* In the second half of the chapter, God says he is sending an angel ahead of the Israelites they need to listen to the angel and obey him. Then God will wipe out their enemies in the lands of the Amorites, Hittites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites. How could these people be the enemies of the Israelites when they haven't even come in contact with them yet? Do all those people really deserve to die?
*The Israelites are not to worship those people's gods or follow any of their customs. They are to destroy the people and their sacred stones. (This is obviously before the days of the golden rule.)If they worship Yahweh, he will bless their food and water. They won't be sick, have miscarriages, or infertility problems. Plus, they will live long lives. What about an eternal reward in heaven? Nope. It was not an issue in those good old days.
*Now God calls the angel that is going ahead a terror and a hornet. It will stir up those other nations, and make them confused and cowardly. Little by little they will be driven out of the land to give the Israelites time to grow enough in population so they can take possession of the land. That is only practical. If those other people left all at once, weeds and wild animals would take over.
*God will give them a particular area of land from the Red Sea to the Medeterranean, and from the desert in the south to the river in the north. They are to drive out all the native people, make no treaties with them or their gods, and not let them live in that land. Otherwise, there will be trouble. It was a kind of manifest destiny for the Israelites.
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