Deuteronomy 7 Study Notes
General
True or False: Moses promised that if Israel kept God's laws, the LORD would take sickness away from them and put the diseases of Egypt on their enemies instead.
Answer: True
This is true. If Israel listened to and kept God's laws, the LORD would keep His covenant (His binding promise) and loyal love. He would love them, multiply them, and bless their children, crops, and herds; no one would be barren; He would remove sickness and send the diseases Israel had seen in Egypt on those who hated them instead (7:12-15). God had made similar promises soon after the exodus (Exodus 15:26; 23:25-26). These were blessings for Israel as a nation living in the land under the covenant God made at Sinai. They are not a promise that every faithful individual will always be healthy or wealthy. And they were given to a people God had already rescued and chosen (7:6-8), so obedience was the fruit of belonging to Him, not the price of it.
- Deuteronomy 7:12-15 (BSB)“If you listen to these ordinances and keep them carefully, then the LORD your God will keep His covenant and the loving devotion that He swore to your fathers. He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your womb and the produce of your land—your grain, new wine, and oil, the young of your herds and the lambs of your flocks—in the land that He swore to your fathers to give you. You will be blessed above all peoples; among you there will be no barren man or woman or livestock. And the LORD will remove from you all sickness. He will not lay upon you any of the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but He will inflict them on all who hate you.”Moses lists the blessings that would follow Israel's faithful obedience in the land.
- Exodus 15:26 (BSB)“saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.””After the Red Sea, God promised not to bring the Egyptian diseases on an obedient Israel.
- Exodus 23:25-26 (BSB)“So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you. No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.”God promised to bless Israel's food, remove sickness, and prevent barrenness among those who served Him.
Theological
True or False: In Deuteronomy 7:12-15 the LORD promises obedient Israel the removal of sickness and the transfer of Egypt's diseases to its enemies.
Answer: True
This is true. Covenant obedience would be met with covenant faithfulness: God's love, fruitfulness of womb, field, and flock, the absence of barrenness, and the removal of sickness, with Egypt's diseases turned on Israel's enemies (7:12-15). These echo earlier promises (Exodus 15:26; 23:25-26). They are the national sanctions of the Sinai covenant for Israel in the land, not a guarantee of individual health or prosperity. They are also addressed to a people already redeemed and chosen (7:6-8), so the blessing attends the obedience of those who belong to God rather than purchasing that relationship.
- Deuteronomy 7:12-15 (BSB)“If you listen to these ordinances and keep them carefully, then the LORD your God will keep His covenant and the loving devotion that He swore to your fathers. He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your womb and the produce of your land—your grain, new wine, and oil, the young of your herds and the lambs of your flocks—in the land that He swore to your fathers to give you. You will be blessed above all peoples; among you there will be no barren man or woman or livestock. And the LORD will remove from you all sickness. He will not lay upon you any of the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but He will inflict them on all who hate you.”Moses lists the blessings that would follow Israel's faithful obedience in the land.
- Exodus 15:26 (BSB)“saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.””After the Red Sea, God promised not to bring the Egyptian diseases on an obedient Israel.
- Exodus 23:25-26 (BSB)“So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you. No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.”God promised to bless Israel's food, remove sickness, and prevent barrenness among those who served Him.
General
True or False: Moses allowed Israel to leave the Canaanite altars standing as long as they did not use them.
Answer: False
This is false. Moses commanded Israel to demolish the altars, shatter the standing stones, fell the Asherah poles (wooden objects tied to the worship of the goddess Asherah), and burn the idols (7:5). Nothing connected with false worship was to be left in place, because what remained would tempt Israel to join in. God had given the same order at Sinai (Exodus 34:13), and Moses repeats it later (12:2-3). Sadly, Israel did not fully obey, and God rebuked them for leaving these altars intact (Judges 2:2).
- Deuteronomy 7:5 (BSB)“Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.”Moses lists what Israel must do to the Canaanites' altars, pillars, Asherah poles, and idols.
- Exodus 34:13 (BSB)“Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.”At Sinai God had already commanded the same demolition of altars, stones, and Asherah poles.
- Deuteronomy 12:2-3 (BSB)“Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.”Moses repeats the command to destroy every place where the nations served their gods.
