In the World, Not of It

Prayer

The Danger of the World

Entering In - What To Do About the Nations

So, we’re in week four in the book of Deuteronomy, and the whole setting for the book is the Israelites gathered in the Moabite territory, east of the Jordan River, just outside of the land that God has promised for generations to bless them with - and that they are about to enter in. Moses is reminding them of all the things that God has taught them, the commands he has given them.

Included in that, as we saw in Deuteronomy 4, was that the Lord God is the one true God - there is no other. And that the proper response to that is to love God with all of our being, as we talked about last week covering Deuteronomy 6, and the Shema: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Quick aside, the videos that I’m posting as part of our weekly enewsletter are a great series from The Bible Project on the shema, breaking down each part - take the time to watch those).

Over the next two Sundays, as we look at Deuteronomy 7 & 8, we’re going to look at some the instructions Moses is giving the Israelites that are specific to entering the land, what they are to do when the enter in to possess it. Today, specifically, is what they are to do about the nations that are already there. Although we’ve been talking generally about the area as the land of the Canaanites, there are actually six other tribes, or nations, living in the area as well, as we’ll see.

Deuteronomy 7:1-11...When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you— 2 and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. 3 Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. 5 This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. 6 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. 7 The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. 10 But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him. 11 Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.

God is not mincing any words here - the command to the Israelites, after God delivers these nations into their hands, is to destroy them. Destroy them totally. No treaty, no mercy, no nothing. Don’t try to live alongside them or with them. Destroy every remnant of their worship - altars, sacred poles, idols - smash it all, burn it all.

The Hebrew word used here is cherem, and it is as translated, total destruction. Idea is the same as what is done with a burnt offering, where the entire thing is offered as a sacred offering to the Lord. All of it given over to the Lord. And like a burnt offering, that involved total destruction.

Now, let’s be honest - this is an unsettling command. It seems difficult to reconcile with what seems right and wrong to us. Our sense is that it should be just destroy the bad ones. This seems out of character for God - and yet, we see this same concept in several other places in the Bible as well, this command for cherem.

So let me offer a few thoughts on why God is commanding this - and is so adamant about it.

First, all of this is God’s doing. This is not something the Israelites came up with on their own (which is always the danger, that we do things on our initiative and then try to put the stamp of God’s approval on it). But God here is fulfilling his promise to his people, to give them this land.

They would have never dreamt it possible that they could enter this land and take possession of it. If you remember, the first time God commanded them to go in, they were too scared to do so because of the size of the inhabitants - they were afraid they’d get destroyed! Here they are again, about to enter the land that has seven - seven - nations “larger and stronger than you.”

They would have never tried it on their own - indeed, it is only because God is delivering these seven nations into their hands that they will be able to defeat them. These are God’s actions, his commands, they are working at his direction and through his power.

That brings us to the second thought - why God is doing this. Because these nations are wicked. And they have been wicked for a long, long time. Over four hundred years, in fact. Let me take you back to Genesis 15, God speaking to Abraham (and remember, this is where the beginning of the nation of Israel began, when God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, living in this land). God first tells Abraham that “your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.” That’s a reference to Egypt.

But God will free them, and then this, Genesis 15:16, In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure. Do you see what God is saying here? You’ll come back here, to this land, he’s in the land of the Canaanites and the Amorites at that moment. You don’t get the land yet, “for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” God is going to use the Israelites to bring his righteous wrath on the all these nations, to punish them for their wickedness, for 400 years of increasing wickedness.

Throughout the Biblical narrative we see God using nations (whether they are aware of it or not) to punish other nations - including his own people. God used the Assyrians to punish the northern kingdom of Israel, and the Babylonians against the southern kingdom of Judah, and the Persians to punish the Babylonians.

Over and over we find references to the wickedness of these seven nations: Deuteronomy 9:4-5, God makes clear that it’s not because of the righteousness of the Israelites that he is giving them this land, “no, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations.” Deuteronomy 20 talks about all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods. The writers of the Bible Knowledge Commentary had this to say: “Studies of their religion, literature and archeological remains reveal that they were the most morally depraved culture on the earth at that time.”

So God’s actions here against these nations were to punish them for their wickedness - but not just because of their evil, but to protect his people. God knows how prone they are to wander from him. They will never become the holy nation he called and saved them to be if they are connected to these nations, especially to their worship.

We’ve seen plenty of evidence of that - the making of the golden calf as soon as they get out of Egypt, the Israelite men falling prey to the Moabite women, worshiping their gods.

God has something much greater for them - they are his treasured possession, his beloved people. He is shaping them into a holy nation, set apart from all other nations, so that through them, he might bless all the other nations. That was God’s promise to Abraham from the very beginning.

Before we work to make some sense of this for us, let me be clear of about this. This command to destroy these nations is not a general command for all of God’s people at all times. This command is specifically for God’s people, the Israelites, for that time and in that place. But there are issues that it raises for us to consider, and that’s what I want to do now.

In the World, Not of It

The primary dilemma here is that the Israelites, while still a young and unformed nation, what will happen to them as they enter the land filled with people who live vastly different from them - against God and his ways. In this time and place, God’s instructions are to destroy them totally, as punishment for their wickedness, and so the danger of their influence does not exist.

As it turns out (spoiler alert), though the Israelites end up conquering the land, they never do so entirely, they never clear out the inhabitants. And over the generations we will see the impact that it has on them (they fall away from God time and time again).

God yearns for them to be faithful - he longs to pour out his goodness on his people. That’s what he’s expressing in v. 9-11, The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

We face the same dilemma - and the same promise (God’s covenant of love toward us) but in a very different situation. But that’s been true for every Jesus believer in every time and in every place throughout history. The question, the challenge is the same - how do we stay faithful to Jesus in a world that is not friendly to him? How do we live in a world that does not recognize and honor the one true God? How do we stay in the world, but not of it?

