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Knowing an infinite God, part 3

In part 1 I quoted Deuteronomy 7:2 saying,

² and when the Lord your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them.

God also said in Numbers 33:55, 56,

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 let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides; and they will trouble you in the land in which you live. ⁵⁶ And as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.

However, in spite of this command, we read in Judges 1:27-36 that the various tribes of Israel failed to drive out the Canaanites. In fact, the tribe of Dan failed completely, for we read,

³⁶ Then the Amorites forced the sons of Dan into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the valley.

The tribe of Dan then sent an army to the northern end of Canaan, and they conquered the city of Laish, renaming it the City of Dan (Judges 18:27-29). By the time of the New Testament, this city was known as Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:13). It was the place where Peter gave his great confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

It is common today to find fault with the tribes that failed to drive out the Canaanites. Indeed, on the level of God’s will, they did not follow God’s command to kill them or drive them away. On a fleshly level, the “Amorites” (Philistines in the case of Dan’s tribal inheritance) had horses and chariots and knew how to make iron armaments. On a fleshly level, they proved to be too powerful for the Danites.

God’s Will and Plan

There is more to this story than meets the eye, for there is a difference between God’s will and God’s plan. The New Testament clarifies this difference, telling us that God’s will (thelema) is expressed in the law of God and His commands. Romans 2:18 says,

¹⁸ and know His will [thelema] and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the law.

But God’s plan (boulema) is mentioned in Paul’s discussion of God’s sovereignty in Romans 9:19, regarding Pharaoh, whom God raised up to oppose Moses, thereby bringing glory to God,

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault [with Pharaoh]? For who resists His will [boulema, “plan”]?

The will of God was for Pharaoh to release the Israelites. In Exodus 4:22, 23 God told Moses,

²² Then you shall say to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Israel is My firstborn.’ ²³ So I said to you, ‘Let My Son go that he may serve Me’…”

Nonetheless, God also told him in Exodus 4:21, “but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.” God’s will (thelema) was for Pharaoh to let them go, but God’s plan (boulema) was to harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he would NOT let them go—not immediately. In other words, the plan was to delay the fulfillment of God’s will to the appointed time.

To be sure, the will of God will always be fulfilled, but the plan of God often delays it. The plan appears to work against God’s will, unless we understand the difference between the two. Knowing this difference is an important key is knowing an infinite God.

God Prevents Genocide

God knew that the Israelites would be unable to keep the law through the Old Covenant. Man always fails when he is made responsible for his own salvation. Human nature since the fall of Adam is such that he is incapable of perfect obedience. By his own strength and determination, man’s obedience is only partial. Hence, God knew ahead of time that the Israelites would fail to kill or drive out all the Canaanites.

This failure was part of God’s plan, and He deliberately delayed the fulfillment until the time of the New Covenant, when the command could be fulfilled in a way that could truly be an expression of God’s heart. So we read in 2 Peter 3:9 KJV, that He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Therefore, God did not empower the Israelites to fulfill His will, including the command to kill all of the Canaanites. Instead, He delayed it until the New Covenant was ratified by Christ and the Holy Spirit was given.

So we read in Judges 2:3 and 23,

³ Therefore I also said, “I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.” ²³ So the Lord allowed those nations to remain, not driving them out quickly; and He did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

The Old Covenant, we know, was inadequate to bring salvation either to the Israelites or to any other nationality. The Kingdom of God could not be established by the violence of a physical sword. The original command to kill the Canaanites physically, even if accomplished fully, could never establish His Kingdom. Why? Because the Israelites themselves were imperfect and incapable of maintaining righteousness as citizens of the Kingdom. Killing the idolaters of other nations did nothing to turn the hearts of the Israelites.

So God used the Canaanites to test the Israelites’ resolve to be obedient to God according to their covenant in Exodus 19:8. Obviously, they failed, and for this reason, God brought them into six distinct captivities during the time of the Judges prior to the coronation of King Saul. God delayed the fulness of the Kingdom, knowing that it could be done only through the New Covenant, where God’s law was written on the hearts of the people by the power and work of the Holy Spirit.

Only then could the other Joshua (Yeshua, Jesus) ratify this New Covenant and commission His disciples, not to kill idolaters but to show them the way of salvation. Matthew 28:19, 20 says,

¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The Ministry of Reconciliation

God then sent the Holy Spirit to equip them with the sword of the Spirit. Armed only with the word of reconciliation, they were sent out as “ambassadors” to bring all things under the dominion of Jesus Christ. They were not sent out to convert anyone forcibly, nor were they called to convert others by threats—either from men or from God. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17-20,

¹⁷ Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. ¹⁸ Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰ Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

This is an ambassadorial calling. “New things have come.” We are no longer required to act as soldiers but as ambassadors of peace and reconciliation. The “old things passed away,” including the Old Covenant method of establishing the Kingdom.

Therefore, those who are truly “in Christ” have become ambassadors with the ministry of reconciliation and have no right to engage in military crusades or to support Old Covenant people in their genocidal campaigns. Those who do so show that they are yet carnal and still adhere to Old Covenant mindsets. They still depend on physical swords, guns, tanks, and bombs. That is why the Israeli state is NOT the beginning of the Kingdom of God. It will fail, for the same reason that the Israelites in the days of Joshua failed.