Commentary - Deuteronomy 7:17-26

Bird's-eye view

In this section of Deuteronomy, Moses anticipates a very natural and human reaction from the people of Israel as they stand on the precipice of the Promised Land. They are to be the instruments of God's judgment against the Canaanites, but a quick head count reveals a significant problem: "they are more numerous than I." This is the kind of practical objection that unbelief loves to whisper in the heart. God's answer, through Moses, is not a pep talk about their hidden potential, but rather a summons to active remembrance. The cure for the fear of man is the memory of God's mighty acts. This passage is a master class in how to fight fear with faith, a faith grounded not in abstract propositions, but in the historical reality of God's redemptive power. From there, the instructions turn to the practical outworking of this conquest, emphasizing God's sovereign role in the victory, the strategic wisdom of a gradual conquest, and the absolute necessity of radical purity when it comes to the contagion of idolatry.

The logic flows from the internal battle against fear to the external battle against the Canaanites. First, settle the issue in your heart by remembering Egypt. Second, understand that God will be fighting for you, sending hornets and confusion ahead of you. Third, trust His pacing; the victory will be little by little for your own good. And fourth, when you are victorious, you must be ruthless with the instruments of false worship. The gold and silver on an idol are not neutral plunder; they are spiritually radioactive. To bring them into your house is to bring the curse into your house. The passage concludes with a command for utter detestation of that which God has devoted to destruction. This is not just about external obedience; it is about cultivating a heart that hates what God hates.

Outline

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 17 “If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are more numerous than I; how can I dispossess them?’

The Lord here anticipates the precise logic of unbelief. Notice where the problem starts: "in your heart." All practical atheism begins with a silent calculation that God has somehow misjudged the odds. The heart looks at the circumstances, does the math, and concludes that the task is impossible. "These nations are more numerous than I." This is a plain statement of fact. From a human point of view, it was a reasonable assessment. But faith is not the art of ignoring facts; it is the art of interpreting facts in the light of God's promises. The heart that walks by sight sees only the disparity in numbers. The question "how can I dispossess them?" is a question of human ability. The implied answer is, "I can't." And if the "I" is the only factor in the equation, that answer is correct. This is the central lie of fear: that you are alone and the outcome depends entirely on you.

v. 18 you shall not be afraid of them; you shall well remember what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:

The divine command is direct: "you shall not be afraid of them." This is not a suggestion to try and feel better. It is a command, which means that yielding to this kind of fear is a sin. It is a failure to trust God. But God does not simply command away our fears without giving us the means to fight them. The weapon He provides is memory. "You shall well remember." The Hebrew is emphatic. This is not a passive, hazy recollection. It is a deliberate, focused, and detailed calling to mind of God's past faithfulness. And what are they to remember? Not their own past victories, but what "Yahweh your God did." The focus is entirely on God's agency. Specifically, they are to remember what He did to the greatest superpower of their day, Pharaoh and all Egypt. The Canaanite armies might look big, but compared to the Egyptian empire that God humbled, they were nothing.

v. 19 the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which Yahweh your God brought you out. So shall Yahweh your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.

Moses now elaborates on what this remembrance should entail. It should be personal: "which your eyes saw." This generation had seen it. This wasn't just a story from their grandfathers. They were eyewitnesses to the raw power of God. The plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the destruction of the Egyptian army, these were "great trials," "signs," and "wonders." These were not tricks of the light; they were cosmic disruptions. And it was all accomplished by God's "mighty hand and the outstretched arm." This is anthropomorphic language, of course, but it communicates the personal, active, and irresistible force of God's intervention in history. And here is the glorious linchpin of the argument: "So shall Yahweh your God do." The God who did that then is the same God you have with you now. His character has not changed. His power has not diminished. The logic is inescapable. If God could defeat the greater enemy, He can certainly defeat the lesser. The past deliverance is the blueprint and guarantee of future victory.

v. 20 Moreover, Yahweh your God will send the hornet against them until those who remain and hide themselves from you perish.

As if the memory of Egypt were not enough, God promises an additional, supernatural intervention. He will send "the hornet." Commentators have debated whether this refers to literal hornets, a panic-inducing terror, or the Egyptian armies themselves acting as a scourge. Whatever the precise mechanism, the point is clear: God will employ means beyond Israel's swords and spears. He will fight for them in ways they cannot. This hornet will be so effective that it will root out even those who "hide themselves." There is no bunker deep enough to hide from the judgment of God. This promise serves to further dismantle the fear-based calculation of verse 17. The Israelites were counting their soldiers against the Canaanite soldiers. But they had failed to include God's hornets in their accounting.

v. 21 You shall not dread them, for Yahweh your God is in your midst, a great and fearsome God.

