Deuteronomy 7: Do Not Make Unholy Alliances
1 “When Yahweh your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, 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 you, 2 and when Yahweh your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. 3 Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. 4 For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of Yahweh will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. 5 But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.
6 “For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God; Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. 7 Yahweh did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; 8 but because Yahweh loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, Yahweh has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
“‘When Yahweh your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you,’ God did all: ‘He cast out the heathen before them, and divided them an inheritance by line,’ etc. [Psalms 78:55] Hence Josephus calls the commonwealth of Israel Yεοκρατειαν…Regnum Dei [Kingdom of God].” (John Trapp). He would cast out seven nations: “‘the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.’ The Canaanites were a particular nation in the land of Canaan, which had their name from Canaan himself; the rest were called from different sons of his; see Genesis 10:15…” (John Gill) “There were ten in Genesis 15:19-21; but this being some hundreds of years after that, it is not strange if three of them were either destroyed by foreign or domestic wars, or by cohabitation and marriage united with and swallowed up in some of the rest.” (Matthew Poole) Moreover: “It is more than probable that some, stationed on the east of Jordan, had fallen under the victorious arms of the Israelites.” (Jameson Faussett, Brown)
“‘And when Yahweh your God delivers them over to you, you shall smite them [and] utterly destroy them.’ Their iniquity was now full; [Genesis 15:16] they filled the land with filthiness, from corner to corner; [Ezra 9:11] they were ripe for the sickle, ready for the vintage of God’s wrath, which now came upon them to the utmost.” (John Trapp) Once judgment starts, there was no hope of their repentance and amendment as was the case of similar judgments on the antediluvians or citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah. Annihilation was God’s judgement on them for “punishment for capital crimes they had been guilty of, such as idolatry, incest, murder, etc.” (John Gill) and therefore they were to be “an object lesson of the holiness and righteousness of God.” (Arno Gaebelein)
“Limiting the orders to destroy, to the nations here mentioned, plainly shows that after ages were not to draw this into a precedent.“ (Matthew Henry) There is no nation, even the current nation of Israel, which is holy enough to execute the judgment of God. It is evident concerning America policy makers— “There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18) Our Joshua, is Him who says: "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay."
“‘You shall make no covenant with them’ to spare them, or permit them to dwell with thee in the land.” (Matthew Poole) “If God cast them out [or pitted them for destruction, as the world and those attached thereto], Israel must not take them in, no, not as tenants, nor tributaries, nor servants. Not covenant of any kind must be made with them, no mercy must be shown them.” (Matthew Henry) —“Nor shall you make marriages with them.” etc. Some supposed that this law was limited to “such of these as were unconverted, [for they suppose] otherwise Salmon married Rahab, Matthew 1:5.” (Matthew Poole) But Rahab showed favor to Israel before the judgment came upon them. Thus righteousness was accounted to her, as to Ruth, who attached herself to Israel. In fact , not just these nations, but they were not marry “with any other that were idolatots. [Ezra 9:1-2]— ‘for they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods;’ as the foreign women did Solomon. [1 Kings 11:2-4].— ‘so the anger of Yahweh will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.’” (John Trapp)... as in 70AD by the hand of Rome.
”But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.’— “destroy all the religious paraphernalia of the Canaanites.” (Peter Pett) “For you are a holy people — separated for service— o Yahweh your God. Also, Israel was then great number but Yahweh’s love for Israel began “when as yet but a single family, or rather a single person— Abraham; though there were already numerous nations and powerful kingdoms in the earth. Increase had taken place because of the very blessing of God spoken of here.” (Albert Barnes)— “but because Yahweh loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, Yahweh has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
“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 (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 [spiritual] descendants. This love [for them as members of Christ] had already accomplished their amazing liberation from Egypt, so it was proven beyond doubt to them (8).” (L. M. Grant) Let us then serve Him.
Deuteronomy 7: The Faithful Amen
9 “Therefore know that Yahweh your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; 10 and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. 11 Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.
