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which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all 16 [them] that hate thee. And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them :* neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that [will be] a snare unto thee. They must execute their dreadful commission without reserve, since God would help them; and not to do it would lead them into sin and ruin. He then states the objections they might make, and answers them.

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If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations [are] more 18 than I, how can I dispossess them? Thou shalt not be afraid of them: [but] shalt well remember what the LORD thy God 19 did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt; The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee dut: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid; remember all 20 these things for thine encouragement. Moreover, the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed; an enemy which the Canaanites never expected, which should pursue them 21 into their hiding places, and destroy them. Thou shalt not be

affrighted at them for the LORD thy God [is] among you, a mighty God and terrible, though he makes use of the smallest 22 creatures as his instruments. And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee, by little and little thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee, lest wild beasts of the neighbouring deserts come and overspread that fruitful land for want of inhabitants. 23 But the LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroy24 ed. And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, of which thirty one are mentioned in the book of Joshua, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them. All these promises are on condition that they did their part; if

*This command hath been urged by the enemies of christianity, as an act of the great est cruelty and injustice; but it is to be remembered, 1. That God, as their offended Creator, had a right to their forfeited lives, and therefore might as well destroy them and their posterity by the sword of the Israelites, as by famine, pestilence, fire and brimstone rained from heaven, or any other calamity appearing to come more immediately from himself. 2. That the wickedness of this people, especially as aggravated by the destruction of Sodom, was such as made the execution done upon them an useful lesson to neighbouring nations. Comp. Gen. xv. 16. Lev. xviii. 20. 28. Jude i. 4. 7. Wisd. xii. 3. 7. 3. That the miracles wrought in favour of the Israelites, not only at their coming out of Egypt, but their entrance on Canaan, proved that they were indeed commissioned as God's executioners, and consequently that their conduct was not to be a model for conquerors in ordinary cases. 4. That there was a peculiar propriety in destroying those sinners by the sword of Israel, as that would tend to impress the Israelites more strongly with an abhorrence of the idolatry and other vices of those nations, and consequently subserve the design of keeping them a distinct people, adhering to the worship of the true God, who was so gracious to mankind in general, as well as to them in particular. See Doddridge's Lect. p. 354.

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"not, they would prove thorns in their side, plagues and temptations to them.

The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold [that is] on them, nor take [it] unto thee, lest thou be snared therein for it [is] an 26 abomination to the LORD thy God. Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, any thing devoted to destruction, Joshua vi. 17, 18. lest thou be a cursed thing like it, as in the case of Achan: [but] thou shalt utterly detest. it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it: for it [is] a cursed thing.

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REFLECTIONS.

E may learn hence, that if we desire to keep ourselves pure, we must avoid all occasions of sin and the temptations to it. There are many commands to destroy altars and images, and they are often repeated. Human nature is prone to sin, is easily corrupted; therefore let us avoid every thing that would lead us astray, and have no friendship with the unfruitful works of darkness. We cannot be too solicitous about this, while we are in so much danger. May we, therefore, learn to keep the heart with all diligence, and abstain from every appearance of evil.

2. Let us not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. This is the exhortation of St. Paul, and the command in this chapter naturally suggests the same. They might have urged, that it would have been the way to bring them over; but God knew it would have the contrary influence; for, says he, v. 4. 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. It is a proper hint for us to choose those who worship and fear God, else they will not be comforts and helpmates for us. In unequal marriages we too often find the good are spoiled, rather than the bad mended. If, in general, it is wise for us to associate with them that fear God, and to depart from evil doers, we should be especially careful, that we never form alliances with those who are strangers to true religion, for they may pervert us, or hinder our making such progress in religion, as, with a suitable helpmate and the blessing of God, may be expected.

3. When those who profess religion forsake God and his ways, they may expect the greatest calamities. Those who, notwithstanding all their advantages, motives, and encouragements, hate God, he will repay to their face. Wicked men are those who hate God and his ways, his laws and people; but he will make examples of them; their punishment shall be conspicuous, and their plagues wonderful. Though God is long suffering, if men abuse

his forbearance, and go on in sin, his judgments will at length overtake them, and make them monuments of wrath. In order to prevent all these irregularities in ourselves, let us cherish the love of God in our hearts, that we may secure his friendship and blessing here, and be the objects of his favour and friendship for ever.

CHAP. VIII.

Moses still goes on to urge the observation of the first command, from what God had done for them and promised to them.