Again, the command not to fear, this time with the word "dread." This is a deep, gut-level terror. The reason they are not to feel this is because of the reality of God's presence. "Yahweh your God is in your midst." He is not directing operations from a distant heaven; He is with them, in the camp. And who is this God? He is "a great and fearsome God." The Canaanites might be fearsome, but they are nothing compared to the God of Israel. The issue is one of proper fear. If you fear God rightly, you will not fear man wrongly. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and it is also the end of all lesser fears. The Israelites are being called to recalibrate their fear-o-meter. They are to look at the Canaanites through the lens of who their God is.

v. 22 And Yahweh your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, lest the wild beasts become too numerous for you.

Here we have a fascinating insight into the wisdom of God's providence. The victory is certain, but it will be gradual. "Little by little." An eager and impatient heart might question this. "If God can do it, why not do it all at once?" The reason given is entirely practical and fatherly. If the land were depopulated all at once, the Israelites would not be numerous enough to cultivate and manage it, and the result would be a different kind of problem: "lest the wild beasts become too numerous for you." God's plan is not just about victory, but about sustainable possession. He knows what we can handle. This is a profound principle for the Christian life. Sanctification is also "little by little." God is wise. He doesn't give us more victory than we have the maturity to steward. He is growing us up into the inheritance, not just handing it over all at once.

v. 23 But Yahweh your God will give them over before you and will throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed.

Lest the "little by little" be mistaken for uncertainty, Moses immediately reaffirms the final outcome. God "will give them over before you." The victory is a gift. And He will accomplish it by throwing the enemy into "great confusion." This is a divine demoralization. God will unravel their command structure, their morale, their ability to fight coherently. Israel's job is to show up with their swords, but God is the one who will win the battle in the hearts and minds of the enemy before the first blow is even struck. The end result is not in doubt: "until they are destroyed."

v. 24 And He will give their kings into your hand so that you will make their name perish from under heaven; no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them.

The victory will be total, extending to the very leadership of the Canaanite nations. "He will give their kings into your hand." This is the ultimate sign of conquest. To capture the king is to break the back of the nation. And the result is to be the complete erasure of their memory: "make their name perish from under heaven." This is the language of `cherem`, or devotion to destruction. This is not just warfare; it is the execution of a divine sentence. The promise is absolute: "no man will be able to stand before you." This is not a promise of an easy fight, but it is a promise of a certain outcome. The condition is that they see it through to the end: "until you have destroyed them."

v. 25 The graven images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it, for it is an abomination to Yahweh your God.

Now the instruction shifts from the people to their religion. What is to be done with the idols? They are to be burned with fire. This is a complete and contemptuous destruction. But then comes a crucial prohibition. These idols were often overlaid with precious metals. The temptation would be to burn the wooden core and pocket the gold and silver. "You shall not covet" it, Moses says, directly echoing the tenth commandment. You are not even to desire it in your heart. Why? Because it will become a snare. That gold is not neutral material. It has been consecrated to a demon, and it carries a spiritual contagion. To take it for yourself is to be "snared by it." The reason is that the whole object, including its valuable parts, "is an abomination to Yahweh your God." An abomination is something utterly detestable, something that provokes God's righteous disgust.

v. 26 And you shall not bring an abomination into your house and become devoted to destruction like it; you shall utterly detest it, and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.

This final verse drives the point home with stark clarity. To bring that abominable, idol-related plunder into your house is to import the curse. You "become devoted to destruction like it." The Hebrew word is `cherem`. The idol is `cherem`, devoted to God for destruction. If you take it for yourself, you place yourself under that same ban. You identify with the object of God's wrath. Think of Achan in the book of Joshua. This is precisely what he did, and it brought disaster on all of Israel. Therefore, the proper heart attitude is not one of greedy desire, but of visceral hatred. "You shall utterly detest it, and you shall utterly abhor it." The language is as strong as it gets. This is not a mild dislike. It is a deep, settled, and holy revulsion. Why? "For it is devoted to destruction." You are to agree with God's verdict. You are to see it as He sees it: as something corrupt, defiling, and worthy only of annihilation. This is the heart of true holiness, not just avoiding sin, but hating it.