“The tenour of the covenant into which they were taken it was in short this, ‘That as they were to God so God would be to them.’ They should certainly find Him, kind to His friends, Deuteronomy 7:9.... [and] just to His enemies: He repays those that hate Him, Deuteronomy 7:10.“ (Henry) In covenant language: “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).” (L. M. Grant)
“‘Know therefore that the LORD thy God, He [is] God, the faithful God,’ true to His Word, and constant in performing all His promises.” (Matthew Poole) He is “‘the God of Amen.’ [Psalms 31:6] ‘The Amen, the faithful and true witness,’ [Revelation 3:14] that ‘will not suffer His faithfulness to fail, nor alter the thing that is gone out of His lips,’ [Psalms 89:33] all His precepts, predictions, promises, menaces, being the issue of a most faithful and righteous will, void of the least insincerity or falsehood… The promises are ancient, [Titus 1:1-2] and yet they never failed; nor the menaces. [Zephaniah 3:5].” (John Trapp)->
The Seed of the woman will surely crush the head of the seed of the serpent. The righteous will surely be rewarded, according to their works. But so will the wicked, yet their reward will be punishment— the wage of sin. The wage of sin is death but the gift of Yahweh God is eternal life. He who has the Son has life but he who does not have Him shall not see life.
Messiah will come again for rewards and punishment. He keeps covenant with those who love Him, causing our work for Him to have a ripple effect for many generations. But sinful habits will also ripple from generation to generation. Repent of your evil for your own sake and for expediency for your family. He “repays those who hate him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack to him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face.’ God is not like a weak, indulgent father, who will overlook the transgressions of his children, often in maudlin sentimentality.” (Paul E. Kretzmann) “These, such as the Canaanites, He will destroy. This fact is stressed. He is not slack and slovenly about dealing with sin, He does it openly and readily in the face of the sinner.” (Peter Pett)... as the Commander of Yahweh's Host, whom Joshua worshipped- Joshua 5:13.
“‘You shall therefore keep the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which I command you this day, to do them.’ “This is a grand eternal truth — a truth for Israel, a truth for the church. Dispensations make no difference as to this. Whether we study Deuteronomy 7:1-26, or 1 John 3:1-24, we learn the same great practical truth, that God delights in those who fear Him and love Him, and keep His commandments.
Is there ought of the legal element in this? Not a tinge. Love and legality have nothing in common; they are as far removed as the poles. ‘This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous.’ The spirit and genius, the ground and character of our obedience all go to prove it the very reverse of legality. It is our deep and settled conviction that those persons, who are ever ready to cry out, ‘Legal! Legal!’ whenever obedience is pressed upon them, are sadly and grossly mistaken. If indeed it were taught that we must earn by our obedience the high position and relationship of children of God, then verily the solemn charge of legality might justly be urged. But to bestow such an epithet on Christian obedience, is, we repeat, a serious moral mistake. Obedience could never precede sonship; but sonship should ever be followed by obedience.” (C. H. Mackintosh's Notes)
Let "all who would sin beware. There is no room in His Land for sin.” (Peter Pett) "How awful are the expressions we sometimes meet with in Scripture, in the midst of mercies. And is not that very gospel, which to some is the savor of life unto life, to others the savor of death unto death? 2 Corinthians 2:15-16.” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)
Deuteronomy 7: Ultimate Blessings of Obedience
12 “Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that Yahweh your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. 13 And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock. 15 And Yahweh will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you. 16 Also you shall destroy all the peoples whom Yahweh your God delivers over to you; your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
“Then it shall come to pass, ‘because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them,’— and be careful to observe them:” (Adam Clarke)— “‘that Yahweh your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers.’— not only to bring you into the the land of Canaan, but to give it to them as an eternal inheritance. Abraham never owned any of the earthly land, except a burial plot. So perhaps this is prophetic and speaking of the substance of Heaven. For there has never been such an age as herein described. “If they would distinguish themselves from their neighbours by singular services, God would dignify them above their neighbours by singular [end-time] blessings.” (Matthew Henry)
“‘And He will love you’ and not hate you; ‘and bless you’ and not curse you; ‘and multiply you,’ spiritually. “He will also bless the fruit of your womb” causing them to walk in His statues— “and the fruit of your land, your grain,” that is the spiritual harvest of souls — “and your new wine,” even your doctrine, “and your oil,” the Holy Spirit, “the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock” even as in Goshen,— but the promise was “in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you.” Yahweh will bring you into the land of Canaan and you will continue in it; blessing “thee with a multiplication of offspring, which was what was often promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; that their seed should be as the stars of heaven, the dust of the earth, and the sand of the sea.” (Adam Clarke) The star of heaven represent the spiritual children of Abraham, who have like faith as him, coming in the end of time to believe in Jesus as the Messiah of Israel. And the dust of the earth represents physical descendants of the Old Testament times who were faithful to the light given them. The sand of the sea is the nations of the world from when believers would flock to Him at the end of time.
