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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>D E U T E R O N O M Y</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Moses in this chapter exhorts Israel,
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I. In general, to keep God's commandments,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:11,12">ver. 11, 12</A>.
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II. In particular, and in order to that, to keep themselves pure from
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all communion with idolaters.
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1. They must utterly destroy the seven devoted nations, and not spare
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them, or make leagues with them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:1,2,16,24">ver. 1, 2, 16, 24</A>.
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2. They must by no means marry with the remainders of them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:3,4">ver. 3, 4</A>.
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3. They must deface and consume their altars and images, and not so
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much as take the silver and gold of them to their own use,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:5,25,26">ver. 5, 25, 26</A>.
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To enforce this charge, he shows that they were bound to do so,
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(1.) In duty. Considering
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[1.] Their election to God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:6">ver. 6</A>.
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[2.] The reason of that election,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:7,8">ver. 7, 8</A>.
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[3.] The terms they stood upon with God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:9,10">ver. 9, 10</A>.
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(2.) In interest. It is here promised,
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[1.] In general, that, if they would serve God, he would bless and
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prosper them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:12-15">ver. 12-15</A>.
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[2.] In particular, that if they would drive out the nations, that they
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might not be a temptation to them, God would drive them out, that they
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should not be any vexation to them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:17-26">ver. 17</A>, &c.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="De7_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>A Caution Against Idolatry.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1451.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 When the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God shall bring thee into the land whither
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thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before
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thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and
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the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the
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Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
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2 And when the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God shall deliver them before thee;
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thou shalt smite them, <I>and</I> utterly destroy them; thou shalt
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make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them:
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3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter
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thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou
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take unto thy son.
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4 For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they
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may serve other gods: so will the anger of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> be kindled
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against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
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5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their
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altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves,
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and burn their graven images with fire.
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6 For thou <I>art</I> a holy people unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God: the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself,
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above all people that <I>are</I> upon the face of the earth.
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7 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> did not set his love upon you, nor choose you,
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because ye were more in number than any people; for ye <I>were</I> the
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fewest of all people:
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8 But because the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> loved you, and because he would keep the
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oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> brought
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you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of
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bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
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9 Know therefore that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God, he <I>is</I> God, the
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faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that
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love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
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10 And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy
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them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay
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him to his face.
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11 Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the
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statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do
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them.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. A very strict caution against all friendship and fellowship with
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idols and idolaters. Those that are taken into communion with God must
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have no communication with the unfruitful works of darkness. These
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things they are charged about for the preventing of this snare now
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before them.</P>
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<P>
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1. They must <I>show them no mercy,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:1,2"><I>v.</I> 1, 2</A>.
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Bloody work is here appointed them, and yet it is God's work, and good
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work, and in its time and place needful, acceptable, and
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honourable.</P>
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<P>
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(1.) God here engages to do his part. It is spoken of as a thing taken
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for granted that God would <I>bring them into the land of promise,</I>
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that he would cast out the nations before them, who were the present
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occupants of that land; no room was left to doubt of that. His power is
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irresistible, and therefore he can do it; his promise is inviolable,
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and therefore he will do it. Now,
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[1.] These devoted nations are here named and numbered
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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<I>seven</I> in all, and seven to one are great odds. They are
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specified, that Israel might know the bounds and limits of their
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commission: hitherto their severity must come, but no further; nor must
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they, under colour of this commission, kill all that came in their way;
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no, here must its waves be stayed. The confining of this commission to
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the nations here mentioned plainly intimates that after-ages were not
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to draw this into a precedent; this will not serve to justify those
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barbarous laws which give no quarter. How agreeable soever this method
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might be, when God himself prescribed it, to that dispensation under
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which such multitudes of beasts were killed and burned in sacrifice,
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now that all sacrifices of atonement are perfected in, and superseded
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by, the great propitiation made by the blood of Christ, human blood has
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become perhaps more precious than it was, and those that have most
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power yet must not be prodigal of it.
