Instructions for Occupying Canaan

On the plains of Moab, the Lord gives Moses Israel’s instructions for crossing into Canaan: remove the land’s inhabitants and idols, take possession of the land, and divide it by lot among the clans and tribes. The gift of the land is joined to a clear pattern for receiving it.

O⁵⁰n the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, the LORD said to Moses, ⁵¹“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵²you must drive out before you all the inhabitants of the land, destroy all their carved images and cast idols, and demolish all their high places. ⁵³You are to take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. ⁵⁴And you are to divide the land by lot according to your clans. Give a larger inheritance to a larger clan and a smaller inheritance to a smaller one. Whatever falls to each one by lot will be his. You will receive an inheritance according to the tribes of your fathers.

The command ends with a warning: any inhabitants left in the land will remain as a painful source of trouble. If Israel refuses this work, the judgment prepared for the inhabitants will turn toward Israel instead.

⁵⁵But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they will harass you in the land where you settle. ⁵⁶And then I will do to you what I had planned to do to them.”