Deuteronomy
Chapter 7
Warnings Against Idolatry
When the Lord, your God, has brought you into the land where you are going and which you will conquer; when he drives away before you many peoples—the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites—seven nations that are much more numerous and more powerful than you;
when he has given them into your hand and you defeat them, you must destroy them all according to the law of anathema.
Do not make any Covenant with them or have compassion on them.
Do not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons, or taking their daughters for your sons, because they would seduce your children to abandon me and adore strange gods for which the anger of the Lord would burn against you, and then he would destroy you.
On the contrary, this is what you must do: destroy their altars and break their sacred pillars into pieces, demolish their poles, and burn their idols.
You are a people consecrated to the Lord, your God. The Lord has chosen you from among all the peoples on the face of the earth, that you may be his people.
Divine Gratuitousness and Israel’s Responsibility
It was not because you are more numerous than all the peoples that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you; for you are really the smallest of all peoples.
Rather, he has chosen you because of his love for you and to fulfill his oath to your fathers. Therefore, with a firm hand, the Lord brought you out from slavery in Egypt, from the power of Pharaoh.
So know that the Lord, your God, is the true and faithful God. He keeps his covenant, and his love reaches the thousandth generation for those who love him and fulfill his commandments.
But he punishes those who hate him in their persons and repays them without delay.
So keep the commandments, the norms, and the laws that today I command you to practice.
Benefits of Obedience
If you observe these norms and keep and practice them, the Lord will be faithful to his Covenant and show you the love he promised to your fathers.
He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will bless you with many children and abundant harvests: wheat, wine, and oil; he will multiply the young of your cattle and your sheep in the land he promised your fathers he would give you.
You shall be more favored than all the peoples; there will be no sterile male or female among your people or livestock.
The Lord will remove from you all infirmities; he will not let any of the plagues of Egypt you have known fall upon you. But he will inflict them upon those who hate you.
So destroy all the peoples that the Lord, your God, will put in your power. Do not have pity on them or serve their gods; this would be a trap for you.
Perhaps you will say in your heart, “These nations are more numerous than I am; how then am I going to drive them away?”
Do not be afraid, remember what the Lord, your God, has done with Pharaoh and with the Egyptians,
those terrible trials which you saw with your eyes and the marvels and signs, the strong hand and outstretched arm with which the Lord, your God, has freed you.
He will do the same with all the people whom you fear. The Lord will even send wasps to destroy those who remain and hide themselves to escape from you.
Do not fear them because the Lord, your God, is in your midst. He is a great and terrible God.
He will drive out these nations little by little before your eyes. If you were to destroy them all at once, the wild beasts would multiply and cause you trouble.
The Lord, your God, will give these people over to you and fill them with fear until they all perish.
The Lord will give their kings into your hands so that you may strike out their name from under heaven, and nothing will stand before you until you have destroyed them.
Burn the images of their gods and do not covet the gold or silver that covers them. Do not take it for yourself lest you be trapped by it because the Lord hates it.
None of these shall enter your house, for the curse might return to you as they are accursed. Regard these as abominable because they are indeed “anathema” or accursed.
Commentaries
Warnings Against Idolatry.
By the time these warnings were written, Israel had already fallen into idolatry. Remember that, although it concerns the Israelite generation about to enter the promised land and it seems Moses is speaking to them, it addresses another generation, a different scenario, and a distinct “preacher” who encourages the people to follow the commands and norms of the Lord. All had fallen short. The purpose of these commands is for the people of Israel to act as a people dedicated to the Lord, specially chosen by him to be a unique people among all other nations (6).
Divine Gratuitousness and Israel’s Responsibility.
Israel can never boast of having enough merits to be a specially chosen people, as it is neither significant nor essential. The reason for their election is solely due to God’s love, grace, and goodness; Israel must never forget this. They must reflect on their past of slavery and oppression, remembering that this was the reason God loved them and committed Himself to them. God listened to them (cf. Ex 3:7-9) and elevated them to the rank of his partners, granting them the ability to enter into a covenant: that of being his people, listening and obeying all that the Lord commanded them. Thus, the gift from God comes with a responsibility, a solemn duty for Israel.
Benefits of Obedience.
The immediate benefit of obedience is that the Lord will uphold his covenant with the people (12), which results in blessings that enhance the health and prosperity of humans, animals, and crops (13-15; cf. 8:1). One of Israel’s commitments is to “devour” or “exterminate” all the peoples it encounters on its journey to the Promised Land. Once they arrive, they should never fear those nations, despite their numbers and strength (17f), because the Lord who confronted Egypt and defeated it will do the same to those nations. The words “devour” and “exterminate” may seem politically incorrect today. However, we must consider the historical context from which these texts originate, as well as their theological and catechetical purposes. To better understand Hezekiah’s call to renew the Covenant and reaffirm the ancient commitments regarding worshiping the one God, on whom Israel must base its faith, we should examine Israel’s political and religious decline and its subsequent reform efforts.