Date: Thu, 22 Dec 1994 09:47:54 -0600
Reply-To: t.benschop@pobox.ruu.nl
Sender: Christian explanation of the Scriptures to Israel
From: Teus Benschop
Subject: Deuteronomy 7
Contents
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1. Introduction
2. Explanation
3. Questions
1. Introduction
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This is an issue of a continuous explanation of the Bible-book Dvarim,
that is Deuteronomy. If something is unclear in the explanation, you can
ask me. The Bible-text is taken from the King James version.
Deuteronomy 7.
Title: Warning against false tolerance
Short contents:
Here, Moshe says to the Israelites how they have to behave themselves to
the inhabitants of Kenaan, and what they had to do with their idols.
Moshe tells about the glory of Israel above all other nations. He also
tells what the cause of that election is. He promises blessing on the
obedience of God. He comforts them against the strong inhabitants of
Kenaan. He forbids them to keep the gold and silver of the idols.
2. Explanation
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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
Chitiem, and the Girgasiem, and the Amorites, and the Kenaaniem, and
the Perizie, and the Chiwiem, and the Jevusiem, 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:
The LORD forbids the nation to make a covenant with the heathen. Why
does God this to them? He forbids this because a covenant between people
has mutual commitments. When an Israelite would make a covenant with a
heathen, than he also should have to answer to the commitments. When the
heathen should make a meal, than the Israelite should go there because
of politeness. Of course, he would do it unwillingly, certainly at
first, but he would still go. When there on that meal would happen some
pagan rituals, as idolatry and so on, than the Israelite would be
defiled by that. This is not allowed. For God is the only God, and He
does not tolerate other gods besides Him. Therefore, the LORD warns the
Israelites beforehand that they not will do this. the LORD knows how
weak the people are. They could not resist against the heathen.
Therefore, it is better to avoid the danger. This is useful also for us.
We better can avoid the dangers than unnecessary seek them. For also we
would be weak and fall in the temptations. Also, God commands the nation
that they not will show mercy to the heathen. Is this not somewhat hard,
to kill all these heathens without need, also the women and the
children? No, this is not hardhearted. The heathen had already sinned
against God a very long time. The LORD has been longsuffering about
them. Now it is enough, and the judgement would begin. So, the nation
Israel is a medium in the hand of God, to bring the righteous punishment
over the heathen.
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.
A marriage between a heathen and an Israelite is forbidden. Why? The
answer follows in the next verse.
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.
In a marriage, there is much indulgence between the married couple. When
one of them is a heathen, and wants to serve his own idol, than the
other is inclined to tolerate that more or less. For a quarrel in the
marriage, that is not nice. But the LORD sees it in another way. To keep
the external peace in the marriage, man should be disobedient to God.
That is not allowed. The LORD must be served with the whole heart. Here
we see that a marriage between a heathen and an Israelite therefore is
impossible. Either there will be a quarrel between them, or one would
deviate from God. The LORD beforehand knows the outcome, f"or they will
turn away thy son from following Me". Then God's anger would be kindled,
and "destroy them suddenly". Because the LORD seeks the best for the
Israelites, He warns them for that in advance. As it was then, it is now
still the same. A marriage of a believer with an unbeliever, that will
lead to deviation from God.
5 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.
Moshe concisely commands the whole extermination of the idolatry. Smash
it to pieces. Each thing, which still lets thinking to the previous
idolatry, that must now be exterminated. The land must become pure.
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.
The LORD has chosen Israel above all other nations. Therefore, the
nation must be holy before the LORD.
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:
Here, Moshe says that there was no cause in the people, why the LORD had
chosen them. They had nothing above the other nations. And the same is
it with all election. It is always in grace, and not because of any
reason in us.
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 Faro king of Egypt.
The LORD has chosen the people because He loved them. That is the
reason. So not because the people loved God so much. During the journey
through the desert, they have not given evidence of any love of God.
During that journey, the children of Israel have enraged God by their
unfaithfulness. So there was not any love of the nation. Nevertheless,
the LORD loved the people. Herein, we see the one-sided work of God.
The love of God to the nation was not the only reason of their election.
The other reason is that God is faithful to the oath. The LORD had sworn
unto the fathers Avraham, Yitschak and Yaakov that their descendants
would inherit the land Kenaan. Here, the LORD, Who keeps the oath,
fulfills His promise. So, there are two reasons of the election of the
nation. God's love to the nation, and Gods faith in the keeping of His
promises. From this we see, that there was no reason in the nation for
the election. The people have not paid more attention to God than the
other nations. Moreover, this nation has sinned against God as heavy as
the other nations. The story goes around among some people that God
offered the law on Sinai to all nations. But everyone thought it too
hard, except Israel. They accepted the law. But here, this anecdote is
refuted by Moshe. The reason of the election was not, that the people
promised at Sinai to do the commandments. But the reason was, that God
already long ago had given the promise of Kenaan to Avraham. And that
God, Who is faithful and true, now fulfills this promise to Avraham's
descendants.
