The first motive Moses mentioned for Israel’s obedience was love for the Lord (6:1–9), because love is the greatest motive in life. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14: nkjv). The second motive is gratitude (Deut. 6:10–25), for showing gratitude is one way of expressing love. We must never forget what the Lord has done for us. The third motive is separation from sin and unto the Lord (7:1–16), for we want to live up to all that God has called us to be. He’s called us to be a holy nation, a chosen people, a people to bring to bring glory to His name, and we can’t fulfill any of those honorable callings if we don’t separate ourselves from what is wicked and cleave to the Lord.
But these three motives all depend on faith in the promises of God, for “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6). Israel wasn’t operating on what the world calls “blind faith” because they had God’s covenant promises to encourage them and the long record of God’s care to assure them. God’s people don’t live on explanations; they live on promises. At the end of his life, Joshua reminded the people, “And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you” (Josh. 23: nkjv).
God was faithful in the past (vv. 17–19). The older generation didn’t believe that victory was possible in Canaan (Num. 13—14), so they rebelled against God and eventually died in the wilderness. But the new generation should have had no problem believing God’s promises after all that He had done for them. The Lord defeated Pharaoh and humiliated all the gods and goddesses of Egypt. The Lord also helped Israel defeat the Midianites; Sihon, King of Heshbon; and Og, King of Bashan. He enabled the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh to settle their families east of the Jordan while the men of those tribes prepared to march into Canaan and take the land. Ever since Israel had arrived in the area of the Jordan, not one nation had been able to stand against God’s people, because God’s people trusted the Lord. The same God who gave victory in Egypt and in the territory east of the Jordan could also give victory in the land of Canaan.
God would go before Israel (vv. 20–21). The terror of the Lord went before Israel and brought fear to the hearts of the people of Canaan (Josh. 2:11; Ex. 15:16). The news about the defeat of Egypt, the opening of the Red Sea, and the slaughter of the nations east of the Jordan couldn’t help but paralyze even the strongest in the land. Bible students don’t agree on what is meant by “the hornet” in Deuteronomy 7: (Ex. 23:27–30; Josh. 24:12), but it’s likely that it was the familiar stinging insect that swarmed into the land and attacked the people. The Canaanites were a superstitious people who saw omens in every unusual happening and they may have interpreted this strange occurrence as an announcement of defeat. Insects are sometimes used as metaphors for nations (Isa. 7:18), and some students understand “hornets” to refer to invading nations that God sent into Canaan prior to Israel’s arrival. These local wars would weaken the Canaanite military defenses and prepare the way for Israel’s invasion. Whatever the interpretation, and the literal one makes good sense, two facts are clear: God goes before His people and opens the way for victory, and He can use even small insects to accomplish His purposes.
The assurance that the Lord was with His people as they invaded the land (Deut. 7:21) should have encouraged the Israelites to be brave and obedient. Forty years before, when the older generation rebelled at Kadesh-Barnea (Num. 13—14), Caleb and Joshua used the promise of the presence of the Lord as an argument for courage and obedience: “The Lord is with us: fear them not” (14:9). The distinctive thing about the nation of Israel was that the Lord was with them (Ex. 33:12–17). The assurance of God’s presence goes all the way back to Isaac (Gen. 26:24) and Jacob (28:15) and was often repeated to Israel when they needed encouragement (Isa. 41:10; 43:5; Jer. 46:28; Hag. 1:13; 2:4), and this wonderful assurance has been given to the church today (Matt. 28:18–20; Heb. 13:5–6).
The British expositor G. Campbell Morgan told of visiting some elderly sisters when he was a young pastor and reading Matthew 28:18–20 as part of his ministry to them. The phrase “Lo, I am with you always” struck Morgan with power and he said, “Isn’t that a wonderful promise!” One of the ladies replied, “Young man, that isn’t a promise—it’s a reality!” How true! “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge” (Ps. 46:7, 11).
