Exodus 23:18-33: a reflection

18“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread. The fat of my feast shall not remain all night until the morning. 19You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground into the house of the LORD your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. 20“Behold, I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don’t provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him. 22But if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries. 23For my angel shall go before you, and bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off. 24You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars. 25You shall serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. 26No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days. 27I will send my terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28I will send the hornet before you, which will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before you. 29I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the animals of the field multiply against you. 30Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land. 31I will set your border from the Red Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. 32You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. 33They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

As God promises to bring Israel into the promised land, driving out the nations before them, he adds a surprising detail about how he will do it: I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild animals multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. God's plan was to give them the land gradually, not all at once; and this gradual pace was not weakness or delay, but wisdom and kindness.

Notice why God chose to work little by little rather than all at once. A sudden, total victory would have left the land empty and overgrown, overrun by wild animals faster than Israel could fill it; the gradual pace allowed the people to grow and take possession as the land was cleared. God's slower way was for their good; he gave them what they could handle as they were able to handle it, rather than more than they could manage all at once.

That is a comfort for those frustrated by how gradually God seems to work in their lives. We often wish God would change us, or our circumstances, all at once; and we can grow discouraged when growth and progress come little by little instead of instantly. But God often works gradually, and there is wisdom and kindness in his pace; he gives us what we can handle as we are able, rather than overwhelming us. When change comes slowly, when God seems to work little by little rather than all at once, do not despair or conclude that he is not at work. Trust his gradual pace, remembering that God drove out the nations little by little for his people's good. He is at work, at a pace suited to what you can bear; trust him in the little by little.

Lord, when you promised to bring Israel into the land, you said you would drive out the nations little by little, not all at once, lest the land become desolate; your gradual pace was not weakness but wisdom and kindness, giving them what they could handle as they were able. Comfort me with that when I am frustrated by how gradually you seem to work in my life. I often wish you would change me, or my circumstances, all at once, and I grow discouraged when growth and progress come little by little instead of instantly. But you often work gradually, and there is wisdom and kindness in your pace; you give me what I can handle as I am able, rather than overwhelming me. When change comes slowly, when you seem to work little by little rather than all at once, keep me from despairing or concluding that you are not at work. Help me trust your gradual pace, remembering that you drove out the nations little by little for your people's good. You are at work, at a pace suited to what I can bear; help me trust you in the little by little.