Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Deuteronomy
Book: Deuteronomy
Chapter: 7
Overview:
Intercourse with the
Canaanites forbidden.
(1-11) Promises if
they were obedient.
(12-26)
1-11 Here is a strict caution against all friendship and
Fellowship with idols and idolaters. Those who are in
Communion
with
God, must have
No communication with the unfruitful
Works
of
Darkness. Limiting the orders to destroy, to the nations here
mentioned, plainly shows that after ages were not to draw this
into a precedent. A proper understanding of the evil of
Sin, and
of the
Mystery of a crucified
Saviour, will enable us to
perceive the
Justice of God in all his punishments, temporal and
eternal. We must
Deal decidedly with our lusts that
War against
our souls; let us not show them any
Mercy, but mortify, and
crucify, and utterly destroy them.
Thousands in the world that
now is, have been undone
By ungodly marriages; for there is more
likelihood that the good will be perverted, than that the bad
will be converted. Those who, in choosing
Yoke-fellows, keep not
within the bounds of a profession of religion, cannot promise
themselves
Helps meet for them.
12-26 We are in danger of having
Fellowship with the
Works of
Darkness if we take pleasure in
Fellowship with those who do
such
Works. Whatever brings us into a
Snare, brings us under a
Curse. Let us be constant to our duty, and we cannot question
the constancy of
God's
Mercy. Diseases are
God's servants; they
go where he sends them, and do what he bids them. It is
therefore good for the health of our bodies, thoroughly to
mortify the
Sin of our souls; which is our rule of duty. Yet
Sin
is never totally destroyed in this world; and it actually
prevails in us much more than it would do, if we were watchful
and diligent. In all this the
Lord Acts according to the counsel
of his own will; but that counsel being hid from us, forms
No
excuse for our sloth and negligence, of which it is in
No degree
the cause. We must not think, that because the deliverance of
the
Church, and the
Destruction of the enemies of the soul, are
not done immediately, therefore they will never be done.
God
will do his own work in his own method and time; and we may be
sure that they are always the best. Thus corruption is driven
out of the hearts of believers
By little and little. The work of
Sanctification is carried
On gradually; but at length there will
be a complete victory. Pride, security, and other sins that are
common effects of prosperity, are enemies more dangerous than
beasts of the
Field, and more apt to increase upon us.