Circumstances of this challenge vary widely - it’s very different being a follower of Jesus in China versus in secularized Europe versus here in the United States - and it varies widely throughout the nations of Africa (Nigeria for one). And we could go back in history as well - it would have been very different following Jesus 200 years ago in the United States or Europe or other parts of the world.

What can we learn from this passage - recognizing that the whole total destruction thing is not really an option for us?

One takeaway is the very real danger of the influence of the world around us - that’s what God knows will happen to his people. Same is true for us - we are being tempted away from total devotion to Jesus in often very subtle but undeniable ways. We breath this culture in and out every day, we swim in its waters. The messages and values of general America culture are constantly working to influence how we think, what we value, our morality. In fact - it’s already had a huge impact on us - much of the work of learning to follow Jesus is to unlearn the ways of the culture around us.

I watched an interview with a woman, a psychologist who works with a lot of young people - she sees how troubled so many of them are. Great tragedy is that so many youth today simply dismiss Christianity, because that’s a common perspective in our culture today. They’ve never had any serious interaction with it, nor do they see any need to. The Christian faith is simply irrelevant, outdated, been disproved by science - though they could never explain how that is.

That’s not the only way you can see our culture’s influence: Phenomenon of DINKS - double income no kids. Intentional lifestyle choice, high value of living a lifestyle that enables you to do what you want to do in life, unencumbered. It reflects a change, a move away from the God’s primary purpose for marriage, command to multiply, be fruitful and fill the earth.

Not the only way our culture’s views on marriage and sex are profoundly different - the understanding of what marriage is (same sex, poly-amorous, optional). A number of years ago I changed how I was doing pre-marital counseling. The first session always begins with asking that question, what is marriage. Most have some sense of what it is, but cannot really define it. Another huge change, sex is no longer limited to confines of marriage - view widely embraced today, by many Christians as well (comedian last night).

A lot of churches today - and Christians in general are being deeply influenced by modern ideology - by what I call simply being woke. View the world through what classes or groups of people they believe have power and privilege (as determined by race, gender, religion, gender identity) and who doesn’t. It arose, I believe, from good intentions - be mindful of marginalized groups, but it has become pervasive, everything in life is viewed through that lens (preoccupation with race, acceptance of abortion, etc.)

I point all this out to remind us that we must be constantly aware of our own tendency to be influenced by our culture. Remember, we’re breathing it in, all the time - it’s all around us, messages we’re hearing constantly. Sexuality, importance of wealth - success being defined in these terms, focus on self, worship of science.

That this is a clear and present danger - and because it’s a clear and present and constant danger, that we need to be attentive to our hearts, to our thinking - are they aligned with Jesus?

There’s no shortage of examples, even as I think about my own life - times when I’ve gotten caught up in politics, the way I have viewed money, the importance I’ve placed on it, times I’ve been too hesitant or afraid to speak up, share my faith - worried about being seen as too religious, faith and values are personal (private), or shouldn’t be taken so seriously.

Best antidote is exactly what God, through Moses, tells them in verse 11: Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today. The more you recognize the truth, of who God is, what Jesus teaches us, the more that you take care to follow what Jesus teaches, the more you’ll recognize how the world’s influence has been impacting you (and it has been impacting all of us, it’s our default mode, which is different from the Israelites, who’ve been wandering in the wilderness on their own for forty years.) But let me offer you some examples:

1 Timothy 6:6-9, But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

What’s the constant cry we’re hearing in politics today, democracy is in danger! It’s a cry meant to instill fear-mongering (if I don’t do something, this election will be our last). But you know what’s not in danger - the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He sits on the heaven, lord of heaven and earth.

The story in the gospels about the disciples fighting over which of them is the greatest - who will get the seats of honor when Jesus establishes his kingdom, sits on his throne. Jesus challenges their worldly thinking, Mark 10:42-44 - You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.

Sermon on the Mount, a master class in life, how to life - but so different from the way the world thinks, what it believes and values.

Of course, it always begins with recognizing the greatness of God - (notice how it comes back to this time and time again!) The more we recognize the greatness of God, the more willingly we give ourselves over to him as our master, our lord. The more we will love him with all of our heart and soul and strength.

Every other god, every other way of thinking, falls short. As 1 Timothy 6 reminds us, wealth is so uncertain, don’t put your hope there. It leads to evil desires, to greed, and self-indulgence.

Sexual revolution - so many people realizing what a terrible bill of goods that has been, the focus on the physical, physical attraction. Instagram model - 7 plastic surgery augmentations - “never made me feel better,’ regrets them all now. Article from one magazine - “I Can Finally Pursue the Sex Life I’ve Always Wanted. I Didn’t Consider the Consequences.”

There are consequences to the messages we listen to - whose voice will we follow? Who do we trust? What can truly give life? Jesus Christ. He and he alone. What will we do to make sure that we are giving him the say-so over our lives?

Spiritual Disciplines - two things

Jesus reminds us in the sermon on the Mount that you can’t serve two masters, you will end up choosing one over the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Spiritual discipline of Fasting - willingness to give up anything and everything else for the sake of Jesus. Only Jesus will be Lord over my life! (some food, cell phone for a day, material possession, checking my finances, etc.)

Daily reading of Scripture, know the Christian worldview, develop the mind of Christ (to recognize false gods / teachings / influence of our culture).

Derek Webb is (was) a Christian artist, who, sadly, has fallen away from biblical Christian faith because of the influence of the culture. But he has lines from a song that stick with me: Cause I am so easily satisfied, by the call of lovers so less wild, that I would take a little cash, over your very flesh and blood.