- Following instructions
How are you at following instructions? Do you follow them to the letter? Or do you treat them more like they are just a guide? Do you do everything that you are instructed to do, or do you give yourself a bit of flexibility when it comes to rules or instructions?
When you set up a new device are you the sort of person that looks first for the instructions, down, reads them thoroughly and then follows them step by step or are you the sort of person that just starts plugging something in and turning things on to see what happens? Do you follow instructions but only up to a point? Do you put in your destination into Google maps or the Apple equivalent and then find yourself not following the instructions thinking that you know better? Do you ignore your GPS only to have to eventually do the U-turn and listen to what you’re being told?
Are you the sort of person that decides what instructions you are going to follow and those that you are not? I think lots of are tempted to follow instructions up to a point but then leave those things that we don’t feel are necessary to do out. Do I really need to beat the eggs for that long? Do I really need to wait hour 12 hours before the next coat of paint?
In the passage from Deuteronomy that we are looking at today Israel are being warned again to be careful to follow the instructions of the Lord to the letter.
Deuteronomy 7:11
11 Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today[1].
Deuteronomy 8:1
Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the LORD promised on oath to your ancestors.
They were to follow every command – keeping most of them and leaving a few out wasn’t going to be on option if they were going to dwell with God in the land he promised. In today’s reading in chapter 7 Moses is continuing to preach his second sermon to the Israelites getting them ready to live as God’s holy people in the Promised Land. Last Sunday in chapter 6 he called them to not forget the Lord but to love and fear him by keeping his commands. In chapter 7 Moses has reminded the Israelites of the instructions the Lord had given them 40 years earlier at Sinai that told them how they were to drive out the nations in the land that he was giving them (see Exodus 23:20-33). Today we want to look at these instructions that are developed further here in Deuteronomy and think about why they were so important for the Israelites to follow them to the letter. Today I want to look at the chapter under three headings:
- The Lord’s instructions (v1-6)
- Be careful to follow them (v7-16)
- Don’t be afraid (v17-25)
Before these instructions it is probably helpful to just spend a few minutes reminding ourselves why these nations were being drive out and destroyed. The first thing we need to remember is these nations were being driven out of the land because their sinfulness or wickedness and reached full measure. More than 400 years earlier God had promised Abraham that he would give his descendants the land of Canaan when the sin of the Amorites had reached coa
Genesis 15:16
16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
The Lord told Abraham that he wasn’t going to give him the land at that time. But he would give it to his descendants only when the sin of the Amorites[2] had reached full measure and judgment would be warranted. It wasn’t just that these people were in the way and needed to be removed or it wasn’t just the fact that they would become a snare for the Israelites but because their wickedness warranted God’s judgment and he was putting an end to their right to live I the land. Listen to how Moses has explained it in chapter 9.
Deuteronomy 9:4
After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The LORD has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is going to drive them out before you.
The Lord’s judgment was coming on these people and their wickedness, and the Lord also warned Israel that if they went down the same path and were led astray into idolatry and the wicked practices of the Canaanites then they too would come under his judgment and suffer a similar fate and be driven out of the land.
- The Lord’s instructions
Now to the instructions. In verses 1 to 6 Moses gave again the instructions that the Israelites were to keep. When the Lord had delivered the inhabitants of Canaan over to them and they had defeated them, then they were to destroy these nations and their gods.
Deuteronomy 7:1-6
1When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—2and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. 3Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. 5This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. 6For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
- Destroy these nations
The inhabitants were to be driven out from the land and these nations completely destroyed. They language of being driven out implies that they could be expelled from the land but if they remained, they would be destroyed. This would be God’s judgment on their wickedness.
Moses told the Israelites to not do several things that they might have otherwise been tempted to do. They were not to make a treaty with them. They were not to show them mercy. They were not to intermarry with them. They weren’t to give their daughters to their sons as brides and they weren’t to marry their sons to their daughters for they would become a snare for them. It would be the next generation that would end up turning away from that single minded devotion to the Lord that God’s are people are to have. Like the nations before them they would end up becoming idolaters and would come under God’s judgment. They would also be destroyed and thrown out of the land.