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[2.] They are here owned to be greater and mightier than Israel. They
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had been long rooted in this land, to which Israel came strangers; they
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were more numerous, had men much more bulky and more expert in war than
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Israel had; yet all this shall not prevent their being cast out before
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Israel. The strength of Israel's enemies magnifies the power of
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Israel's God, who will certainly be too hard for them.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) He engages them to do their part. Thou shalt <I>smite them, and
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utterly destroy them,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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If God cast them out, Israel must not take them in, no, not as tenants,
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nor tributaries, nor servants. Not covenant of any kind must be made
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with them, no mercy must be shown them. This severity was appointed,
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[1.] By way of punishment for the wickedness they and their fathers had
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been guilty of. The iniquity of the Amorites was now full, and the
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longer it had been in the filling the sorer was the vengeance when it
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came at last.
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[2.] In order to prevent the mischiefs they would do to God's Israel if
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they were left alive. The people of these abominations must not be
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mingled with the holy seed, lest they corrupt them. Better that all
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these lives should be lost from the earth than that religion and the
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true worship of God should be lost in Israel. Thus we must deal with
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our lusts that was against our souls; God has delivered them into our
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hands by that promise, <I>Sin shall not have dominion over you,</I>
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unless it be your own faults; let not us them make covenants with them,
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nor show them any mercy, but mortify and crucify them, and utterly
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destroy them.</P>
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<P>
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2. They must make no marriages with those of them that escaped the
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sword,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:3,4"><I>v.</I> 3, 4</A>.
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The families of the Canaanites were ancient, and it is probable that
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some of them were called <I>honourable,</I> which might be a temptation
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to the Israelites, especially those of them that were of least note in
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their tribes, to court an alliance with them, to ennoble their blood;
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and the rather because their acquaintance with the country might be
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serviceable to them in the improvement of it: but religion, and the
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fear of God, must overrule all these considerations. To intermarry
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with them was <I>therefore</I> unlawful, because it was dangerous; this
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very thing had proved of fatal consequence to the old world
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:2">Gen. vi. 2</A>),
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and thousands in the world that now is have been undone by irreligious
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ungodly marriages; for there is more ground of fear in mixed marriages
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that the good will be perverted than of hope that the bad will be
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converted. The event proved the reasonableness of this warning: <I>They
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will turn away thy son from following me.</I> Solomon paid dearly for
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his folly herein. We find a national repentance for this sin of
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marrying strange wives, and care taken to reform
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+9:1-10:44,Ne+13:1-31">Ezra ix. x., and Neh. xiii.</A>),
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and a New-Testament caution not to be <I>unequally yoked with
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unbelievers,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+6:14">2 Cor. vi. 14</A>.
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Those that in choosing yokefellows keep not at least within the bounds
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of a justifiable profession of religion cannot promise themselves helps
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meet for them. One of the Chaldee paraphrases adds here, as a reason
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of this command
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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<I>For he that marries with idolaters does in effect marry with their
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idols.</I></P>
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<P>
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3. They must destroy all the relics of their idolatry,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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Their altars and pillars, their groves and graven images, all must be
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destroyed, both in a holy indignation against idolatry and to prevent
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infection. This command was given before,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:24,34:13">Exod. xxiii. 24; xxxiv. 13</A>.
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A great deal of good work of this kind was done by the people, in their
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pious zeal
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+31:1">2 Chron. xxxi. 1</A>),
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and by good Josiah
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+34:3,7">2 Chron. xxxiv. 3, 7</A>),
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and with this may be compared the burning of the conjuring books,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+19:19">Acts xix. 19</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. Here are very good reasons to enforce this caution.</P>
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<P>
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1. The choice which God had made of this people for his own,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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There was such a covenant and communion established between God and
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Israel as was not between him and any other people in the world. Shall
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they by their idolatries dishonour him who had thus honoured them?
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Shall they slight him who had thus testified his kindness for them?
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Shall they put themselves upon the level with other people, when God
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had thus dignified and advanced them above all people? Had God taken
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them to be a special people to him, and no other but them, and will not
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they take God to be a special God to them, and no other but him?</P>
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<P>
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2. The freeness of that grace which made this choice.
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(1.) There was nothing in them to recommend or entitle them to this
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favour. <I>In multitude of the people is the king's honour,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+14:28">Prov. xiv. 28</A>.
