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 23:29-33
Two further comments on this deeply interesting appendix to the Book of the Covenant. The promise to Israel was that the heathen nations would be driven out 'little by little' (29), rather than all in one year. Not only is the reason for this significant (reminding us of Christ's parable in Matthew 12:43-45 about the demons returning to take possession of the house of the human heart when once it had been swept clean) as indicating that God works on the principle of displacement, but also the illustration that it gives of the spiritual life suggests that advancement is to be thought of in terms of steady progress and growth rather than sudden, once-for-all victories (not that the latter do not occur, but if the analogy of natural growth be accepted as valid, then it should be clear that steady, and indeed imperceptible development is the norm for the human body, and also for the soul. Dramatic and sudden changes for the better in health usually take place when there has been a history of disease that has been treated drastically in order to effect a cure, but even then what has happened is merely a restoration to health; growth and development still require to follow in order to attain complete fitness). When we are healthy, we do not maintain our progress by fits and starts, but imperceptibly, on the 'little by little' principle. The other point here is the delineation of Israel's boundaries. In fact, Israel did not ever occupy as much as God gave her here, because she did not 'possess' it by driving out her foes. This also is a parable of spiritual life. God has given us all things in Christ, and we are complete in Him; but we enjoy only as much as we make our own by the appropriation of faith, and it does not really become ours, although it is ours in title, until we do. There is such a thing as faith's unclaimed inheritance.