#5. The typical character of the Canaanite.


While nothing short of a survey of the whole Bible would be necessary to set out full details of the conflict of the ages, we believe that were it undertaken the essential features already adduced would remain unchanged, though they might be more clearly seen in the light of the fuller study. As however we cannot contemplate so exhaustive a study in this series, we pass to others aspects of the subject, and in this article would look rather to the ultimate triumph of truth than dwell longer upon the temporary triumph of evil. For this purpose, we may find much help in the record of Israel’s crossing of the Jordan, the fall of Jericho, the partition of the Land of Promise, and the added reward given to Caleb, the overcomer. Before we picture the situation at the brink of Jordan, it will be necessary to go back in history to discover something of the origin and purpose of the Canaanite inhabitants of the Land of Promise against whom Joshua’s offensive was directed.

Who were the Canaanites? How did they get to Palestine? and what is their spiritual significance? The Canaanites were a people descended from Canaan, the son of Ham, who was a son of Noah. It will be remembered that upon awakening from sleep induced by drinking the wine he had made, Noah, with prophetic insight, pronounced a curse upon Canaan, the offspring of Ham. In Scripture therefore Canaan stands as one who is already at enmity and subjected to a curse.

The “Land of Canaan” is the name of the land known to us as Palestine, and the Land of Promise, and it is significant in connection with the analogy of terrestrial warfare which we are using, to mark how and when the land of Canaan, and the Canaanites themselves, first appear on the page of Scripture. Abram had received the call of God to go forth into a land that God would show him, and Gen. xi. 31 records the beginning of Abram’s response.

“And they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go unto the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran, and dwelt there” (Gen. xi. 31).

The journey commenced, it is true, but it came to a standstill too soon, for having reached Haran, they dwelt there. But after the death of Abram’s father, Terah, Abram responded to the divine call:

“And Abram took Sarai his wife . . . . . and they went forth into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came” (Gen. xii. 5).

This second step is followed by a third. Abram passed through a portion of the land of Moreh, but instead of taking possession of the Land of Promise and settling in it, we find him a “tent dweller” possessing no more than a burial place, for which he paid current money to the owner. This third step is partly explained by the next reference to the Canaanite in Gen. xii. 6, “And the Canaanite was then in the land”. The note in the Companion Bible on this passage is as follows:

“It is evident that from Terah’s and Abraham’s call, Satan knew the line by which ‘the seed of the woman’ (iii. 15) was coming into the world. In chap. vi. he aimed at the whole human race. Now he aims at Abraham and his land. Here is the second explanation of the words ‘after that’ in vi. 4. He pre-occupies the territory ready to dispute the advance. The Canaanite ‘was there’—‘being already there’ (xiii. 7). The progeny of the later attempt to corrupt the race had to be destroyed by the sword of Israel, as those ‘in the days of Noah’ had been by the flood. This attempt to corrupt the ‘seed’ is evident in Gen. iii., Gen. vi., and in the two attacks made upon Sarah as recorded in Gen. xiii. 11-20 and Gen. xx.”

That these Canaanites were not of pure Adamic stock is evident from the description given of them. We read of a race of giants called Anakim, Rephaim, Nephilim, etc., and we must expect that right down the ages Satan’s “men” will be supernaturally endowed.

Returning to the record of Gen. xi. and xii., we are conscious that the halt called at Haran and the statement, that by the time Abram did enter the land the Canaanite was already there, are intentionally linked together. We shall find that these Canaanites are indeed indicated as usurpers that must be evicted, and that the interval during which this usurpation was effected is linked with a moral purpose. The interval which enabled Satan to forestall Abram’s entry into the land is attributable to human frailty, but when we read Gen. xv. we become conscious of another aspect of this circumstance.

Abraham is told by God that his seed, which are destined to inherit the land of Canaan, shall, nevertheless, for a time, “be strangers in a land that is not theirs”; that a period of four hundred years shall elapse before they return, with great substance, and the inner reason given for this strange interval is, “In the fourth generation they shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (Gen. xv. 16). Israel’s failure to possess the land of promise therefore is closely linked with deeper measures of the divine plan. Satan and the Canaanite are “permitted”. They shall yet be judged, when the time is ripe, but meanwhile the true heir of promise waits in patience for the ultimate triumph of faith.

When the moment came for Israel to enter into the possession of their inheritance, the Canaanite blocked the way, and so became the object of Israel’s attack. We cannot deal with Joshua, Jordan and Jericho here, but will pick up the subject of the relationship of the Canaanite with Joshua’s entry into the land and its conquest, as a sequel to Abraham’s entry and deprivation, in the next article of this series. Let us however anticipate the ultimate end of the struggle by quoting one passage from the prophets.

“In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take them and seethe therein; and in that day there shall be NO MORE CANAANITE in the house of the Lord of hosts” (Zech. xiv. 20, 21).


(From The Berean Expositor Volume 32, page 242).

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