God had a timetable for the conquest (vv. 22–23). Obeying the Lord means doing the right thing in the right way at the right time for the right reason, which is to the glory of God. “Do not be like the horse or like the mule,” warned David (Ps. 32:9), because the horse wants to bolt ahead and the mule wants to lag behind and balk. God has a time for everything (Eccl. 3:1–8), and when Jesus ministered here on earth, He followed a divine schedule (John 11:9; 2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20; 12:23; 13:1; 17:1). Happy is the believer who can honestly say, “My times are in thy hand” (Ps. 31:15).
As they gradually made their way through the land of Canaan, winning one victory after another, the Jewish people would grow in their faith and learn better how to trust the Lord. But by following God’s timetable, they would take better care of the land (Ex. 23:28–30) and prevent the wild beasts from multiplying rapidly and becoming a threat. According to the record in the book of Joshua, it took Israel about seven years to get control of the whole land. First Joshua cut straight across Canaan and divided the land (Josh. 1— 8); then he conquered the nations in the south (Josh. 9—10) and then those in the north (Josh. 11). But this still left “mopping up” operations for the individual tribes, some of whom never did eliminate the enemy from their territory (13:1; Judg. 1—2). These pockets of paganism brought great temptation and trouble to the Jews and led to divine discipline.
God expected the nation to obey Him (vv. 23–26). “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:14–20) because true faith always leads to obedience. “By faith Abraham … obeyed” (Heb. 11:8). People may talk about faith, analyze faith, and seek to explain it, but until they do what God commands, they will never understand what faith is all about. The people of Israel had to obey God’s clear command to wipe out the heathen nations and their religion. Everything in the land was to be devoted to God, and nobody had a right to claim it. The detestable things were to be completely devoted to destruction so they wouldn’t become snares to the Jews. Anybody who stole a devoted thing from God and took it home would also be devoted to destruction, which is what happened to Achan (Josh. 6—7).
But it wasn’t enough for the Jews simply to obey the command to destroy what God had condemned; they must obey from their hearts. They were to “utterly detest” and “utterly abhor” the abominable things they encountered in Canaan (Deut. 7:26). No doubt Achan helped to destroy many abominable things when Israel conquered Jericho, but he decided that some silver and gold and beautiful garments weren’t really abominable, so he took them (Josh. 7:20–23). He would rather have the spoils of war than enjoy the blessings of obeying the Word (Ps. 119:14, 72, 127, 162), and it cost him dearly. King Saul made this same mistake and lost his crown (1 Sam. 15).
As we grow in grace, we learn to love and enjoy what pleases God and to despise and reject what displeases Him. It’s not just a matter of our will obeying God’s commands; it’s also a matter of developing a heart that enjoys obeying God (Eph. 6:6). It’s possible to do God’s will in such a way that others get the blessing but we don’t! This was true of two of God’s prophets, Moses and Jonah. Moses arrogantly smote the rock and God provided water, but Moses lost the privilege of entering the Promised Land (Num. 20). Jonah eventually obeyed the Lord’s will but he didn’t do it from his heart, and became a bitter person (Jonah 4). This brings us back to the first motive Moses discussed—love for the Lord (Deut. 6:1–9). Love makes obedience a blessing and not a burden.
It’s good for God’s people to pause occasionally and ask, “Why are we doing what we’re doing?” Is it to please ourselves or others, or to impress the world? Are we doing the will of God because we want Him to bless us? Or are we “doing the will of God from the heart” (Eph. 6:6) because we love Him? To obey God just to avoid punishment and receive blessing is a selfish motive that follows the philosophy of Satan (Job 1— 2), but if we obey God out of love, it pleases His heart and He will give us what is best and what glorifies Him the most.
Like Israel of old, the church today must move forward by faith, conquer the enemy, and claim new territory for the Lord (Eph. 6:10–18; 2 Cor. 2:14–17). But unlike Israel, we use spiritual weapons, not human weapons, as by faith we overcome the walls of resistance that Satan has put into the minds of sinners (John 18:36; 2 Cor. 10:1–6; Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12). The apostolic church had no buildings, budgets (Acts 3:6), academic degrees (4:13), or political influence, but depended on the Word of God and prayer (6:4), and God gave them great victory. Can He not do the same for His people today? Jesus has overcome the world and the devil (John 12:31; 16:33; Eph. 1:19–21; Col. 1:13; 2:15); therefore, we fight from victory and not just for victory. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).