Driving them out Slowly, Part 3
I will send my fear before thee, and
will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine
enemies turn their backs unto thee. 28 And I will send hornets before
thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from
before thee. 29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one
year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply
against thee. 30 By little and little I will drive them out from before
thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. 31 And
I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines,
and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the
land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee. 32 Thou
shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. 33 They
shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou
serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.
The Lord will send His Fear before us as
we serve Him. There are missionaries who literally have tribes afraid of them
because they know that the Christian God is real and powerful. Read stories
about faithful missionaries; you will find that pagan, cannibalistic tribes
have turned their backs to some of them and literally ran away afraid of our
Almighty God.
28 And I will send hornets before
thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from
before thee.
God will send the hornets—some small,
annoying thing—before use to drive out the demonic forces of evil that are
holding people in bondage examples are witchdoctors, psychics, new age
spiritualists, and oculists (this is largely seen on the mission field) as well
as false worldviews and mindsets, strongholds, and satanic intimidation in our
own lives.
29 I will not drive them out from
before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the
field multiply against thee. 30 By little and little I will drive them out from before
thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
The Lord will drive them out little, by
little. Not 1 year—not fast, because we can’t handle that much conquered
territory yet. But as we are able to take care of more and more, the Lord will
add it to us. Think of this in regard to your sanctification (lifelong
transformation) as you follow the Lord. Little by little, the Lord breaks down
stronghold and teaches us how to maintain personal freedom on that conquered
spiritual land; otherwise, we would give the devil a foothold and he would just
begin to build his fortress right back up again.
