Know the God who chose you
Deuteronomy 7:1-11
God treasures Israel not because of their worth, but because he chose them.
#covenant
#Israel
Published January 12th, 2021
Main point summary
Arc
notes
Main point summary
When Yahweh empowers you to take over the land, you should completely destroy the inhabitants of the land, not intermixing with them. You should not mix with them because you are the people that Yahweh chose to love and to set apart for himself. Because Yahweh chose you, you should know him and his character and obey him.
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Deuteronomy 7:1-11
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“When the e Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it,
When Yahweh brings into the promised land in order for it to become your land,
and clears away many nations before you,
and clears away the land’s inhabitants,
f the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites,
the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites,
seven nations g more numerous and mightier than you,
seven nations that are more powerful than you,
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h and when the Lord your God gives them over to you,
and when Yahweh empowers you against them,
and you defeat them,
and conquer them in battle,
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then you must i devote them to complete destruction. 1
then you must completely annihilate them.
j You shall make no covenant with them
You shouldn’t make a covenant with them
and show no mercy to them.
or relent at all in destroying all of them and their property.
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k You shall not intermarry with them,
You shouldn’t mix with them through intermarriage,
giving your daughters to their sons
giving your daughters as wives for their sons
or taking their daughters for your sons,
or allowing your sons to marry their daughters,
for they would turn away your sons from following me,
because then their daughters would cause your sons to turn away from Yahweh,
to serve other gods.
and serve other gods.
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l Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you,
Yahweh then become angry with you,
and he would destroy you m quickly.
and quickly destroy Israel.
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But thus shall you deal with them:
Rather, this is what you should do when you conquer them:
n you shall break down their altars
destroy their altars in which they make sacrifices to other Gods
and dash in pieces their n pillars
and shatter their pillars set up to worship other Gods
and chop down their n Asherim
and remove their wooden poles worshipping the fertility goddess Asherah
and o burn their carved images with fire.
and burn the idols made of wood.
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“For p you are a people holy to the Lord your God.
Don’t mix with them because you are a people that Yahweh has set apart for himself.
The Lord your God has chosen you to be p a people for his treasured possession,
Specifically , God chosen you as a treasure,
out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
carefully choosing them out of all of the peoples on the earth.
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It was not because you were more in number than any other people
However, even though God chose you and treasured you, it wasn’t because of your greatness
that the Lord set his love on you
that he decided to love you
and chose you,
and choose you to be his people,
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for you were the fewest of all peoples,
because you were a weak nation,
but q it is because the Lord loves you
rather, it is because Yahweh loves you
and is keeping r the oath that he swore to your fathers,
and is keeping the covenant that he made with Abraham and Isaac and Israel,
that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand
that he used his power to rescue you
and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and deliver you out of slavery,
from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
delivering you from the oppression of Pharoh king of Egypt.
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Know therefore that the Lord your God is God,
Because Yahweh chose you and redeemed you , you should know that he is God,
s the faithful God t who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
he is a trustworthy God who keeps his promises and shows never-stopping love to those who love and obey him,
to a thousand generations,
and he will also show this love to your descendants forever,
and u repays to their face those who hate him,
and, on the other hand , shows his wrath to those who reject him,
by destroying them.
by wiping them from the face of the earth.
v He will not be slack with one who hates him.
He will not be lazy in punishing the one who rejects him.
He will repay him to his face.
He will show his wrath to him.
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w You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.
Because the fact that how you respond to Yahweh determines whether you will be loved or punished , you should be careful and diligent to obey the commands and statutes and rules that Yahweh is commanding you through me.
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What does this conjunction “therefore” refer back to? I think that it refers back to verses 6-8, saying that because you are a people set apart for God, you should know this God and know about him. Know his character. Specifically, know two things about him. (1) He is faithful and loving to those who love him. (2) He will punish to those who hate him.
What does this “therefore” in verse 11 refer back to?
WHEN Yahweh empowers you to defeat the nations inhabiting the promised land, resulting in you posing the land,
You should completely destroy them, not intermixing with them in any way, destroying the objects they use in false worship.
BECAUSE you are a people that Yahweh your God chose by his own will to love and to set apart for himself.
When Yahweh empowers you to come and take over the promised land, you shall completely destroy the people inhabiting the land and not intermix with them, especially not worshipping their Gods.
THEREFORE, you should know that Yahweh is God, a loving and just God. And thus you should obey the commands Yahweh has given you.
Normally we treasure something because it is worth a lot to us (e.g., an expensive necklace given to us by a grandmother). However, in this case Yahweh doesn’t treasure Israel because of their worth because they didn’t have any worth. But it is because of his love for them that he treasured them (verse 8).
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Disclaimer: The opinions and conclusions expressed on this page are those of the author and may or may not accord with the positions of Biblearc or Bethlehem College & Seminary.