mh_parser/vol_split/5 - Deuteronomy/Chapter 7.xml

<div2 id="Deu.viii" n="viii" next="Deu.ix" prev="Deu.vii" progress="84.85%" title="Chapter VII">
<h2 id="Deu.viii-p0.1">D E U T E R O N O M Y</h2>
<h3 id="Deu.viii-p0.2">CHAP. VII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Deu.viii-p1">Moses in this chapter exhorts Israel, I. In
general, to keep God's commandments, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.11-Deut.8.12" parsed="|Deut|8|11|8|12" passage="De 8:11,12">ver. 11, 12</scripRef>. II. In particular, and in
order to that, to keep themselves pure from all communion with
idolaters. 1. They must utterly destroy the seven devoted nations,
and not spare them, or make leagues with them, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.1-Deut.8.2 Bible:Deut.8.16 Bible:Deut.8.24" parsed="|Deut|8|1|8|2;|Deut|8|16|0|0;|Deut|8|24|0|0" passage="De 8:1,2,16,24">ver. 1, 2, 16, 24</scripRef>. 2. They must by no
means marry with the remainders of them, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.3-Deut.8.4" parsed="|Deut|8|3|8|4" passage="De 8:3,4">ver. 3, 4</scripRef>. 3. They must deface and consume
their altars and images, and not so much as take the silver and
gold of them to their own use, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.5 Bible:Deut.8.25 Bible:Deut.8.26" parsed="|Deut|8|5|0|0;|Deut|8|25|0|0;|Deut|8|26|0|0" passage="De 8:5,25,26">ver. 5, 25, 26</scripRef>. To enforce this charge,
he shows that they were bound to do so, (1.) In duty. Considering
[1.] Their election to God, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.6" parsed="|Deut|8|6|0|0" passage="De 8:6">ver.
6</scripRef>. [2.] The reason of that election, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.7-Deut.8.8" parsed="|Deut|8|7|8|8" passage="De 8:7,8">ver. 7, 8</scripRef>. [3.] The terms they stood upon
with God, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.9-Deut.8.10" parsed="|Deut|8|9|8|10" passage="De 8:9,10">ver. 9, 10</scripRef>. (2.)
In interest. It is here promised, [1.] In general, that, if they
would serve God, he would bless and prosper them, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.12-Deut.8.15" parsed="|Deut|8|12|8|15" passage="De 8:12-15">ver. 12-15</scripRef>. [2.] In particular,
that if they would drive out the nations, that they might not be a
temptation to them, God would drive them out, that they should not
be any vexation to them, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.17-Deut.8.26" parsed="|Deut|8|17|8|26" passage="De 8:17-26">ver.
17</scripRef>, &amp;c.</p>
<scripCom id="Deu.viii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7" parsed="|Deut|7|0|0|0" passage="De 7" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Deu.viii-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.1-Deut.7.11" parsed="|Deut|7|1|7|11" passage="De 7:1-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.7.1-Deut.7.11">
<h4 id="Deu.viii-p1.12">A Caution Against Idolatry. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p1.13">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.viii-p2">1 When the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p2.1">Lord</span>
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 And when the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p2.2">Lord</span> thy God shall deliver them
before thee; thou shalt smite them, <i>and</i> utterly destroy
them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto
them:   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.   4 For they will turn away thy son
from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the
anger of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p2.3">Lord</span> be kindled against
you, and destroy thee suddenly.   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.   6 For thou <i>art</i> a holy people unto the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p2.4">Lord</span> thy God: the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p2.5">Lord</span> thy God hath chosen thee to be a special
people unto himself, above all people that <i>are</i> upon the face
of the earth.   7 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p2.6">Lord</span> did
not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in
number than any people; for ye <i>were</i> the fewest of all
people:   8 But because the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p2.7">Lord</span> loved you, and because he would keep the
oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p2.8">Lord</span> 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 Know therefore that the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p2.9">Lord</span> thy God, he <i>is</i> God, the faithful
God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and
keep his commandments to a thousand generations;   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.
