A Clean Slate

March 30

Numbers 33-34

Psalm 38:9-15

Proverbs 9:13-15

Luke 3:21-38

A Clean Slate

“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall dispossess all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places; and you shall take possession of the land and inhabit it, for I have given the land to you to possess it….But if you do not dispossess the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it will be 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 which you inhabit.  And it will be as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.”  Numbers 33:51-53, 55-56 LSB

God instructed the children of Israel to go into the promised land and take it over.  He had given it to them and He wanted them to get rid of everyone there.  It does not specifically say that they were to kill everyone.  There are other passages in the Old Testament where they were instructed to kill everyone in a city, (Deuteronomy 13:15-17, Joshua 6:21, 8:24-27, I Samuel 15:3) but in this passage He tells them to dispossess everyone currently living there.   I know this seems harsh and even cruel.  Some believers go to great lengths to explain away the passage and use cultural references to dismiss it.  Even faithful believers bristle when they read it.   I can’t explain exactly why God gave this instruction.  I know that some of the cities that were marked for destruction were known for detestable pagan practices including child sacrifice.  In His sovereignty, God knows the hearts of every man, woman and child who has every lived.  I have to trust that He knew what He was doing when He gave those instructions whether I can understand it or not.    He gave clear instructions that they were to get rid of everyone, and destroy all of their religious idols, altars and high places.  God was setting His people apart and giving them a fresh start.  He knew that they were weak and they would succumb to the temptation to follow other religions and their gods if the people were allowed to remain in the land.  He was trying to protect them. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened.  They did not follow God’s directions and did not completely wipe out everyone in the land.  Joshua left the job unfinished.    Once Israel had settled in the land, they decided that it was useful to leave some of the Canaanites in the land to work for them and eventually they began to intermarry with them and have children.  Just as God had warned,  the people were “pricks in their eyes and thorns in their sides.”  They led them astray to follow other gods.  They should have listened to God. 

            We see this principle in government and sports.  When a new administration comes into office, they do not keep the same people who worked for the last administration.  They usually fire everyone and start fresh.  They need people who are on the same page and have the same political positions.  They don’t want people who are going to cause division and resist what they are trying to do.  The same thing happens when a new coach is hired for a sports team.  They typically fire the staff that worked for the last coach and bring in their own people.  They have a short time to bring about results so they need to start with a clean slate.  This principle applies to the Christian life as well.  The new believer cannot continue to entertain sin in their lives.  They  have to take it seriously and flee from it.  Life cannot go on as usual.  This may mean that they cannot continue to hang out with the same people and continue in behaviors they know are sinful.  The process of sanctification is a lifelong process that involves cleaning out our hearts from the inside out.  God gets rid of the old man and replaces him with a new creation.  (2 Corinthians 5:17)  The more we cooperate with Him in this process, the easier it will be to overcome temptation and have victory over sinful habits.