Exodus 23:31

Oh! A turn of the screw! At first it looked like, Boy! He was going to do everything, and then at the end He said, "You shall drive them out."

What is going on here? Is He not telegraphing that there is going to be confrontations in which we are involved? What we are looking at is the pattern that God had the Israelites go through so that we can understand what we are required to do spiritually. The whole context indicates confrontation between God and the people of the land, except for that last phrase—"You shall drive them out." That ought to give us pause and make us realize that there is more to this than a first, easy glance might have told us.

Exodus 23:31

One of the ways that He had prepared it was by setting its boundaries. That is all part of property ownership. You have to know where the landmarks are—where the borders are.

He had told them that the boundaries of this land goes from the Red Sea on the South, the Mediterranean Sea on the West, the Euphrates River on the North, and the desert in the East—a very large land; a land that Israel never really controlled.

The closest they came to fulfilling this was under David and Solomon. And, perhaps they did control this much, maybe not as in directly holding it themselves, but as being over-lords with the other peoples under tribute.

Exodus 23:27-31

Again, here are more outstanding promises telling them the manner in which He will work to enable them to take over the land. He showed here that their progress would be incremental for practical reasons; that is, lest they get in over their heads into a circumstance greater than they could handle. He then tells them generally how large their inheritance will be, and then finishes with a second warning against idolatry.

Exodus 23:30-31

And so God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, He owns the earth. It is His, and He can do with it as He pleases. And He, as He does as He pleases, He sets boundaries for the nation that He is making a covenant with. That is pretty clear. What is there to argue with regarding God setting boundaries on His property?