- Judges 2:2 (BSB)“and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done?”The angel of the LORD later rebukes Israel for failing to tear down the altars as commanded.
Theological
True or False: Deuteronomy 7:5 permitted Canaanite altars to remain standing so long as Israel did not worship at them.
Answer: False
This is false. The command is comprehensive: altars demolished, sacred pillars smashed, Asherah poles felled, and carved images burned (7:5). No neutral preservation of idolatrous sites was allowed, since their continued presence would ensnare Israel. The command restates Exodus 34:13 and anticipates the fuller instruction of 12:2-3. Israel's incomplete obedience is later charged against them by the angel of the LORD (Judges 2:2).
- Deuteronomy 7:5 (BSB)“Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.”Moses lists what Israel must do to the Canaanites' altars, pillars, Asherah poles, and idols.
- Exodus 34:13 (BSB)“Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.”At Sinai God had already commanded the same demolition of altars, stones, and Asherah poles.
- Deuteronomy 12:2-3 (BSB)“Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.”Moses repeats the command to destroy every place where the nations served their gods.
- Judges 2:2 (BSB)“and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done?”The angel of the LORD later rebukes Israel for failing to tear down the altars as commanded.
General
According to Deuteronomy 7:7-8, why did the LORD choose Israel?
Answer: Because He loved them and kept His sworn oath
Moses says God did not choose Israel for its size, since Israel was actually the smallest of the peoples (7:7). The only reasons given are God's love and His faithfulness to the promise He made to the patriarchs; that is why He rescued them from slavery under Pharaoh (7:8). In other words, the cause of the choice was in God, not in Israel. Later Moses adds that it was not their goodness either (9:4-6), and that the Owner of heaven and earth simply set His love on their fathers (10:14-15). This is election, meaning God's free choice, of Israel as a nation to a special covenant (a binding relationship with God). It did not mean every Israelite was personally saved (Romans 9:6). But the same pattern of grace, not merit, stands behind God's choosing of His people in Christ, which also flows from His love and good pleasure (Ephesians 1:4-5) and rests on His mercy rather than human effort (Romans 9:16). The order also matters: God redeemed Israel first and only then gave commands (7:8, 11), so obedience was to be the grateful response of a rescued people.
- Deuteronomy 7:7-8 (BSB)“The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”Moses explains that God's choice of Israel rested on His love and oath, not on Israel's size.
- Deuteronomy 10:14-15 (BSB)“Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth and everything in it. Yet the LORD has set His affection on your fathers and loved them. And He has chosen you, their descendants after them, above all the peoples, even to this day.”Though heaven and earth belong to Him, the LORD set His affection on the patriarchs and chose their descendants.
- Romans 9:6 (BSB)“It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.”Paul clarifies that not everyone descended from Israel belongs to the true Israel.
- Ephesians 1:4-5 (BSB)“For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,”God's choosing of believers in Christ likewise flows from His love and the good pleasure of His will.
- Romans 9:16 (BSB)“So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”Paul concludes that God's choosing depends on His mercy, not on human desire or effort.
Theological
What ground for Israel's election does Deuteronomy 7:7-8 give?
Answer: Because He loved them and kept His sworn oath
Moses explicitly excludes Israel's numbers as the basis of election, since Israel was the least of the peoples (7:7), and locates the cause entirely in the LORD's love and His fidelity to the oath sworn to the patriarchs, which issued in the exodus redemption (7:8). The reasoning is deliberately circular: the LORD's affectionate choice of Israel (7:7) is traced to nothing but His love and His sworn oath (7:8), so the cause of His love lies within Himself, not in its object. Deuteronomy also excludes Israel's righteousness (9:4-6) and roots the choice in the sovereign affection of the One who owns all things (10:14-15). This is the corporate election of Israel as a nation to covenant privilege, not a claim that every Israelite was individually saved (Romans 9:6). Yet the same logic of unmerited, sovereign love underlies the election of believers in Christ, which Paul grounds in God's love and His own sovereign pleasure (Ephesians 1:4-5) and in His mercy rather than on human desire or exertion (Romans 9:16). The order is also significant: redemption precedes the commandments (7:8, 11), so obedience is the grateful response of the redeemed, not the means of becoming God's people.
- Deuteronomy 7:7-8 (BSB)“The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”Moses explains that God's choice of Israel rested on His love and oath, not on Israel's size.
