Speak not thou in thine heart … 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. – Deuteronomy 9:4
Our current culture presents the idea that poor innocent natives living in harmony with nature and in accordance with their own peaceful ways were brutally massacred by ruthless people who thought they were commanded by God to destroy the land. We struggle with how a loving God could command the murder of such wise and lovely people groups!
But a second look presents a different understanding!
Long before Israel was told to conquer Canaan, God told their original patriarch there was a primary reason it would be 400 years before the promised land would be theirs – read it here:
[God] said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in [Egypt] … four hundred years; … But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. – Genesis 15:13,16
God was still at work with the inhabitants, giving them 400 years to turn from their sin.
Sin is not a Christian/Jewish concept, it’s universal. The natives weren’t living in harmony and peace — they were violent, ruthless, and sinful! God was working with them, just as with us, to turn around and do right. We read in Genesis 14 how God sent Melchizedek, a Christ-like priest/king, to serve the people in what was later known as Jerusalem.
We only have enough detail to know, for those who notice, that God did not arbitrarily decide to wipe out a bunch of out poor innocents! He worked with them 400 years showing them mercy, calling them to righteousness, offering them true peace.
The Israelites were God’s eventual judgement on a sinful people – how long should he have waited? Was 400 years not enough time to wait for change?
God, likewise, has been patient to us as a nation – sending ambassadors for His kingdom, calling for repentance, offering forgiveness. How long does he have to wait before the cry of victims and the greed of social/economic leaders is full?
– fritz@langgang.com
Related Posts: What about the Pygmies in Africa?! – January 24, 2010
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God’s object lessons can be strange. In the Old Testament, when God’s people complained poisonous snakes slithered out and bit them.1 God’s cure was to take an image of one of those snakes, put it on a pole and look at it! Those who looked lived and those who refused to look died. 
Patrikin - Kinship through The Father 