CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Deuteronomy 7
Chapter 7 of 34
Chapter Overview
What happens in Deuteronomy 7
Moses tells Israel that when they enter the Promised Land, they must completely destroy the pagan nations there and not intermarry with them. God chose Israel not because they were great, but because he loved them and kept his promise to their ancestors.
Scripture
Deuteronomy 7
Destroy the Pagan Nations
Study note
God commanded Israel to drive out and destroy seven nations in Canaan. They were not to make treaties with them or intermarry with them, because the pagan wives would lead their husbands to worship false gods. Israel was to tear down their altars and burn their idols.
1 "When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are going to take over, he will sweep away many nations ahead of you. He will clear out the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations outnumber and overpower you. 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 When the Lord your God puts them in your hands and you beat them, you must wipe them out entirely. Do not make any deals with them and do not show them any pity. 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 Do not marry into their families. Do not let your daughters marry their sons, and do not let their daughters marry your sons. 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 If you do, they will pull your children away from following me, and your children will end up worshipping false gods. Then the Lord's fury will burn against you, and he will destroy you fast. 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 Here is what you must do to them instead. Smash their altars. Break their stone pillars to pieces. Chop down their wooden idols. Toss their carved statues into the fire. But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
A Chosen People
Study note
God chose Israel to be his special, holy people. He did not choose them because they were the largest nation -- they were actually the smallest. He chose them because he loved them and kept the promise he made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
6 You belong to the Lord your God in a special way. Out of every nation on the planet, the Lord your God picked you to be his own treasured people. 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 fall in love with you and pick you because you were the biggest nation around. You were the smallest of them all! 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 It was simply because the Lord loved you. He wanted to keep the promise he made to your ancestors. Therefore he rescued you with such great power. He pulled you out of slavery and away from Pharaoh king of Egypt. 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 So recognize that the Lord your God is the real God. He always keeps his promises and shows steady, faithful love to those who love him and follow his commands -- for a thousand generations. 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 But he wastes no time paying back anyone who rejects him. He deals with them personally. 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 So make sure you follow the commands, rules, and laws I am handing you today. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
Blessings for Obedience
Study note
If Israel obeyed God, he would love them, bless them, multiply them, bless their crops and livestock, protect them from disease, and give them victory over their enemies.
12 "Listen to these laws and follow them. Then the Lord your God will keep his promise. He will show the faithful love he promised your fathers. Wherefore it shall come to pass, if 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 He will love you and bless you and grow your population. He will bless your families, your farmland, your grain, your wine, your olive oil, your cattle, and your sheep in the land he promised your ancestors. 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 You will be more blessed than any other nation. No man or woman among you will be unable to have children, and none of your animals will fail to produce young. Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.
15 The Lord will keep all diseases away from you. He will not let you suffer from any of those awful sicknesses you saw in Egypt. Instead, he will send them on your enemies. 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 You must wipe out every nation the Lord your God places in your hands. Do not feel sorry for them. And never worship their gods, because that would become a deadly trap. 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.
Do Not Be Afraid
Study note
Moses told the people not to be afraid even though the nations in Canaan were stronger. God would drive them out little by little and bring terror upon them. Israel must destroy every idol and not keep the gold or silver from them, for these things were detestable to God.
17 "You might be thinking, 'These nations are more powerful than we are. We cannot push them out.' If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?
18 Do not think that way. Think back to what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and everyone in Egypt. Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
19 Remember the amazing things you saw, the signs and wonders, and the great power the Lord used to free you. The Lord your God will do the same to every nation you are afraid of. 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 On top of that, the Lord your God will send swarms of hornets to chase down anyone still hiding from you. Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.
21 Do not be terrified of them. The Lord your God stands there among you -- a powerful, awe-inspiring God. Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.
22 The Lord your God will remove these nations from your path gradually. You will not be able to get rid of them all at once, or wild animals would take over and become a problem. 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 your God will deliver them to you and throw them into total confusion until they are finished. But the LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.
24 He will hand their kings over to you, and you will erase their very names from memory. No one will be able to hold their ground against you. You will wipe them all out. 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 Burn up the carved statues of their gods. Do not get attracted to any silver or gold covering them. Do not take it for yourself, because it will become a snare. The Lord your God finds those things revolting. 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 Never bring one of those disgusting idols into your home, or you will end up destroyed just like it. Despise it completely, because it is marked for destruction." 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.
Key Themes
Themes in Deuteronomy 7
Chosen by grace not meritThe danger of spiritual compromise through relationshipsGod's faithful love to a thousand generationsTrusting God against overwhelming odds
Prophetic Connections
How this chapter points to Christ
Deuteronomy 7:6 1 Peter 2:9
Israel's identity as a chosen people, a holy nation, and God's treasured possession is applied by Peter to the church, showing that believers in Christ inherit this special relationship.
Apply This Today
Living Deuteronomy 7
God chose Israel not because they were great but because He loved them. This is pure grace. The warnings against intermarriage were not about ethnicity but about the pull of idolatry through intimate relationships. We must guard our closest relationships to protect our spiritual commitments, trusting that God's power is greater than any opposition we face.
Go Deeper
Study Deuteronomy in Covenant Path
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