1 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, 2 and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3 You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. 5 But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire.
6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” – Deuteronomy 7:1-6 ESV
If you recall, in yesterday’s post, we looked at the verse in Hebrews that states, “it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 NLT). The Israelites were convinced of God’s existence, but now they were facing the challenge of trusting in His ability to reward them for sincerely seeking Him.
They stood on the border of the land of Canaan, the very land that God had promised to give to the descendants of Abraham nearly half a century earlier. The land described as “flowing with milk and honey” lay before them and it was theirs for the taking. All God asked was that they sincerely seek Him. He desired that they display an irresistible craving for Him. And one of the primary ways in which they could demonstrate their devotion to God was through their obedience to His commands.
Moses reminded the people that God was going to do His part. He had brought them all the way to the border of the land of promise and now He was going to make sure they not only entered the land but that they possessed it as their own. And, for Moses, their occupation of the land was not a matter of if, but when. It was as good as done.
When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you… – Deuteronomy 7:1 NLT
Entering the land was not going to be enough. Abraham had done that hundreds of years earlier but had never owned a single acre of the land as his own. The author of Hebrews describes Abraham’s time in the land of promise to that of an alien or stranger.
It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. – Hebrews 11:8-9 NLT
Abraham had entered the land of promise, but lived there by faith, believing in God’s promise that, one day, his descendants would own and occupy all the land of Canaan. The only property Abraham ever owned in Canaan was the plot he purchased for the burial of his wife, Sarah. But he continued to believe the promise of God.
So Abraham bought the plot of land belonging to Ephron at Machpelah, near Mamre. This included the field itself, the cave that was in it, and all the surrounding trees. It was transferred to Abraham as his permanent possession in the presence of the Hittite elders at the city gate. Then Abraham buried his wife, Sarah, there in Canaan, in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre (also called Hebron). So the field and the cave were transferred from the Hittites to Abraham for use as a permanent burial place. – Genesis 23:17-20 NLT
God’s promise to Abraham still held true. Hundreds of years had passed, but the integrity of God’s word remained unchanged. He would do what He had promised to do. And Moses reminded the people that they were going into the land to possess it as their own. They were not to let the presence of seven powerful nations diminish their hopes or deflate their confidence in God. He would give those nations into their hands. All they had to do was obey His command to “completely destroy them” (Deuteronomy 7:2 NLT).
God had been very specific. He had commanded that they make “no treaties with them and show them no mercy” (Deuteronomy 7:2 NLT). But why? This seems so extreme. Even the Israelites had to have questioned the over-the-top nature of God’s command. His ban on making treaties with any of the land’s occupants must have seemed illogical and unnecessary. Why not make peace with them and prevent the needless loss of life on both sides?
But this is where faith was going to be required. The people of Israel were going to have to trust God and believe that He knew best. While it made all the sense in the world to negotiate with the occupants of the land, God knew what would happen as a result. Any treaties made with the Canaanites would only delay the bloodshed, but not prevent it. And the consequences of disobeying God and forming alliances with the Canaanites would be far worse than going to war with them. Which is exactly what Moses told them.
You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you. – Deuteronomy 7:3-4 NLT
The problem with leaving the Canaanites in the land was that their presence would result in the Israelites abandoning God. And it wasn’t as if there was no precedents for this kind of behavior on the part of the Israelites. Even during their days of wandering through the wilderness, they had displayed their propensity to be led astray.
While the Israelites were camped at Acacia Grove, some of the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women. These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab. In this way, Israel joined in the worship of Baal of Peor, causing the Lord’s anger to blaze against his people. – Numbers 25:1-3 NLT
This was all about holiness. God had set the people of Israel apart from all the nations of the earth. He had made them His chosen possession, and they were to live distinctively different lives that set them apart as belonging to God. That is why He had given them His law. And Moses reminded them of their unique status as God’s people.
“For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.” – Deuteronomy 7:6 NLT
There was no room for compromise. They could not afford to make concessions or to allow status as God’s chosen people to be diminished in any way. And the apostle Paul would pick up on this call to set-apartness in his second letter to the church in Corinth.
Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. – 2 Corinthians 6:15-16 NLT
The core issue facing the Corinthian Christians and the Israelites of Moses’ day was idolatry. Compromise with the culture was going to result in unfaithfulness to God. That’s why Moses told the people, “You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols” (Deuteronomy 7:5 NLT). But not only must they remove the idols, but they must also eliminate all those who worshiped them. To remove the false gods while allowing their followers to remain would prove futile. It would only be a matter of time before the idolaters made more idols. And eventually, the Israelites would find themselves worshiping the gods of the Canaanites, not just making treaties with them.
God wanted to bless His chosen people. But He knew that they were going to find it difficult to obey Him because they would struggle with believing Him. His ways made no sense to them, and His commands seemed far too strict and stringent. But He desired that they would sincerely seek Him – to passionately crave to know Him better and to experience more of His presence and power. But to do so, they would have to trust Him and do as He said. They would have to obey, even when it made no sense.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
