Visiting iniquity and shewing mercy

 Christ in all the scriptures

Unmitigated wrath and unconditional love  Deuteronomy 7

There can be no greater contrast in the revelation of God, in one chapter, than the subject matter of Deuteronomy 7.  We have His condemnation of human sin, with its terminal judgment, and we have His boundless love toward the people of His possession.  This is the God of the bible, not the one created by human imagination, but the true God who exists, who will judge sin, but who will also forgive repentant sinners.  He created us, not the other way round, as many would seem to wish.  He stated His way in Exodus 20 to the nation He raised up to reveal Himself to the world..."visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments" (20v5-6).  Idolatry is an abomination to God, and the seven nations occupying the land given to Israel were steeped in idolatrous practices.  Centuries before, the God who knows the end from the beginning, decreed the judgment of the trespassing nations in His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15v18-21.  Following many years of sinful practice, during which God had suffered their ways, the time of retribution has arrived, and God will purge the promised land from rank evil.

We must pause here, a moment to reflect.  We live in a modern world which rejects or ignores the concept of Divine retribution, yet it is a reality.  The history of the world has proved it.  God will judge the world in righteousness; He brought the global flood on the world of the ungodly; He destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, leaving no one untouched in its borders; He brought down a world power in Egypt by a mighty arm.  Divine retribution on evil is a reality, and the present world will know it in this generation or the next.  God is slow to wrath, but His judgment is certain, and rather than mock portions of the bible like this we should heed the warning.

The judgment was severe; they were to destroy the seven nations without mercy, 7v2 "thou shalt utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them".  This is repeated in 7v16 and 7v24.  There was to be no communication with them, nor communion.  They were not to join in marriage to them, which would ultimately result in idolatry.  They were to deface all their idols, and remove all traces of idolatry ("destroy their altars, break down their images, cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire"(7v5).  These altars, on which they sacrificed their children to their imaginary gods, were an abomination to the Lord and all trace of them must be removed.   As far back as the grandson of Noah in Genesis 9, God had declared a curse on Canaan, and their immoral and idolatrous practices had not altered with the passage of time.  

In contrast, God set His love on Israel (7v6-11), just as He promised the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

"For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God;  the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself above all people that are on the face of the earth".

He does this, because, as He says in v5, "for all the earth is mine".  In God's earth, God does as He pleases (refer Psalm 115v3 and Psalm 135v5-6).  It is utterly futile to oppose Him! 

Israel are an holy people, set apart for God, to walk in His ways.  A chosen people to be His special possession.  An exalted people above all other nations upon the face of the earth.  This promise that was repeated to the founding fathers, was applied to the nation in Exodus 19v4/5, "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles wings, and brought you unto myself.  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, than ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people".  It is because of their disobedience, they are not seen as such now, but all that will change when Christ returns and Israel will be the head of nations.  Nothing, and no one will prevent it, and all who oppose this, in any way, whether it be in protest, or in hostile action, are out of touch with what will be the eternal reality.

The chapter goes on to explain divine favour to this one nation, and this reveals to us the nature of God.  As much as He is belligerent against rebellion, He is benign towards the repentant, and enshrouds them in His love.  His love for any of us is inexplicable, and the reason for it is only found in Himself.

"The Lord did not set His love on you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people ; for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers..."-7v7-8.

There was nothing about them that caused Him to chose them; the answer is found only in His beneficent self.  He loved them because He loved them, and this is always the truth.  This amazing fact is discussed by John the apostle in 1st John chapter 4.

God's love is an integral part of His essential being, twice over he declares that "God is love"-4v8, v16.

God is the source of all love-4v7, "...love is of God".  Any reciprocal love we have for Him is "because He first loved us"-4v19.

God's love was manifested in sending His only begotten into the world that we might live through Him"-4v9.  He demonstrated His love at infinite cost to Himself.

"I have loved you because I have loved you" resonates through the ages of time and reaches beyond Israel to the repentant people of all nations.  There is nothing loveable about us, He loves us because of who He is, a gracious, loving and merciful God.  The reality of this is awesome.  He is at all times the sin hating God who will banish rebels forever without mercy: at all times He is the loving, and merciful God, as the chapter before us records,

 "Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him, and keep His commandments to a thousand generations; and repayeth them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them: He will not slack to him that hateth Him, He will repay him to his face"-Deut.7v9-10.

Before this awesome God, terrible in His judgment, but beautiful in His love, we must bow for our well being, and that of our children.  This is the God of Israel, this is the true God, the only God, to whom be glory forever!