvation from Egypt. They have rebellious hearts. They have sinned against God in the wilderness, isolated and alone. They will fail to drive out the Canaanites. Judges even tells us that this is ultimately a part of God’s plan. The Old Testament witness reveals that there is nothing that we can contribute to become holy on our own. Even with instructions from God, we will fail in our task. We require God Himself to intervene on our behalf. We require His power, His action, His mercy and grace, to have any hope of living an idol-free life and serving Him. Thankfully, the story will not end with the failed conquest!