Old Testament Reading: Exodus 23:20-33

“Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. You shall serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. None shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They 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.” (Exodus 23:20–33, ESV)

New Testament Reading: John 14:1-6

“‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:1–6, ESV)

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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

As we come now to Exodus 23:20-33 it is important for us to remember what the LORD was doing with Israel when he spoke these words to them. He was making a covenant with them. The account of the making of the Old Mosaic Covenant began in Exodus 19:1, and the covenant will be ratified or confirmed in Exodus 24. So then, these instructions and promises concerning the eventual conquest of the land of Canaan that we are considering today must be interpreted in that context. These are instructions and promises concerning Israel’s eventual possession of the land of Canaan according to the terms of the Old Mosaic Covenant. 

In the introduction to this sermon today I think it would be beneficial for us to explore the question, why Canaan? Why the promised land? What was its purpose? What was its significance? 

So far in the story of Exodus, we have considered how God redeemed his people from Egypt. We have also considered the laws that he gave to them at Sinai. But here we find mention of the land that God would give to his people under the Old Covenant. Why Canaan? What was the purpose of this land? What was its significance? I think this is a very important question to answer. 

And to get to that answer, I will ask you another question: Where did this Old Mosaic Covenant come from? On the most basic level we can say that it came from God. He revealed the terms of the Old Covenant to Israel. And I suppose we might also say that the Old Mosaic Covenant came from the eternal decree of God. Both of those observations are true. But here I wish to remind you that the Old Mosaic Covenant did not spring up spontaneously and out of nowhere? No, this Old Mosaic Covenant was the outgrowth or development of previous promises and of covenants previously made. 

I hope you do not grow weary of me talking about these covenants, brothers and sisters. Understanding these covenants which God has made with man and their relationship to each other is crucial to a proper understanding of the scriptures and of the story of God’s dealings with man in the history of redemption. Stated differently, understanding these covenants which God has made with man and their relationship to each other is crucial to a proper understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ and of our salvation in him.

I have asked the question, where did this Old Mosaic covenant come from?, because I do believe that answering this question will help us to understand the true importance and significance of this covenant in general (all of its terms and conditions), and of the land of Canaan (which our passage speaks of) in particular. Why the land of Canaan? Why was Israel to take possession of it? Why were they to drive the inhabitants out and destroy their idols? What was the significance of this land? If we hope to know, then we must consider Canaan in light of the covenants and promises of God previously made. 

Though it is true that God revealed the terms and conditions of the Old Covenant to Isarel, and though it is true that the Old Covenant did stand on its own two feet once it was ratified, here I am reminding you that it came in fulfillment of the promises of God previously made. It was a development of a covenant previously transacted. In other words, there is a backstory to Old Mosaic Covenant. The back story is found in Genesis 1 through Exodus 18. And that backstory is immensely important. 

As we seek an answer to the question, why Canaan?, and to understand the significance of that land, I want to remind you of the backstory. And in particular, I wish to hone in upon one specific theme. The theme is mentioned in our passage for today. In Exodus 23:20 we read,  “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.” The promised land of Canaan is here referred to as the place that God had prepared for Israel. There are many themes that run throughout the history of redemption that tie the story of scripture together. This morning I wish to especially draw your attention to the theme of, a place prepared by God for his people.

When we speak of God preparing a place for man, the very first thing that should come to our minds is God’s creation of the heavens and earth in general, and the garden which God made for man in particular. When God created the heavens and earth he did so in the span of six days. On day one, the heavens and earth were created out of nothing. And at first, they were without form, and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. In other words, when God first created the earthy realm, there was no place for man to dwell. God then formed and fashioned the world to make it into a place suitable for human habitation. And after this, “the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis 2:8–9, ESV)

If we wish to answer the question, why Canaan?, then we cannot forget this theme. The story of man begins with this theme: God prepared a place for man to live. And what was that place for? Well, many things can be said regarding its purpose, but the thing that I wish to emphasize this morning is that it was a place for man to commune with God, enjoy him, and worship and serve him forever. I have said this before, and it is important that I remind you of this now: the garden of Eden was a kind of temple. When I say that it was a temple, I do not mean that there was a physical temple constructed within Eden, but that Eden itself was a natural temple. There in that garden paradise man walked with God, enjoyed sweet communion with him, worshipped and served him. That is what temples are for. And that’s what Eden was – a temple made by God himself wherein man could enjoy sweet communion with his maker. Adam’s job under the Covenant of Creation was to keep that place pure while expanding its borders to the furthest reaches of the earth. 