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But their number was inconsiderable; they were only seventy souls when
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they went down into Egypt, and, though greatly increased there, yet
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there were many other nations more numerous: <I>You were the fewest of
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all people,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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The author of the Jerusalem Targum passes too great a compliment upon
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his nation in his reading this, <I>You were humble in spirit, and meek
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above all people;</I> quite contrary: they were rather stiff-necked and
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ill-natured above all people.
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(2.) God fetched the reason of it purely from himself,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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[1.] He loved you <I>because he would love you.</I> Even so, Father,
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because it seemed good in thy eyes. All that God loves he loves freely,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hos+14:4">Hos. xiv. 4</A>.
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Those that perish perish by their own merits, but all that are saved
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are saved by prerogative.
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[2.] He has done his work because he would keep his word. "He has
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brought you out of Egypt in pursuance of the oath sworn to your
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fathers." Nothing in them, or done by them, did or could make God a
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debtor to them; but he had made himself a debtor to his own promise,
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which he would perform notwithstanding their unworthiness.</P>
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<P>
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3. The tenour of the covenant into which they were taken; it was in
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short this, That as they were to God so God would be to them. They
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should certainly find him,
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(1.) Kind to his friends,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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"The Lord thy God is not like the gods of the nations, the creatures of
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fancy, subjects fit enough for loose poetry, but no proper objects of
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serious devotion; no, he is God, God indeed, God alone, the faithful
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God, able and ready not only to fulfil his own promises, but to answer
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all the just expectations of his worshippers, and he will certainly
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keep covenant and mercy," that is, "show mercy according to covenant,
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to <I>those that love him and keep his commandments</I>" (and in vain
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do we pretend to love him if we do not make conscience of his
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commandments); "and this" (as is here added for the explication of the
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promise in the second commandment) "not only to thousands of persons,
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but to thousands of generations--so inexhaustible is the fountain, so
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constant are the streams!"
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(2.) Just to his enemies: He <I>repays those that hate him,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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Note,
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[1.] Wilful sinners are haters of God; for the carnal mind is enmity
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against him. Idolaters are so in a special manner, for they are in
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league with his rivals.
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[2.] Those that hate God cannot hurt him, but certainly ruin
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themselves. He will repay them to their face, in defiance of them and
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all their impotent malice. His arrows are said to be <I>made ready
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against the face of them,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+21:12">Ps. xxi. 12</A>.
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Or, He will bring those judgments upon them which shall appear to
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themselves to be the just punishment of their idolatry. Compare
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:9">Job xxi. 19</A>,
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<I>He rewardeth him, and he shall know it.</I> Though vengeance seem to
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be slow, yet it is not slack. The wicked and sinner shall be
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<I>recompensed in the earth,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+11:31">Prov. xi. 31</A>.
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I cannot pass the gloss of the Jerusalem Targum upon this place,
|
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because it speaks the faith of the Jewish church concerning a future
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state: <I>He recompenses to those that hate him the reward of their
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good works in this world, that he may destroy them in the world to
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come.</I></P>
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<A NAME="De7_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="De7_26"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these
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judgments, and keep, and do them, that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God shall
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keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy
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fathers:
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13 And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he
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will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land,
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thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine,
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and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy
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fathers to give thee.
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14 Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be
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male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.
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15 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> will take away from thee all sickness, and will
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put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon
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thee; but will lay them upon all <I>them</I> that hate thee.
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16 And thou shalt consume all the people which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God
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shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them:
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neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that <I>will be</I> a snare
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unto thee.
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17 If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations <I>are</I> more
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than I; how can I dispossess them?
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18 Thou shalt not be afraid of them: <I>but</I> shalt well remember
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what the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
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19 The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs,
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|
and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm,
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|
whereby the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God brought thee out: so shall the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy
|
|
God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.
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|
20 Moreover the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God will send the hornet among them,
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|
until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be
|
|
destroyed.
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21 Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God
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|
<I>is</I> among you, a mighty God and terrible.
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|
22 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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.
