Divine Judgment
Exodus 20:24
20 See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. 22 If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. 24 Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces.
Hittites - At one time, the Hitties were one of the three superpowers (Assyria, Egypt) in the ancient World.
Perizzites (Villagers) - One of several groups of pagan nations who were occupying the land of Cannan as early as Abraham’s time who were occupying the city, which was the land that God promised to the people of Israel.
Canaanites - Canaan, the progenitor (ancestor) of the Canaanites, first appears in the story of Noah as one who did not cover his father’s shame. (Ham) [biblestudytools.com]
__________________________BACKGROUND_________________________
During the time the Hebrew slaves were crying out for deliverance in Egypt, God was also extremely upset with the sins of the above tribes as well as the Hivites, Jebusites and Amorites. God gave the Israelites specific instructions to annihilate these tribes, and show no mercy after they were delivered from bondage. and moved into the Promised Land. [The Promised Land includes modern-day Israel, including Gaza and the West Bank, and Jordan as well as parts of Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.] (gotquestions.org)
________________________THE NARRATIVE___________________________
Can a Just God be unjust? God forbid. Is there no mercy for the tribes of Exodus 23:23,24? Does a sovereign God have a right to execute judgment as He sees fit? Of course, He does, and that is just what He did…He executed Divine Judgment on the pagan tribes whose lifestyle included: 1) sexual promiscuity 2) child sacrifice 3) perversion associated with fertility cults 4) social oppression 5) violence, and 6) idol worship. For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Cannaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off. Thou shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images. Although God does not owe anyone an explanation as to why He does what He does, there are times that He does reveal His motives. The command to leave no-one standing and nothing breathing as it relates to the above tribes reflects the holiness and justice of God as well as the seriousness of sin and idolatry. God did not want these ungodly tribes to teach His chosen people to do all the despicable things they were doing for their gods and cause them to sin as well, but sadly, Israel disobeyed. They eventually married their women; kept many of them alive to help them build their cities, and even began to practice idolatry. Oh, what a dreadful thing to disobey God, and become a slave to sin! When God says leave it behind; leave it! When God says kill it (the lust of the flesh [Galatians 5:19-21]; kill it! So, you can experience the abundant life!
_______________________CONCLUSION_______________________
God is good. God is Holy, and He is a God to be honored, feared, reverenced and obeyed. Remember, there are consequences to sin, (Death), so Jesus Christ, the Righteous Son of God, died for the unrighteous and died the death of a sinner, although He never sinned. Judgment issued; debt paid in full! Praise God for life to all who believe! (Romans 10: 9,10)
References: Romans 6:23; Deuteronomy 7:1-2; Leviticus 18:24,25; Joshua 6:21