PROLOGUE — The Mystery of Election
Deuteronomy 7 addresses how Israel was to relate to the Canaanite nations, while simultaneously offering an answer to one of the humblest, most gracious theological questions in this entire book — why did God choose Israel of all peoples?
ACT ONE — Seven Nations, Complete Destruction (verses 1–5)
“When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land… 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… thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them.”
Neither shalt thou make marriages with them. The reason for this severe command is explained immediately — “for they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods.” This was never racial prejudice, but a measure to prevent the danger of idolatry already warned against in Deuteronomy 4.
ACT TWO — Not Because You Were More in Number, But Because He Loved You (verses 6–11)
The theological heart of this chapter now appears.
“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. 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: But because the LORD loved you.”
Not because ye were more in number than any people… but because the LORD loved you. This is one of the most humbling verses in all of Scripture. Israel’s election was never grounded in their size, strength, or moral superiority. It rested purely on God’s love and His faithfulness to the oath sworn to their ancestors.
“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.”
ACT THREE — The Blessings of Obedience, Enjoyed in This Land (verses 12–26)
Moses urges obedience as a response to this gracious election.
“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: And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee… Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.”
And once more, encouragement against fear follows.
“If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them? Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt… For the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.”
REFLECTION — Chosen Not by Merit, But by Grace
The deepest comfort Deuteronomy 7 gives us is that God’s election is never grounded in our own merit or size. Israel was the smallest of nations, and it was precisely that fact which made God’s choosing all the more gracious. Our worth lies not in our own greatness, but in the faithfulness of a God who chose to love us.
Do you trust that you are chosen not by your own merit or greatness, but purely by God’s love and faithfulness?
NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW
Deuteronomy Chapter 8 — remembering the testing of the wilderness, and an exhortation not to forget God amid abundance, follows.
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