Deuteronomy 7


God will help the Israelites defeat the people who live in Canaan now.


When the Israelites move into Canaan, they will have wars with other groups of people.  God will help them defeat these people. The groups are: the  Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These groups of people are bigger and stronger than the Israelites. 
[1] When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;



God will help the Israelites defeat these groups in Canaan. The Israelites should not feel sorry for the other people. They should not make promises or peace treaties with them. They should kill all of them. 
[2] And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:


The Israelites should not marry the other groups of people. They should not let their children marry any of the other people.  The other people do not worship God. They worship false gods, statues, and idols. If the Israelites marry the other people, they might start to worship the wrong things. God would be very angry. He would destroy the Israelites.
[3] Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
[4] For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.


The Israelites should destroy the places where the other people worship false gods. They should destroy their altars, destroy and burn their statues, and cut down their groves. Groves means a group of trees. Some of the people used these groves of trees to worship a false god named Asherah. They cut off the tree branches. Then they cut in the tree trunks and made statues. This was wrong, and God did not want the Israelites to worship the false god Asherah.  
[5] But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

The Israelites are special to God.


God loves the Israelites. They are special and holy to Him. He chose them, and they are special. The Lord God loves the Israelites more than any other people on the earth. God did not choose the Israelites because they were the biggest group. The Israelites were the smallest group of people.
[6] For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
[7] The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:


God loves the Israelites.  He made a covenant promise to their ancestors (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob). He kept His promise. God brought them out of Egypt. They were slaves in Egypt, but now they are free.
[8] But because the LORD 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.

God will help and bless the Israelites if they obey Him.


God is faithful. He does what He says he will do. If the Israelites obey Him, God will be faithful to them for 1,000 generations. That is their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren ...for 997 more generations. But if they do not obey and love God, He will be angry. He will destroy them.
[9] Know therefore 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;
[10] And repayeth 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.

They should always obey God's laws and commandments. If they obey God's laws, God will always remember His covenant promise to their ancestors.
[11] Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
[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 mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:


If they obey God, He will love them and bless them. They will have many children. Their children will have many blessings and good things. The crops they grow on their farms will grow well.  Their farm animals will grow well and have many babies.
[13] And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.


God will bless the Israelites more than the other groups of people. All of the Israelites and their animals will have babies.
[14] Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.


God will keep the Israelites healthy. They will not have the diseases that they had in Egypt.  But the other groups of people will have these diseases.
[15] And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.

God will help the Israelites defeat the people living in Canaan now.

The Israelite army will defeat all of the other people.  They should not feel sorry for the other people. They should not start to worship the other people's false gods.  If they do, God will be angry. 
[16] And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.

The Israelites might be afraid of the other people. They might be worried that they can't defeat them.  But they should not be afraid.  God will help them now. He helped them leave Egypt. God did miracles and defeated Pharoah. 
[17] If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?
[18] Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
[19] The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.


Some of the other people might try to hide. But God will make them be afraid and panic.  They will all be destroyed.
[20] Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.


They should not be afraid of the other people. God is with them, and He will help them. God is very powerful. 
[21] Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.


God will help them make the other people leave. But the other people will leave gradually (a few at a time). If they all left at one time, the land would have no people. Then the wild animals would start to live in the land again.  It is better for the other people to leave slowly. Then the Israelites can move in before wild animals start to live there. 
[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 beasts of the field increase upon thee.
[23] But the LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.


God will help the Israelites defeat the other people's kings. The Israelites will destroy all of the other people in Canaan. No one will remember the other people.
[24] And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them.


The Israelites should burn all of the other people's idols and statues. The Israelites should not keep the silver and gold that is on the statues. God hates the idols and statues.
[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 be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.

They should never bring idols and statues into their homes. They should hate the idols and statues. If they bring the idols and statues into their homes, their homes will be cursed. Bad things will happen to them.
[26] Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.

Deuteronomy 8


For 40 years, God helped the Israelites travel in the wilderness.  


The Israelites must obey God.  They should keep His commandments.  If they do, they will live, and they will have many, many children.  They will be able to move into Canaan, the land that God promised to give to their ancestors.
[1] All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.


