Homiletic Review Deuteronomy 7:16 And you shall consume all the people which the LORD your God shall deliver you; your eye shall have no pity on them… Though the Israelites have passed out of Egypt and beyond the Red Sea and through the wilderness, they have not passed beyond the domain of struggle and duty; they must go on to possess the land. In its southeastern border dwell the Moabites; north of them are the Amorites, strongly intrenched; above them the Hittites; on the west side, beyond the Jordan, are the Anakim; above these, a mighty nation, the Canaanites; near them the Perizzites, etc. I. THE THING TO BE DONE. Too much is our Christianity over-anxious about its beginnings and too careless about its subsequent growth and reach. We are all the time seeking just to get people out of Egypt, we are all the time too unconcerned as to whether these people go on to conquer Canaan for the Lord. Having "come to Jesus," the reign of Jesus is to be extended inwardly over the entire soul, outwardly over the entire life. Canaan reached was not Canaan conquered. The converted man is not yet a sanctified man. Evil pride, vanity, jealousy, covetousness, passionateness, discontent, bad habits, etc. — Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites enough are yet resident in even the converted soul. II. THE FORCE BY WHICH THIS CONQUEST IS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED. "And thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee." The soul and God — these are the forces of conflict. III. SOME REASONS FOR THE CHRISTIAN FAILURE. 1. Ceasing of battle. After a while some of the Israelites stopped struggling against the aliens. 2. Fear. These Israelites would not struggle against certain of the aliens, because they had chariots of iron. So some bad habit frightens a Christian from struggle. 3. Success of a sort. "And it came to pass when Israel was strong they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out." Many a man, professedly Christian, dares not attempt to be the Christian he knows he ought to be because, successful in worldly affairs, his worldly interests will not let him. So he salves his conscience by putting his questionable gain "under tribute"; gives it, or a portion of it, in charity, etc. IV. RESULT. "Will be a snare unto thee." Was their failure not a snare? Call to mind the history of the Israelites, the destruction of the ten tribes. The only proof of a real Christianity is a continually advancing self-conquest. (Homiletic Review.) Parallel Verses KJV: And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee. |
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