The Conquest of Canaan
The book of Joshua records how God gave the people of Israel vic tory over the nations in the land of Canaan. At the end of the book we find a clue to why God did this for his people.
And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you dwell therein; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards which you did not plant.
Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithful ness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. (Joshua 24: 12-14)
The words, "Now therefore fear the Lord" are an inference from God's grace in giving Israel the land. The logic shows that God's purpose in giving them the land of Canaan was that they might fear and honor him alone. In other words, in giving Israel the land of Canaan, God aimed to create a people who would recognize his glory and delight in it above all things. This purpose is confirmed in David's prayer recorded in 2 Samuel 7:23.
What other nation on earth is like Thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name, and doing for them great and terrible things, by driving out before his people a nation and Its gods?
The book of Joshua records how God gave the people of Israel vic tory over the nations in the land of Canaan. At the end of the book we find a clue to why God did this for his people.
And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you dwell therein; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards which you did not plant.
Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithful ness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. (Joshua 24: 12-14)
The words, "Now therefore fear the Lord" are an inference from God's grace in giving Israel the land. The logic shows that God's purpose in giving them the land of Canaan was that they might fear and honor him alone. In other words, in giving Israel the land of Canaan, God aimed to create a people who would recognize his glory and delight in it above all things. This purpose is confirmed in David's prayer recorded in 2 Samuel 7:23.
What other nation on earth is like Thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name, and doing for them great and terrible things, by driving out before his people a nation and Its gods?
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