And what happened when man fell into sin? Well, as it pertains to the theme of a place prepared by God for his people, Adam, Eve, and their offspring, were cast out of Eden. They were banished from that place. Genesis 3:23-24 reads: “The LORD God sent [Adam] out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:23–24, ESV).

I trust that you are able to see why I have taken you back to Eden and to the story of Genesis 2 and 3 in the introduction to this sermon on Exodus 23. I want to be sure that we connect the dots. This place that the LORD prepared for Israel in Canaan had something to do with the place that the LORD prepared for Adam, Eve, and all their posterity in the beginning. You see, though it is true that Adam and Eve were banished from Eden from the presence of God and from access to the tree of life, it is also true that the LORD promised to send a Savior who would defeat the Evil One who tempted Adam and Eve. 

The promise concerning a Savior was uttered by God for the first time in the presence of Adam and Eve as God pronounced the curse upon the Serpent. The promise of the gospel that was declared on that day was very simple. Someday, someone would be born who would destroy Satan and his works. Adam and Eve, and all who received this good news after them, must have wondered when this Savior would be born, what he would be like, and what exactly he would do to defeat the Evil One and to free men and women from bondage to sin. There was so much that was mysterious about the gospel in those days. Nevertheless, those who heard it had enough of the good news to trust in God and in his promise. And they must have known that, whoever this Savior was, whenever he would be born, and whatever he would do to accomplish our redemption, he would do something to restore that which was lost through Adam’s sin and to lay hold of that which was offered to Adam in the Covenant of Creation. Eternal life was offered to Adam. He failed to reach it. The Savior would obtain it through his obedience. And what is eternal life except this: God’s holy people enjoying sweet communion with him forever and ever in the holy place which he has prepared for them. 

Brothers and sisters, when Adam fell into sin he did not only lose his personal righteousness, nor did he only lose the communion with God that he once enjoyed, he also lost the place wherein that sweet communion with God was at first enjoyed. When Adam fell into sin (and all of humanity with him) he was banished from the place the LORD had prepared for him, and the whole of the earthly realm was subjected to futility. Paul speaks of this in Romans 8:18-25. There he talks about how all of “creation was subjected to futility… in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” 

The point that I am making is this: Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Isarel, and Savior of the world, did not only defeat the Evil One, nor did he only redeem for himself a people, he did also redeem the created realm so that his holy people would have a holy place wherein they will enjoy sweet communion with the Holy God for all eternity. 

If you wish to know what this place will be like, you may go to the vision of Revelation chapter 21, where John says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God’” (Revelation 21:1–3, ESV).

This is the place that Adam was to enter into through his obedience and his eating of the tree of life. 

This is the place that Jesus Christ has earned, and it is the place of which he spoke when he said to his disciples, saying, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:1–3, ESV)

This is the place that was promised to  Abraham which he looked forward to with eyes of faith. Hebrews 11:8-10 tells us so. There we read, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (see also Hebrews 12:22; 13:14). 

So now we return to the question, what was Canaan? What was the significance of the land that was promised and then given to Old Covenant Israel? What was this place all about?

If we are following along with the story, three things become apparent:

One, the land of Canaan had something to do with the garden of Eden. The place of Canaan had something to do with the place that God made in the beginning for man to dwell. Perhaps we can refer to Canaan as a replica of Eden. And as a replica of Eden, it would have served as a reminder of what man lost by his fall into sin, and of the gracious promise of God to send a Savior. The fact that God had prepared the place of Canaan for his redeemed people (earthly speaking)  was a demonstration that God was doing what he had promised to do.   

Two, it is also apparent that the land of Canaan was not Eden. I hardly need to elaborate on this point. It will suffice for me to say that sin, sickness, and death did still plague that land despite it uniqueness. 

Three, when all is considered we must also confess that the land of Canaan had something to do with the end goal of God’s redemptive purposes. Canaan was the place where the Hebrews would be preserved until the Messiah was brought into the world through them. And this place was filled with symbolism. In brief, there in that place the eternal Kingdom of God was typified or prefigured. The land of Canaan, its temple, its priesthood, its sacrifice, festivals, and succession of kings were shadows of Christ and of his everlasting kingdom cast backward in history. In other words, the land of Isarel did not only point back to Eden, it also pointed forward to the Christ and to the new heavens and earth which he would earn by his obedient life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection.

