People often ask why if God is so loving, would He have driven out the peoples of Canaan from the land to Give that land to Israel. It is important to know that the land was Abraham’s hundreds of years prior to Moses leaving Egypt and Joshua clearing the land. Moses was clearly blessed by God and the Philistines knew that. Their king made a treaty with Abraham that said since your God is with you and all that you do, treat us with the same kindness we have shown you. Abraham promised.
As the years passed the Philistines grew mighty and they became Godless, They used brute force and deceit to take whatever they chose. God watched them loathe Him, serve other gods, and do detestable things. God said enough. It was then that God knew he had to set Israel apart. That is why God had Joshua clear the land. That is why he warned Israel to be Holy and separate from all the neighboring peoples. They would always try to corrupt and destroy God’s people, and He had their interest as primary.
That still holds today. God calls us to trust and follow Him. We need not get absorbed by the world and its culture; instead, we need to live lives that are Holy and different. It is excruciatingly difficult to remain Holy without God’s spirit leading. Even when we follow the Lord, the enemy is trying to minimize and neutralize us from the mission we are called to complete. That is why we must agree with the Lord to live in this world, but not let the world live in us. Help me, Lord, to remain Holy as you are Holy.
God Bless You
22 At that time Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do. 23 Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you now reside as a foreigner the same kindness, I have shown to you.”
24 Abraham said, “I swear it.”
25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek’s servants had seized. 26 But Abimelek said, “I don’t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.”
27 So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek, and the two men made a treaty. 28 Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, 29 and Abimelek asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?”
30 He replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well.”
31 So that place was called Beersheba,[d] because the two men swore an oath there.
32 After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God. 34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
Walking With God 