The Israelites should always remember how God led them for 40 years in the desert wilderness. God tested the Israelites.  He wanted to see how they really felt about Him.  He wanted to see if they would obey His laws.  
[2] And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.


In the wilderness, the Israelites had no food.  So, God gave them manna. The Israelites had never seen manna before.  The Israelites learned that "man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that God has spoken". That means that people need more than food to live.  They also need God's words.   
[3] And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.



They traveled in the desert wilderness for 40 years.  But their clothes did not wear out (get holes in them).   Their feet did not swell and get bigger.
[4] Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.

The Israelites should always remember how God helped them.


They should obey God's laws. They should respect God. If they do not obey God, He will punish them the same as a father punishes his son.
[5] Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth 
thee.
[6] Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.


God will help them move into Canaan. Canaan is a very good place. Canaan has a lot of water in brooks (creeks) and springs (water that comes up out of the ground). Many things grow in Canaan--wheat, barley, grapes, figs (fruit), pomegranates (fruit), olives, and honey.  When they live in Canaan, they will have a lot to eat. They will never be hungry. There are minerals (rocks that valuable) in Canaan. They can dig for the minerals. Some of the minerals are iron and copper.  They can use iron and copper to make metal things.
[7] For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
[8] A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
[9] A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.


After they move into Canaan and eat a lot of food, they should thank God. God gave them the land, and they should thank Him.
[10] When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.


They should not forget about God. They should always obey God's laws and commandments. 
[11] Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:


After they move into Canaan, they will eat a lot of food and build good houses.  Their animals will have many babies. They will have a lot of silver and gold.  They will have many children.  After these good things happen,  they should not forget God. They should not become arrogant (think that they are powerful and think that they got the good things by themselves). They should not forget that God brought them out of Egypt.  
[12] Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
[13] And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
[14] Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;


They should not forget that God helped them in the wilderness. There were dangerous things in the wilderness--snakes and scorpions (poisonous bugs).  There was no water in the desert. But God gave them water from a rock.
[15] Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;

The Israelites pick up manna in the morning. Artist unknown From the La Vista Church of Christ web site

God gave them manna to eat in the wilderness.  The Israelites had never seen manna before. God was testing the Israelites. God wanted the Israelites to learn to trust Him. If they trusted Him, He would do more good things for them later.
[16] Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

In the future, the Israelites will have a lot of wealth (money, land, animals). They might think that they have a lot of power. They might think that they earned the wealth by themselves. But they should always remember that God gave them the power.  God gave them power because He made a promise to their ancestors.
[17] And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
[18] But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.


But if the Israelites forget God, and if they start to worship false gods, God will be angry. God will destroy the Israelites.  He will destroy them the same as He destroyed the other groups of people in Canaan.
[19] And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
[20] As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.

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Deuteronomy 9


God will help the Israelites move into Canaan.

The Israelites should pay attention.  They will be crossing the Jordan River soon. They will move into Canaan. In Canaan, there are strong people. The people in Canaan are stronger than the Israelites. They have cities with very high walls.
[1] Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven,

In Canaan, there are very big people. They are the children of the people called the Anakims.  (To read more about Giants in the Bible, please click here) The Israelites have heard about them. They have heard other people say that no one can defeat the Anakims.
[2] A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!


God wants the Israelites to understand this. God will go ahead of them. He will destroy the Anakims like a big fire destroys everything. Then the Israelites will defeat the Anakims. The Israelites will make the Anakims leave Canaan. 
[3] Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.

After the Israelites move into Canaan, they might think about why God gave them this land. They might think it is because they are good, and they deserve it. But that is not the reason.  God made the other people leave because the other people were wicked and very bad. He gave the land to the Israelites because He made a promise to their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
[4] Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee.
[5] Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.


The Lord God did not give them Canaan because they were good. God thinks they are very stubborn people.  The whole time they were traveling in the desert, they complained and made God mad.
[6] Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people.
[7] Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD.

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Photo of Mt. Sinai Today Courtesy of Mark Horrell

A review of how the Israelites made God mad at Mt. Sinai

This is about how the Israelites made God mad at Mt. Sinai  (another name for Mt. Sinai is Mt. Horeb). God was very, very angry then. He almost destroyed the Israelites then because He was so mad.
[8] Also in Horeb ye provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry with you to have destroyed you.