- Deuteronomy 10:14-15 (BSB)“Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth and everything in it. Yet the LORD has set His affection on your fathers and loved them. And He has chosen you, their descendants after them, above all the peoples, even to this day.”Though heaven and earth belong to Him, the LORD set His affection on the patriarchs and chose their descendants.
- Romans 9:6 (BSB)“It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.”Paul clarifies that not everyone descended from Israel belongs to the true Israel.
- Ephesians 1:4-5 (BSB)“For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,”God's choosing of believers in Christ likewise flows from His love and the good pleasure of His will.
- Romans 9:16 (BSB)“So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”Paul concludes that God's choosing depends on His mercy, not on human desire or effort.
General
What did Moses command Israel to do once the LORD handed the nations of Canaan over to them (Deuteronomy 7:2)?
Answer: Destroy them completely, with no treaty or mercy
Moses told Israel to devote these nations to complete destruction, that is, to hand them over wholly to God's judgment with nothing kept back, to make no covenant (a binding agreement) with them, and to show them no pity (7:2, 16). The command is severe, and Scripture itself gives the reasons for it. First, it was God's judgment on long-standing wickedness: God had told Abraham centuries earlier that the Amorites' sin was not yet full, so He waited a long time (Genesis 15:16), and Moses says the nations were being driven out for their detestable practices, not because Israel was better (9:5; 18:12). Second, it protected Israel from being drawn into those nations' idolatry (7:4, 16; 20:18). This was a unique command given to Israel in its special place in God's plan, at one specific moment, and it is not a pattern or license for any later people. God was also impartial: Israel would face the same judgment if it followed other gods (7:4; 8:19-20).
- Deuteronomy 7:2 (BSB)“and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.”Once the LORD hands the nations over, Israel is to devote them to destruction and make no covenant with them.
- Deuteronomy 7:16 (BSB)“You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.”Moses repeats the command and warns that the nations' gods would become a trap for Israel.
- Genesis 15:16 (BSB)“In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.””God told Abraham his descendants would wait four generations because the Amorites' sin had not yet reached its full measure.
- Deuteronomy 9:5 (BSB)“It is not because of your righteousness or uprightness of heart that you are going in to possess their land, but it is because of their wickedness that the LORD your God is driving out these nations before you, to keep the promise He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”Moses states that the nations are driven out for their wickedness, not for Israel's righteousness.
- Deuteronomy 18:12 (BSB)“For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.”The detestable practices of the nations are named as the reason the LORD is driving them out.
- Deuteronomy 20:18 (BSB)“so that they cannot teach you to do all the detestable things they do for their gods, and so cause you to sin against the LORD your God.”The command guards Israel from learning the detestable worship of the nations and sinning against the LORD.
Theological
What does Deuteronomy 7:2 require of Israel once the LORD delivers the Canaanite nations to them?
Answer: Destroy them completely, with no treaty or mercy
Israel is to place the nations under the ban (herem), devoting them wholly to destruction, with no covenant and no pity (7:2, 16). The command is severe, and the text supplies its own rationale. It is divine judgment on iniquity that God had long endured (Genesis 15:16), executed for the nations' wickedness and abominations rather than for any merit in Israel (9:5; 18:12). It is also a safeguard against Israel's absorption into Canaanite idolatry (7:4, 16; 20:18). The command belongs to Israel's unique theocratic setting at a particular point in redemptive history, where Israel served as the instrument of God's judgment; it is not a precedent or warrant for any later nation or people. The same holiness that judged Canaan also threatened Israel if it apostatized (7:4; 8:19-20).
- Deuteronomy 7:2 (BSB)“and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.”Once the LORD hands the nations over, Israel is to devote them to destruction and make no covenant with them.
- Deuteronomy 7:16 (BSB)“You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.”Moses repeats the command and warns that the nations' gods would become a trap for Israel.
- Genesis 15:16 (BSB)“In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.””God told Abraham his descendants would wait four generations because the Amorites' sin had not yet reached its full measure.
- Deuteronomy 9:5 (BSB)“It is not because of your righteousness or uprightness of heart that you are going in to possess their land, but it is because of their wickedness that the LORD your God is driving out these nations before you, to keep the promise He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”Moses states that the nations are driven out for their wickedness, not for Israel's righteousness.