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LL the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live comfortably and happily, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which 2 the LORD Sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt remem. ber all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, all thy afflictions, wants, and dangers, all thy comforts, blessings, and deliverances, and especially the punishments thou hast suffered, in order to humble thee, [and] to prove thee, to know what [was] in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments, or no; to discover to themselves and others their inconstancy and rebellions, that they might know themselves better, and that posterity might take warn, 3 ing and be instructed by them. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every [word] that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live; that he might show you that God, by one word of his, can support life a thousand other ways than by common 4 bread. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years; thy garments served thee one generation after another; nor were thy feet injured, though $ passing through a hot and stony country. Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, unwil❤ lingly and moderately, to show his love, and for the child's good, 6 [so] the LORD thy God chasteneth thee. Therefore, thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk 7 in his ways, and to fear him. For the LORD thy God bring eth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills s; a coun try well watered, in which are deep wells and springs. A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegran ates; a land of oil olive, and honey; where there is plenty of every thing, not only for the support, but also for the pleasure

9 and delight of life. A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any [thing] in it; a land whose stones [are] iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass; a country whose surface abounds with provisions, and whose bowels are stored with the most useful metals.

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When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee; after every meal thou shalt thank God for his goodness, and for 11 all the plentiful provisions he hath given thee; but Beware that thy plenty do not become a snare, and that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day : 12 Lest [when] thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built good13 ly houses, and dwelt [therein;] And [when] thy herds and

thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, 14 and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up with pride and self confidence, as in v. 17. and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of 15 the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, [wherein were] fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where [there was] no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of 16 flint; Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, by keeping thee in a constant dependence upon himself, supported by an extraordinary providence every day, and that he might prove thee, whether thou wouldst be thankful, and submit to his wise providence, to do thee good at thy latter end, that thou mightest enter on Canaan with greater pleasure, enjoy it more safely, and 17 be in less danger of abusing it; And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of [mine] hand hath gotten me this 18 wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for [it is] he that giveth thee power to get wealth; thou shalt continually remember that thou owest all to God, without whose favour thou couldst never have possessed the land, or prospered in it; that he may establish his covenant which he swarę unto thy fathers, as [it is] this day.

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And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish, no might or power, of which you are so proud, shall deliver you. 20 As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; if you fall into their sin, you shall be de stroyed in the same manner, because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God,

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REFLECTIONS.

HE dealings of God with us in the past part of our lives, should be seriously and carefully recollected, as in v. 3. our supplies of food and raiment, our health, the afflictions through which we have passed, and the chastenings of God's word and providence. We should call to remembrance the former days, as motives to bless God, who hath fed us all our lives, and redeemed us from evil. He hath been with us in six troubles and in seven. Christians especially should do this; they should review their lives, and celebrate that goodness and mercy which have followed them all their days. This is peculiarly proper when we are just entering into the good land, the heavenly Canaan, which is infinitely better than all present possessions. Let us recollect this, as a motive to serve and obey God, as v. 6. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. As an encouragement to trust in him for future supplies, we may be assured that his hand is not shortened; we live by his word. Therefore, after the example of Christ, let us never distrust our Father's care, but keep close to duty, and cast all our care on him.

2. If we partake of the comforts of life, let us bless God, especially at our meals, as v. 10. When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land that he hath given thee. It is a reasonable duty, a debt of gratitude and justice to God. The pious Jews, if they ate but a morsel, an olive, or other fruit, or drank a small draught of water, or even smelled a sweet flower, blessed God; they thought themselves bound to it by their law; and also to teach their children to bless him for their meat, that they might be trained up in the commandment, as their rabbies express it. Let us practise this important duty; thankfully acknowledge God's goodness at our meals, in a serious, thoughtful manner; not in a few hasty, formal words, as if we were trifling with God, or ashamed of devout gratitude. It is a natural duty, and a proper expression of gratitude and dependence on him, as it is his blesssing upon the creatures which giveth them a nourishing power. It is also the best way to prevent intemperance, and an abuse of his creatures; for, to begin and conclude every meal with serious prayer and thanksgiving, will prevent excess, and preserve our table from becoming a snare.

3. Let us be careful that in prosperity our hearts be not lifted up, and so lead us to forget God. It is a common saying, that ' riches beget pride,' and daily experience verifies it. We should be upon our guard to prevent it; remembering that it is God who giveth power to get wealth; that all things come from him; he

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