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|
23 But the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall
|
|
destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.
|
|
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 <I>that is</I> on them, nor
|
|
take <I>it</I> unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it <I>is</I> an
|
|
abomination to the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God.
|
|
26 Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house,
|
|
lest thou be a cursed thing like it: <I>but</I> thou shalt utterly
|
|
detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it <I>is</I> a cursed
|
|
thing.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here,
|
|
|
|
I. The caution against idolatry is repeated, and against communion with
|
|
idolaters: "Thou shalt consume the people, and not serve their gods."
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
We are in danger of having fellowship with the works of darkness if we
|
|
take pleasure in fellowship with those that do those works. Here is
|
|
also a repetition of the charge to destroy the images,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:25,26"><I>v.</I> 25, 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
The idols which the heathen had worshipped were an abomination to God,
|
|
and therefore must be so to them: all that truly love God hat what he
|
|
hates. Observe how this is urged upon them: <I>Thou shalt utterly
|
|
detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it;</I> such a holy indignation
|
|
as this must we conceive against sin, that <I>abominable thing which
|
|
the Lord hates.</I> They must not retain the images to gratify their
|
|
covetousness: <I>Thou shalt not desire the silver nor gold that is on
|
|
them,</I> nor think it a pity to have that destroyed. Achan paid dearly
|
|
for converting that to his own use which was an anathema. Nor must they
|
|
retain them to gratify their curiosity: "Neither shalt thou bring it
|
|
into thy house, to be hung up as an ornament, or preserved as a
|
|
monument of antiquity. No, to the fire with it, that is the fittest
|
|
place for it." Two reasons are given for this caution:--
|
|
|
|
1. <I>Lest thou be snared therein</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is, "Lest thou be drawn, ere thou art aware, to like it and love
|
|
it, to fancy it and pay respect to it"
|
|
|
|
2. <I>Lest thou be a cursed thing like it,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those that make images are said to be like the, stupid and senseless;
|
|
here they are said to be in a worse sense like them, accursed of God
|
|
and devoted to destruction. Compare these two reasons together, and
|
|
observe that whatever brings us into a snare brings us under a
|
|
curse.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The promise of God's favour to them, if they would be obedient, is
|
|
enlarged upon with a most affecting copiousness and fluency of
|
|
expression, which intimates how much it is both God's desire and our
|
|
own interest that we be religious. All possible assurance is here given
|
|
them,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. That, if they would sincerely endeavour to do their part of the
|
|
covenant, God would certainly perform his part. He shall <I>keep the
|
|
mercy which he swore to thy fathers,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let us be constant in our duty, and we cannot question the constancy of
|
|
God's mercy.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. That if they would love God and serve him, and devote themselves and
|
|
theirs to him, he would love them, and bless them, and multiply them
|
|
greatly,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:13,14"><I>v.</I> 13, 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
What could they desire more to make them happy?
|
|
|
|
(1.) "<I>He will love thee.</I>" He began in love to us
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+4:10">1 John iv. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, if we return his love in filial duty, then, and then only, we may
|
|
expect the continuance of it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+14:21">John xiv. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) "He will bless thee with the tokens of his love above all people."
|
|
If they would distinguish themselves from their neighbours by singular
|
|
services, God would dignify them above their neighbours by singular
|
|
blessings.
|
|
|
|
(3.) "He will <I>multiply thee.</I>" Increase was the ancient blessing
|
|
for the peopling of the world, once and again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:28,9:1">Gen. i. 28; ix. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
and here for the peopling of Canaan, that little world by itself. The
|
|
increase both of their families and of their stock is promised: they
|
|
should neither have estates without heirs nor heirs without estates,
|
|
but should have the complete satisfaction of having many children and
|
|
plentiful provisions and portions for them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. That, if they would keep themselves pure from the idolatries of
|
|
Egypt, God would keep them clear form the <I>diseases of Egypt,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
It seems to refer not only to those plagues of Egypt by the force of
|
|
which they were delivered, but to some other epidemical country disease
|
|
(as we call it), which they remembered the prevalency of among the
|
|
Egyptians, and by which God had chastised them for their national sins.