- Deuteronomy 18:12 (BSB)“For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.”The detestable practices of the nations are named as the reason the LORD is driving them out.
- Deuteronomy 20:18 (BSB)“so that they cannot teach you to do all the detestable things they do for their gods, and so cause you to sin against the LORD your God.”The command guards Israel from learning the detestable worship of the nations and sinning against the LORD.
General
What did Moses command about the precious metals on the images of the Canaanite gods (Deuteronomy 7:25)?
Answer: Burn the images and refuse to desire or take it
Moses told Israel to burn the images and not to desire or keep the precious metal on them, because it would become a trap and the LORD found it abhorrent (7:25). Bringing such a thing home would put the person under the same sentence of destruction as the idol, so Israel was to regard it with total disgust (7:26). The danger was real. At Jericho, Joshua warned the people to stay clear of the banned things marked for destruction (Joshua 6:18), but Achan saw silver and gold, wanted it, took it, and brought disaster on Israel (Joshua 7:21). The New Testament still calls believers to keep themselves from idols (1 John 5:21).
- Deuteronomy 7:25-26 (BSB)“You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it is detestable to the LORD your God. And you must not bring any detestable thing into your house, or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.”Moses forbids coveting the precious metal on idols and warns that it carries the ban with it.
- Joshua 6:18 (BSB)“But keep away from the things devoted to destruction, lest you yourself be set apart for destruction. If you take any of these, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and bring disaster upon it.”At Jericho Joshua warned that taking devoted things would put the taker and the camp under the ban.
- Joshua 7:21 (BSB)“When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.””Achan confessed that he coveted and took silver and gold from Jericho, bringing disaster on Israel.
- 1 John 5:21 (BSB)“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”John's closing command shows that guarding oneself from idols remains the calling of God's people.
Theological
What does Deuteronomy 7:25-26 require regarding the precious metals overlaying Canaanite idols?
Answer: Burn the images and refuse to desire or take it
The images are to be burned, and their silver and gold neither coveted nor appropriated, since the LORD abhors it and it would ensnare them (7:25). The ban is contagious: bringing such an object home would place the one who took it under herem, the ban of total destruction, so it must be utterly abhorred (7:26). Achan's coveting of Jericho's silver and gold illustrates the principle, in defiance of Joshua's warning (Joshua 6:18; 7:21), and John's closing charge to guard against idols carries the concern into the new covenant (1 John 5:21). Covetousness is the doorway to idolatry.
- Deuteronomy 7:25-26 (BSB)“You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it is detestable to the LORD your God. And you must not bring any detestable thing into your house, or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.”Moses forbids coveting the precious metal on idols and warns that it carries the ban with it.
- Joshua 6:18 (BSB)“But keep away from the things devoted to destruction, lest you yourself be set apart for destruction. If you take any of these, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and bring disaster upon it.”At Jericho Joshua warned that taking devoted things would put the taker and the camp under the ban.
- Joshua 7:21 (BSB)“When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.””Achan confessed that he coveted and took silver and gold from Jericho, bringing disaster on Israel.
- 1 John 5:21 (BSB)“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”John's closing command shows that guarding oneself from idols remains the calling of God's people.
General
Why would the LORD drive out the nations gradually rather than all at once (Deuteronomy 7:22)?
Answer: So wild animals would not multiply against Israel
Moses promised that the hornet would be sent against the nations until even hidden survivors were gone, and that God, great and fearsome, was present among Israel (7:20-21). Yet the removal would be step by step, because clearing the land too quickly would leave it empty and let wild animals multiply around Israel (7:22). The timing was God's wise care for His people, not a sign of weakness. God had given the same explanation at Sinai (Exodus 23:28-30). Later, speaking through Joshua, God said it was the hornet, not Israel's sword or bow, that routed two Amorite kings (Joshua 24:12), and in the end no enemy was able to resist them (Joshua 21:44; compare 7:24).
- Deuteronomy 7:20-22 (BSB)“Moreover, the LORD your God will send the hornet against them until even the survivors hiding from you have perished. Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God. The LORD your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be enabled to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals would multiply around you.”Moses promises the hornet and explains why the nations would be removed gradually.
