Deuteronomy 7 (NASB) Warnings. “ When the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, 2 and when the LORD your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them.
Ever watch as small boys get into a dispute over a toy…or a girl? Have you seen how they resolve conflict? Their desire is for the same toy for example, and neither one will give in to the other. They often just ‘slug it out’ and whoever comes out with no blood running-wins. When I watch some political debates, I start to believe it is the same way! Sure, no blood will be drawn, but there will be plenty of mud slinging, barb tossing and various other forms of making sure the opponent feels the ‘burn.’
I think it might be a competitive gene in us more than anything else! When we look into the Old Testament, that is the way tribes solved their problems with each other. Hey, we still do that today! Wouldn’t you think we could figure out better ways to get along without killing each other? The problem with that idea is, we each want our own way! Compromise does not seem to be in our vocabulary, or in our DNA!
I blame God for this uncompromising spirit. He created us with that gene, and He knew we would need it! We see clearly, right here in Deuteronomy, God cleared a path for the lesser weaker group, the Israelite’s to win against the seven stronger larger tribes. But they still had to fight, it wasn’t a gift. Why? A couple of reasons. First, He wanted the Hebrews and the rest of the known world to know, God defeated these seven tribes. There was no other way the smaller number of warriors with less strength could defeat these heathen nations-But God!
Second, He wanted the Hebrew nation, the Israelite s, the Jews, to be set apart from the rest of the tribes of people in the known world. He wanted them kept pure, according to His laws, and He was willing to help them to do just that. This chapter continues with many other regulations that God hands down as mandatory for the Hebrews. Many remain part of the Jewish traditions to this day. If you know any orthodox Jews, you know they adhere to many of these tenants of the Jewish faith. We as gentile Christians can learn a few things from them as well.
We are often told not to enter into any type of contract with someone we don’t know or someone who is not a believer. This comes right from Deuteronomy warning us not to give the unbeliever favor, or enter into a contract with them. Today more than ever we need to pay attention to this as social media and telephone sales are so prevalent, and many are scams! Make sure you know who you are signing a contract with, before you sign it.
We still advise our young people against marrying (a contract) someone who is not a believer because Christian is such an all consuming lifestyle that being yolked with an unbeliever might just be a marriage of continuous conflict. Sometimes it works, but it is a hefty chance to take with a life!
We are not to embrace the ‘gods’ of the heathens. Sometimes we, even believers like to ‘dabble’ in things that clearly God warns us about. Reading horoscopes, tarot cards, watching zombie movies or movies with foul language or a sexual nature are strictly forbidden in God’s law. But…
When we obey the commands of the Lord, His promises go far beyond what we could ask or imagine. He will love us, bless us, and bless our child-bearing ability. He will bless our crops and flocks providing food for us. We will be blessed above all nations, other nations will bless us. Sickness and disease will not come near our homes.
As I pondered and prayed about this verse, I did feel that the USA has been blessed in many of the ways that other nations have not. Until more recent times we have had poverty or drought as other nations. We have not had the raging disease as other nations, or food shortages. When I think of nations that have abandoned God for witchcraft, like Haiti, I can clearly see that the consequences of their sin is evident in the poverty, sickness and disease they experience. Is it a punishment from God? Not necessarily. It is the consequence of disobedience. When we are so arrogant we think we know better.
I am seeing the US at somewhat of a crossroad right now. We can return to our Godly heritage. The one our Founding Fathers put into place because they believed they were best. Or, we can dilute the Constitution and turn it into some type of free-for-all as each person interprets it as they see fit. The consequences of that would be dire indeed. We as humans don’t know the future. God does. We don’t know how to control the climate, the pandemic, the market, immigration. God does. So, as long as we have legislators who will continue to seek God for answers, and as long as we have citizens who will continue to pray for the legislators, and as long as we are the majority, I believe we will still hold God’s favor. If that delicate scale of Godly vs. ungodly ever tips the other way, may God help us!
I want to be on the lesser weaker side that has God on it, and win! How about you? If your with me please pray for this nation and follow God’s rules!
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