In Deuteronomy 7, God is very clear on what he expects of the Israelites as they enter the land, to destroy everything in the land full of idols. God instructs them to “Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy. You must not intermarry with them, and you must not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, because they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will swiftly destroy you (7:2-4).”
That sounded pretty harsh when I read it. If God is a loving God, why would he destroy his creation?
He continues, “Know that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps his gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commands. But he directly pays back and destroys those who hate him. He will not hesitate to pay back directly the one who hates him. So keep the command – the statutes and ordinances – that I am giving you to follow today (7: 9-11).”
“He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will bless your offspring, and the produce of your land – your grain, new wine, and fresh oil – the young of your herds, and the newborn of your flocks, in the land he swore to your fathers that he would give you (7:13).”
In the same chapter, it went from a God who instructs Israel to destroy everything to a God who loves, multiplies and blesses. This was very confusing as I read it – hate and love are described within the same sentence.
“You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God is delivering over to you and not look on them with pity (7:16).” I had trouble with this statement. What if some of the people who he instructed to destroy had a heart for God and were following the idols as that was part of their culture and they did not know any better? That is the part of me that just wants to love on others and hope for the best, without understanding that God knew their hearts and whether or not they could make that heart change. God is able to see something that I am not. His instructions were based on his knowledge, not my desire to love on and please others. I do understand; however, as I have been through several different religions on my search. God may be in my heart, but through my search, I realized just how strong my mind is – and how easy my mind can over rule my heart. God saw that and his instructions came from his knowledge.
“Don’t be terrified of them, for the Lord your God, a great and awesome God, is among you (7:21).”
I’m very grateful that I have continued to follow my heart, even when my mind has taken me down many other paths. Today, how can I continue to follow my heart and not allow my mind, my pride and my ego to get in the way? How can I discern God’s voice from my own? I desire to walk through life’s fears and the pull towards things that are not part of the path God laid out for me, knowing that God is with me.