7:2 And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them a before
thee; thou shalt smite them, [and] utterly destroy them;
thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto
them:
(a) Into thy power.
7:5 But thus shall ye deal with them; b ye shall destroy their
altars, and break down their images, and cut down their
groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
(b) God would have his service pure without idolatrous
ceremonies and superstitions. (De 12:3).
7:8 But because the LORD c 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.
(c) Freely, finding no cause in you more than in others so
to do.
7:9 Know therefore d that the LORD thy God, he [is] God, the
faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them
that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand
generations;
(d) And so put difference between him and idols.
7:10 And repayeth e them that hate him to their face, to
destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him,
he will repay him to his face.
(e) Meaning revealed, or in this life.
7:12 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 f mercy which
he sware unto thy fathers:
(f) This covenant is grounded in his free grace: therefore
in recompensing their obedience, he respects his mercy
and not their merits.
7:16 And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy
God shall deliver thee; g thine eye shall have no pity
upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that
[will be] a snare unto thee.
(g) We should not be merciful when God commands severity.
7:20 Moreover the LORD thy God will send the h hornet among
them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from
thee, be destroyed.
(h) There is not a creature so small, that I will not arm
it to fight on your side against them.
7:22 And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee
by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once,
lest the i beasts of the field increase upon thee.
(i) It is to your advantage that God does not accomplish
his promise as soon as you would wish.
7:25 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire:
thou shalt not desire the silver or gold [that is] on them,
nor take [it] unto thee, lest thou k be snared therein:
for it [is] an abomination to the LORD thy God.
