Under Gods Command
Israel Fights the Remaining Canaanites
Judges 1:17 The men of Judah went with the Simeonites their brothers and attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroy the city.
Why did God order the Israelites to drive the Canaanites from their land? Although the command seems cruel, the Israelites were under God’s order to execute judgment on those wicked people. The other nations were to be judged for their sin as God had judged Israel by forcing them to wander for 40 years before they were allowed to enter the Promised Land. Over 700 years earlier, God had told Abraham that when the Israelites entered the Promised Land, the gross evil of the native people would be ready for judgment (The Lord said to Abraham in Genesis 15:16 – In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.)
The Armorites were one of the nations living in Canaan, the land God promised Abram. God knew the people would grow more wicked and would someday need to be punished, Part of that punishment would involve taking away their land and giving it to Abram’s descendants. God in his mercy was giving the Amorites plenty of time to repent, but he already knew they would not. At the right time, they would have to be punished. Everything God does is true to his character. He is merciful, knows all, and acts justly-and his timing is perfect.
But God wasn’t playing favorites with the Israelites because eventually they to would be severely punished for becoming as evil as the people they were ordered to drive out (2 Kings 17:25; Jeremiah 6:18; 19; Ezekiel 8) God is not partial; all people are eligible for God’s gracious forgiveness as well as for his firm justice.
Under Gods command 