|
|
Diseases are God's servants; they go where he sends them, and do what
|
|
he bids them. It is therefore good for the health of our bodies to
|
|
mortify the sin of our souls.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. That, if they <I>would</I> cut off the devoted nations, they
|
|
<I>should</I> cut them off, and none should be able to stand before
|
|
them. Their duty in this matter would itself be their advantage:
|
|
<I>Thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall
|
|
deliver thee</I>--this is the precept
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>);
|
|
|
|
and <I>the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy
|
|
them</I>--this is the promise,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thus we are commanded not to let sin reign, not to indulge ourselves in
|
|
it nor give countenance to it, but to hate it and strive against it;
|
|
and then God has promised that <I>sin shall not have dominion over
|
|
us</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+6:12,14">Rom. vi. 12, 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
but that we shall be more than conquerors over it. The difficulty and
|
|
doubtfulness of the conquest of Canaan having been a stone of stumbling
|
|
to their fathers, Moses here animates them against those things which
|
|
were most likely to discourage them, bidding them not to be <I>afraid
|
|
of them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>,
|
|
|
|
and again,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Let them not be disheartened by the number and strength of their
|
|
enemies: <I>Say not, They are more than I, how can I dispossess
|
|
them?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
We are apt to think that the most numerous must needs be victorious:
|
|
but, to fortify Israel against this temptation, Moses reminds them of
|
|
the destruction of Pharaoh and all the power of Egypt,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:18,19"><I>v.</I> 18, 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
They had seen the great <I>temptations,</I> or <I>miracles</I> (so the
|
|
Chaldee reads it), the signs and wonders, wherewith God had brought
|
|
them out of Egypt, in order to his bringing them into Canaan, and
|
|
thence might easily infer that God <I>could</I> dispossess the
|
|
Canaanites (who, though formidable enough, had not such advantages
|
|
against Israel as the Egyptians had; he that had done the greater could
|
|
do the less), and that he <I>would</I> dispossess them, otherwise his
|
|
bringing Israel out of Egypt had been no kindness to them. He that
|
|
begun would finish. Thou shalt therefore <I>well remember</I> this,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
The word and works of God are well remembered when they are improved as
|
|
helps to our faith and obedience. That is well laid up which is ready
|
|
to us when we have occasion to use it.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Let them not be disheartened by the weakness and deficiency of
|
|
their own forces; for God will send them in auxiliary troops of
|
|
<I>hornets,</I> or <I>wasps,</I> as some read it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
probably larger than ordinary, which would so terrify and molest their
|
|
enemies (and perhaps be the death of many to them) that their most
|
|
numerous armies would become an easy prey to Israel. God plagued the
|
|
Egyptians with flies, but the Canaanites with hornets. Those who take
|
|
not warning by less judgments on others may expect greater on
|
|
themselves. But the great encouragement of Israel was that they had God
|
|
among them, a <I>mighty God and terrible,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
And if God be for us, if God be with us, we need not fear the power of
|
|
any creature against us.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Let them not be disheartened by the slow progress of their arms,
|
|
nor think that the Canaanites would never be subdued if they were not
|
|
expelled the first year; no, they must be <I>put out by little and
|
|
little,</I> and not <I>all at once,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, We must not think that, because the deliverance of the church and
|
|
the destruction of its enemies are not effected immediately, therefore
|
|
they will never be effected. God will do his own work in his own method
|
|
and time, and we may be sure that they are always the best. Thus
|
|
corruption is driven out of the hearts of believers <I>by little and
|
|
little.</I> The work of sanctification is carried on gradually; but
|
|
that judgment will at length be brought forth into a complete victory.
|
|
The reason here given (as before,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:29,30">Exod. xxiii. 29, 30</A>)
|
|
|
|
is, <I>Lest the beast of the field increase upon thee.</I> The earth
|
|
God has given to the children of men; and therefore there shall rather
|
|
be a remainder of Canaanites to keep possession till Israel become
|
|
numerous enough to replenish it than that it should be a habitation of
|
|
dragons, and a court for <I>the wild beasts of the desert,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+34:13,14">Isa. xxxiv. 13, 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Yet God could have prevented this mischief from the beasts,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+26:6">Lev. xxvi. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
But pride and security, and other sins that are the common effects of a
|
|
settled prosperity, were enemies more dangerous than the beasts of the
|
|
field, and these would be apt to increase upon them. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:1,4">Judges iii. 1, 4</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
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