- Exodus 23:28-30 (BSB)“I will send the hornet before you to drive the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. I will not drive them out before you in a single year; otherwise the land would become desolate and wild animals would multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land.”God had earlier promised the hornet and a gradual conquest so the land would not become desolate.
- Joshua 24:12 (BSB)“I sent the hornet ahead of you, and it drove out the two Amorite kings before you, but not by your own sword or bow.”Looking back, God says the hornet drove out the two Amorite kings, not Israel's own sword or bow.
- Joshua 21:44 (BSB)“And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.”By the end of the conquest none of Israel's enemies could stand against them, as God had promised.
Theological
What reason does Deuteronomy 7:22 give for a gradual rather than immediate dispossession of the nations?
Answer: So wild animals would not multiply against Israel
Alongside the promise of the hornet (7:20) and the assurance of God's presence among His people (7:21), Moses explains that the nations would be removed incrementally lest the depopulated land be overrun by wild beasts (7:22). The measured pace expresses providential care rather than any limit on divine power. The rationale repeats Exodus 23:28-30; Joshua 24:12 credits the hornet, not Israel's arms, with routing two Amorite kings; and Joshua 21:44 records the fulfillment of the promise that no enemy would stand before them (7:24).
- Deuteronomy 7:20-22 (BSB)“Moreover, the LORD your God will send the hornet against them until even the survivors hiding from you have perished. Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God. The LORD your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be enabled to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals would multiply around you.”Moses promises the hornet and explains why the nations would be removed gradually.
- Exodus 23:28-30 (BSB)“I will send the hornet before you to drive the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. I will not drive them out before you in a single year; otherwise the land would become desolate and wild animals would multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land.”God had earlier promised the hornet and a gradual conquest so the land would not become desolate.
- Joshua 24:12 (BSB)“I sent the hornet ahead of you, and it drove out the two Amorite kings before you, but not by your own sword or bow.”Looking back, God says the hornet drove out the two Amorite kings, not Israel's own sword or bow.
- Joshua 21:44 (BSB)“And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.”By the end of the conquest none of Israel's enemies could stand against them, as God had promised.
General
What does Moses tell Israel to know about the LORD in Deuteronomy 7:9?
Answer: He is reliable, holding to His covenant love for ages
Moses says Israel should know that the LORD is the true God and that He is faithful: He keeps His covenant promises and His loyal love (sometimes called by the Hebrew word hesed, steady covenant loyalty) across a thousand generations toward all who love and obey Him (7:9). The next verse makes clear that God is not indifferent to evil. Those who hate the LORD are repaid personally, face to face, without delay (7:10). This matches how God described Himself to Moses at Sinai, as overflowing in loyal love yet never clearing the guilty (Exodus 34:6-7). Nehemiah prayed on the basis of this same faithfulness centuries later (Nehemiah 1:5), and Paul tells Christians they can rely on that same faithful God who called them (1 Corinthians 1:9).
- Deuteronomy 7:9-10 (BSB)“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments. But those who hate Him He repays to their faces with destruction; He will not hesitate to repay to his face the one who hates Him.”Moses describes the LORD as the faithful God who keeps covenant love and personally repays those who hate Him.
- Exodus 34:6-7 (BSB)“Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness, maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers on their children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.””God's self-revelation to Moses joins abundant loving devotion with a refusal to leave the guilty unpunished.
- Nehemiah 1:5 (BSB)“Then I said: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion with those who love Him and keep His commandments,”Nehemiah's prayer echoes this description of the God who keeps His covenant with those who love Him.
- 1 Corinthians 1:9 (BSB)“God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.”Paul grounds the believer's confidence in the same faithfulness of the God who called them.
Theological
What attribute of God does Deuteronomy 7:9-10 set before Israel?
Answer: He is reliable, holding to His covenant love for ages
The LORD is identified as the God of fidelity who maintains covenant and hesed (steadfast covenant love) across a thousand generations toward all who love and obey Him (7:9). The contrast is stark: His loving devotion is extended almost without limit, while His retribution on those who hate God is personal and prompt (7:10). The pairing restates the divine self-revelation of Exodus 34:6-7, grounds Nehemiah's later covenant prayer (Nehemiah 1:5), and is echoed in Paul's confidence that the God who called believers to share in the life of His Son is faithful (1 Corinthians 1:9). The knowledge Moses calls for flows from the redemption just described (7:8).
