Deuteronomy 7—What will it be for YOU? Fear or faith?

Deuteronomy 7:12, Because you listen. This verse shows the conditional nature of the Mosaic Covenant. Blessings are conditional upon obedience to YHVH’s Torah instructions in righteousness. It was a person’s choice to obey or not. Either way, the law of cause and effect would come into play. Blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. The same is true with the New Covenant. If we place our faith in Yeshua the Messiah,who is the Living Torah, and love him by keeping his commandments (John 14:15), we will not only be blessed physically blessed here and now, but we will be blessed with eternal life. Those who refuse to place their faith in Yeshua and obey his commandments will receive the fruit of their disobedience now, and will also perish in the lake of fire. The law of cause and effect still applies to both the Mosaic Covenant and the New Covenant, and humans will reap the consequence of their actions based on the choices they make whether good or bad. It’s that simple.

Deuteronomy 7:17–18, Dispossess them…not be afraid. Do we walk by faith or by sight (i.e. relying strictly on human logic or intellect)? Was it logical to think that Israel could dispossess a fortified land full of people mightier and greater in number than themselves? Fear and logic are often the enemies of faith in YHVH’s Word and promises. Without faith it is impossible to please YHVH (Heb 11:6), and the just shall walk by faith (Heb 10:38). What is faith? (See Heb 11:1.) By faith the physical creation came into existence (Heb 11:3), therefore, faith preceded the physical creation and is the “mother” of it. From the “womb” of faith, if you will, came forth all that we see and know. That “womb” is the very heart, character and mind of YHVH Elohim. It is spiritual. We live in a physical dimension. The new heaven, new earth, and the Jerusalem from above, for which we look, will be of a spiritual dimension. Those who plan on being there must learn to walk in that dimension here and now by trusting in the Word and promises of YHVH for all of their needs. What lessons can we learn from the Israelites in this regard?

Deuteronomy 7:18; 8:2, 11, Remember… forget not. An essential element of a strong faith in the promises of YHVH (e.g. ­prosperity, verse 13; fruitfulness of the womb, verse 14; healing, verse 15; victory over enemies, verse 16; etc.) is to remember YHVH’s past accomplishments in your life: how he has healed you, prospered you, answered your prayers, transformed your life, delivered you from enemies and troubles, given meaning, hope and purpose to your life. In the last days, many are turning away from Yeshua the Messiah (who is also YHVH of the Tanakh, see Acts 7:36–38; 1 Cor 10:4, 9; and compare John 14:15 with Deut 11:1 and Exod 20:6) and are turning to idolatry, doubt and unbelief, secularism, materialism, hedonism, rabbinic Judaism and false religions because they have forgotten what YHVH-Yeshua did for them. Have you forgotten? To forget is a slippery slope that can lead to spiritual oblivion. Take a moment to recall the wonderful things he has done for you. Write them down. Remember them. Thank and praise him for them.

Deuteronomy 7:20–24, YHVH will go before you. Do you really believe that YHVH is leading you into your spiritual Promised Land? What is your mission, calling, destiny and purpose in life vis-à-vis helping to advance the kingdom of Elohim? As he promised to be with the Israelites and to go before them (7:20–24), so his promise commandments and faithfulness are for a thousand generations (7:9), which means they are for you! If you do not have a mission, goal or purpose (the Israelites’ goal and mission was to enter and to possess the Promised Land) then you will wander aimlessly in the wilderness indefinitely.

Deuteronomy 7:25, Carved images of their gods. This shows the link between the two commands contained in the ten statements or commandments relating to idolatry. The prohibition against the worshipping of false gods and making graven or carved images is actually one command with two parts. Men tend to worship idolize what they can see or make.

 

16 thoughts on “Deuteronomy 7—What will it be for YOU? Fear or faith?

  1. Faith, Hope and Love
    Faith comes by hearing, Hope comes from knowing Yeshua and Love comes from Elohim.
    Blessings, John

  2. Your first paragraph illustrates that unconditional love is a myth. So many in traditional churches believe in unconditional love, and that their idea’s of love is all that matters.

