Sharper Iron — The Law of God is Good and Wise: The LORD’s Treasured Possession

Rev. Shawn Linnell, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Blair, NE, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 7:1-26.

Moses instructs Israel how to handle the nations already living in Canaan; these idolatrous nations are to be devoted to complete destruction. Such is God’s just judgment for their refusal to repent and His protection for His own people, lest they be led astray into idolatry. Israel dare not look upon the other nations in arrogance or pride, however. The LORD chose them entirely due to His love and faithfulness. They will live with Him as their God as they listen, keep, and do His Word. When they seek His kingdom first, He adds all things needful. Israel need not be afraid of the nations living in the Promised Land; just as the LORD was with Israel against Egypt, so He will be with them and deliver them from their enemies in Canaan.

“The Law of God is Good and Wise” is a series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Deuteronomy. Though Moses’ lengthy sermons in Deuteronomy may be tempting to skip, this influential book is essential reading for Christians. As Moses strengthened Israel on the plains of Moab before the people entered the Promised Land, so the book of Deuteronomy still strengthens the Church as we prepare to enter the Resurrection with Christ, the Prophet greater than Moses.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen.

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund, where your investments help support the work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Visit lcef.org.

Deuteronomy 7:1-26

A Chosen People

7 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, ²and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction.^[a] You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. ³You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, ⁴for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. ⁵But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire.

⁶“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. ⁷It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, ⁸but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, ¹⁰and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. ¹¹You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.

¹²“And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. ¹³He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. ¹⁴You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. ¹⁵And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. ¹⁶And you shall consume all the peoples that the Lord your God will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.

¹⁷“If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?’ ¹⁸you shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, ¹⁹the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. So will the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. ²⁰Moreover, the Lord your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed. ²¹You shall not be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God. ²²The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once,^[b] lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you. ²³But the Lord your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed. ²⁴And he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under heaven. No one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. ²⁵The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. ²⁶And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction^[c] like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.

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Footnotes

Deuteronomy 7:2 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
Deuteronomy 7:22 Or quickly
Deuteronomy 7:26 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); twice in this verse

Rev. Timothy Appel

Although a mathematics degree may not be incredibly helpful to (proudly born-and-raised Texan) Rev. Timothy Appel while hosting Sharper Iron, his love of CFW Walther and the season of Easter will come in handy. His Call is shepherding the flock at Faith Lutheran Church in Godfrey, Illinois, and he’s also husband to wife Kristin and dad to their growing basketball team of children. When he’s not carrying out pastoral duties, you may find him reading “The Lord of the Rings,” snacking on Reese’s peanut butter cups, playing dominoes with his boys, or studying up on Texas history (including Sam Houston, of course).