The Covenant and the Blessings of Obedience

In Deuteronomy 7, God chooses a people, not a list of individuals saved in advance. The choice was out of love, not merit, "The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:" (Deuteronomy 7:7), and it was for a mission: to keep God's revelation, to be a light to the nations and to prepare the way of the Messiah (Isaiah 49:6; Galatians 3:16). Being an Israelite guaranteed no one's salvation: of the generation that left Egypt, Hebrews says "So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief." (Hebrews 3:19), and Paul reminds us that "Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:" (Romans 9:6). In the New Testament, the elect people is the people in Christ: God chose us in Him (Ephesians 1:4). Whoever believes in Christ and abides in Him belongs to that people. There is no closed list on which your name might not be; there is an invitation to whosoever believes in Him (John 3:16).

It is the hardest question in the chapter, and it deserves an honest answer. The command was a specific judgment, given to Israel at that moment, against peoples God had borne with for centuries (Genesis 15:16) and who went so far as to burn their own children in the fire to their gods (Deuteronomy 12:31). The reason was religious, not racial: "For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly." (Deuteronomy 7:4). The proof is that Rahab the Canaanite and Ruth the Moabite were welcomed in (Joshua 6:25; Ruth 1:16), and a city of Israel that gave itself over to idols would receive the same judgment (Deuteronomy 13:12-17). It was a one-time, closed command that applies to no people, nation or group today. The text does not authorize violence, hatred, intolerance or contempt toward those of another religion. The Church fights with other weapons, "(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)" (2 Corinthians 10:4), and our struggle is not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12).

Not as a formula. The blessings of Deuteronomy 7:12-15 were covenant promises made to Israel as a people, in a land and at a moment in history. They show that the God of the covenant cares for the whole of life, family, work, health, and that the Giver is worth more than the gifts. But they are not a button you press to obey and receive. Paul left Trophimus sick at Miletus (2 Timothy 4:20), Timothy had frequent infirmities (1 Timothy 5:23), and Elisabeth and Zacharias were both righteous before God and waited years for a child (Luke 1:6-7). The Assemblies of God believe in divine healing, "And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." (James 5:15), and believe also that God is sovereign over the outcome. Obeying is not paying God; it is responding to the One who has already rescued us.

The New Testament applies the words of Deuteronomy 7 to the Church, a peculiar people, a people for His own possession (1 Peter 2:9; Titus 2:14), but Paul forbids the Church to look at Israel with contempt: "Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee." (Romans 11:18). He asks, "I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin." (Romans 11:1), and affirms that "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." (Romans 11:29). Salvation, for Jews and Gentiles, is the same, in Christ: "For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him." (Romans 10:12). The Gentiles were grafted into the olive tree, not put in its place. Antisemitism has no place in the Christian faith.

No. Jesus prayed, "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." (John 17:15), and He was called a friend of publicans and sinners (Matthew 11:19) without ever being defiled. In the Bible, holy is what has been set apart for God, it has an owner and a destination, before it is set apart from anything. One thing is the friendship that deliberately pulls you toward what you know is wrong; a very different thing is the relative or coworker who does not believe and needs you nearby to see the Gospel. For marriage, the guidance is clear to those who are yet to marry (2 Corinthians 6:14); for those already married to someone who does not believe, Paul commands not to leave the spouse who wants to stay (1 Corinthians 7:12). Separation is not isolation, and much less contempt.

The Bible takes both things seriously: God's faithfulness and man's response. God is "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;" (Deuteronomy 7:9). And Paul warns believers: "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off." (Romans 11:22). Hebrews says the same: "For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;" (Hebrews 3:14). The warning is for those who grow proud and turn their back on God, not for those who struggle against their own sin, afraid of having failed too much. Whoever worries about not losing God is not among those who hate Him (Deuteronomy 7:10). Abiding is not merit: it is going on holding the hand that holds us.