These stories of God’s judgment are there for us reminding us that while God is merciful and patient with us there is a time when God’s judgment does come and so we need to seek him before it is too late (see 2 Peter 3:7-12; 1 Cor. 10:11).
- Destroy their gods.
But it wasn’t just the people who were to be removed from the land but all the objects of false worship. They were to destroy their gods/idols and their places of worship. Their altars on which they made their sacrifices were to be torn down. Their sacred stones were to be smashed and they were to cut down their Asherah poles. Asherah poles were poles or trees carved with an image that was to represent the goddess, Asherah who was meant to be the consort of the high God and mother of 70 other Canaanite gods. These poles and stones stood at Canaanite places of worship. The danger for the Israelites was that if these idolatrous things remained, then they would be led into the same idolatrous ways of the Canaanite nations who the Lord was driving out of the land and would come under the same judgment.
2.3 For you are God’s holy people
Moses in verse 6 went on to explain that they were to do this because they were God’s holy people. The Lord had graciously saved them so that they might belong to him. Belonging the Lord changes everything.
Deuteronomy 7:6
For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
They were to do these things because they were the Lord’s holy people. They had been saved and set apart for the Lord to be his people. They were no longer to live like the nations around them. They were his treasured possession, set apart for him and they were to be holy because he is holy (see Exodus 19:5-6) This meant putting aside and getting rid of all those things that might entangle them once again in idolatry. It meant putting aside all wickedness and impurity for the Lord is a holy God. It meant only worshipping and trusting the Lord their God for he is a jealous God demanding our allegiance and devotion.
It is the same way with us, who belong to the body of Christ. We are God’s chosen and holy people. He has saved us so that we might belong to him. We are God’s treasured possession. The NT repeatedly makes this clear in passages like 1 Corinthians 1:2; Ephesians 1:4, and 1 Peter 2:9. As such we are called to live holy and godly lives (2 Peter 3:11) which means putting aside all wickedness and unrighteousness of our old lives and putting on the new self-created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:22-23). We need to be careful that we are deceived by the deceitfulness of sin and miss out because we have rejected what God has done for us out through our unbelief (see Hebrews 3:12-18).
- Be careful
Moses warned the Israelites that they too need to be careful. They were to be careful to do everything the Lord had commanded them so that they might not be corrupted by the nations.
Deuteronomy 7:11
Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.
This warning is also repeated at the start of chapter 8 because you must be careful when a holy God is living among you. He has promised to judge evil and wickedness. You need to be careful because the Lord is faithful and will do what he has promised.
- The Lord is faithful
Israel needed to remember that the faithfulness of the Lord cut both ways. The Lord says what he means and means what he says. And because he does what he says, the Israelites needed to be careful. Our God doesn’t say one thing and then do another but he keeps his covenant.
Deuteronomy 7:9-10
9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. 10 But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.
He keeps his covenant, and, in his covenant, he promises to bless those who love him but to bring judgment on those who hate him. For those who turn away from him, he will bring destruction on them. If we turn away from him you will come under his judgment. He will not be slow to repay those who hate him. The writer of Hebrews warns believers in a similar way encouraging us to persevere in our faith warning us that …
Hebrews 10:26-27
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
The Israelites needed to be careful that they did not turn away from the Lord as do we.
- If they were faithful
But Moses also reassured them that if they were faithful and followed these instructions that they would enjoy the blessing of the Lord (verses 12-15). He would make them fruitful. They would increase in number. They would have no more diseases. The land would bear its fruit and become a land of plenty. The land of Canaan would be like the Garden of Eden. Of course, it never did become completely like that but that promise is held out now to us who trust in the Lord Jesus. The last chapter of the last book of the Bible describes the new heaven and new earth as a kind of Eden restored (see Rev. 22:1-5). But we must hold on to our hope that we have in Christ and keep trusting him until the end (see Hebrews 10:23) and not go back to idolatry.
- Don’t be afraid
The last thing that we are going to look at in this chapter is the last few verses where Moses called the people to not be afraid. In some respects you could argue that the Israelites really had good cause to be afraid. Moses said that the seven nations that the Lord would deliver over to them were larger than they were and more numerous than they were and there were at least seven of them. If seven larger and stronger guys intent on stopping me came up to me in the street I would be very afraid. But Moses told the people not be afraid of those they feared. They were to remember two things: firstly, what the Lord had done for them in Egypt and secondly that this awesome and great God was always with them.
