ntercourse with the Canaanites forbidden. (1-11) Promises if
they were obedient. (12-26)
Verses 1-11: Here is a strict caution against all friendship and
fellowship with idols and idolaters. Those who are in communion
with God, must have no communication with the unfruitful works
of darkness. Limiting the orders to destroy, to the nations here
mentioned, plainly shows that after ages were not to draw this
into a precedent. A proper understanding of the evil of sin, and
of the mystery of a crucified Saviour, will enable us to
perceive the justice of God in all his punishments, temporal and
eternal. We must deal decidedly with our lusts that war against
our souls; let us not show them any mercy, but mortify, and
crucify, and utterly destroy them. Thousands in the world that
now is, have been undone by ungodly marriages; for there is more
likelihood that the good will be perverted, than that the bad
will be converted. Those who, in choosing yoke-fellows, keep not
within the bounds of a profession of religion, cannot promise
themselves helps meet for them.
Verses 12-26: We are in danger of having fellowship with the works of
darkness if we take pleasure in fellowship with those who do
such works. Whatever brings us into a snare, brings us under a
curse. Let us be constant to our duty, and we cannot question
the constancy of God's mercy. Diseases are God's servants; they
go where he sends them, and do what he bids them. It is
therefore good for the health of our bodies, thoroughly to
mortify the sin of our souls; which is our rule of duty. Yet sin
is never totally destroyed in this world; and it actually
prevails in us much more than it would do, if we were watchful
and diligent. In all this the Lord acts according to the counsel
of his own will; but that counsel being hid from us, forms no
excuse for our sloth and negligence, of which it is in no degree
the cause. We must not think, that because the deliverance of
the church, and the destruction of the enemies of the soul, are
not done immediately, therefore they will never be done. God
will do his own work in his own method and time; and we may be
sure that they are always the best. Thus corruption is driven
out of the hearts of believers by little and little. The work of
sanctification is carried on gradually; but at length there will
be a complete victory. Pride, security, and other sins that are
common effects of prosperity, are enemies more dangerous than
beasts of the field, and more apt to increase upon us.
ntercourse with the Canaanites forbidden. (1-11) Promises if
they were obedient. (12-26)