  11 Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the
statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do
them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.viii-p3">Here is, I. A very strict caution against
all friendship and fellowship with idols and idolaters. Those that
are taken into communion with God must have no communication with
the unfruitful works of darkness. These things they are charged
about for the preventing of this snare now before them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.viii-p4">1. They must <i>show them no mercy,</i>
<scripRef id="Deu.viii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.1-Deut.7.2" parsed="|Deut|7|1|7|2" passage="De 7:1,2"><i>v.</i> 1, 2</scripRef>. Bloody work
is here appointed them, and yet it is God's work, and good work,
and in its time and place needful, acceptable, and honourable.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.viii-p5">(1.) God here engages to do his part. It is
spoken of as a thing taken for granted that God would <i>bring them
into the land of promise,</i> that he would cast out the nations
before them, who were the present occupants of that land; no room
was left to doubt of that. His power is irresistible, and therefore
he can do it; his promise is inviolable, and therefore he will do
it. Now, [1.] These devoted nations are here named and numbered
(<scripRef id="Deu.viii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.1" parsed="|Deut|7|1|0|0" passage="De 7:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), <i>seven</i>
in all, and seven to one are great odds. They are specified, that
Israel might know the bounds and limits of their commission:
hitherto their severity must come, but no further; nor must they,
under colour of this commission, kill all that came in their way;
no, here must its waves be stayed. The confining of this commission
to the nations here mentioned plainly intimates that after-ages
were not to draw this into a precedent; this will not serve to
justify those barbarous laws which give no quarter. How agreeable
soever this method might be, when God himself prescribed it, to
that dispensation under which such multitudes of beasts were killed
and burned in sacrifice, now that all sacrifices of atonement are
perfected in, and superseded by, the great propitiation made by the
blood of Christ, human blood has become perhaps more precious than
it was, and those that have most power yet must not be prodigal of
it. [2.] They are here owned to be greater and mightier than
Israel. They had been long rooted in this land, to which Israel
came strangers; they were more numerous, had men much more bulky
and more expert in war than Israel had; yet all this shall not
prevent their being cast out before Israel. The strength of
Israel's enemies magnifies the power of Israel's God, who will
certainly be too hard for them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.viii-p6">(2.) He engages them to do their part. Thou
shalt <i>smite them, and utterly destroy them,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.2" parsed="|Deut|7|2|0|0" passage="De 7:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. If God cast them out,
Israel must not take them in, no, not as tenants, nor tributaries,
nor servants. Not covenant of any kind must be made with them, no
mercy must be shown them. This severity was appointed, [1.] By way
of punishment for the wickedness they and their fathers had been
guilty of. The iniquity of the Amorites was now full, and the
longer it had been in the filling the sorer was the vengeance when
it came at last. [2.] In order to prevent the mischiefs they would
do to God's Israel if they were left alive. The people of these
abominations must not be mingled with the holy seed, lest they
corrupt them. Better that all these lives should be lost from the
earth than that religion and the true worship of God should be lost
in Israel. Thus we must deal with our lusts that was against our
souls; God has delivered them into our hands by that promise,
<i>Sin shall not have dominion over you,</i> unless it be your own
faults; let not us them make covenants with them, nor show them any
mercy, but mortify and crucify them, and utterly destroy them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.viii-p7">2. They must make no marriages with those
of them that escaped the sword, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.3-Deut.7.4" parsed="|Deut|7|3|7|4" passage="De 7:3,4"><i>v.</i> 3, 4</scripRef>. The families of the
Canaanites were ancient, and it is probable that some of them were
called <i>honourable,</i> which might be a temptation to the
Israelites, especially those of them that were of least note in
their tribes, to court an alliance with them, to ennoble their
blood; and the rather because their acquaintance with the country
might be serviceable to them in the improvement of it: but
religion, and the fear of God, must overrule all these
considerations. To intermarry with them was <i>therefore</i>
unlawful, because it was dangerous; this very thing had proved of
fatal consequence to the old world (<scripRef id="Deu.viii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.6.2" parsed="|Gen|6|2|0|0" passage="Ge 6:2">Gen.
