The Verdict

Having issued His indictment of the Israelites at the beginning of this chapter of Judges, and having watched the behavior of the people through the years, God now gives His verdict. Israel has violated the covenant and refused to listen to His commands; therefore, He will not drive out any of the pagan peoples remaining in the land. The covenant sanctions, of which the Angel of the LORD had warned Israel (Judg. 2:3), are put into force. Israel now must get used to living among “thorns.” As Matthew Henry explains in his commentary on Judges, “Their sin was sparing the Canaanites, and this in contempt and violation of the covenant God had made with them and the commands He had given them (v. 20). Their punishment was that the Canaanites were spared, and so they were beaten with their own rod.”

But punishment is not God’s sole purpose for leaving the Canaanites among the Israelites. God here reveals that He is going to use these pagan idolaters to test whether His people will keep the prescribed ways of their God. What can this mean? Surely God already knows the answer to such a question. Yes, He does, and He already has told the Israelites the answer based on His perfect foreknowledge. So the test is for the Israelites’ sakes, that they might see by experience what they cannot accept from God’s sure prophecy. It is as if God is saying to Israel: “I commanded you to destroy the Canaanites and their gods for your own good, but you seem to think you are strong enough to resist their allure. Very well. You shall have the opportunity to resist that allure. Since you choose not to drive them out as I commanded, I will not drive them out for you. May you learn by this your own unwillingness to obey Me and keep yourselves from idols.” The test will prove conclusively that their self-confidence is ill-founded and that God’s command, like all His directives, was given for their good.

But there is one less-apparent truth in this passage. Verse 23 begins with the word therefore. It is saying that God did not drive the Canaanites out because of His intention to test the Israelites. But the verse adds that He had the test in mind even when He caused Joshua’s war on the Canaanites to end without complete victory. God’s plan to use the Canaanites to test His people was in place before the Israelites ever crossed the Jordan. Indeed, it was in place from all time.