- Deuteronomy 7:9-10 (BSB)“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments. But those who hate Him He repays to their faces with destruction; He will not hesitate to repay to his face the one who hates Him.”Moses describes the LORD as the faithful God who keeps covenant love and personally repays those who hate Him.
- Exodus 34:6-7 (BSB)“Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness, maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers on their children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.””God's self-revelation to Moses joins abundant loving devotion with a refusal to leave the guilty unpunished.
- Nehemiah 1:5 (BSB)“Then I said: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion with those who love Him and keep His commandments,”Nehemiah's prayer echoes this description of the God who keeps His covenant with those who love Him.
- 1 Corinthians 1:9 (BSB)“God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.”Paul grounds the believer's confidence in the same faithfulness of the God who called them.
General
According to Deuteronomy 7:6, why was Israel to deal so strictly with the Canaanites' places of worship?
Answer: Israel was set apart as the LORD's own chosen people
Verse 6 begins with the word for, giving the reason behind 7:1-5: Israel was holy, meaning set apart for God, and He had chosen them out of every people on earth to be His own treasured people (7:6). A people who belonged to the LORD could not share their worship with other gods. This language goes back to Mount Sinai, where God first called Israel His treasured possession, a nation set apart (Exodus 19:5-6). The New Testament uses the same words for all who belong to Christ: Peter calls believers a chosen people and God's own possession (1 Peter 2:9), and Paul says Jesus gave Himself to make a people His very own (Titus 2:14).
- Deuteronomy 7:6 (BSB)“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.”Moses grounds the commands of 7:1-5 in Israel's identity as a holy, chosen people.
- Exodus 19:5-6 (BSB)“Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine. And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.””At Sinai God first called Israel His treasured possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
- 1 Peter 2:9 (BSB)“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”Peter applies the chosen-people, holy-nation, God's-own-possession language to the church.
- Titus 2:14 (BSB)“He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”Paul says Christ gave Himself to purify a people for His own possession.
Theological
What ground does Deuteronomy 7:6 give for the commands of 7:1-5?
Answer: Israel was set apart as the LORD's own chosen people
The conjunction in 7:6 grounds the preceding commands in Israel's identity: a people consecrated to the LORD, chosen from all peoples to be His segullah, His treasured possession (7:6). Separation from idolatry follows from belonging to God. The vocabulary derives from the Sinai covenant (Exodus 19:5-6) and is carried into the New Testament, where Peter applies it to the church as God's chosen people and possession (1 Peter 2:9) and Paul describes Christ's redemptive purpose as purifying a people for Himself (Titus 2:14). Holiness here is first a status God confers, and then a calling to live out.
- Deuteronomy 7:6 (BSB)“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.”Moses grounds the commands of 7:1-5 in Israel's identity as a holy, chosen people.
- Exodus 19:5-6 (BSB)“Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine. And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.””At Sinai God first called Israel His treasured possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
- 1 Peter 2:9 (BSB)“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”Peter applies the chosen-people, holy-nation, God's-own-possession language to the church.
- Titus 2:14 (BSB)“He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”Paul says Christ gave Himself to purify a people for His own possession.
General
What reason does Moses give for forbidding Israel to marry the peoples of the land (Deuteronomy 7:3-4)?
Answer: They would lead Israel's children to worship idols
Moses explains that these marriages would pull Israel's sons away from the LORD and into serving other gods, which would bring God's anger and swift judgment on Israel (7:3-4). The concern was worship, not ancestry: Rahab, a woman of Jericho who hid Israel's spies, was spared and made a home within Israel (Joshua 6:25), and she even appears in the family line of Jesus (Matthew 1:5). History proved the warning right. After settling in the land, Israel married into these peoples and began serving their gods (Judges 3:5-6), and even wise King Solomon had his heart turned to other gods by his foreign wives (1 Kings 11:1-2, 4).
- Deuteronomy 7:3-4 (BSB)“Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, because they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.”Moses forbids intermarriage because it would turn Israel's sons away to other gods.
- 1 Kings 11:1-2 (BSB)“King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women. These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love.”Solomon married women from nations the LORD had forbidden Israel to marry because they would turn Israel's hearts to their gods.
