Lowly, Day 2 A Christmas Surprise: Digging Deeper
December 10, 2024
Discover the original intent of Scripture. Make good application to our everyday lives.
Become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Exodus 23:27-33
30 I will drive them out little by little ahead of you until you have become numerous and take possession of the land. 31 I will set your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates River. For I will place the inhabitants of the land under your control, and you will drive them out ahead of you.
32 You must not make a covenant with them or their gods. 33 They must not remain in your land, or else they will make you sin against me. If you serve their gods, it will be a snare for you.”
The Original Intent
1) Who was the real Victor and why was this reality significant? (verses 27-33)
From simple childhood stories to academic studies of various narratives, tracing the actions and motives of the protagonist is central to understanding the story. Whether we intend it or not, we often approach Scripture with a me-first mentality, placing ourselves as the main character of every story.
In Joshua’s Jericho battle, we become Joshua. In Moses and the Red Sea, we’re Moses. In David and Goliath, of course, who wouldn’t want to be little David who wins an impossible victory against “Goliath-sized” battles? Not only is this a dangerous way to read Scripture as it wrongly twists God’s Word resulting in inaccurate interpretations, it also misses the entire point of God’s message through His Word.
All of Scripture is a singular rescue narrative of loving, radical redemption, but we aren’t the hero, we are the enslaved. (Titus 3:3-5) If we miss the Hero and our true role, we miss everything.
In the unfolding narrative of the great exodus of God’s people from slavery in Egypt, the recorded words make it clear again and again, there is One Victor. It’s not Moses, the one who spoke to God face to face. It’s not the great nation of Israel, who really were a feeble mob of newly freed-slaves. It’s, well, I’ll let #HisWordsBeforeMine tell you.
“I will cause…”
“I will throw into confusion…”
“I will make…”
“I will send…”
So the pattern continues for five consecutive verses and forms the bedrock theme of the remaining books of the Pentateuch (Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy).
The great I AM God makes it plain who the Victor of this exodus story is: Himself.
It’s His arm that is strong enough to save. (Isaiah 59:1) It’s His righteousness that defeats the enemy. His, and His alone. (Isaiah 59:15-20)
The Everyday Application
1) Who was the real Victor and why was this reality significant? (verses 27-33)
So what? What’s wrong with placing ourselves as the Victor? We each face countless Goliath-sized battles and Jericho-thick walls. Why can’t we be the protagonist?
Because we are not strong enough to save ourselves. We are not able to throw the enemy into confusion. We do not possess the authority or the righteousness to prevent our eternal condemnation or bring about our forever victory. We’ve already condemned ourselves by our impure thoughts, words, and deeds.
“Your iniquities are separating you
from your God,
and your sins have hidden His face from you
so that He does not listen.
For your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers, with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongues mutter injustice.
No one makes claims justly(.)”
(Isaiah 59:2-4a)
Here, nestled in the painful truth of our enslaved reality, the hope of Christmas shines with brilliance. What we cannot do, Christ the Victor can. (Romans 8:2-3) In the midst of impossible battles, and endless narratives of selfish sin-loving souls, the Victor enters and authoritatively declares, “I AM”. (John 8:24, John 8:58)
I AM wins David’s impossible battle because He is infinite. (Psalm 90:2) I AM crumbles Jericho’s walls because none can thwart His plans. (Job 42:2) I AM parts the Red Sea because those whom He has chosen to set free will be set free indeed to the tune of the enemy’s utter defeat. (John 8:36, Romans 16:20)
This is how He wins.
Our only right response is to place ourselves in the correct storyline and allow Him to lead us out of slavery from ourselves and our sin and into His glorious Light. The surprise of Christmas is unwrapped when we realize who we are as sinners and who He is as Jesus, the eternal I AM with victory and righteousness veiled beneath silky infant skin.
The Original Intent
2) What was the role of the Israelites? (verses 31-32)
This passage beautifully illustrates how the full weight of victory in conquering the Promised Land for His people rests squarely on the capable shoulders of the Infinite Almighty.
What was Israel to do? Rest comfortably, eating the fresh produce and refining the beauty of their tents perhaps? The passage turns abruptly, presenting a potentially confusing paradox at first glance. The Lord states in verse 30, “I will drive them out little by little ahead of you…”, but in verse 31, the operative subject changes as the Lord instructs, “you will drive them out ahead of you.”
This is not self-righteous reliance, rejecting what God is willing to do; neither is this a fallacious mentality stating, “God will do His part and I must do mine.” As depicted in the sentences prior, all the work needed to gain the victory over Canaan belonged to the Lord God. He alone would accomplish the work. Period.
God stated plainly He would clear the land.
Israel’s role was to trust and obey.
Israel’s motley band of slaves turned desert wanderers knew they were no match for the Canaan’s currently reigning inhabitants and their militia. On their own, defeat would be swift and certain.
They knew this full well, which is why trust was so essential.
Israel would need to choose trust.
Israel would need to choose obedience.
