no i am not saying they should have acted like the nations that lived there. they could have allowed them to live there, and forbid some practices. not kill all people of different religion or drive them out. we today allow for freedom of religion but we don't allow satanists to sacrifice humans, or whatever.
Do you remember why God told Abraham in Genesis 15 that He would not bring the Hebrews into Canaan for another 400 years? He said that the people there had not gotten bad enough yet to warrant such a takeover -
"And in the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." (Genesis 15:16)
In the steady downward slide of the Canaanite cultures, God said it would be another four centries
(v. 13) before He would deem the Canaanite societies
complete in their need for God's judgment through conquest.
The point of God's tolerance came to an end. It is conceivable to me that a time comes when enough is enough is enough.
about the blessing of god: it is nonsense. they have a hunk of semi-desert there, no seaports. no country could prosper then or now without interacting with their neighbours. the blessing of god, that they are the chosen people was used to keep them strong and united until they got out of egypt and managed to secure a country of their own.
I think your view is shortsighted. I hear in your comment that any nation being somewhat blessed, could have happened without this fight over Canaan.
You don't consider the big picture. This is God moving through history to regain the entire earth. His view is not just to bless His favorite nation. Far from it. The use of Israel was in view of gaining the Gentile nations and recovery the whole earth.
Up to the time of the Tower of Babel God tried to work with the created race. From the time of the scattering of the people from the Tower of Babel God sought to work with a "called" race via its forefather Abraham.
But this calling was still in view of recovering the created race.
"Now Jehovah said to Abram, Go from your land and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land that I will show you;
And I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.
And I will bless those who bless you, and he who curses you I will curse; And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." (Genesis 12:1-3)
The conquest of Canaan and the planting there of Abraham's descedents I see as God's ongoing move to recover the earth Adam relinquished to evil spiritual forces.
Because I regard the Bible as the truth, I have to look at the matter through God's viewpoint in His communication with mankind.
I think what you see is just another nation who could very well have ekked out a decent place, not particularly important where.
Now if you read the account you'll see that there are varying levels severity of God's instructions who and who not to fight with. God is deliberate and knows exactly what He is doing.
He says in essence " Don't bother those people because I gave that earth to them. Don't bother these people because I gave that over there to them. Right here is where you go and drive out the inhabitants."
Very deliberate and goal oriented as it is related to the whole earth and its peoples.