Scripture: “And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. And you shall consume all the peoples that the LORD your God will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.
“If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?’ you shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So will the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. Moreover, the LORD your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed. You shall not be in dread of them, for the LORD your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God. The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you. But the LORD your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed. And he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under heaven. No one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.
Deuteronomy 7:12-26 ESV
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Observation: Recapping Yesterday’s Daily Focus, Moses exhorts the second generation of the Exodus in anticipation of their soon conquest of the Promised Land. In particular, the nation must wholeheartedly take possession of the Promised Land, showing no mercy to their enemies who will otherwise corrupt them and steal their affections away from the Lord. Why is this paramount? Israel is holy to Yahweh; they are his prized possession (Hebrew: seg̱ullāh), whom he chose from all the earth’s other nations. So, “know” your loving, covenant-keeping God (i.e., obey him) because he will repay those who hate him by destroying them.
In today’s reading, Moses continues his motivational speech with promised blessings to Israel if they obey the Lord. In particular, Yahweh will:
- Keep his covenant with and steadfast love for them (v.12)
- Bless and multiply their crops and flock/herds (vv.13-14)
- Remove evil sickness and disease (v.15)
In loving response, Israel must:
- Consume the pagan people of Canaan (v.16)
- Resist fearing their enemies and trust the Lord, who is “great and awesome,” will give them victory (vv.17-21)
- Detest their enemies’ carved images and possessions and devote them to destruction (even the gold and silver overlay of idols) lest they become devoted to destruction (vv.25-26)
Moses adds that the Lord will send hornets to flesh out those hiding from Israel (v.20), stirring confusion among Israel’s enemies until they are destroyed (v.23). But Yahweh will drive them out over time to prevent wild beasts from gaining number and posing a threat to Israel (v22).
Literary note: “Hornet(s) is a metaphor for God’s power and interaction; see also Exodus 23:28 and Joshua 24:12.
Takeaway: Moses’ audience (the second generation of the Exodus) surely would have heard the stories from their parents of the diseases Yahweh inflicted on their mighty oppressors: Pharaoh and the Egyptians. In this context, Moses assures them that their same all-powerful God will do the same to the pagan nations while protecting Israel from diseases. Still, Israel must not show pity toward their enemies lest their enemies become a snare to them (which would prove true as we read on through the historical books of the Old Testament). Thus, Israel must not cave into fear of their enemies’ might but trust in their almighty God, who devoted the firstborn males of Egypt and Pharaoh and his army to destruction. Moreover, Israel must detest their enemies, as does their holy God, and devote Canaanites and their possessions to destruction.
Our takeaway? As touched on periodically in these devotions, Christ “devoted to destruction” our greatest enemies: Satan and unatoned sin. Through his sinless life, substitutionary death, and resurrection from the dead, Jesus silenced our Accuser, removed sin’s disease (condemnation; see Romans 8:1), and, when he returns, will utterly destroy the presence of sin and its ill effects (Revelation 20:7-10). Meanwhile, the Father and Son have gifted us with our “Hornet,” the Holy Spirit (John 14:16; 16:18-27), who drives out the enemies before us.
Our part? Like Israel, we must not cave into our fears of the enemy, whether the devil, the world, or even our fear of failure. To do so, we must first nurture our love for our Father and Brother, which, if genuine, will drive out fear (1 John 4:18) and inspire us to obey them. Specifically, we must rely on and submit to our Hornet, the Holy Spirit, who will “devote to destruction” the sin in our lives that, like Israel, would become a snare to us and lead us away from the Lord. Then, even if we contract a terminal disease or suffer under Satan’s human vessels of evil, our gracious Triune will grant us grace and mercy to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
Prayer: Father God, we thank you for your Son, who destroyed the condemning effects of sin through his life, death, and resurrection. And we thank you for sending your Hornet (the Holy Spirit), who matures our love for the two of you, leads and empowers us to rise above sin, and helps us find your Son’s grace and mercy to mitigate suffering. So, please help us do our part to rely on and submit to your Hornet so that we might fully take possession of your New Covenant Promised Land. Amen.
Rev. Gordon Green, M.Div., M.A. Counseling
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