Deuteronomy 7

Moses prepares Israel to enter Canaan. They are to keep clear of the idolatry of the peoples there and to cling to the LORD alone. The reason is not Israel’s strength, because they were the fewest of all peoples. It is God’s free love and His faithfulness to His promise. Obedience brings blessing, and the fear of strong enemies is answered by remembering the Exodus.

Deuteronomy 7:1

Moses names seven nations living in the land, all bigger and stronger than Israel. The LORD Himself brings Israel in and drives the peoples out. The victory is promised as God’s work from the start, not as Israel’s achievement.

BSA: possess (“to take control of, to occupy”): The land is a gift to be taken up and lived in, not earned by Israel’s own power.

Deuteronomy 7:2

When God hands these nations over, Israel is to devote them to destruction, make no treaty and show no mercy. This is a one-time command for Canaan in Israel’s history, tied to the nations’ idolatry. Christians have long wrestled with it and read it in the light of all Scripture.

BSA: mercy (“kindness, favor, or compassion”): Israel is told not to show favor that would let these peoples and their idols stay and take root.

Hebrew: חָרֶם (ḥērem, H2763) — “devoted to God for destruction; set apart and removed from ordinary use.” The word means something given over entirely to God and taken out of human hands. It is not mere plunder or revenge.

See also: Deuteronomy 20:16-18.

Deuteronomy 7:3-4

Marriage alliances are forbidden. The danger is spiritual: foreign spouses would turn Israel’s children away from the LORD to other gods. Then God’s anger would fall on His own people. The concern here is faithfulness to God, not race.

BSA: turn (“lead away, cause to depart”): Idolatry usually works by gentle drift and steady influence, leading God’s people away from Him.

See also: 1 Kings 11:1-4.

Deuteronomy 7:5

Instead of mixing with the nations, Israel must tear down their places of worship. Altars, standing stones, Asherah poles and idols are all to go. A heart that belongs to the LORD cannot keep a shrine to another god nearby.

Hebrew: מַצֵּבֹת (maṣṣēbōt, H4676) — “standing stones, sacred pillars.” These upright stones marked a place where a pagan god was thought to be present. Smashing them showed that no rival power shares the land with the LORD.

Deuteronomy 7:6

Israel’s identity is stated first: holy to the LORD and chosen. Holy means set apart as His own. Israel is His personal treasure, picked from all the peoples of the earth, so the call to separate from idols flows from belonging to Him.

BSA: chosen (“selected, elected”): God took the initiative. Israel did not find God; He picked them.

Hebrew: סְגֻלָּה (segullāh, H5459) — “treasured personal possession.” The word describes the private treasure a king keeps for himself, valued far above ordinary property.

See also: Exodus 19:5-6; 1 Peter 2:9.

Deuteronomy 7:7

God did not choose Israel because they were impressive. They were the smallest of peoples. That removes every ground for pride. The only reason lies in God’s own heart.

BSA: affection (“love, delight”): God’s choice was warm delight in them, not a cold calculation of their usefulness.

Hebrew: חָשַׁק (ḥāshaq, H2836) — “to cling to, to be attached to in love.” The word pictures love that clings and holds fast, as in a strong attachment, not a casual liking.

Deuteronomy 7:8

The cause of Israel’s rescue is stated twice: the LORD loved them and kept His oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He broke Pharaoh’s grip with a mighty hand. Redemption is the paying of a price to free the captive. Here it is God’s love in action.

BSA: redeemed (“ransomed, set free”): Israel was not merely let go; they were bought out of slavery at God’s own cost.

Hebrew: וַיִּפְדְּךָ (vayifdekha, H6299) — “and He ransomed you.” The verb is the language of buying back a person or property that belonged to someone else, here pictured as freed from Pharaoh.

See also: Exodus 6:6; Ephesians 1:7.

Deuteronomy 7:9

From the Exodus Moses draws a lesson: know that the LORD is the faithful God. He keeps His covenant and His steadfast love across a thousand generations toward those who love Him and obey. God’s reliability reaches far beyond one lifetime.

BSA: generations (“periods of time, ages”): God’s faithfulness is not limited to one era but runs across the ages. loving devotion (“kindness, mercy”): God’s covenant love is kind and merciful, not merely dutiful.

Hebrew: חֶסֶד (ḥesed, H2617) — “loyal, covenant love.” This is love that stays committed to a promise, and it is often how Scripture describes God’s loyalty to His people.

See also: Exodus 20:6.

