Deuteronomy 7-- Because the Lord loved you

Scripture: Deuteronomy 7 (especially verses 7-16)

We're moving through Deuteronomy, and doing so in a medium of short devotionals has its perils. For instance, it's hard to ignore that part of Israel's history in which God commands them to destroy all the peoples in the promised land. There is something deeply objectionable and disturbing about this when viewed through our current cultural lens. We'll look at this a little more when we get to chapter 9, so if you want to wrestle with this part of the account, we'll get there soon. 


But we won't ever do the topic full justice, and I'm okay with that, and here's why-- the ultimate justification of this act is that God commanded it. In ancient Israel, there was a normal, known method (Moses) for God to issue such specific commands to his people, and in today's world there is no such method. In other words, there's no sense at all in which that part of history justifies a people group today trying to wipe out its political enemies. "God told us to do it" doesn't work the same today as it did when Moses and Aaron walked the earth. (This wraps up my thoughts on why the bloodshed was okay--divine sanction-- but I haven't addressed why God would sanction such an act. For that, wait for chapter 9.)

What we will consider today is, in tension with the above considerations, God's love. In a chapter in which Israel is commanded to utterly destroy its enemies, God's love is described in five distinct ways. If you want to delve deeply into this tension (between God's love and wrath), I highly recommend D.A. Carson's The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God [warning: it's very heady]. But since you don't have the time to read that book before finishing this blog post, here's an ultra-crude summary: while it's true that God passionately loves all people, He has a special kind of love for those who are His people. It is about this unique kind of love that we learn in chapter 7:

• God's love is not earned by a people impressing him. For instance, Israel didn't have large numbers (7:7).
• His love is instead based on His promise, as in His promise to Abraham (7:8).
• The promises on which His love is based are sure, because He is faithful to keep His promises (7:9).
• This special kind of love is covenental, given in the context of a binding, committed relationship (7:12).
• Sometimes, as in the golden age of Israel, this love corresponds with tangible blessings (7:13-15).

As the psalmist has said:

Great is His steadfast love toward us!