vi. 2</scripRef>), and thousands in the world that now is have been
undone by irreligious ungodly marriages; for there is more ground
of fear in mixed marriages that the good will be perverted than of
hope that the bad will be converted. The event proved the
reasonableness of this warning: <i>They will turn away thy son from
following me.</i> Solomon paid dearly for his folly herein. We find
a national repentance for this sin of marrying strange wives, and
care taken to reform (<scripRef id="Deu.viii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.9.1-Ezra.10.44 Bible:Neh.13.1-Neh.13.31" parsed="|Ezra|9|1|10|44;|Neh|13|1|13|31" passage="Ezr 9:1-10:44,Ne 13:1-31">Ezra ix. x., and Neh. xiii.</scripRef>),
and a New-Testament caution not to be <i>unequally yoked with
unbelievers,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.6.14" parsed="|2Cor|6|14|0|0" passage="2Co 6:14">2 Cor. vi.
14</scripRef>. Those that in choosing yokefellows keep not at least
within the bounds of a justifiable profession of religion cannot
promise themselves helps meet for them. One of the Chaldee
paraphrases adds here, as a reason of this command (<scripRef id="Deu.viii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.3" parsed="|Deut|7|3|0|0" passage="De 7:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), <i>For he that marries
with idolaters does in effect marry with their idols.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.viii-p8">3. They must destroy all the relics of
their idolatry, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.5" parsed="|Deut|7|5|0|0" passage="De 7:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>.
Their altars and pillars, their groves and graven images, all must
be destroyed, both in a holy indignation against idolatry and to
prevent infection. This command was given before, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.24 Bible:Exod.34.13" parsed="|Exod|23|24|0|0;|Exod|34|13|0|0" passage="Ex 23:24,34:13">Exod. xxiii. 24; xxxiv. 13</scripRef>. A
great deal of good work of this kind was done by the people, in
their pious zeal (<scripRef id="Deu.viii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.31.1" parsed="|2Chr|31|1|0|0" passage="2Ch 31:1">2 Chron. xxxi.
1</scripRef>), and by good Josiah (<scripRef id="Deu.viii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.34.3 Bible:2Chr.34.7" parsed="|2Chr|34|3|0|0;|2Chr|34|7|0|0" passage="2Ch 34:3,7">2
Chron. xxxiv. 3, 7</scripRef>), and with this may be compared the
burning of the conjuring books, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Acts.19.19" parsed="|Acts|19|19|0|0" passage="Ac 19:19">Acts
xix. 19</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.viii-p9">II. Here are very good reasons to enforce
this caution.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.viii-p10">1. The choice which God had made of this
people for his own, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.6" parsed="|Deut|7|6|0|0" passage="De 7:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>. There was such a covenant and communion established
between God and Israel as was not between him and any other people
in the world. Shall they by their idolatries dishonour him who had
thus honoured them? Shall they slight him who had thus testified
his kindness for them? Shall they put themselves upon the level
with other people, when God had thus dignified and advanced them
above all people? Had God taken them to be a special people to him,
and no other but them, and will not they take God to be a special
God to them, and no other but him?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.viii-p11">2. The freeness of that grace which made
this choice. (1.) There was nothing in them to recommend or entitle
them to this favour. <i>In multitude of the people is the king's
honour,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.14.28" parsed="|Prov|14|28|0|0" passage="Pr 14:28">Prov. xiv. 28</scripRef>.
But their number was inconsiderable; they were only seventy souls
when they went down into Egypt, and, though greatly increased
there, yet there were many other nations more numerous: <i>You were
the fewest of all people,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.7" parsed="|Deut|7|7|0|0" passage="De 7:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>. The author of the Jerusalem Targum passes too great a
compliment upon his nation in his reading this, <i>You were humble
in spirit, and meek above all people;</i> quite contrary: they were
rather stiff-necked and ill-natured above all people. (2.) God
fetched the reason of it purely from himself, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.8" parsed="|Deut|7|8|0|0" passage="De 7:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. [1.] He loved you <i>because he
would love you.</i> Even so, Father, because it seemed good in thy
eyes. All that God loves he loves freely, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.4" parsed="|Hos|14|4|0|0" passage="Hos 14:4">Hos. xiv. 4</scripRef>. Those that perish perish by
their own merits, but all that are saved are saved by prerogative.