- 1 Kings 11:4 (BSB)“For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.”In old age Solomon's wives did exactly what the warning said, turning his heart after other gods.
- Judges 3:5-6 (BSB)“Thus the Israelites continued to live among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. And they took the daughters of these people in marriage, gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.”After settling among the Canaanites, Israel intermarried with them and served their gods.
- Joshua 6:25 (BSB)“And Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her father’s household and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho. So she has lived among the Israelites to this day.”Rahab of Jericho, who sheltered Israel's spies, was spared and lived among the Israelites.
Theological
What motive does Deuteronomy 7:3-4 attach to the ban on intermarriage with the Canaanites?
Answer: They would lead Israel's children to worship idols
The prohibition is grounded in covenant loyalty: such unions would turn Israel's children to other gods and provoke the LORD's burning anger (7:3-4). The issue is religious rather than ethnic, as Rahab's incorporation into Israel shows (Joshua 6:25; she stands in the messianic genealogy, Matthew 1:5). Israel's subsequent history vindicates the warning: the people intermarried and served Canaanite gods in the period of the judges (Judges 3:5-6), and Solomon's marriages drew him into worshiping other gods, exactly as the law had warned (1 Kings 11:1-2, 4).
- Deuteronomy 7:3-4 (BSB)“Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, because they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.”Moses forbids intermarriage because it would turn Israel's sons away to other gods.
- 1 Kings 11:1-2 (BSB)“King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women. These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love.”Solomon married women from nations the LORD had forbidden Israel to marry because they would turn Israel's hearts to their gods.
- 1 Kings 11:4 (BSB)“For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.”In old age Solomon's wives did exactly what the warning said, turning his heart after other gods.
- Judges 3:5-6 (BSB)“Thus the Israelites continued to live among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. And they took the daughters of these people in marriage, gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.”After settling among the Canaanites, Israel intermarried with them and served their gods.
- Joshua 6:25 (BSB)“And Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her father’s household and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho. So she has lived among the Israelites to this day.”Rahab of Jericho, who sheltered Israel's spies, was spared and lived among the Israelites.
General
When Israel feared the nations were too strong to drive out, what did Moses tell them to do (Deuteronomy 7:17-19)?
Answer: Call to mind what the LORD did to Pharaoh
Moses expected Israel to worry that the nations were too big to defeat (7:17). His answer was to remember: the plagues, the miracles, and the powerful hand by which God brought them out of Egypt. The God who humbled Pharaoh would deal likewise with the peoples they feared (7:18-19). Memory of God's past rescue was the cure for present fear. Moses recalls giving this same encouragement a generation earlier at Kadesh (1:29-30), and Joshua and Caleb had pleaded with the people not to fear because the LORD was with them (Numbers 14:9). The psalmist sums up the lesson: God's people trust in His name, not in chariots and horses (Psalm 20:7).
- Deuteronomy 7:17-19 (BSB)“You may say in your heart, “These nations are greater than we are; how can we drive them out?” But do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt: the great trials that you saw, the signs and wonders, and the mighty hand and outstretched arm by which the LORD your God brought you out. The LORD your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.”Moses answers Israel's fear of the nations by pointing them back to what God did in Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 1:29-30 (BSB)“So I said to you: “Do not be terrified or afraid of them! The LORD your God, who goes before you, will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt”At Kadesh, a generation earlier, Moses had given the same reassurance, pointing to what the LORD did in Egypt.
- Numbers 14:9 (BSB)“Only do not rebel against the LORD, and do not be afraid of the people of the land, for they will be like bread for us. Their protection has been removed, and the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them!””Joshua and Caleb urged the people not to fear the inhabitants because the LORD was with Israel.
- Psalm 20:7 (BSB)“Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”The psalmist contrasts trust in military strength with trust in the name of the LORD.
Theological
What remedy for fear of the Canaanites does Moses prescribe in Deuteronomy 7:17-19?
Answer: Call to mind what the LORD did to Pharaoh
Anticipating Israel's inner question of how so strong a foe could be dispossessed (7:17), Moses prescribes remembrance of the exodus: the great trials, the miraculous signs, and the display of power through which God delivered them. What He did to Pharaoh He would do to every people they feared (7:18-19). Past redemption becomes the ground of present confidence. The same argument had been pressed at Kadesh by Moses (1:29-30) and by Joshua and Caleb (Numbers 14:9), and it is distilled in Psalm 20:7, which sets trust in the LORD's name against trust in military strength.
