Exodus 23:24  Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
25  And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
26  There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
27  I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
28  And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
31  And I 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.
32  Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
33  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 have already learned that God is a jealous God. He created man. He chose Abraham to be the father of the nation of Israel. He promised Abraham a land. He blessed Abraham with a son named Isaac. He chose Isaac’s son Jacob to continue His promise. He brought the nation into Egypt in a time of famine and saved them and blessed them there. He gave the Egyptians opportunity to know the true God. They rejected Him, and God brought the nation of Israel out of Egypt with a mighty hand. He was now guiding them through the wilderness. Even though they were putting up resistance against Him, He did not go back on His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Now God was reminding the children of Israel not to worship idols. They were going to move into a land that was steeped in idolatry. When they entered that land, they were to destroy the people and their idols. They were not to serve idols and they were not to learn the ways of the pagans.
There comes a time when lost people cannot be reached. God knows that time. In Genesis 15:16 God told Abraham that they would need to wait four generations because the cup of the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full. God gave the Amorites many years to trust in Him, but they refused. After the allotted time, God would destroy them. This was a lesson to Israel not to follow in their footsteps. We know that in time Israel did follow idolatry. The result was that many Jews would suffer and die and others would be taken into captivity. The land of Israel would be under pagan rule and it would be desolate for a time.
Daniel was told of four world empires that would rule over the land of Israel. At the time of Christ, the Roman empire was in control under God’s watchful eye. The Romans could only do so much. The Jews had opportunity to be saved, but the majority rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Today Israel is still rejecting Jesus Christ as their Messiah. That will change in the future. Right now, Jews and Gentiles have the opportunity to repent and be saved. Many are choosing to remain in their sins. God is still being gracious. The wise person repents and trusts in the true God for their salvation.
Notice in verse 25 the command that the nation of Israel was to serve the LORD their God. This was a command, but they would need to obey that command in order for them to realize the blessings He wanted to give them. God has blessed Israel in many ways. However, the fulness of this blessing has escaped them because they have rejected Him. Jesus healed many people while He was on earth but many others remained sick and many died lost.
In verse 26 we read of the promise of material blessings that God wanted to give them. The nation of Israel did multiply in numbers over the years. However, we know that over six million Jews were killed during the ruthless rule of Hitler. Many others have died without Christ. Israel will never be destroyed. Had they believed God and trusted in Him, the number of living Jews would be far greater than it currently is.
Too many Gentiles believe that God has protected Israel in an unfair manner. Those people have not read the Bible. They have not paid attention to world history either. No nation has suffered more than Israel. God will not destroy them because He made a promise to Abraham. God’s mercy expressed toward Israel is a picture of His mercy to any person who will repent and trust in Him for their salvation and then walk humbly with Him.
In verse 27 we see that God would send His fear before Israel. We know that the people of Jericho were afraid of the children of Israel. They stayed in Jericho and never tried to attack the children of Israel as they marched around their city once a day for six days. On the seventh day, Israel marched around that city seven times before the priests would blow the trumpets and the walls would come crashing down. The people in Jericho never fought back. They were filled with fear.
We know that in the days of king David, no one dared to stand against Israel. That was a short lived peace. It lasted into the first years of king Solomon but then it was lost due to Solomon’s rebellion against the LORD. In the Millennium, Israel will know the fulness of the promises made here and throughout the Old Testament.
In verse 28 we read that God used different elements of His creation to protect His people. He did that when they entered the land of Canaan. He did that when Gideon needed to push back against the Midianites. He did that with David against the Philistines. He proved that He can protect His people. The problems Israel has faced and is facing are not because God cannot protect them. It is because He will not whitewash sin and bless His people when they do not want to know Him.
There are many professing Christians who are not enjoying the blessings that God has promised to those who love Him and keep His commandments. Many of them are false professors. God directed Paul to warn of this:

II Timothy 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

In verse 29 God told Moses He would not drive the enemies out of the land in one year. He would do so as the nation of Israel could take over the land. He did not want the land to be overgrown with weeds and wild animals roaming all over. God was not going to do all the work of keeping the land productive and clean. He would provide all that was needed for them to enjoy the land that would flow with milk and honey.
We read the book of Joshua and Judges and we see how God provided for them. In the book of Judges we see the roller coaster ride the nation was on because they did not walk with Him faithfully.
In verse 31 we see that God would set the boundaries of what would be the land of Israel. God has divided the world up and He has given different nations their boundaries. No nation has been promised a land in the way Israel was promised. That is why we see other nations destroyed and different nations taking over parcels of land. We see nations that get greedy and want more but God stops them. They can only go so far with their greed.
God warned the children of Israel not to make any covenant with His enemies. Compromise is never God’s way of living. The ecumenical movement which has permeated much of today’s religious scene is not blessed by God. Those involved in that movement may be growing in numbers in some places, but they are not blessed of God. That movement will come crashing down one day soon.
We have God’s Word. We can know what it means to know and follow the Lord. There is no guess work involved. Most do not want to follow God. They want Him to accept their compromises. He shows us throughout the Bible that He does not need to do that and He does not do that.
In verse 33 we see that the pagan nations were not to live in the land of Canaan once the children of Israel moved in. They were to be destroyed. The children of Israel were not that strong. If they would make covenants with the ungodly, they would fall into the ways of the ungodly. God proved that throughout the Old Testament. We can see that today as well.
In my lifetime, I have seen too many churches that at one time seemed to have a fairly good testimony, but they got away from God’s Word and they accepted compromise and today some of them are still around, but they are nothing more than social clubs now. They no longer know the Gospel of Christ and they are just making noise and giving their gullible followers a false sense of hope. A few people choose to leave those places and they turn to follow the true God.
Be sure you are a follower of the truth. Humble yourself and accept God’s preserved Word as your authority. Seek out a godly pastor to help you to understand God’s Word. You will be thankful to God if you do that.
Pastor Bartel