    • You must neither be married nor have children or you couldn’t call Elohim’s unconditional love a myth. Please allow me to explain.

      You have confused the Abrahamic Covenant with the Mosaic Covenant. The former was an unconditional covenant while the later was a conditional one. We have discussed this numerous times elsewhere. The former covenant is the covenant that defines salvation while the latter defines how we are blessed, not how we are saved. Again, I have written about this extensively elsewhere. You are confusing the two.

      The Bible tells us that Elohim is love. This is a defining characteristic of his.
      The Bible tells us that YHVH loves the whole world and sent his Son to die for everyone.
      The Bible tells us that YHVH loved us while we were yet sinners.
      Yeshua lovingly and unconditionally asked the Father to forgive those who were crucifying him.
      Yeshua instructed us to love our enemies no matter what they do to us.
      These are examples of unconditional love. Many more could be given from the Bible.

      YHVH’s love for us is not based on what we do or don’t do——that is, based on our works, or else we could never earn his love for we are all failures to one degree or another at living up to his Torah, both spirit and truth. However, his blessings upon our lives are conditional upon our works. Let’s not conflate rewards for obedience with the love the love that Elohim has for us. For example, I still love my children even if they are prodigals and go against what I and the Bible have taught them. I don’t love their sin, but I still love them, even as the father loved his prodigal son in Yeshua’s famous parable.

      True, I do believe that there are levels to the Father’s love. It seems clear to me that he has a higher level of love for those who obey him than those who disobey him. But that is another discussion.

      Blessings!

      • As you said, YHVH is love as 1 John says. 1 John 5: 2-3 also indicates that keeping the commandments is how we demonstrate our love for YHVH. Yeshua also said, if you love me, keep my commandments. Keeping His commandments is a condition. The wicked and lawless will be told, I never knew you, away from me you evil doers by Yeshua. As for the prodigal son, you will notice that the son was dead to the father, until he repented. Repentance is also a condition. Forgiveness is another matter. YHVH loves us and requires us to repent and be converted. He died for us while we were still sinners, and he knew us from the foundation of the world, but we are not allowed to stay as sinners. Hebrews 10: 26 – 31 makes this plain. Although the love of YHVH is a pure, self sacrificing love, we will not stay in that loving relationship if we willfully violate His teaching, law, etc. That is what I mean when I say unconditional love does not exist.

      • I agree with everything you have said because it is Truth. However, this truth doesn’t affect the attribute of Elohim’s unconditional love. He loves us unconditionally no matter what we do. It is true that a case can be made that he loves some people more (i.e. those who love him by obeying him), while he loves some people less (those who don’t love him by obeying him). For example he loved Esau less (i.e. hated Esau) than Jacob, but the Father still loves everyone in a general sense by sending this Son do die for them (John 3:16). Now whether a person accepts that love and chooses to walk in that love is another thing. Those who do so will be blessed, while those who refuse to do so will suffer the consequences of their own actions (called curses or punishment) ultimately resulting in being cast into the lake of fire. A child can walk away from a parent in utter sin and rebellion, but this doesn’t mean that the parent doesn’t still love their child and wants the prodigal to repent and return to the path of love and righteousness. This is the heart of our Father in heaven as well as best I understand it. Blessings!

    • YHVH’s love IS unconditional, His blessings are not! 2 Chron 7:14=IF MY people do this, THEN I will do that. Conditions-if we are not receiving the blessings, maybe its because we’re in no condition to.

  3. To use a non biblical source, Erich Fromm, a Marxist socialist from the 1900’s coined the phrase unconditional love. He was a social psychologist and athiest. Others have followed in his footsteps.

    • With due respect, this means nothing to me. Truth is Truth no matter who says it and where it comes from. Balaam
      donkey spoke truth, as did Balaam himself. For me, Truth is determined by what the Bible says. The devil even speaks some truth sometimes. The Bible is full of several examples of this. Do we reject the Truth because the devil spoke it? NO! Elohim has given us a brain and spiritual discernment to separate the wheat from the chaff, to judge righteous judgment.

