God’s Plan for the Promised Land
| Genesis 12:1-3 | God promised to bless Abraham and make his descendants into a great nation |
| Genesis 15:16 | God would choose the right time for Israel to enter Canaan, because the nations living there then would be wicked and ripe for judgment (their sin would reach full measure) |
| Genesis 17:7, 8 | God promised to give all the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants |
| Exodus 33:1-3 | God promised to help the Israelites drive out all the evil nations from Canaan |
| Deuteronomy 4:5-8 | The Israelites were to be an example of right living to the whole world; this would not work if they intermingled with the wicked Canaanites |
| Deuteronomy 7:1-5 | The Israelites were to utterly wipe out the Canaanites because of their wickedness and because of Israel’s call to purity |
| Deuteronomy 12:2 | The Israelites were to completely destroy the Canaanite altars so nothing would tempt them away from worshiping God alone |
God told Joshua to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land (also called Canaan) and conquer it. This was not an act of imperialism or aggression but an act of judgment. Here are some of the earlier passages in the Bible where God promised to give this land to the Israelites and the reasons for doing so.