Deuteronomy 7 Study Notes
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7:12-15 These blessings do not include the fundamental covenant relationship with the Lord per se. God’s promises depended on heeding and being careful to keep the covenant ordinances (28:1-4; Lv 26:3-13).
7:17-19 Memory would be one of the key instruments to keep Israel following the Lord’s commands (see 5:15; 8:2; 9:7; 15:15; 16:3,12; 24:9,18,22; 25:17; 32:7). Signs and wonders (words commonly joined in the OT; cp. 4:34; 6:22; 26:8; 29:3; Neh 9:10; Ps 135:9; Dn 6:27) were deeds done by the Lord to generate faith on the part of his people and to sustain them in times of doubt, such as the exodus deliverance referred to here (Ex 7:3; 8:23; 10:2; 11:9). Jesus also performed signs and wonders that only the Messiah could accomplish (Jn 2:11; 3:2; 4:54; 6:2,14; cp. Jn 20:30-31). Signs and wonders could also be performed by false prophets, however (Ex 7:11; Dt 13:1-2), so by themselves they did not attest to divine origination.
7:20 Hornets is likely a metaphor for military forces (1:44; Is 7:18-19) or other means, natural or otherwise, that the Lord would use to drive out the illegal residents of the land.
7:21-23 Awesome is literally “fearsome.” The reason not to fear the enemy is that the God in their midst is more fearsome than they are.
7:24 The threat to wipe out the names of Israel’s enemies indicates their utter destruction. When the Lord threatened to destroy Israel for worshiping the golden calf, Moses said that if that threat were carried out he would want his name erased from the Lord’s book. The Lord answered that only those who sinned against him would suffer that fate (Ex 32:32-33; Rm 9:3).
7:25-26 The warning not to covet went unheeded by Achan, who, following the conquest of Jericho, buried stolen silver and gold in his tent (Jos 7:20-23). Because these things had been placed under the ban (Hb cherem, cp. Dt 7:2), they should have been turned over as tribute to the Lord. Should any Israelites (like Achan) take such spoils into their houses, the annihilation that often accompanied cherem would fall on them. This is the meaning of the phrase set apart for destruction.