Exodus 23:20 says, Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.  God was going to send an Angel before the people of Israel to guide them.  Some see this Angel as Jesus before His incarnation, but whether it was or not, it was a special agent of God who was to lead them.  We today may not have an angel, but we doe have the Holy Spirit to guide us, and He is with us to guide us no matter where we go.  Verse twenty-one states, Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.  The people of Israel were to follow and not provoke the Angel, who would not pardon their transgressions if they did, because he represented God.  This would seem to further indicate that the Angel was Christ, since we cannot be forgiven if we reject and provoke Him by our failure to accept and follow Him.  Verse twenty-two declares, But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.  Here is one of those but ifs of the bible.  The people of Israel were required to follow the Angel, and if they did, then God would be an enemy to their enemies, but if they didn't, He would not be.  The same is true for us today.  If we follow Christ faithfully, God will be an enemy to our enemies, but if we stray, this will not be true.   Verse twenty-three adds, For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.  God told the people of Israel that His Angel would go before them and cut off all their enemies.  Christ cut off the power of all our enemies when He died for us on the cross, and the Holy Spirit is with us today to keep us spiritually safe as we travel through this world.  Verse twenty-four states, Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.  They were commanded to not bow down to any other gods, but to destroy them instead.  Anything that we value more than God's will today becomes an idol that we are bowing down to, and we must utterly deatroy it to be successful in following Christ.  Verse twenty-five declares,  And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.  God made a promise to the people of Israel, and it was not to make them materially rich.  If they served the LORD, He would bless their bread and water and take sickness away from their midst.  Today, we need to realize that God has not promised to make us rich materially, but to provide for our daily needs.  God also takes away our spiritual sickness if we put our faith in Christ.  Verse twenty-six states, There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.  God said that their cattle would not be barren in their land for the number of days until His promise was fulfilled.  Matthew Henry said that their cattle were a sign of prosperity, but I don't believe this was a promise of great wealth.  Verse twenty-seven proclaims, I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.  God said He would destroy all the enemies of the people of Israel, just as He will destroy all our spiritual enemies today if we follow His will.  I do not believe that there will never be a time when we are not defeated physically, but we will never be defeated spiritually if we follow God's guidance through the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  Verse twenty-eight states, And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.  God did not say that He would send a legion of angels to defeat the enemies of Israel, but that He would send hornets to drive them out.  We need to realize that God can and does work through ordinary things to keep us safe today.  Verse twenty-nine declares, I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.  The enemies of Israel were not to be driven out immediately.  Our enemies today may not be driven out immediately, but if we put our faith in Christ, we know that the victory is already assured.  Verse thirty adds, By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.  God said He would drive Israel's enemies out little by little.  When we walk with Christ, not all of our enemies are driven out at once, but little by little we face fewer spiritual enemies.  Verse thirty-one continues, And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.  God told the people of the boundaries of the land that He would give them, and said that they would drive  their enemies out of the land because God had delivered them to the hands of the Israelites.   Even though God delivers us from the power of sin, it is still up to us to do our part in overcoming it.  Verse thirty-two states, Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.  Like the people of Israel, as followers of Christ we can make no compromises with the world and its gods.  Verse thirty-three proclaims. They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.  Just like the people of Israel, if we allow the beliefs of the world to exist in our lives, we will be led to compromise our faith.  There are many snares to following Christ today, but we should never allow them to entrap us.