Deuteronomy 7

Deuteronomy 7

Moses next begins to tell the Israelites what they are to do when they enter into the Promised Land. For Moses, it was not a question if they were going to finally obtain the land; it was just a matter of when. He knew that it would be after he passed away, so he gave the Israelites a few final instructions on what they should do. He stressed the importance of remaining holy. Upon entering the land, Moses knew that they would come into contact with a variety of people from many other nations. Although the land was actually Israel’s, many nations had come into it from the time that Jacob had left to travel to Egypt to the present time. These people groups had their own beliefs and customs, and Moses knew the dangers of Israel discovering those other religions.

It does not matter how grounded you may think you are in what you believe, temptation is still out there. You may not fall immediately (and hopefully you never would anyways), but that does not mean that you place yourself in those situations. We must be wise about whom we associate. That does not mean that we neglect to share the Gospel with people because we fear that we will fall into their sinful lifestyle, but it does mean that we must be wise about how much time we spend with these people or when we spend time with them. We are human, and we can easily be deterred if we are not careful. For Israel, Moses feared that if they did not rid the land of these people immediately, then they would forever find themselves in a battle between God and these false gods that been created by these other nations.

Moses did not know how real his fear would become one day. He was just delivering a message from God, from a God who knew the reality Israel would one day face. They would not completely rid the land of these false gods, and it would hurt them in the near future, but they were warned. God made sure that they knew the danger ahead of them, and He gave them clear instructions on how to remain holy and avoid those temptations. We too must make sure that we seek to live a holy lifestyle, keeping ourselves away from the things that we know might tempt us.

Moses also reminded them of the danger of breaking this command. God had clear instructions on how and when to take out the different people groups in the Promised Land, and He expected full obedience. The slightest change in these instructions would result in disobedience, and from that, consequences would result. But at the same time, God had given them a promise of protection as long as they followed His commands. As long as they did exactly as He had instructed, God promised to continue to provide, giving them the land effortlessly. That is not to say that it would not be hard. God promised protection, not an easy road. But He also provided memories, memories of how He had provided for them in the past. God did not want them to forget the many ways in which He had already protected them as they faced new challenges. This is an encouragement for me as I begin a new stage in life. Whenever we face life’s new challenges, we must always remember that God is still there with us. We have seen how He has worked in the past, and we can trust that He will continue to work in the future. The Israelites faced an uncertain future, but as long as they kept their eyes on God, they had nothing to worry about. We too must keep our eyes on God in all situations of life.

Matt