November 29, 2023

As God prepared the Israelites to take possession of the land of promise, he gave them warnings. They must destroy everyone, leaving no people for marriage or even as servants. He didn’t want them to get drawn away from worshipping only him. This warning reminds us of the New Testament verse that tells us not to be equally yoked with unbelievers. They were to destroy all their idols, including the gold and silver that covered them. He also warned them not to take the whole land all at once because there weren’t enough of them to maintain it to keep the wild beast from taking it over. They must follow his commands and not turn away from him. These were not fighting people, so he wanted to make sure they knew that it was he who would make them successful. 

We can learn a couple of things from this chapter in Deuteronomy because we are adopted or grafted into the family of God through our salvation in Jesus: if we love him and keep his commandments, he will have mercy on us. “And in vain do we pretend to love him if we do not make conscience of his commandments.” Matthew Henry Commentary. Though we may not always keep his commandments as we should, we are forgiven because of Jesus. However, those who hate God only hurt themselves because he will repay those who hate him. It may seem slow, but God’s plan will not fail. Keep your eyes open for what he is doing now in this extremely evil world. 

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14

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; 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. Deuteronomy 7:9-10