Deuteronomy 7:10

The other side of God’s faithfulness is that He deals with those who persistently hate Him. He does not delay or hide His judgment. The wording speaks of those who keep on hating Him, and each person is dealt with directly.

BSA: hesitate (“delay, put off”): God is not slack or indifferent. He takes evil seriously, in His own time.

Deuteronomy 7:11-12

God’s love calls for an answer: keep the commands given today. Obedience does not buy God’s love, which has already been given. It is the path on which the covenant promises are enjoyed. To listen means to hear and do.

BSA: listen (“obey, heed”): In Scripture real hearing is not just taking in words but acting on them.

Deuteronomy 7:13-14

Moses spells out the blessing in everyday terms: children, crops, herds and flocks, all in the land God promised. The great fruitfulness covers people and animals alike, and no one will be barren. God’s care reaches the ordinary work of daily life.

BSA: multiply (“increase, grow”): God promises growth, echoing His first blessing at creation.

See also: Genesis 1:28.

Deuteronomy 7:15

God promises to spare Israel the sicknesses they had seen in Egypt, which will fall on their enemies instead. This is a covenant promise given to a people under the Law. It shows God’s care for bodily health, though Scripture elsewhere shows that faithful people still suffer.

See also: Exodus 15:26.

Deuteronomy 7:16

Moses repeats the command to remove the nations, and adds a warning. Pity that spares them could lead Israel into worshiping their gods. That would be a trap that closes on Israel.

BSA: snare (“danger, entrapment”): Idols look harmless, like bait, but they catch whoever reaches for them.

Deuteronomy 7:17-19

Moses expects the doubt in Israel’s heart: these nations are too big. His answer is to remember. The God who broke Egypt with signs, wonders and a mighty hand will do the same again. Past rescue becomes the ground for present courage.

BSA: remember (“to recall, to mark”): Remembering means deliberately fixing God’s past deeds in the mind so they steady fear today. trials (“temptations, testings”): The plagues on Egypt were also severe tests that revealed who truly held power.

See also: Psalm 77:11-12.

Deuteronomy 7:20

God also promises to send the hornet, a stinging pest that will flush out even those who hide. Many readers take this as a literal swarm and others as a picture of God’s terror upon the enemy. Either way, God works ahead of Israel’s army.

BSA: hornet (“a type of wasp that stings”): God uses even small stinging creatures to rout the enemy.

Hebrew: הַצִּרְעָה (haṣṣir’āh, H6880) — “the hornet.” The word is used the same way in Exodus 23:28 and Joshua 24:12, where God sends it ahead of Israel to drive out the peoples.

See also: Exodus 23:28; Joshua 24:12.

Deuteronomy 7:21

The reason for courage is not Israel’s strength but God’s presence. The great and awesome God is in the midst of His people. Where He dwells, His people need not be terrified.

BSA: among (“in the midst of, dwelling with”): God is not distant but lives right in the camp with His people.

Deuteronomy 7:22

The conquest will be gradual. Part of the reason is practical: if the land emptied too quickly, wild animals would multiply in the unsettled ground. God’s timing often means steady progress rather than instant results, and Israel has to trust it.

BSA: little by little (“by degrees, gradually”): God’s work in this chapter moves step by step, not all at once.

See also: Exodus 23:29-30.

Deuteronomy 7:23-24

God Himself will throw the enemy into confusion, and Israel will see kings fall and no one able to stand against them. Their names will vanish. Victory comes from the LORD’s hand, so all the credit is His.

BSA: throw (“to confuse or disrupt”): God sends panic into the enemy ranks so that they are beaten before the battle is fought.

Hebrew: מְהוּמָה (mᵉhûmāh, H4103) — “panic, uproar, confusion.” The word describes the sort of sudden terror that breaks an army’s order, as in the Lord’s battles in 1 Samuel 5:9, 11.

Deuteronomy 7:25-26

Even the gold and silver on idols must not be kept. Wealth tied to false worship would bring a curse and a trap into the house. Israel is to burn the idols and hate what God hates, so that nothing doomed is welcomed in.

BSA: ensnared (“trapped, caught”): Love of treasure can capture the heart even when it is attached to something God has condemned. set apart (“devoted, doomed”): Whatever is bound up with idolatry falls under the same judgment as the idol.

Hebrew: תּוֹעֲבָה (tô’ăbāh, H8441) — “detestable thing, abomination.” It is a strong word for what God finds revolting, most often idolatry and its practices.

See also: Joshua 7:1; Colossians 3:5.