Deuteronomy 7:16

Deu_7:16

Thou shalt consume all the people.

The destruction of the Canaanites

I. The destruction of the Canaanites was in conformity with the ordinary procedure of God in the moral government of the world. If He choose, in punishing sinners, to visit at one time with a flood of waters, at another with fire from heaven, at another with a deadly epidemic, at another with the scourge of war, who shall dare to question the propriety of His choice in the weapons of destruction?

II. The destruction of the Canaanites was in punishment of sin and as such was just towards themselves. The vilest practices were rife among the people. Their very religion was a system of sorcery, sensuality, and depravity. The traces of ancient Syrian worship exhibit the vilest features of pagan idolatry. Their very gods were demons (Psa_106:37). Human sacrifices were offered at their shrines. The grossest abominations were practised in their orgies. If such, then, was the light, what would the darkness be? In other words, if this was the religion of the country, what would the vices of the people be?

III. The destruction of the Canaanites was a spiritual safeguard to the Israelites. We are tempted to ask whether it was well that the Israelites should be made the executioners of Gods wrath upon their brother man. Would they not be tempted to lose sight of their subordination to Gods purpose, and to take up the cause with feelings of proper fanaticism? Again, would not the part to which they were called tend to foster in them cruelty and recklessness of human life? On the contrary, we find that the snare of the Israelites lay in the opposite direction, and that they were ever more ready to spare than to slay. No token appears of any tendency to rapacity or violence having been impressed upon the national mind, while the salutary lessons that were thus taught them are apparent. In no way could the Israelites have been so forcibly convinced of the hatefulness of idolatry and impurity as when they themselves were made Gods ministers of vengeance against the crying evils. They were thus made witnesses against themselves should they ever adopt like abominations.

IV. The destruction of the Canaanites was necessary for the moral preservation of the world. Clearly it was an act of mercy to the little children of the Canaanites, who were cut off before they knew between good and evil. To the Israelites the extirpation of these nations was an act of mercy. Even crippled and curtailed as the Canaanites were, their influence for evil was too strong; but had they remained in larger bodies, and especially had the women been spared, piety would soon have become unknown among the people of God. But if the destruction of the Canaanites was an act of mercy to Israel, and necessary for their spiritual safely, it follows that it was not less a mercy to the whole world, and necessary for the preservation of the spiritual life of the entire family of mankind. The Church of the present day is but the continuation of the Church of the wilderness. Had that been destroyed, the materials of which the Saviour at His coming built the Church of the New Testament would not have been in existence. The impediments in the way of the Gospel would have been tenfold. To the present day the early ruin of the faith of Gods people which would have resulted from the general toleration of the Canaanites would have borne its bitter fruits.

V. The destruction of the Canaanites has a deep symbolical and practical lesson for us all. God changes not; the same principles direct His dealings now as then. The flesh must be mortified and subdued. See Jesus, our Joshua, stretches forth the spear. He commands the conflict; onward, then, and conquer. (G. W. Butler, M. A.)

The Christian failure and its reasons

Though the Israelites have passed out of Egypt and beyond the Red Sea and through the wilderness, they have not passed beyond the domain of struggle and duty; they must go on to possess the land. In its southeastern border dwell the Moabites; north of them are the Amorites, strongly intrenched; above them the Hittites; on the west side, beyond the Jordan, are the Anakim; above these, a mighty nation, the Canaanites; near them the Perizzites, etc.

I. The thing to be done. Too much is our Christianity over-anxious about its beginnings and too careless about its subsequent growth and reach. We are all the time seeking just to get people out of Egypt, we are all the time too unconcerned as to whether these people go on to conquer Canaan for the Lord. Having come to Jesus, the reign of Jesus is to be extended inwardly over the entire soul, outwardly over the entire life. Canaan reached was not Canaan conquered. The converted man is not yet a sanctified man. Evil pride, vanity, jealousy, covetousness, passionateness, discontent, bad habits, etc.

Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites enough are yet resident in even the converted soul.

II. The force by which this conquest is to be accomplished. And thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee. The soul and God--these are the forces of conflict.

III. Some reasons for the Christian failure.

1. Ceasing of battle. After a while some of the Israelites stopped struggling against the aliens.

2. Fear. These Israelites would not struggle against certain of the aliens, because they had chariots of iron. So some bad habit frightens a Christian from struggle.

3. Success of a sort. And it came to pass when Israel was strong they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out. Many a man, professedly Christian, dares not attempt to be the Christian he knows he ought to be because, successful in worldly affairs, his worldly interests will not let him. So he salves his conscience by putting his questionable gain under tribute; gives it, or a portion of it, in charity, etc.

IV. Result. Will be a snare unto thee. Was their failure not a snare? Call to mind the history of the Israelites, the destruction of the ten tribes. The only proof of a real Christianity is a continually advancing self-conquest. (Homiletic Review.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We ought not to be merciful, where God commandeth severity.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(16) Thou shalt consume (literally, eat up) all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee.—When delivered to Israel, they are delivered for execution; but the time of delivery is in the hand of Jehovah. (Comp. the words of Caleb and Joshua in Num_14:9 : “They are bread for us: their shadow is departed from them, and the Lord is with us.”)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. consume] Lit. eat up, a common figure, JE, Num_22:4.

shall deliver] See on Deu_7:2.

The rest of the v. Steuern. takes as an addition, because the theme of Deu_7:12-16 is what Jehovah does; and this, a warning for Israel, breaks the course of the thought. But this is to impute too fine a logic to such a discursive writer.

thine eye shall not pity them] Deu_13:8, Deu_19:13; Deu_19:21, Deu_25:12, all Sg.; elsewhere in Hex. only in the edit. passage, Gen_45:20, and with a different object, but common in Ezek., of God’s eye on the people, and also found in Jer. and other post-deuteronomic writings. Cp. Deu_7:2, thou shalt not pity them, with another vb.

neither shalt thou serve their gods … snare unto thee] Similarly in edit. Exo_23:33; Exo_34:12. See note on former.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And thou shall consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee,.... All the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, which the Lord should deliver into their hands; them they were not to spare, but utterly destroy men, women, and children:

thine eye shall have no pity upon them; See Gill on Deu 7:2,

neither shall thou serve their gods, for that will be a snare unto thee; which will bring into utter ruin and destruction; see Exo 23:33.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Consume. Kill the inhabitants, plunder their effects, (Menochius) destroy their idols.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

An occasion of sin and utter destruction. See Exo 23:33; 34:12; Jdg 2:3.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 16-26. The heathen they were utterly to extirpate from the land which God was about to give them; mighty as these nations were, they were not to be afraid of them, for God would be with his people, and would deliver these nations, with their kings, into their hands. Not all at once, however, should the former occupants of the country be driven out; this should be done by degrees, lest, the land being suddenly depopulated, the wild animals would increase too much, so as to be a source of danger and trouble to the settlers; but ultimately they should be utterly destroyed, and with them all the objects and implements of their idolatrous worship.

And thou shalt consume; literally, eat, devour (Tlkaw). Unless they consumed them as one consumes food, they would be a snare to them, by tempting them to join in their idolatry.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Moses continues to tell the people of Israel Yahweh's words as if the Israelites are one person. (See: Forms of You)

You will consume all the peoples

"I command you to completely destroy all the people groups"

your eye will not pity them

This is a command. Moses speaks as if what the eye sees were the eye itself. AT: "do not allow what you see to cause you to pity them" or "do not pity them because you see that what you are doing is hurting them" (See: Metonymy)

You will not worship

"never worship"

that will be a trap for you

If the people worship other gods, they will be like an animal caught in a hunter's trap, and they will be unable to escape. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

consume

people group

Yahweh

God

worship

false god

snare

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.