Exodus 23: Driving the Canaanites out represents cleansing of sin and error
Mention has often been made of the true, spiritual meaning of the Children of Israel being commanded to drive out the Canaanite and the Perizzite from the land of Canaan; and thus enter in to possess it. The correspondences Canaanite and Perizzite can actually mean good and truth respectively; but since these peoples fell from good and truth, the correspondence generally gets used in the reversed position and thus means sin and error. The use of the two terms alone as though they were nations and peoples but expressive of spiritual qualities stands as a symbol for all the sins and errors which we are to drive out of our lives inside and out in order to be allowed into the Heavenly Canaan. The book of Revelation uses a very similar arrangement when it refers to our Lord's being crucified "in that great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt" (Revelation 11:8); in that case, we may say more generally that He was crucified by sin and error and more specifically by ...