God's response to the spiritual decline of the Israelites marks a profound historical turning point, halting the promised conquest of the land due to a deep breach of trust. This divine anger is not a sudden reaction to a new event or the death of a specific leader. Rather, it is a broad continuation of the frustration directed at a new generation that turned to idolatry and forgot God [אברבנאל, מלבי״ם]. The root of this anger is the breaking of the covenant established at Sinai. Specifically, the Israelites violated the core prohibition against worshiping other gods, completely ignoring the repeated warnings given by Joshua [אברבנאל]. From another perspective, the core of this betrayal was their outright refusal to drive out the local inhabitants as they were originally commanded [ביאור שטיינזלץ].
The failure to listen to God went far beyond merely ignoring a set of rules. It revealed a state of complete stubbornness. The people actively refused to hear logical arguments, clear proofs, and stark warnings about the inevitable disaster their actions would bring [מלבי״ם].
In response to this broken covenant, God reacts measure for measure. Since the Israelites failed to uphold their end of the agreement, God withdraws His promise to complete the conquest of the land, leaving behind the nations that Joshua did not manage to drive out during his lifetime [רלב״ג, אברבנאל]. The survival of these foreign nations, some of whom lived outside the tribal territories, was not a result of Joshua's military shortcomings. Instead, it was a deliberate Divine plan designed to test the Israelites [אלשיך].
This test served a dual purpose. First, it would reveal whether the people would remain devoted to God or fall into idolatry, with the remaining nations acting as agents of Divine punishment if the Israelites chose to sin [אברבנאל]. Second, the test was aimed directly at the newer generations who had not witnessed the open miracles of the earlier wars in Canaan. It was meant to teach them that success in battle relies entirely on Divine providence and their devotion to Him, rather than on natural forces or military talent [אלשיך].