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;
Here, the LORD very friendly invites the people to obedience. He does
this by promising mildness unto the far offspring. Also is said that God
is the faithful God. That is against the human unfaithfulness. How
unfaithful the man is, as this nation appeared, God's faithfulness still
cannot be destroyed. Here, the loving of God is written before the
keeping of His commandments. Therein we see that one not will keep God's
commandments by pressure. He will only do it, when he loves God.
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.
Moshe is not a one-sided preacher. One-sided preachers speak only about
God's love. When one always hears about God's love, and not about God's
punishments, then he sinks down in a false rest. "God, Who is so lovely
and good, He will not punish me", which men think than. Until the
punishment comes. Unfortunately, that is the result of one-sided
speaking about God's love. But Moshe is not so hardhearted that he
withholds the truth from the people. They also must know about God's
punishments. Therefore, Moshe says that God will repay them, that hate
Him, in their face. The haters impudently raise their faces to God, and
resist Him. But God gives them a hit in their face to destroy them. "He
will not be slack to him that hates Him, he will repay him to his face."
The prophet also says this. "God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the
LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his
adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies," Nachum / Nahum
1:2.
11 Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and
the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
When it is so that God does well to them who love Him, and repays them
that hate Him, keep then His commandments.
12 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:
Although the nation has showed in the past that they not obey God, yet
God treats merciful with them. By promising mildness, God spurs on the
people to obedience. Although they not were obedient in the past, yet
they have to be it in the future.
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.
A great and rich blessing is promised on obedience.
14 Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or
female barren among you, or among your cattle.
When they should be obedient, the LORD promised that no man or woman
would be barren. Because we see some marriages childless, that is a sign
that we not have obeyed God. With this is not said that the childless
married-couple is more disobedient than the others. For when we will see
it in that way, then each marriage should be barren. It is otherwise.
The LORD wants to remember us in diverse ways that we are disobedient.
God had said that infertility would follow on disobedience. Now, He has
to fulfil His words. Therefore, he puts some marriages as an example.
However, the LORD does not want to let totally disappear the human race.
Therefore, He blesses many with children. Let we, concerning this, pay
attention to Channa. The LORD had shut up her womb," Shmueel / Samuel A
1:5. The LORD had not given children to her. Was now all hope on
offspring lost for her? No, Channa knew that she could go to God with
all her needs. She prayed to God for a child. "And she vowed a vow, and
said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of
thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt
give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD
all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head,"
Shmueel / Samuel A 1:11. And, as we know, the LORD has heard her prayer.
What did she after that? Did she forget the LORD? No, that not. She
thanked God and gave Shmueel / Samuel her child to the LORD. "For this
child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of
him. Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he
shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there," Shmueel /
Samuel A 1:27,28. This history of Channa teaches us that we may go to
the LORD with all our needs. It also teaches us that we not must be
ungratefully with the received benefits, but that we must totally put
these benefits in the service of God.
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.
When the Israelites will come in the land, than will happen one of two
things. Either the nation will tempt them to idolatry, and then the
people will be decayed by God's punishment. Or they have to exterminate
the nations, and will be saved theirself. God's people cannot live
together with the heathen. When they come together, then one must evade.
The LORD warns them not to feel sorry for those heathen. They have
already sinned many centuries against God. Now, it is the time for the
revenge. When God gets His revenge, will they sabotage it then? It would
be a snare unto them.
17 If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I;
how can I dispossess them?
The nation Israel will be very frightened at the sight of these nations.
For these nations were much more and stronger. Not strange that Israel
will fear then.
18 Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the
LORD thy God did unto Faro, and unto all Egypt;
Although the nation fears, the LORD will encourage them. They shall
remember the great miracles in Egypt. Also then, they were much weaker
then the Egyptians. But also then, God has defeated them by His power.
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.
As God has done then, He will also do now. Hereof, we learn something
for ourselves. When God commands us to do something, then it can happen
that great obstacles come in the way for us. These obstacles can be much
greater and mightier then we are. But the LORD urges us to break through
all the obstacles, and not to stand still despondently. We must not
break through in own power, because we have that not. But when the LORD
commands us something, then He will take care that all obstacles will be
knocked down. See this in Gidon. "And the LORD looked upon him, and
said: Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of
the Midjaniem: have not I sent thee? And he said unto him, Oh my Lord,
wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Menashe, and
I am the least in my father's house. And the LORD said unto him, Surely
I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midjaniem as one man,"
Shoftiem / Judges 6:14-16. God commanded Gidon to beat the Midjaniem.
