Deuteronomy 7:16-26

b. DIFFICULTIES OF THE HOLY WAR (Deuteronomy 7:17-26)

17 If thou shalt say in thy heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them? 18 thou shalt not be afraid of them: thou shalt well remember what Jehovah thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt; 19 the great trials which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, whereby Jehovah thy God brought thee out: so shall Jehovah thy God do unto all the peoples of whom thou art afraid. 20 Moreover Jehovah thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves, perish from before thee. 21 Thou shalt not be affrighted at them; for Jehovah thy God is in the midst of thee, a great God and a terrible. 22 And Jehovah thy God will cast out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beast of the field increase upon thee. 23 But Jehovah thy God will deliver them up before thee, and will discomfit them with a great discomfiture, until they be destroyed. And he will deliver their kinds into thy hand, and thou shalt make their name to perish from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them. 25 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire; thou shalt not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein; for it is an abomination to Jehovah thy God. 26 And thou shalt not bring an abomination into thy house, and become a devoted thing like unto it: thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a devoted thing.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 7:17-26

167.

The conquest of Canaan has no lesson for us if we have no conquest of self or sin or need to which we can make application. Please make application!

168.

Memory has a great power when used right, how?

169.

Are we to understand that God used literal hornets in aiding Israel? Discuss.

170.

In what sense was God to be considered terrible?

171.

Explain in your own words Deuteronomy 7:22.

172.

There can be no neutral ground. There can be no moderation with sin. detect, utterly abhor, why is this true? What is a snare?

AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 7:17-26

17 If you say in your [mind and] heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?
18 You shall not be afraid of them, but remember (earnestly) what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh, and to all Egypt,
19 The great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out; so shall the Lord your God do to all the people of whom you are afraid.
20 Moreover the Lord your God will send the hornet among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed.
21 You shall not dread them; for the Lord your God is among you, a mighty and terrible God.
22 And the Lord your God will clear out those nations before you little by little; you may not consume them quickly, lest the beasts of the field increase among you.
23 But the Lord your God will give them over to you, and will confuse them with a mighty panic until they are destroyed.
24 And He will give their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under the heavens; there shall no man be able to stand before you, until you have destroyed them.
25 The graven images of their gods you shall burn with fire; you shall not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourself, lest you be ensnared by it; for it is an abomination to the Lord your God
26 Neither shall you bring an abomination (an idol) into your house, lest you become an accursed thing like it; but you shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is an accursed thing.

COMMENT 7:17-26

Note that we have here:

(1)

The apparent superiority of the foe (Deuteronomy 7:17-21)

(2)

The gradual nature of the conquest (Deuteronomy 7:22)

(3)

The rewards and demands of faithfulness (Deuteronomy 7:20-21; Deuteronomy 7:23-26)

The foe was far superior in both numbers and physical equipment. But Jehovah, the Lord of hosts was with Israel! And he demanded one great basic quality of his peopleconfidence in his abilityunbounded faith!

IF THOU SHALT SAY IN THY HEART, THESE NATIONS ARE MORE THAN I (Deuteronomy 7:17)The very attitude that had kept them out of the promised land before (Deuteronomy 1:26-33, Numbers 13:32 to Numbers 14:4)

HOW CAN I DISPOSSESS THEM? (Deuteronomy 7:17)One cannot read these lines without thinking of the many impossible and apparently insurmountable difficulties that sometimes face the people of God today. And doubtfully the question is asked, How can I do it? How can I overcome it? The answer is, YOU can-'t! But God is able. This does not mean idly sitting back and supposing that all will work out. But it does mean simply doing what we can in the Lord's work, with a child-like faith in our Master, knowing that we labor for him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us (Ephesians 3:20).

THOU SHALT WELL REMEMBER WHAT JEHOVAH THY GOD DID UNTO PHAROAH, AND UNTO ALL EGYPT (Deuteronomy 7:18)Nothing is more helpful for the child of God, when anticipating the future with its difficulties and impossibilities, than to reflect upon what God has done for his children in the past. As he has done, so will he do! See Deuteronomy 4:32-39.

JEHOVAH. WILL SEND THE HORNET AMONG THEM (Deuteronomy 7:20)The Hebrew word for hornet or wasp (tsirah) is used only two other times in the Old Testament. Young's literal translation has locust. And I will send the hornet before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before thee (Exodus 23:28). And God could say through Joshua, about twenty-five years later, And I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites [Sihon and Og? (Deuteronomy 3:7; Deuteronomy 4:47), or two of the Amorite kings mentioned in Joshua 10?]; not with thy sword, nor with thy bow (Joshua 24:12).

I take these verses all literally, believing that God actually did employ wasps or hornets to assist Israel in battle. Why couldn-'t he? I reject, then, such figurative renderings for hornet (tsirah) as leprosy (Smith-Goodspeed), a plague (The Torah), raiders (Lamsa), depression, discouragement (Baumgartner). Gesenius, while admitting that hornet is the rendering which accords with the ancient versions and the Hebrew, states that it seems hardly capable of being literally understood and says here it is to be understood metaphorically as designating ills and calamities of various kinds. The common versions (A.V., A.S.V., R.S.V.) as well as Berkely, Rotherham, Moffatt, and The Amplified Old Testament, consistently translate hornet however, and the other renderings seems to be more interpretation than translation. (The non-literal idea is perhaps best explained in the note adapted from Lange in the Amplified O.T. -... the hornet-' with the article, meaning collective as a species or kind, is thus evidently to be understood, as Deuteronomy 2:25, of the terrors of God which should go before Israel, with which also Joshua 24:12 and Psalms 44:2 fully agree.)

JEHOVAH. WILL CAST OUT THOSE NATIONS BEFORE THEE BY LITTLE AND LITTLEIn fact, they were forbidden to cast them all out at once, LEST THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD INCREASE UPON THEE (Deuteronomy 7:22)That is, they were not to be driven out in one year, lest the land before desolate, and the beasts of the field multiply against thee (See Exodus 23:29-30). A number of years would be needed before the Israelites themselves were sufficiently numerous to fill the whole land occupied by the seven nations mentioned in Deuteronomy 7:1 and especially the even broader borders outlined in the promised land-Deuteronomy 1:7, Deuteronomy 1:24.

THOU SHALT NOT COVET THE SILVER OR THE GOLD THAT IS ON THEM [idols or images]) NOR TAKE IT UNTO THEE, LEST THOU BE SNARED THEREIN (Deuteronomy 7:25)Some of the ancient idols were plated over with gold, and God saw that the value of the metal and the excellence of the workmanship might be an inducement for the Israelites to preserve them; and this might lead, remotely at least, to idolatry. As the idols were accursed, all those who had them, or any thing appertaining to them, were accursed also, Deuteronomy 7:26. (Clarke)

There are moral and spiritual implications here that are for our learning. The very gold and silver on the idols was to be burned with fire. No part of the idol was to be coveted, let alone taken! There was always the temptation that they would be snared therein (Cf. also Deuteronomy 7:16). Similarly the Lord would have every Christian destroy and obliterate every vestige of sin in his life. Jesus taught us to pray, And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (Matthew 6:13). Paul taught, But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof (Romans 13:14).