Not an emotional trust, nor a circumstantial one, but trust that sprang from an undivided heart. Trust that knew the heart of Yahweh and worshipped Him alone, which is why the second instruction from I AM safeguarded Israel by stating, “You must not make a covenant with them or their gods.” (verse 32)
Where our worship lies, so our trust and obedience follow.
The Everyday Application
2) What was the role of the Israelites? (verses 31-32)
For us, we aren’t stepping into physical battle with the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hethites. We don’t need to decide if we trust the Lord to win a flesh and blood battle, but Scripture makes it plain we are indeed engaged in battle. (Ephesians 6:12)
First, there is the battle for our eternal freedom. One lie, one lusting look, or one gleeful gossip are each acts of rebellion against the Holy One, declaring us guilty. (James 2:10) Our destiny is doomed to eternal separation from a peaceful, joyous, loving God; endless suffering is our fate.
Christ be praised, He paid in full the debt we owe for our sin. Dying our death on our tree of curses, Jesus cried out, “It Is Finished!”. (John 19:30) The work of paying for our sin was finished; victory was won.
Like the Israelites of old, we have a choice. We can either trust that Jesus did the work for us and now covers us in His righteousness having paid for our sin. (2 Corinthians 5:21) Or, we can choose to cling to ourselves and hope the enemy doesn’t win, having lied to ourselves that we aren’t already owned by Death. (Romans 6:6)
Second, there is the battle for the believer engaged in everyday spiritual warfare. Once we are covered by Christ’s righteousness through faith, the enemy still wages war to render us ineffective for God’s kingdom. Fear, anxiety, deception, doubt, loss, grief, and all manner of challenging circumstance become weaponry used by the enemy to pull us away from worshipping God with an undivided heart.
If we stop worshipping wholly, we stop trusting and acting obediently.
The antidote for both battles is faith. Trust the Lord Jesus, come near in worship, throwing aside all other voices that pull us away from Him, and step out in trusting obedience to love and follow Him.
The Original Intent
3) How is God’s kindness depicted in His instructions and why was this important to keep in mind as they crossed into Canaan? (verses 32-33)
If you’ve ever tried reading the Bible in a year (if you haven’t, let this encourage you to make 2025 your year! We suggest Trillia Newbell’s “52 Weeks in the Word” or Tara Leigh Cobble’s “The Bible Recap” as excellent guides!), it’s likely you “lightly skimmed” all those laws scattered across the first five books of the Old Testament. If we keep on our 21st century lenses, it might be easy to paint “the God of the Old Testament” as a fearsome, nit-picky, authoritarian who handed out harsh consequences for seemingly meaningless laws.
Consider laying aside your lenses for a few minutes and work to put on the glasses of Moses’ first audience around 1446 BC. We can’t wear them perfectly, of course, but if we try, some of our challenges resolve more easily.
God’s laws were given to a people who were familiar with being governed by a ruling authority. The legal code of Hammurabi, pre-dating the Israelites’ exodus by some 300 years, was a collection of 282 laws with significantly more extreme laws and consequences than God’s Laws, especially when compared to the Decalogue (Ten Commandments). (History.com) In comparison to Hammurabi’s code, God’s laws were much kinder and gave rights and privileges to servants and women. God’s laws allowed for mercy and benevolence while upholding justice and aligning people with worship to the One True God.
Just as we can look at neighboring countries’ laws in our own time and see which ones promote justice and mercy and which are designed to oppress people and push agendas, so could the inhabitants of the ancient world. There were none like Yahweh’s commands; His rules spoke loudly of a different kind of rule, a merciful and loving one where people weren’t property.
The Everyday Application
3) How is God’s kindness depicted in His instructions and why was this important to keep in mind as they crossed into Canaan? (verses 32-33)
In verses 32-33, God gave Israel two commands as they prepared to enter Canaan, “You must not make a covenant with them or their gods. They must not remain in your land…”
Disconnected from the original culture and the loving heart of God for His people, these commands may seem superfluous or egotistical. Who cares if Israel adopted some of the surrounding culture?
But it was God’s benevolent kindness that spoke these two commands, and He supplied the reason as a warning, “they will make you sin against Me. If you serve their gods, it will be a snare for you.”
True love protects, which is precisely what God’s commands did for Israel and for us.
Like guardrails on a mountain cliff road, like parents gripping a toddler’s hand across a busy intersection, like a dad screaming “Stop!” at a child riding a bike behind a reversing vehicle, so God’s commandments are kind-hearted, teaching us the best way to live, worship, and love.
In a new land with new deities and opportunities to fulfill fleshly desires abounding, the Lord gravely warned His precious people, “…it will be a snare for you”.
In this season of flurry and fluster and fast, can you hear the Father’s quiet call, reminding us to watch for the things that snare our attention away from Him? Glimmering idols that will never satisfy, but appear to be incessantly pressing or necessary?
What is capturing the worship of our hearts, words, thoughts, and actions this Christmas? Is it Christ, the one who rules with kindness, mercy, and justice? Sin always snares, but worshipping the Lord in true faith, allows us to follow Him by holding out humble love.
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