Deuteronomy 7

De 7:1-26.

ALL

COMMUNION WITH THE

NATIONS

FORBIDDEN.

1. the Hittites--This people were descended from Heth, the second son

of Canaan

(Ge 10:15),

and occupied the mountainous region about Hebron, in the south of

Palestine.

the Girgashites--supposed by some to be the same as the Gergesenes

(Mt 8:28),

who lay to the east of Lake Gennesareth; but they are placed on the

west of Jordan

(Jos 24:11),

and others take them for a branch of the large family of the Hivites,

as they are omitted in nine out of ten places where the tribes of

Canaan are enumerated; in the tenth they are mentioned, while the

Hivites are not.

the Amorites--descended from the fourth son of Canaan. They occupied,

besides their conquest on the Moabite territory, extensive settlements

west of the Dead Sea, in the mountains.

the Canaanites--located in Phœnicia, particularly about

Tyre and Sidon, and being sprung from the oldest branch of the family

of Canaan, bore his name.

the Perizzites--that is, villagers, a tribe who were dispersed

throughout the country and lived in unwalled towns.

the Hivites--who dwelt about Ebal and Gerizim, extending towards

Hermon. They are supposed to be the same as the Avims.

the Jebusites--resided about Jerusalem and the adjacent country.

seven nations greater and mightier than thou--Ten were formerly

mentioned

(Ge 15:19-21).

But in the lapse of near five hundred years, it cannot be surprising

that some of them had been extinguished in the many intestine feuds

that prevailed among those warlike tribes. It is more than probable

that some, stationed on the east of Jordan, had fallen under the

victorious arms of the Israelites.

2-6. thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make

no covenant with them--This relentless doom of extermination which God

denounced against those tribes of Canaan cannot be reconciled with the

attributes of the divine character, except on the assumption that their

gross idolatry and enormous wickedness left no reasonable hope of their

repentance and amendment. If they were to be swept away like the

antediluvians or the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, as incorrigible

sinners who had filled up the measure of their iniquities, it mattered

not to them in what way the judgment was inflicted; and God, as the

Sovereign Disposer, had a right to employ any instruments that pleased

Him for executing His judgments. Some think that they were to be

exterminated as unprincipled usurpers of a country which God had

assigned to the posterity of Eber and which had been occupied ages

before by wandering shepherds of that race, till, on the migration of

Jacob's family into Egypt through the pressure of famine, the Canaanites

overspread the whole land, though they had no legitimate claim to it,

and endeavored to retain possession of it by force. In this view their

expulsion was just and proper. The strict prohibition against

contracting any alliances with such infamous idolaters was a prudential

rule, founded on the experience that "evil communications corrupt good

manners"

[1Co 15:33],

and its importance or necessity was attested by the unhappy examples of

Solomon and others in the subsequent history of Israel.

5. thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars,

&c.--The removal of the temples, altars, and everything that had been

enlisted in the service, or might tend to perpetuate the remembrance,

of Canaanite idolatry, was likewise highly expedient for preserving the

Israelites from all risk of contamination. It was imitated by the

Scottish Reformers, and although many ardent lovers of architecture and

the fine arts have anathematized their proceedings as vandalism, yet

there was profound wisdom in the favorite maxim of Knox--"pull down the

nests, and the rooks will disappear."

6-10. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God--that is,

set apart to the service of God, or chosen to execute the important

purposes of His providence. Their selection to this high destiny was

neither on account of their numerical amount (for, till after the death

of Joseph, they were but a handful of people); nor because of their

extraordinary merits (for they had often pursued a most perverse and

unworthy conduct); but it was in consequence of the covenant or promise

made with their pious forefathers; and the motives that led to that

special act were such as tended not only to vindicate God's wisdom, but

to illustrate His glory in diffusing the best and most precious

blessings to all mankind.

11-26. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes,

and the judgments, which I command thee this day--In the covenant into

which God entered with Israel, He promised to bestow upon them a variety

of blessings so long as they continued obedient to Him as their heavenly

King. He pledged His veracity that His infinite perfections would be

exerted for this purpose, as well as for delivering them from every evil

to which, as a people, they would be exposed. That people accordingly

were truly happy as a nation, and found every promise which the faithful

God made to them amply fulfilled, so long as they adhered to that

obedience which was required of them. See a beautiful illustration of

this in

Ps 144:12-15.

15. the evil diseases of Egypt--(See

Ex 15:26).

Besides those with which Pharaoh and his subjects were visited, Egypt

has always been dreadfully scourged with diseases. The testimony of

Moses is confirmed by the reports of many modern writers, who tell us

that, notwithstanding its equal temperature and sereneness, that

country has some indigenous maladies which are very malignant, such as

ophthalmia, dysentery, smallpox, and the plague.

20. Moreover the Lord thy God will send the hornet among

them--(See on

Jos 24:12

[and

Ex 23:28]).

22. lest the beasts of the field increase upon

thee--(See on

Ex 23:29).

The omnipotence of their Almighty Ruler could have given them

possession of the promised land at once. But, the unburied corpses of

the enemy and the portions of the country that might have been left

desolate for a while, would have drawn an influx of dangerous beasts.

This evil would be prevented by a progressive conquest and by the use

of ordinary means, which God would bless.