Pray Thru the Bible

God Speaks

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are greater and more numerous than you. ² When the Lord your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy. ³ You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, ⁴ for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you. ⁵ This is what you must do. You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols. ⁶ For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.

⁷ “The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! ⁸ Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. ⁹ Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. ¹⁰ But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him. ¹¹ Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today.

¹² “If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the Lord your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you, as he promised with an oath to your ancestors. ¹³ He will love you and bless you, and he will give you many children. He will give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. ¹⁴ You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth. None of your men or women will be childless, and all your livestock will bear young. ¹⁵ And the Lord will protect you from all sickness. He will not let you suffer from the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all your enemies!

¹⁶ “You must destroy all the nations the Lord your God hands over to you. Show them no mercy, and do not worship their gods, or they will trap you. ¹⁷ Perhaps you will think to yourselves, ‘How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful than we are?’ ¹⁸ But don’t be afraid of them! Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the land of Egypt. ¹⁹ Remember the great terrors the Lord your God sent against them. You saw it all with your own eyes! And remember the miraculous signs and wonders, and the strong hand and powerful arm with which he brought you out of Egypt. The Lord your God will use this same power against all the people you fear. ²⁰ And then the Lord your God will send terror to drive out the few survivors still hiding from you!

²¹ “No, do not be afraid of those nations, for the Lord your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God. ²² The Lord your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, otherwise the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you. ²³ But the Lord your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into complete confusion until they are destroyed. ²⁴ He will put their kings in your power, and you will erase their names from the face of the earth. No one will be able to stand against you, and you will destroy them all.

²⁵ “You must burn their idols in fire, and you must not covet the silver or gold that covers them. You must not take it or it will become a trap to you, for it is detestable to the Lord your God. ²⁶ Do not bring any detestable objects into your home, for then you will be destroyed, just like them. You must utterly detest such things, for they are set apart for destruction.

Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com

We Respond

Reflection: Consider the following questions regarding Deuteronomy 7: 

1. What does this chapter tell me about God?

2. What does this chapter tell me about the human beings He created?

Here is one possible answer to each of these questions. Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any others for you personally to ponder.  

1. The LORD God is declared in verses 9 and 21 to be (the true) God, faithful, loving, great and awesome.

2. People who obey the LORD God and His commands and decrees will be blessed, loved, protected from diseases, fruitful, and have victory over their enemies (see verses 12-16).

Prayer:

3. How might I pray regarding Deuteronomy 7?  

Gracious but firm Father God, You are the One who truly knows the hearts and underlying motives of individuals and nations. Help me not to become entangled with people who reject You and Your precepts. In America today, the public educational system and other aspects of culture have led our children away from worshipping You to worshipping other gods or ideologies. You have every right to burn with anger. Instead of destroying us, please raise up people with courage and wisdom to expose and destroy these idols and lead people back to being holy and knowing that we belong to the LORD our God. Thank You for choosing us to be Your own special possession. Thank You for setting Your heart on us and loving us. By Your strong arm, please draw more people away from slavery to sin, self, and Satan. You lavish Your unfailing love on all those who seek to love You and obey Your commands, but You do not hesitate to punish those who reject You and purposely disobey Your commands, decrees, and regulations, especially the Ten Commandments, which were meant to keep us happy, productive, and prosperous. In the past You told us to avoid, conquer, and deal severely with peoples who reject You and Your ways. We failed to do so. Now we are suffering the consequences. We need You to raise up leaders in every area of influence who will direct ordinary people back to You, the great and awesome God. Please throw our enemies (and Yours) into complete confusion, remove them from power, and erase their influence from the face of the earth. I realize that this cannot and should not be done suddenly but steadily, so that the wild animals don’t take over. Please don’t let us be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. For the glory of the LORD. AMEN    

Action (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)

4. What action does the LORD want me to take in response to Deuteronomy 7?

• I will examine my own life to see how I might have rejected God and His ways and then confess and turn back to Him.
• I will list at least some of the ways my nation has rejected God and His ways and then work with others to turn us back to Him.
• I will support and encourage leaders in every walk of life to stand up for God and his ways.
• I will look for ways to mentor others in knowing God and His ways.

Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.