God made the covenant promise with the Israelites. God then wrote the Ten Commandments on the flat rocks. When Moses went up on the mountain to get the Ten Commandments, he stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. He didn't eat or drink anything. 
[9] When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water:


Before that, God told the Israelites the Ten Commandments. He told them when He talked to them from fire up on the mountain. Now God wrote the Ten Commandments on the tablets himself. He gave them to Moses.
[10] And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.

"Moses Breaking the Two Tablets of Stone" The Story of the Bible by Charles Foster,  (Illustrations by F.B. Schell and others) Digitized by Ted Kuik of CoolNotions.com

After Moses was on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights, God gave him the stone tablets. God told Moses to hurry and go back down the mountain. The Israelites were doing something bad.  They made a golden calf. The golden calf was a statue or idol. The Israelites were worshipping the golden calf. One of the Ten Commandments says they should never worship false gods, statues, or idols.
[11] And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant.
[12] And the LORD said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.


God told Moses that He knew the Israelites were stubborn people. God wanted to destroy the Israelites. He said He would make people forget about them. He said He would make a new nation from Moses and Moses' children and grandchildren.
[13] Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
[14] Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.


There was fire on top of the mountain. Moses went down the mountain. He carried the stone tablets. Moses saw the Israelites. They were sinning and behaving badly. They were not obeying God.  They were worshipping the golden calf. 
[15] So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.
[16] And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against the LORD your God, and had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which the LORD had commanded you.


Moses threw down the stone tablets. The tablets broke. 
[17] And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes.


God was very angry at the Israelites for their sin. Moses was afraid that God would destroy the Israelites. Then Moses fell down and put his face on the ground. He prayed to God for 40 days and 40 nights. He did not eat or drink.  Moses was also afraid that God would kill his brother, Aaron (Aaron made the golden calf).  God heard Moses' prayers. He did not destroy the Israelites or Aaron.
[18] And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
[19] For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also.
[20] And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.


Then Moses took the golden calf and burned it, broke it, and ground it up (change it to dust or powder). Then he put the dust in the brook (creek) that ran down the mountain. 
[21] And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.

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Moses talks about other times when God was angry with the Israelites.

"Moses Brings Water From the Rock" The Story of the Bible by Charles Foster,  (Illustrations by F.B. Schell and others) Digitized by Ted Kuik of CoolNotions.com

God was also angry with the Israelites at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah. (At these places, the Israelites complained about food and water.)

Please click here to read more about Massah, another name for Meribah 

Please click here to read more about Taberah and Kibroth-hattaavah.

[22] And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah, ye provoked the LORD to wrath.



This was another time when God was mad at the Israelites.  At the place called Kadesh-barnea, God told the Israelites to move into Canaan. But the Israelites did not trust God enough. They did not do what God told them to do. 
[23] Likewise when the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice.


Moses said that the Israelites have been rebelling against God (not obeying God) for a long time.  They have been rebelling since Moses first met them.  
[24] Ye have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you.



After the Israelites sinned with the golden calf, God said He would destroy the Israelites. That is why Moses prayed on his face on the ground for 40 days and 40 nights.
[25] Thus I fell down before the LORD forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first; because the LORD had said he would destroy you.



Moses prayed and asked God not to destroy the Israelites.   The Israelites are God's special people.  God is great, and He brought the Israelites out of Egypt. He asked God to remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He asked God not to see the Israelites' stubbornness, sins, and bad, wicked behavior.
[26] I prayed therefore unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed through thy greatness, which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
[27] Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin:


Moses said that if God destroyed the Israelites, the Egyptians would learn about it. The Egyptians would say that God was not powerful enough to take the Israelites to Canaan. The Egyptians would say that God hated the Israelites, and He only brought them out of Egypt so that He could kill them in the desert.
[28] Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say, Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.


The Israelites are God's special people. God is very powerful. He brought the Israelites out of Canaan with His power. 
[29] Yet they are thy people and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy mighty power and by thy stretched out arm.

 

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