Gidon did not dare, because he was very weak and little in himself. The
LORD encouraged him by saying that God would be with him.
20 Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until
they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.
The LORD will also fight against the heathen by hornets. The people
fight by the sword, but the LORD will fight in another way. Later,
Jehoshua / Joshua tells that the LORD indeed has done it. "And I sent
the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the
two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow,"
Jhoshua 24:12. Herein, we see that all creatures are in God's hand. They
do all what He wants. Eliahu got his food from the ravens. "And it shall
be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens
to feed thee there," Mlachiem A / 1 Kings 17:4. The serpents do God's
will. "And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will
search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in
the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall
bite them," Amos 9:3. When there is a plague of vermin in our time, then
it is sure that they are sent by God.
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.
The LORD will not put them out at once, but bit by bit. Here, God says
it already beforehand. So, the nation Israel knows that the fight will
last a long time. But now, they know the reason of it. When the fight
lasts longer then they had thought, then they will no more become
discouraged. They know the reason now. When the heathen would be put out
at once, than would the wild beasts come to live in the land. Then,
Israel would have the fight against the wild beasts.
23 But the LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall
destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.
Look, hoe God acts here. In verse 21, God says: "You shall not be
affrighted at them." Israel had not to be frightened, but the heathens
had to do so. That is the difference between them. The LORD is a great,
strong and terrible Hero. They, who are in the charge of that powerful
God, they will be safe. But God's enemies, they must be intensely
frightened. It is still the same in the present time. Who resists God
will surely be exterminated. But who is adopted by God in grace, he will
receive the good.
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.
Look, what a great aversion God has to the idolatry. Even the gold and
the silver, of which the images were made, had to be destroyed. So much
God hates the idolatry. He gives this commandment to the profit of the
people. They would be snared by the gold and silver. Therefore, God
warns them here. This is not so strange. In the past, Moshe had also
done with the golden calf at Chorev. "And he took the calf which they
had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed
it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it," Shmot
32:20. We should probably say: "That is a pity of the gold. Let us melt
it down, than we can still use it before a good purpose. For example, to
support the poor and the hungry by that." But the LORD thinks
differently about that. So great is His aversion to the idolatry. And,
as is said, it would become a snare for us. When we had much money, then
we would in no way give it to the poor and the hungry. But we would keep
is for ourselves. Because of the riches, we would be snared. So, it is
the best for the human to be not rich and not poor. The same as Agur
says this: "Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food
convenient for me. Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the
LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in
vain," Mishlee / Proverbs 30:8,9.
3. Questions
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If you want to gain more benefit from the explanation, you could
consider to answer the questions and do the tasks. You can send these to
the editor. He will look at it, and return them to you with his
comments.
Questions.
1 Israel was not allowed to make a covenant with the heathen, neither
to go in marriage with them. Why not?
2 Israel had to clean the whole land of the heathen rests. What does
this teach us for our own houses?
3 Which two reasons gives the LORD for the election of the nation
Israel?
4 a. What does God to them, that hate Him?
b. Do you hate God or do you love Him?
5 In the desert, the nation has been stiff-necked against the LORD. In
reality, they have therefore deserved the death. Why does God
nevertheless bring them in the promised land?
6 Read verse 12-15. What does God promise to them, that love Him?
7 Previously, Channa was without children.
a. What did she do then?
b. When she got Shmueel / Samuel, what did she do with him then? Why?
8 Has Israel chased off the heathen out the land in own power?
9 Read Mishlee / Proverbs 30:8,9.
a. What is the danger of riches?
b. What is the danger of poverty?
Tasks.
1 In verse three is forbidden that Israel would make marriages with the
heathen. Look up in Shoftiem / Judges 3, Mlachiem A / 1 Kings 11,
Ezra 9 if the nation has always obeyed this.
2 In verse eight is written the reason, why God had saved the nation
Israel out of Egypt, and had brought them in Kenaan. Seek similar
reasons in 1 Shmueel / Samuel 12 and Thilliem / Psalm 44.
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Chr-Exp, a Christian explanation of the Tanach and the New Testament
Editor: Teus Benschop - t.benschop@pobox.ruu.nl
No copyrights on this publication - Translated by a Dutchman
Institution Practical Bible-education, the Netherlands
.