You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it is detestable to the LORD your God. Sermons
I. OF DISINTERESTEDNESS IN GOD'S SERVICE. No motive of gain was to be allowed to mingle with their work. Their service was to be disinterested. Under the cloak of religious zeal there was to be no gratification of covetousness. II. OF AVOIDING OCCASIONS OF SIN. The gold and silver of the idols tended to ensnare. There would be a temptation to a superstitious and idolatrous use of it (Judges 8:27). III. OF REFUSING GAIN DERIVED FROM IMMORAL SOURCES. The Church is not profited by an influx of the money of the worldling. Still less are the gains of sin to be coveted by her: money derived from gambling, immoral speculation, bubble companies, gin-palaces, sale of irreligious and immoral books, etc. IV. OF HEARTY DETESTATION OF EVIL. The gildings of vice have an attraction for many who dislike the thing itself. But vice is to be abhorred in its gilded forms, as in every other. "Looking begets liking." - J.O.
Thou shalt not desire the silver or gold. Showing, as he always shows, a most penetrating mind, Moses points to a very subtle temptation which would arise in connection with the progress of Israel. The graven images of the heathen nations were to be burned with fire. Moses says in the twenty-fifth verse: "Thou shalt not desire...lest thou be ensnared therein." How subtle is the temptation in that direction! Shall we cast in the hideous gods and the valuable gold, and consume them both in the unsparing fire? How much better first to strip the god of his golden coat and then burn the wood or clay or grind the stone to powder! Moses, foreseeing this temptation, and by the very inspiration of God, knowing the mysteries of human nature, said: "Touch not; taste not; handle not." In such abstention is the only possible safety of the Church. The temptation operates today. Men will sustain a questionable mode of earning a livelihood on the pretence that they can gather from the forbidden trade gold and silver which they can melt down and mint with the image and superscription of God; they can allow the devastating traffic to proceed, reeking like the pit of hell, destroying countless thousands of lives, and yet justify the continuance of the iniquity by taking off the gold and the silver and throwing part of it into the coffers of the Church. Missions so sustained are dishonoured. The gold torn from any evil way of getting a livelihood and given to the Church is an abomination to the Lord thy God. He does not want even good gold stolen for His purposes, or gold won by unholy means thrown into His exchequer. Let us give honest money. Let us eat bread unleavened by wrong-doing; there may be little of it, but Christ will break it with His own hands, and it shall be more than our hunger needs. Marvellous, too, is the prevision of Moses when he lays down the only law or principle by which all these abstentions and all these actions can be sustained. Do not let us ascribe these regulations to the prevision of Moses unless we understand by that term the inspiration of God. What is the principle which guarantees safety and protects the soul from the unclean things of heathen nations? That principle is laid down in the twenty-sixth verse. Speaking of heathen abomination Moses says: "Thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it." There is no middle feeling; there is no intermediate way of dealing with bad things. "If thy right, hand offend thee, cut it off"; "if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good." Thus the Testaments are one: the moral tone is the same; the stern law never yields to time — its phrase changes, its words may come and go, its forms may take upon them the colour of the transient times, but the inner spirit of righteousness is the Spirit of God, without beginning, without measure, without end.(J. Parker, D. D.). People Amorites, Canaanites, Egyptians, Girgashite, Girgashites, Hittites, Hivite, Hivites, Jebusites, Moses, Perizzites, Perrizites, PharaohPlaces Beth-baal-peor, EgyptTopics Abomination, Burn, Burned, Covet, Danger, Desire, Detestable, Disgusting, Engraved, Ensnared, Fire, Gods, Gold, Graven, Hast, Images, Lest, Shouldst, Silver, Snared, Therein, Thyself, YourselvesOutline 1. All communion with the nations is forbidden5. for fear of idolatry, 6. for the holiness of the people, 9. for the nature of God in his mercy and justice, 17. and for the assuredness of victory which God will give over them. Dictionary of Bible Themes Deuteronomy 7:25 4333 gold 5211 art Library God's Faithfulness'Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him.'--DEUT. vii. 9. 'Faithful,' like most Hebrew words, has a picture in it. It means something that can be (1) leant on, or (2) builded on. This leads to a double signification--(1) trustworthy, and that because (2) rigidly observant of obligations. So the word applies to a steward, a friend, or a witness. Its most wonderful and sublime application is to God. It presents to … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Match-Making. The First Covenant That the Employing Of, and Associating with the Malignant Party, According as is Contained in the Public Resolutions, is Sinful and Unlawful. The Sovereignty of God in Reprobation Why all Things Work for Good John's Introduction. The Holiness of God The Covenant of Grace Deuteronomy Links Deuteronomy 7:25 NIVDeuteronomy 7:25 NLT Deuteronomy 7:25 ESV Deuteronomy 7:25 NASB Deuteronomy 7:25 KJV Deuteronomy 7:25 Bible Apps Deuteronomy 7:25 Parallel Deuteronomy 7:25 Biblia Paralela Deuteronomy 7:25 Chinese Bible Deuteronomy 7:25 French Bible Deuteronomy 7:25 German Bible Deuteronomy 7:25 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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