Passage: Exodus 23:27-33

The Big Idea

God promised to fight Israel’s battles: sending His terror, confusion and even hornets ahead of them, so they’d inherit a land they didn’t build or plant. That’s how we enter the “promised land” of spiritual victory: not by our strength, but by His. Yet He drives out the enemies “little by little,” so we keep depending on Him. We don’t fight for victory; we fight from victory. Our part is to refuse to make peace with the enemies He’s already defeated, and to step forward in faith.

Three Promises

In this chapter God gives three promises that point to Jesus:

He will lead.
He will bless.
He will fight for us.

God Fights (Exodus 23:27-28)

“I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way.”

Going into the promised land was God’s will for His people, part of the redemption story He was writing.

When He delivered them from Egypt, what did they contribute? Nothing.
That’s exactly how entering the promised land was supposed to work. God would fight for them. He’d fight their wars and win their battles.

This is one of the most common misunderstandings in the Christian life today: How do I enter the promised land, the life of spiritual victory and blessing?

Not by fighting for it in your own strength.
Not by making your own plans, leaning on your own understanding, or depending on your own grit, discipline or willpower.

Here God promises, through His Angel, to conquer their enemies for them. How? By supernatural power: invisible power changing visible realities. Not by things you can see like effort, trying or learning. (Faith is the conviction of things not seen, Hebrews 11:1.)

“I will send My terror ahead of you.”
“I will throw them into confusion.”
“I will make your enemies turn and run.”
“I will send the hornet.” A supernatural insect army!

What did Israel do to make that happen? Nothing. Rest in God. Follow closely. Stay near. Abide. Watch.

Fulfilled

Look at the other end of the story. Joshua reminded Israel that God said, “I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you, even the two Amorite kings, not with your sword or your bow. I gave you a land you didn’t labor for and cities you didn’t build, and you live in them; you eat from vineyards and olive groves you didn’t plant” (Joshua 24:12-13).

They:

Didn’t labor.
Didn’t build.
Didn’t plant.
Received the victory.

The Father gives; the child receives. That’s why Jesus said we must become like little children (Matthew 18:3).

We understand that this invisible power is the Holy Spirit.

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be My witnesses” (Acts 1:8).
“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).

Little by Little (Exodus 23:29-30)

We need the Holy Spirit, and God loves to give Him. But why does victory never seem to come when or how we expect?

“I prayed, and it didn’t work. Why won’t God fix everything in my life right now? I’d like my calling to become reality today, please!”

We want the promised land now. We hear it’s already been given to us. It’s ours! So let’s go take it!

Read on:

“I won’t drive them out in a single year, or the land would become desolate and the wild animals would multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.“

In His wisdom, God makes the process gradual. We see that in Scripture’s word grow, and growing is always slow.

“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
Why does He do it this way? So we learn to depend on His supernatural grace.
It’s a gift, not a letdown!
If He wiped out every enemy at once, why would we keep depending on Him? We’d quickly forget our God.

Why does God let some enemies of the flesh linger in our thoughts and emotions after we’re saved? We’ve already been granted total victory in Christ. But He leaves them so we keep learning to depend on Him practically, every day.

You may still have wicked thoughts. God uses even that to remind you how much you need Him.
Satan lies and says you have those thoughts because that’s who you really are. That’s not what the gospel says. You’re a child of God with new desires.
But God allows the battle to continue so we stay in a place of active trust.

Paul cried out, “I see another law at work in my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of sin. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:23-25).

The ongoing battle isn’t a sign God has failed. It’s His wisdom.
It keeps us depending on Jesus, so we can thank Him for fighting for us and giving us victory, not by our efforts, but through faith.
The gospel won our victory. Jesus made us new. Jesus causes us to grow in trusting Him. Jesus gets all the praise.

How It Ends (Exodus 23:31)

“I will set your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hands, and you will drive them out before you.“

Notice God’s part and Israel’s part.

We never fight for victory. We fight from victory.

He wins the battle first, by His supernatural power through the Holy Spirit.
Then we walk into the battle in faith. It may look like we’re mighty warriors, but we’re really just walking in faith.

Paul says he labored, “striving according to His working which works in me mightily” (Colossians 1:29). And, “I worked harder than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

His part is winning. Our part is stepping forward in faith in His victory.

David didn’t trust that a stone could kill Goliath, or that a sling was a great strategy. He trusted that the battle was the Lord’s (1 Samuel 17:47). He could have thrown a cotton ball.
Jonathan told his armor-bearer, “Perhaps the LORD will act for us. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few” (1 Samuel 14:6).
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

No Treaties (Exodus 23:32-33)

“Don’t make a covenant with them or with their gods. Don’t let them live in your land, or they’ll make you sin against Me. If you worship their gods, it will certainly be a snare to you.”

Here’s the thing about fighting wars with grace: you have to choose a side, and do it His way.

One of our greatest temptations is to make peace with the enemies God wants to drive out.

“God hates you, fear. You’re an enemy of my God. But I’m going to let you stay, because I kind of like having you around.”

So we never even set ourselves against many of our enemies, because we don’t really see anything wrong with them. We don’t really want the victory.

Why do we let fear live in us, when God has given victory and we’d see it if we simply trusted His Word? Or:

Fear
Lust
Anger
Hatred
Sexual sin
Drunkenness
The need for power and control
Everything impure

God warns that if we don’t stand against these enemies in faith, they’ll become a snare and lead us into sin.

There are consequences for not growing in grace.
And you’ll never be able to drive out any of these enemies by your own effort.

But: “Don’t present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not have dominion over you, because you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:13-14).

Free!
Sin can’t dominate you when you’re under grace, submitted to the way God works.
Not trying to measure up to the law by your own effort.
So different. So free.
No self-powered trying.
Just receiving, in humble faith.
No price to pay; Jesus paid it all on the cross.
No works; just grace.
We need to repent of our self-powered fights to do the right thing.

Grace Takeaway

God’s grace is the way to victory in every battle, and it’s already promised. Addiction. Anger. Discouragement in your marriage or parenting. Unforgiveness. Depression and fear. Sexual sin. These are enemies in the promised land, and He has promised to drive them out, little by little, for everyone who trusts Him. Don’t sign a peace treaty with them, and don’t try to defeat them yourself. Turn to Him, trust His power, and step forward from His victory.

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Fighting Wars with Grace