Numbers 33:50-56

VI. FINAL INSTRUCTIONS REGARDING THE SETTLEMENT OF CANAAN (Numbers 33:50-56; Numbers 34; Numbers 35; Numbers 36)

A. ON CLEARING THE LAND (Numbers 33:50-56)

TEXT

Numbers 33:50. And the Lord spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, 51. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; 52. 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: 53. And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it. 54. And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families; and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man's inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth: according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit. 55. But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. 56. Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.

PARAPHRASE

Numbers 33:50. Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab near the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, 51. Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their carved stones, and destroy all their molten images, and devastate all their high places. 53. You shall take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given the land unto you to possess it. 54. And you shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger you shall give the greater inheritance; and to the smaller you shall give the smaller inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to anyone, it shall be his. You shall inherit according to the families of your fathers. 55. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you allow to remain will become as thorns in your eyes and as pins in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land in which you live. 56. And it shall happen that as I plan to do to them, I shall do to you.

COMMENTARY

Here quite briefly, but in details which are certainly adequate, the children of Israel are told precisely what to do when they enter into the land of Canaan: first, they are to drive out all the inhabitants; second, every evidence of their pagan worship, idols, symbols, stones, and sites of desecration, are to be totally destroyed; third, they are to possess and settle in the entire land outlined unto them; and, finally, they are to determine by lot the area to which each tribe is to be assigned, with the division generally awarding larger territories to larger tribes, and smaller territories to smaller tribes. As a corollary, God informs His people of the dire consequences of anything less than total obedience: any of the residents who are left in the land will become a source of irritation and spiritual disruption; and, the Lord will bring upon Israel the same fate as should have come upon the Canaanites.

Two matters are established in God's proclamation that the people of Canaan are to be driven from the land in order that Israel might occupy it. God is at the same time pronouncing judgment upon a polytheistic, decadent and immoral people; and, He is making provision to establish a nation whose laws and conduct He may approve. All of this is an essential link in the chain of promise-fulfillment made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and his words to Moses are tantamount to saying, This is your land, just as I have promised. It shall be the land of your people as long as they are worthy of it. But should they become like the other nations, in idolatry and in conduct, they shall forfeit any claims whatsoever, and shall suffer the same end as those who held it before their coming.
Itemized as those factors which are especially offensive to the Lord are the pictures, or, more accurately, their carved stone images; the molten images, or images which have been cast or engraved of metal; and the high places or sites upon which idolatrous rites occurred, often in elevated areas. They were all to be totally demolished. No vestige of these offensive elements were to be left, lest they pollute the thoughts and corrupt the practices of Israel. It would be impossible to misunderstand the meaning of these instructions. They would either be fully carried out, or the very pledge of long standing with the patriarchs was no longer valid. Holding the land was directly associated with religious puritya factor which should never be forgotten. Failure to apprehend this principle will result in a failure to understand the dozens of associated prophecies which God would later speak through His appointed messengers. It is unfortunate that many otherwise devout and learned students of the Word of God have not given this premise to all their exegesis of the prophetic treatment of Israel, both past, present and future.
Only the unbeliever or the self-appointed expert can question the right of the Creator to declare a portion of His creation for the use of those whom He has chosen. Israel will become stewards of Canaan simply because the previous occupants were poor landlords, worshiping the created rather than the Creator. While Israel retains a faithful stewardship, the land will belong to successive generations.

As in Numbers 26:53-56, division of the land by lot is commanded now, along with the provision that the sizes of the tribes are to be factors in allocation of the portions. We may well remember that the size of the allotment alone in some instances is an indecisive factor. Although the territory given Simeon was great, much of it was wasteland (the Negev area); and although the portion awarded Dan by lot was relatively small, it was a most productive and desirable location for shepherding or agriculture. It is not possible, however, to establish a rigid formula relating these factors unexceptionally to the division of the land.

During his final address to the nation, Joshua alluded to the curse God promised upon Israel if she were disobedient to his laws and plans (Joshua 23:13), and the figure is implicit in Judges 2:3, although it is not completely expressed. Little imagination is required to feel the impact of the thought, since anyone who has had sharp grit in an eye, or a thorn in his flesh can appreciate its meaning; and the experiences are virtually universal. Just so, God's blessings become curses to an ungrateful and disobedient people regardless of time or place.

QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS

614.

Outline the commandments and conditions laid out by the Lord to Israel regarding their duties in occupying the land of Canaan.

615.

How can we justify God's command to exterminate or drive out the people who were already living in the land?

616.

What specific items were to be demolished, and why?

617.

By what basic principle would their happiness or punishment in the land be determined?

618.

Show how God was honoring His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at this time.

619.

Can we reconcile the two instructions about dividing the land by lot and awarding the larger portions to the larger tribes?

620.

What other considerations come to mind when we attempt this reconciliation?

621.

Under what later circumstances were the figures of punishment against Israel used?