Exodus 23:23-33
23:24 a In Canaanite worship, sacred pillars were erected to represent the deities. Sometimes they would have a human likeness carved on them.23:26 b Pagan rites were carried out in an attempt to manipulate the forces of fertility and reproduction. God promised to give these gifts freely if the people would faithfully carry out the terms of their covenant with him.
Summary for Exod 23:29-31: 23:29-31 c I will: God, not Israel, would take the land. The land would be a gift from their Covenant Lord. Israel was being granted possession of it as long as they faithfully fulfilled the covenant.
23:31 d from the eastern wilderness to the Euphrates River: See Gen 15:18 e; Num 34:2-12 f; Deut 11:24 g; 2 Chr 9:26 h.
• I will hand over to you the people: God had promised the land to Abraham (Gen 15:16 i). At that time, “the sins of the Amorites” had not yet run their course. Now they had. God was not arbitrarily dispossessing the Amorites (i.e., the Canaanites) but was using his people, the Israelites, to judge their wickedness.
23:33 j they will cause you to sin against me: The Canaanites were to be destroyed because there could be no truce between a holy God and sin. Furthermore, the continuance of God’s revelation, which was to culminate in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, depended on the survival of that revelation through the people of Israel. If they fell back into paganism, that could not happen.
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