4.1 Remember what the Lord has done
Moses first reminded them of what the Israelites had seen with their own eyes back in Egypt. They were to remember what the Lord had done.
Deuteronomy 7:17-20
You may say to yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?” 18 But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. 19 You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the LORD your God brought you out. 20 The LORD your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.
God’s people need to remember what the Lord done to Pharoah and the way that he had delivered them out of Egypt. They had seen with their own eyes how the Lord brought his judgment upon the Egyptians and had brought them out of the land of slavery. Moses makes the point that he would do the same again to the people that they now feared.
4.2 Remember this great and awesome God is with you
The second thing that they needed to remember was that this great and awesome God was still with them. He was dwelling among them.
Deuteronomy 7:21
Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.
The Lord is great and awesome. He would defeat their enemies driving out the nations before them. Not all at once but little by little and this was for their sake. No one would be able to stand against them. But the Israelites needed to trust him. They were not look to their own strength and numbers or to the local territorial gods of the nations. They were to burn their images of gold. Yahweh, the Lord was all they needed. They weren’t even to covet the gold and silver that these idols were made from. They were to not treasure the things that the nations that they were driving out treasured, but to be wholly devoted to the Lord. And they were to trust him that he would finish the job and bring them into the land because he is the only God, and he saved them and made them his because he loved them. He is the great and awesome God.
- Holy to the Lord
What these instructions were teaching the Israelites was what it meant for them to be a people holy to the Lord, set apart for him.
- Trust him
It meant trusting him and getting rid of all those things that might have led them astray and turned them from only trusting and worshipping the Lord their God alone. They weren’t to be led astray by the people on whom God’s judgment was coming but they were to carry out the destruction of these nations. They weren’t to serve their Gods but destroy everything that might have led them astray for the were to be his holy people because the Lord is holy.
We are called to the same thing as believers who have been saved and cleansed and made God’s holy people through death and sacrifice. We are called to hold unswervingly to our hope that we profess (our hope in Christ). We are assured that the one who has promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23). The Lord will keep his promises and we will dwell with God and he with us forever in a new creation. Nothing and no one can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:31-32).
5.2 Throw off everything that entangles
At the same time, we are called to be holy. We are to flee idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14) and because we are now God’s holy people we are not to be drawn back into our old way of life, the way of life that we see those living around us. The apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4 that we have spent enough time in the past doing what they do (see 1 Peter 4:1-5). Rather we are to throw of everything that hinders and that entangles us in sin.
Hebrew 12:1-2a
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
We are not to treasure things that the people around us treasure and make their gods our gods. We are trust that the Lord Jesus is everything that we need and more than enough for this life and the next and not covet the things of this world, the gold and silver with which people have fashioned their idols (the things that have captured their hearts). We are to get rid of them (have done living for self and things) and fix our gaze on him. Paul wrote that greed is idolatry, and it is because it is to believe that Jesus and God’s goodness is not enough. It is to believe that life is really about the abundance of your possessions which you end up living for.
5.3 Don’t be afraid
Of course, there is an opposition to us living this way. The apostle Peter wrote that the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8), but he goes on to say we are to resist him and stand firm in the faith (1 Peter 5:9). And we can do that and not fear him because the Lord Jesus has already defeated him and he is always with us. He has promised to never leave us, and he is great and awesome. What we must remember is that on the cross the Lord disarmed all the powers and authorities making a public spectacle of them triumphing over them (Colossians 2:15) so that they no longer have their hold over us. We are to remember that the Lord had saved us and made us his holy people. As the apostle John wrote, the one who is in us is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). We can be confident as Paul says that one who began his good work in us will bring to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (see Philippians 1:6). One day we will stand holy and blameless before the Lord because of Christ. Don’t fear, remember what God has done for you and remember we have a great and awesome God.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated all Scripture reference are taken from the 2011 edition of New International Version of the Bible.
[2] Wenham notes in the New Bible Commentary that here “the Amorites cover all the inhabitants of Canaan , page 72)