“‘You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock.’ Indeed they would be blessed more than all others. Not a single male or female would be barren, not one of their cattle would fail to produce in abundance. Their numbers and their prosperity would continue to grow and grow. All would be perfect. Here is the picture of abundant blessing, had they been fully faithful. But its final fulfilment would actually await the afterlife, for none in this world could live up to it.” (Peter Pett)
“‘And Yahweh will take away from you all sickness’— physical and spiritual— ‘and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you.’ It is a sentiment of the rabbins that ‘whatever plagues God inflicted on the Egyptians in former times, he will inflict on the enemies of His people in all later times.’” (Adam Clarke) These verse of Deuteronomy speak not so much to me of the trumpet judgments of Revelation 8:7-12, which “affected only one third of the various areas, [while the saints remain on earth] but here [in Revelation 16] the [bowl] judgments [which] are total and final...” (Bridgeway Bible Commentary, with the saints in heaven.
John “heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth’ (Rev. 16:1)— upon Antichrist and his adherents.” (Trapp) — “the whole Roman papal state, both political, and ecclesiastical; called mystery Babylon the great, the mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth. {Rev. 17:5}”. (Knollys) “‘So the first [angel] went and poured out his bowl upon the earth,’ recalling the boils of the sixth plague that struck Egypt (Exod. 9:10–11; Deut. 28:27), ‘and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.’” (Rev.16:2) Just as the boils afflicted only Egyptians and not the Israelites, so the malignant sores of the first of the last plagues afflicts only those having ‘the mark of the beast and who worship his image.’ The same are identified as the recipients of the rest of the bowl plagues.” (Ranko Stefanovic) “The idea of the plague is taken from that of Egypt in Exodus 9:8-12, but it cannot be literally understood, for literal interpretation is wholly inapplicable to the sixth bowl (vs. 12), and all the bowls must be interpreted on the same principles.” (Schaff)
The boils of this plague affect the earth, which “doth metonymically signify the inhabiters of the Popish earth, the earthly state of the Roman papal kingdom; that is, those inhabiters of the earth against whom the third woe is pronounced, {Rev. 8:13} especially those that rejoiced at the killing of Christ's two prophetical witnesses. {Rev.11:10}" (Knollys) “This particular sore is directly related to the mark of the beast. It thus typifies the resulting sickness in heart and spirit that destroys men.” (Pett)
“Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died.” (Revelation 16:3)The second judgment plagues is in the sea, “It can hardly be doubted that we have in this bowl a reference to one of the plagues of Egypt (Exod. 7:19). But literal interpretation cannot be thought of." (Schaff's Commentary) By in the sea— “we may understand the see of Rome, the see of Canterbury, the see of York, and all other ecclesiastical, metropolitan, and diocesan sees; especially, the Popes See,… in which see of the church of Rome, those kings of the earth, who give their power, strength, and kingdom to the beast, and all Babylon merchants, and ship masters, and as many as trade by sea, and traffic for estates, for slaves, and for souls of men. {Rev. 18:9-19} 'And it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea'-- so that the effects of this vial is death, unto them that worship the beast or his image, or receive his Mark ,name, or the number of his name, {Rev. 18:8} not only temporal but eternal death. {Rev. 14:9-11}” (Hansard Knollys)
“Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.” (Rev. 16:4)The third plague is in the rivers and fountains, as the first Egyptian plague, Exodus 7:20, by which we may understand the emperors, kings, princes and nobles of the earth, “which give their power and strength to the see of Rome; as the rivers and fountains of waters run into the sea. {Eccl 1:7} The great monarchs and kings of the earth are called the heads of their rivers, {Ezek. 29:3-4; 32:2-6} that is, of their mystical waters." (Hanserd Knollys)
Thus now the admonition to those Israelites about to occupy the earthly land of Israel. “‘You shall destroy all the peoples whom Yahweh your God delivers over to you;” as He has commanded. Your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.’ For they will cause the apple of His eye to become partakers of His wrath.
Deuteronomy 7: Remembrances of Former Mercies
17 “If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’— 18 you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: 19 the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which Yahweh your God brought you out. So shall Yahweh your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Moreover Yahweh your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left, who hide themselves from you, are destroyed.
The Angel of Yahweh destroyed the firstborn of the Egyptians, representing the future heads/teachers of the various family; but passed over the firstborn of Israel. They were the very ones tasked with this occupation of the land... and Pharaoh and His armies drowned in the sea; but He delivered the Israelites to safety. Likewise, He has delivered us from slavery to sin and death. Remember His Works; His former mercies!