You know, it is troubling to me how so many Christians today obsess over the land of Isarel while failing to ask what its purpose was. So many seem to view the land that was given to Old Covenant Israel as if it was the end goal. They ignore what the New Testament says about the land of Israel, the people of Israel, and the Covenant which God made with with Isarel in the days of Moses. Israel functioned as a conduit through which the Messiah was brought into the world. And under the Old Covenant, they did also symbolize, typify, and foreshadow the everlasting kingdom that the Messiah would inaugurate at his first coming and consummate at his second coming when he brings his people safely home into the place he has prepared for them – the new heaven and earth in which righteousness dwells.  

All of that is an introduction to our text for today. But soon you will see that this prolonged introduction will make it much easier to properly understand and fully appreciate this passage. For in this passage we see the work of Christ to bring his redeemed ones home into the new heavens and earth typified.

 

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The Angel Of The LORD Would Lead The Way

Look with me now at 23:20. There God says, “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.” I have already drawn your attention to the theme of a place prepared by God for his people. Now I wish to draw your attention to the angel that is mentioned. Who is this angel, or messenger?

Let us continue to read in verse 21: “Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.”

There are different theories regarding the identity of this angel. Some say it was Joshua, the one who would lead Isarel into the promised land after Moses’ death. Others think that this was an ordinary angel. In my opinion, when all is considered, this angel was the second person of the Triune God, the pre-incarnate Christ. The people of Israel were called to obey this angel. The text says he had the authority to pardon and to judge sin. The name of God is said to have been in him.  Above all, we should consider what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:9. When Israel sinned in the wilderness, Paul says that they “put Christ to the test…” It seems that Paul considered this angel of the LORD to be Christ. 

So then, I say that it was Christ whom the LORD sent before Israel to guard them on the way and to bring them into the place that he had prepared for them. That story should sound familiar to you. Is this not what Christ has done in a greater way in the incarnation? After redeeming his elect from bondage to Satan, from sin, and from the fear of death, he has gone before his people to guard them on the way and to bring them into the place he has prepared for them, that is to say, the new heavens and earth. 

The point is this: the experience of Old Covenant Israel was an earthly, temporal, and conditional foreshadowing of the heavenly, eternal, and unconditional salvation that is ours  in Christ Jesus.

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All Idolatry Was To Cease

Look now at verse 23: “When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces.” 

Here it is promised that all idolaters would be blotted and commanded that all idolatry cease in the land of Canaan. Canaan was to be a place free from all idolatry. The new heavens and earth will be a place free from all idolatry. Canaan was a foretaste of the new creation. 

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The LORD Alone Was To  Be Worshipped And Served

Verse 25 says, “You shall serve the LORD your God…” The LORD alone was to be worshipped and served in Canaan. In the new heaven and earth, the LORD will be worshipped and served alone. The former was a picture of the latter. 

Concerning the new heavens and earth, Revelation 21:22 says, “And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (Revelation 21:22–27, ESV)

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The Blessing Of God World Be Upon His People

In verse 25 we continue reading, “You shall serve the LORD your God… and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. None shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.” 

Notice three things about these verses.

One, the Old Mosaic covenant was a conditional covenant or works. Israel would be blessed in the land if they were faithful to serve the Lord. This differs from the terms of the New Covenant, which is the Covenant of Grace. The blessings of this covenant are freely given for they were parched by Christ. 

Two, the blessings promised to Israel were earthly blessings. They pertained to bread and water, health, fruitfulness, and long life. The blessings of the New Covenant are spiritual and eternal. 

Three, the blessings promised for obedience under the Old Covenant were idealistic. Certainly, people experienced a lack of bread, sickness, miscarriage, and short lives under the Old Covenant. This was due to sin. But the idealistic promises here find their ultimate fulfillment in the new heaven and earth and were earned through the obedience of Jesus Christ, the true Israel of God.  

It will be in the new heavens and earth that “the dwelling place of God [will be] with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3–4, ESV).

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All Of God’s Enemies Were To Be Defeated

Lastly, let us consider verses 27 – 33. Here we learn that in Canaan God would defeat all of his enemies. “I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They 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.”

Again I say, in Canaan and under the Old Covenant this was true in an earthly and temporal sense. In the new heavens and earth this will be true in a spiritual and eternal sense. “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”” (Revelation 21:7–8, ESV)

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Suggestions For Application

Let us learn to read the Bible in a Christian way. 

As we consider the Old Testament scriptures and the Old Covenant of which they speak, let us learn to see and savor Christ there. He is the fulfillment! 

As we sojourn now in this world as strangers and exiles, let us long and live for the Promise Land, the new heavens and earth.