- Deuteronomy 7:17-19 (BSB)“You may say in your heart, “These nations are greater than we are; how can we drive them out?” But do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt: the great trials that you saw, the signs and wonders, and the mighty hand and outstretched arm by which the LORD your God brought you out. The LORD your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.”Moses answers Israel's fear of the nations by pointing them back to what God did in Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 1:29-30 (BSB)“So I said to you: “Do not be terrified or afraid of them! The LORD your God, who goes before you, will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt”At Kadesh, a generation earlier, Moses had given the same reassurance, pointing to what the LORD did in Egypt.
- Numbers 14:9 (BSB)“Only do not rebel against the LORD, and do not be afraid of the people of the land, for they will be like bread for us. Their protection has been removed, and the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them!””Joshua and Caleb urged the people not to fear the inhabitants because the LORD was with Israel.
- Psalm 20:7 (BSB)“Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”The psalmist contrasts trust in military strength with trust in the name of the LORD.
General
How does Moses describe the seven nations Israel would face in the promised land (Deuteronomy 7:1)?
Answer: More numerous and mightier than Israel itself
Moses names seven peoples living in Canaan, from the Hittites to the Jebusites, and admits openly that together they outnumbered and outmatched Israel (7:1). He does not flatter Israel about its own strength. The point is that the LORD is the one who clears the nations away, so the coming victory would plainly be His work. Moses repeats the same idea later, describing fortified cities and the tall descendants of Anak while promising that God goes ahead of Israel (9:1-3). Joshua lists the same peoples at the Jordan crossing (Joshua 3:10), and Paul later sums up the whole conquest as God overthrowing seven nations to give His people their inheritance (Acts 13:19).
- Deuteronomy 7:1 (BSB)“When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—”Moses names the seven nations the LORD will drive out as Israel enters the land.
- Deuteronomy 9:1-3 (BSB)“Hear, O Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens. The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim. You know about them, and you have heard it said, “Who can stand up to the sons of Anak?” But understand that today the LORD your God goes across ahead of you as a consuming fire; He will destroy them and subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them swiftly, as the LORD has promised you.”Moses again stresses that the nations are greater than Israel, and that the LORD Himself goes ahead to defeat them.
- Joshua 3:10 (BSB)“He continued, “This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that He will surely drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites.”At the Jordan, Joshua lists the same peoples and says their removal will prove the living God is among Israel.
- Acts 13:19 (BSB)“And having vanquished seven nations in Canaan, He gave their land to His people as an inheritance.”Paul summarizes the conquest as God overthrowing seven nations and giving their land to His people.
Theological
In Deuteronomy 7:1, how are the seven Canaanite nations characterized relative to Israel?
Answer: More numerous and mightier than Israel itself
The seven peoples enumerated, Hittites through Jebusites, are explicitly described as outnumbering and overpowering Israel (7:1). The admission is theological, not merely tactical: the conquest is framed from the start as the LORD dispossessing the nations, so that the outcome could only be credited to Him. Moses returns to this in 9:1-3, where the LORD crosses ahead as the one who subdues them. Joshua 3:10 makes the expulsion of these same nations a sign of the living God's presence, and Acts 13:19 summarizes the conquest as God's own act of giving Israel its inheritance.
- Deuteronomy 7:1 (BSB)“When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—”Moses names the seven nations the LORD will drive out as Israel enters the land.
- Deuteronomy 9:1-3 (BSB)“Hear, O Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens. The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim. You know about them, and you have heard it said, “Who can stand up to the sons of Anak?” But understand that today the LORD your God goes across ahead of you as a consuming fire; He will destroy them and subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them swiftly, as the LORD has promised you.”Moses again stresses that the nations are greater than Israel, and that the LORD Himself goes ahead to defeat them.
- Joshua 3:10 (BSB)“He continued, “This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that He will surely drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites.”At the Jordan, Joshua lists the same peoples and says their removal will prove the living God is among Israel.
- Acts 13:19 (BSB)“And having vanquished seven nations in Canaan, He gave their land to His people as an inheritance.”Paul summarizes the conquest as God overthrowing seven nations and giving their land to His people.