Deuteronomy 9:3

3 Be certain then today that it is the Lord your God who goes over before you like an all-burning fire; he will send destruction on them, crushing them before you; and you will send them in flight, putting an end to them quickly, as the Lord has said.

Deuteronomy 9:3 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 9:3

Understand therefore this day
Or be it known to you for your encouragement, and believe it:

that the Lord thy God [is] he which goeth over before thee as a
consuming fire:
did not only go before them over the river Jordan, in a pillar of cloud and fire, to guide and direct them, and was a wall of fire around them to protect and defend them, but as a consuming fire, before which there is no standing, to destroy their enemies; see ( Deuteronomy 4:24 ) ( Hebrews 12:29 ) ,

he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face;
be they as great and as mighty, as large and as tall as they may, they will not be able to stand before the Lord, but will soon be made low, and be easily brought down to the earth by him, and to utter destruction; which would be done in a public and visible manner, so as that the hand of the Lord would be seen in it by the Israelites:

so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord
hath said unto thee;
that is, the far greater part of them, and so many as to make room for the Israelites, and which was quickly done. The Jews commonly say ^F1, that they were seven years in subduing the land; otherwise they were not to be driven out and destroyed at once, but by little and little: see ( Deuteronomy 7:22 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 11. p. 31, 32.

Deuteronomy 9:3 In-Context

1 Give ear, O Israel: today you are to go over Jordan, to take the heritage of nations greater and stronger than yourselves, and towns of great size with walls as high as heaven;

2 A people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, of whom you have knowledge and of whom it has been said, All are forced to give way before the sons of Anak.

3 Be certain then today that it is the Lord your God who goes over before you like an all-burning fire; he will send destruction on them, crushing them before you; and you will send them in flight, putting an end to them quickly, as the Lord has said.

4 And after the Lord has sent them in flight from before you, say not in your heart, Because of my righteousness the Lord has given me this land; when it is because of their evil-doing that the Lord is driving these nations out before you.

5 Not for your righteousness or because your hearts are upright are you going in to take their land; but because of the evil-doing of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and to give effect to his oath to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.