[2.] He has done his work because he would keep his word. "He has
brought you out of Egypt in pursuance of the oath sworn to your
fathers." Nothing in them, or done by them, did or could make God a
debtor to them; but he had made himself a debtor to his own
promise, which he would perform notwithstanding their
unworthiness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.viii-p12">3. The tenour of the covenant into which
they were taken; it was in short this, That as they were to God so
God would be to them. They should certainly find him, (1.) Kind to
his friends, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.9" parsed="|Deut|7|9|0|0" passage="De 7:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>.
"The Lord thy God is not like the gods of the nations, the
creatures of fancy, subjects fit enough for loose poetry, but no
proper objects of serious devotion; no, he is God, God indeed, God
alone, the faithful God, able and ready not only to fulfil his own
promises, but to answer all the just expectations of his
worshippers, and he will certainly keep covenant and mercy," that
is, "show mercy according to covenant, to <i>those that love him
and keep his commandments</i>" (and in vain do we pretend to love
him if we do not make conscience of his commandments); "and this"
(as is here added for the explication of the promise in the second
commandment) "not only to thousands of persons, but to thousands of
generations—so inexhaustible is the fountain, so constant are the
streams!" (2.) Just to his enemies: He <i>repays those that hate
him,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.10" parsed="|Deut|7|10|0|0" passage="De 7:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. Note,
[1.] Wilful sinners are haters of God; for the carnal mind is
enmity against him. Idolaters are so in a special manner, for they
are in league with his rivals. [2.] Those that hate God cannot hurt
him, but certainly ruin themselves. He will repay them to their
face, in defiance of them and all their impotent malice. His arrows
are said to be <i>made ready against the face of them,</i>
<scripRef id="Deu.viii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.21.12" parsed="|Ps|21|12|0|0" passage="Ps 21:12">Ps. xxi. 12</scripRef>. Or, He will
bring those judgments upon them which shall appear to themselves to
be the just punishment of their idolatry. Compare <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.21.19" parsed="|Job|21|19|0|0" passage="Job 21:19">Job xxi. 19</scripRef>, <i>He rewardeth him, and
he shall know it.</i> Though vengeance seem to be slow, yet it is
not slack. The wicked and sinner shall be <i>recompensed in the
earth,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.11.31" parsed="|Prov|11|31|0|0" passage="Pr 11:31">Prov. xi. 31</scripRef>. I
cannot pass the gloss of the Jerusalem Targum upon this place,
because it speaks the faith of the Jewish church concerning a
future state: <i>He recompenses to those that hate him the reward
of their good works in this world, that he may destroy them in the
world to come.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Deu.viii-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7" parsed="|Deut|7|0|0|0" passage="De 7" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Deu.viii-p12.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.12-Deut.7.26" parsed="|Deut|7|12|7|26" passage="De 7:12-26" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.7.12-Deut.7.26">
<p class="passage" id="Deu.viii-p13">12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye
hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p13.1">Lord</span> thy God shall keep unto thee the
covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:   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.   14 Thou shalt be blessed above all
people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or
among your cattle.   15 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p13.2">Lord</span> 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 <i>them</i> that hate thee.
  16 And thou shalt consume all the people which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p13.3">Lord</span> thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye
shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods;
for that <i>will be</i> a snare unto thee.   17 If thou shalt
say in thine heart, These nations <i>are</i> more than I; how can I
dispossess them?   18 Thou shalt not be afraid of them:
<i>but</i> shalt well remember what the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p13.4">Lord</span> thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all
Egypt;   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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p13.5">Lord</span> thy God
brought thee out: so shall the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p13.6">Lord</span>
thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.   20
Moreover the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p13.7">Lord</span> thy God will send
the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide
themselves from thee, be destroyed.   21 Thou shalt not be
affrighted at them: for the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p13.8">Lord</span> thy
God <i>is</i> among you, a mighty God and terrible.   22 And
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p13.9">Lord</span> 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p13.10">Lord</span> 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.viii-p13.11">Lord</span> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.viii-p14">Here, I. The caution against idolatry is
repeated, and against communion with idolaters: "Thou shalt consume
the people, and not serve their gods." <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.16" parsed="|Deut|7|16|0|0" passage="De 7:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.25-Deut.7.26" parsed="|Deut|7|25|7|26" passage="De 7:25,26"><i>v.</i> 25, 26</scripRef>. The idols which the
heathen had worshipped were an abomination to God, and therefore
must be so to them: all that truly love God hates 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>
(<scripRef id="Deu.viii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.25" parsed="|Deut|7|25|0|0" passage="De 7:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>), 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> <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.26" parsed="|Deut|7|26|0|0" passage="De 7:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>.
