Deuteronomy 7:1-26
1 When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
2 And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
4 For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images,a and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
6 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
10 And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.
11 Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, ifb ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:
13 And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
14 Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.
15 And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.
16 And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.
17 If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?
18 Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
19 The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.
20 Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.
21 Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.
22 And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.
23 But the LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.
24 And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name 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 desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.
26 Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.
ISRAEL SEPARATED TO GOD
(vs.1-11)
Again the Lord emphasizes the importance of Israel's sanctification from the nations. When they entered the land, God would give them victory over the inhabitants, as He had promised, seven nations greater and mightier than they (v.1). But on Israel's part there was to be no mercy shown to these enemies. They were to utterly destroy them (v.2). This is a picture of believers today being responsible to destroy the deception of evil spirits in opposing the truth of the Word of God in such a way as to deprive us of our rightful inheritance. We must not in any way compromise with satanic pressure.
Marriages with these enemies are expressly forbidden (v.4), for the foreign spouse would influence the Israelite to serve idols. All Scripture has consistently warned against such mixtures, and2 Corinthians 6:14 is clear and decided as to this question, "Do no be unequally yoked together with unbelievers." If an Israelite was told to avoid a yoke with a Gentile, how much more today is a believer to form no bound with an unbeliever. This is God's Word, which is enough for every obedient heart, but if one is disobedient, he can expect to suffer painful consequences.
Israel was to have no hesitation in destroying the altars of these enemy nations, their sacred pillars and all their images (v.5). However attractive these things looked, they must not dare to spare any of them. In spirit of such clear laws from God, king Ahaz of Judah saw an altar in Syria and required the high priest to pattern one after this for Jerusalem (2 Kings 6:10), displacing the altar of God's design (v.14). Today in the professing church many similar things have been done (in a spiritual way) that are insulting to the living God.
Israel was "a holy people" to the Lord, who had chosen them as a people for Himself, a special treasure above all others (v.6). Since they were exclusively His, they should both deeply appreciate this honor and act constantly in positive testimony for Him, which is contrary to the course of the world.
As for Israel, so for the Church today, the Lord did not set His love on them because of their large population, for they were few in number (v.7). His love for them was sovereign, not influenced by natural considerations, but moved by pure divine wisdom, wisdom that had chosen their fathers and promised their fathers marvelous blessing that could come to their descendants. This love had already accomplished their amazing liberation from Egypt, so it was proven beyond doubt to them (v.8).
Therefore Israel was to fully recognize that God is absolutely faithful, perfectly dependable in keeping the covenant He had made, however many generations would follow. If Israel would keep God's commandments they would find Him true to His Word in blessing them (v.9). But also, if they refused to obey, they would find Him true to His Word in repaying their wrong doing in destroying them (v.10). Therefore, it was only wisdom to fully observe God's commandments, statutes and judgments.
BLESSINGS RESULTING FROM OBEDIENCE
(vs.12-26)
Promises of blessing from God on condition of Israel's obedience ought to have induced them to be diligent in observing His laws. He promised them that if they would obey, He would keep His covenant which He swore to their fathers (v.12). Actually, whether they obeyed or not, God will eventually keep that covenant made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, for it is unconditional. Yet if Israel had obeyed God, they would have reaped the benefits of the covenant in the land, from which they would never to put out as long as they obeyed.
God would love and bless and multiply Israel on the ground of their obedience. He would bless them with children, bless the fruit of their land, prosper their crops of grain, wine and oil, and increase their livestock (v.13). He would bless them above all other nations, with not one male or female barren, whether of humans of livestock (v.14). This would have been marvelous indeed, though we know it did not take place. In the millennium it will be so, however, because God's covenant with the fathers cannot fail, and the grace of God will accomplish what law never could.
They would suffer no sickness nor any of the terrible diseases they had known in Egypt, which instead their enemies would suffer (v.15). They were again warned to destroy all the inhabitants of the land, not showing any pity and not being deceived by their idolatry (v.16). If they were tempted to fear these nations because they were greater than Israel, they must not give in to such fear, but remember well what the Lord did to Pharaoh and Egypt, including the great signs and wonders that proved Him superior to every enemy, for God would as effectively destroy all the power of those in the land as easily as He disposed of Egypt's power (vs.17-19).
In fact, God would send the hornet among their enemies, striking fear into their hearts, so that Israel would have no difficulty in destroying them (v.20). A hornet is a small, insignificant insect, but the weapons of an army cannot withstand an attack of hornets. The soldiers would not stand and fight Israel while pursued by hornets! Whether this is entirely literal or not, still it teaches us that God can use the most trifling means of putting His enemies to flight. Israel was warned therefore not to be terrified (v.21). We today need to be reminded by the words of the Lord Jesus, "Do not be afraid of them who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear. Fear Him who, after Has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him" (Luke 12:4)!
Yet Israel is told that God would not abruptly destroyed the enemies all at once, but drive them out a little at a time, for if the land was not immediately repopulated, wild animals would so increase as to cause another problem. But Israel must not be discouraged by the length of time this would take, for God would without fail enable them to finish the work (vs.22-23).
God would deliver the kings of the nations into their hands to be destroyed. They must burn their carved images, and not even desire the silver and gold of which the idols were made. All was to be devoted to utter destruction, for any remaining semblance of these evils would be a snare to Israel (vs.24-25). In God's sight the entire idol was abomination. No part of it could be sanctified to Him. More than this, Israel was told to detest and abhor such idols, not only to avoid them, but to hate them (v.26), for they were under the curse of God.