The seven nations
Before Israel crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, Moses named seven peoples already living there: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Deuteronomy describes them as nations greater and mightier than Israel, which makes clear that Israel was not simply taking the land by natural strength (Deuteronomy 7:1).
These names refer to different peoples and city groups in the ancient land of Canaan. The Jebusites, for example, lived in Jerusalem, then called Jebus, until David captured the city much later in Israel's history (2 Samuel 5:6-7).
When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
Why were they driven out?
This is a hard part of the Bible, and Scripture itself addresses the question. Moses told Israel not to think they were receiving the land because they were more righteous than anyone else. Rather, God was judging the entrenched wickedness of the nations there, while also keeping his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Deuteronomy 9:4-5).
Leviticus gives some sense of what that wickedness involved. It describes practices that deeply dishonoured God, including sexual exploitation, occult practices, and sacrificing children. The land is pictured as bearing witness against such sustained evil (Leviticus 18:24-25; Deuteronomy 18:9-12).
Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee.
Not a licence for hatred
The command concerned a specific time, place, and people in Israel's history. It was not a general instruction for God's people to conquer other lands or despise ethnic groups. Israel itself was warned that it would face God's discipline if it adopted the same sins and turned from him (Deuteronomy 8:19-20).
The story also shows that God was not indifferent to individual people from Canaan. Rahab lived in Jericho, yet she trusted the God of Israel and protected the Israelite spies. She and her family were spared when Jericho fell (Joshua 2:9-11; Joshua 6:25). Her story reminds us that God sees faith and repentance, not merely ancestry.
Reading this passage wisely
These passages show both God's patience and his seriousness about evil. Genesis says the wrongdoing of the Amorites had not yet reached its full measure in Abraham's day, suggesting that judgement did not come quickly or casually (Genesis 15:16).
Christians read this history in light of Jesus, who calls his followers to love enemies and refuses to advance his kingdom through violence (Matthew 5:44; John 18:36). The seven nations are part of a particular chapter in Israel's story, but the wider message still searches every heart: God opposes evil, keeps his promises, and welcomes those who turn to him.
And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.