      Once someone wrote to me that we are to totally reject everything the Roman Catholic Church teaches because it’s an evil institution. So I asked them:

      Do we reject that the Bible is the inspired Word of Elohim because the RCC says this as well?
      Do we reject the deity, virgin birth and incarnation of Yeshua because the RCC says this as well?
      Do we reject salvation by grace because the RCC says this as well?
      Do we reject the death, burial and resurrection of Yeshua because the RCC says this as well?
      Etc., etc.…you get the point.

      • Yes, I get your point. What I was pointing out is that the notion of unconditional love is a fairly new concept. A similar idea that has been accepted by many is the pre trib rapture. It sounds good but is false. We can agree to disagree, and as time goes by, the truth will be revealed to us.

    • Dear Steve,
      When you mention Yeshua saying “if you love me, keep my commandments”, this has nothing to do with YESHUA’S (unconditional) love for us; He challenges US to demonstrate OUR love for Him, by obeying His commands.
      Also, when you mention the father and the prodigal son, it seems to me that the father never stopped loving his son, even while he was away. When he saw his son from a distance, he ran to him and embraced him, before the son had even said one word.
      Also consider this: Yeshua told us to love our enemies; I don’t think He would expect this from us unless He loves His enemies too.
      Scripture tells us that Elohim loved us while we were still sinners (unconditional love).
      Also, read Psalm 136
      Although, Elohim loves everyone, not everyone is suitable to live in His Kingdom.
      Shalom to you, Sonja

      • Hello Sonja. You must be a night owl or live near the four corners of the world. Let me address this another way. We know that there are several gree k words for love in the new testament. Representing different levels of love. Love does no harm to its neighbors for example. Do unto others as you would have them do into you, and so on. This is the most basic way to treat people. When we are told to love our enemies, or the odious, this is what is meant. This form of love is more a verb than a feeling or emotion. In dealing with people, there are conditions. For example, Matthew 18: 15 says if one sins against you how to deal with it. Depending on the outcome, you may have to sever that relationship. Just as a husband or wife can divorce over adultery. Marriage is not unconditional even though it is a loving relationship. To love unconditionally would mean you have to take whatever behavior the other party offers. This is not biblical. Yes YHVH is love. However, there are times when He had to address issues. Consider these. Psalm 5:5 The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes;
        You hate all who do iniquity. Psalm 11:5 The HHVH tests the righteous and the wicked,
        And the one who loves violence His soul hates. There are other examples of YHVH responding in this way. To love unconditionally would leave you with no recourse to handle abusive behavior. I hope this helps you understand my position. Maybe it’s our definition that is the issue.

  4. Hi Steve,
    No, I am not a night owl, we just live in Tasmania which is in Australia; we are in a different time zone.
    Actually, we are not talking about unconditional love of humans, but of Elohim.
    Also, I have learned from Stern’s ‘Complete Jewish Study Bible’, that in certain instances where the word ‘hate’ is used in Scripture, it actually means to ‘love less’ (apparently a Jewish idiom). This makes perfect sense, especially when we read about Yeshua saying: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother………, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26 NIV. Surely, He does not mean that we have to hate our family, especially when YHVH specifically tells us to honour our parents.
    I think it is important to know that ‘hate’ in Scripture does not necessarily mean ‘hate’ as we understand it.
    I also don’t think that to love unconditionally means that we allow others to stomp on us. For example, we love our children unconditionally, but still correct them and sometimes punish them, which is mostly for their benefit in the long run.
    Grace and Blessings and Adonai’s Unconditional Love to you, Sonja

  5. Hello Sonja. I once knew someone who lived in South Africa, but no one in Tasmania! I think it is important to remember that Yeshua often used figures of speech to teach. These include parables, irony and exaggeration. Luke 14:26 is a perfect example of this. I would also point out that we are to walk as Yeshua walked. That includes loving as He loves. His ways are to be out ways. Are you from Tasmania or did you relocate?

    • I am originally from Germany, moved to Queensland in Australia in 1980 and from there we moved to Tassie in 2002. Love it here!
      Shalom, Sonja

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