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 class="indent" id="Deu.viii-p15">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 class="indent" id="Deu.viii-p16">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>
<scripRef id="Deu.viii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.12" parsed="|Deut|7|12|0|0" passage="De 7:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. Let us be
constant in our duty, and we cannot question the constancy of God's
mercy.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.viii-p17">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, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.13-Deut.7.14" parsed="|Deut|7|13|7|14" passage="De 7:13,14"><i>v.</i> 13, 14</scripRef>. What could they desire
more to make them happy? (1.) "<i>He will love thee.</i>" He began
in love to us (<scripRef id="Deu.viii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:1John.4.10" parsed="|1John|4|10|0|0" passage="1Jo 4:10">1 John iv.
10</scripRef>), and, if we return his love in filial duty, then,
and then only, we may expect the continuance of it, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:John.14.21" parsed="|John|14|21|0|0" passage="Joh 14:21">John xiv. 21</scripRef>. (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
(<scripRef id="Deu.viii-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.28 Bible:Gen.9.1" parsed="|Gen|1|28|0|0;|Gen|9|1|0|0" passage="Ge 1:28,9:1">Gen. i. 28; ix. 1</scripRef>), 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 class="indent" id="Deu.viii-p18">3. That, if they would keep themselves pure
from the idolatries of Egypt, God would keep them clear from the
<i>diseases of Egypt,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.15" parsed="|Deut|7|15|0|0" passage="De 7:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Deu.viii-p19">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
(<scripRef id="Deu.viii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.16" parsed="|Deut|7|16|0|0" passage="De 7:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>); and <i>the
Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy
them</i>—this is the promise, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.23" parsed="|Deut|7|23|0|0" passage="De 7:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. 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> (<scripRef id="Deu.viii-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.6.12 Bible:Rom.6.14" parsed="|Rom|6|12|0|0;|Rom|6|14|0|0" passage="Ro 6:12,14">Rom. vi. 12, 14</scripRef>), 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> <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.18" parsed="|Deut|7|18|0|0" passage="De 7:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>, and
again, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.21" parsed="|Deut|7|21|0|0" passage="De 7:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. (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> <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p19.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.17" parsed="|Deut|7|17|0|0" passage="De 7:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p19.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.18-Deut.7.19" parsed="|Deut|7|18|7|19" passage="De 7:18,19"><i>v.</i> 18, 19</scripRef>. 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,
<scripRef id="Deu.viii-p19.8" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.18" parsed="|Deut|7|18|0|0" passage="De 7:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. 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 (<scripRef id="Deu.viii-p19.9" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.20" parsed="|Deut|7|20|0|0" passage="De 7:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>), 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> <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p19.10" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.21" parsed="|Deut|7|21|0|0" passage="De 7:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. 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> <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p19.11" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.22" parsed="|Deut|7|22|0|0" passage="De 7:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p19.12" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.29-Exod.23.30" parsed="|Exod|23|29|23|30" passage="Ex 23:29,30">Exod. xxiii. 29, 30</scripRef>) 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> <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p19.13" osisRef="Bible:Isa.34.13-Isa.34.14" parsed="|Isa|34|13|34|14" passage="Isa 34:13,14">Isa. xxxiv. 13, 14</scripRef>. Yet God could have
prevented this mischief from the beasts, <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p19.14" osisRef="Bible:Lev.26.6" parsed="|Lev|26|6|0|0" passage="Le 26:6">Lev. xxvi. 6</scripRef>. 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 <scripRef id="Deu.viii-p19.15" osisRef="Bible:Judg.3.1 Bible:Judg.3.4" parsed="|Judg|3|1|0|0;|Judg|3|4|0|0" passage="Jdg 3:1,4">Judges iii. 1, 4</scripRef>.</p>
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