Chapter 7

7:2 And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them ^a before thee; thou shalt smite them, [and] utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

(a) Into thy power.

7:5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ^b ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

(b) God would have his service pure without idolatrous ceremonies and superstitions. ( Deuteronomy 12:3 ).

7:8 But because the LORD ^c loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

(c) Freely, finding no cause in you more than in others so to do.

7:9 Know therefore ^d that the LORD thy God, he [is] God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

(d) And so put difference between him and idols.

7:10 And repayeth ^e them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

(e) Meaning revealed, or in this life.

7:12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the ^f mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:

(f) This covenant is grounded in his free grace: therefore in recompensing their obedience, he respects his mercy and not their merits.

7:16 And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; ^g thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that [will be] a snare unto thee.

(g) We should not be merciful when God commands severity.

7:20 Moreover the LORD thy God will send the ^h hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.

(h) There is not a creature so small, that I will not arm it to fight on your side against them.

7:22 And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the ⁱ beasts of the field increase upon thee.

(i) It is to your advantage that God does not accomplish his promise as soon as you would wish.

7:25 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold [that is] on them, nor take [it] unto thee, lest thou ^k be snared therein: for it [is] an abomination to the LORD thy God.

(k) And be enticed to idolatry.