Alternate title: “pop quiz-rael”. boom.
Hey guys, God here.
Now that you are about to enter the land I swore to your ancestors, I’d like to give you a test. Don’t worry, it is just to see if you have been paying attention. Seriously, these are going to be softballs. Ready?
1) True or False: You will not be able to defeat the people who already live in the land due to their superior numbers, cities, and height.
Answer: False
I am actually going ahead of you to fight them. You are going to enter into a battle that has already been won. You just get to clean up after me.
2) True or False: You are getting this land because of your own righteousness, goodness, uprightness, and any other “ness” you come up with.
Answer: False
Hahahahaha! Oh man, I can’t believe any of you actually answered “true” for that one!
Really? Really?!
Remember that golden calf incident? Ooh, really righteous with that one. It was almost like you couldn’t wait to build an idol and worship it!
No, no, no, you are most certainly not getting this land because of your own righteousness.
But know this, the righteousness that you learn will definitely help you stay there.
3) The real reason I am giving you the land is because I made an oath with your ancestors and the people currently in the land are very very wicked.
Answer: True dat.
You actually had very little to do with this whole thing. And I mean, VERY little.
Bonus Question:
4) In the future, if you have been disobedient and wicked yourselves, when another unrighteous nation is being used to judge you, you ought to be surprised.
Answer: False.
I’m using you, with all your unrighteousness, to drive out some wicked nations.
So if it happens to you, don’t be surprised. It’s just one of those things I can do.
The Whole Dang Thing 
Love the alternative title.
The last line you wrote reminded me of something I read this weekend: “You will have plenty for yourselves and your cattle and other animals. But this is only a simple thing for the LORD.” (2 Kings 3:17b-18a, NLT)
Interesting, the verse you shared made me think of Genesis 13:5-6 “Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds with tents, so that the land could not support them both of them living together; for their possessions were so great that they could not live together” I think the difference between these two verses depends on our definition of “plenty”.
Well, providing plenty of cattle is one thing. Using a wicked nation like Assyria or Babylon to judge his own people is quite another.
Ben, I love the constant creativity you use to go through this.
Ha! Good stuff!