”The grand remedy for all unbelieving fears is simply to fix the eye upon the living God [and the promises to the faithful found in His Word]:
thus the heart is raised above the difficulties whatever they may be. It is of no possible use to deny that there are difficulties and opposing influences of all sorts. This will not minister comfort and encouragement to the sinking heart. Some people affect a certain style of speaking of trials and difficulties which just goes to prove, not their practical knowledge of God, but their profound ignorance of the stern realities of life. They would fain persuade as that we ought not to feel the trials, sorrows and difficulties of the way. They might as well tell us that we ought not to have a head on our shoulders or a heart in our bosom. Such persons know not how to comfort those that are cast down. They are mere visionary theorists, wholly unfit to deal with souls passing through conflict or grappling with the actual facts of our daily history.
How did Moses seek to encourage the hearts of his brethren. ‘Be not affrighted,’ he says; but why? Was it that there were no enemies, no difficulties, no dangers? No, but ‘the Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible. Here is the true comfort and encouragement; the enemies were there but God is the sure resource. Thus it was that Jehoshaphat, in his time of trial and pressure, sought to encourage himself and his brethren. ‘O our God, wilt thou not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon Thee.’
Here lies the precious secret. The eyes are upon God. His power is brought in, and this settles everything;. ‘If God be for us, who can be against us?’ Moses meets, by his precious ministry, the rising fears in the heart of Israel, ‘These nations are more than I.’ Yes, but they are not more than the ‘mighty and terrible God.’ What nations could stand before Him? He had a solemn controversy with those nations because of their terrible sins; their iniquity was full; the reckoning time had come, and the God of Israel was going to drive them out before His people.” (C. H. Mackintosh)
Moreover Yahweh your God had promised to send hornets ahead of them to drive out the inhabitants (Exodus 23:28) but here it seems— to destroy them for it says He “will send the hornet among them, until those who are left, who hide themselves from you, are destroyed.” He will utterly remove them from the land. — “Such of the Canaanites who escaped the sword of the Israelites, and hid themselves in holes and caverns of the earth; these the hornets would find out and sting them to death, until they were all destroyed. Thus God can make use of small creatures, even insects, to destroy nations the most populous and mighty.” (John Gill)
And thus would the entole worm, ensure the destruction of the wicked after the final judgment. (Isaiah 66:24)— “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.’" See Mark 9:48, also.
And see the fulfillment of the promise in Joshua 24:12— “‘Then I sent the hornet before you and it drove out the two kings of the Amorites from before you, but not by your sword or your bow.’ It is possible that ‘send the hornet’ was a saying which signified promised catastrophe.
Nothing was more fearful than a swarm of hornets. The result would be that those who were left would hide themselves, but it would do them no good. Their enemies would perish from before them…. The point was that Yahweh had all kinds of ‘secret weapons’ that He could release which were not the normal weapons of warfare… The context may suggest that the description has the Angel of Yahweh in mind, pictured in terms of the fearsome hornet, swarming down on the enemy and causing them to flee in terror. The Israelite attacks in all quarters may well have seemed like swarms of hornets, coming from nowhere and buzzing round their cities and towns. Compare how the Amorites had come down on their fathers like bees (Deuteronomy 1:44). All knew, or had heard and been warned, of what happened when a swarm of hornets descended.
Woe betide whatever was beneath. The bravest of armies would desperately run for cover before such a foe, for there was no fighting them. Then they would cower and hope that they did not select them as their target. All they could do was run, and hide, and hope, and seek to cover themselves, while aware that the hornets would seek many of them out. (Compare Deuteronomy 1:44, but there they were only bees, here they are hornets). So would God use His own weapons as though they were hornets, to seek out their enemies. The hornet in mind may even have been of thoughts buzzing in the mind which frightened their foes to death (compare Deuteronomy 2:25; Deuteronomy 11:25; Exodus 15:14-16; Exodus 23:27).” (Peter Pett)
21 “You shall not be terrified of them; for Yahweh your God, the great and awesome God, is among you. 22 And Yahweh your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. 23 But Yahweh your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed. 24 And He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven; no one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them.
“The memory of benefits received in the past was to strengthen their faith in God's help also in the future.” (Kretzmann) Just as Yahweh had done to the host of the Egyptians, so would He do the inhabitants of Canaan. “Nothing so sweet, as to look back and trace proofs of it, as we have come along the path of grace. The Holy Ghost acts in one of his dearest offices, when as the Remembrancer of Christ Jesus, He takes of the things of Jesus in His loving kindnesses which are past, and showeth them to the people. John 14:26.” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)
25 “You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to Yahweh your God. 26 Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing.
This was their only task or prohibition. They were not to be partakers of any of the Canaanites possessions which were pitted for destruction with this world, lest they likewise perish with them in the end.