7:5Deuteronomy 7:5

The verse commands Israel to completely destroy every place and object of Canaanite worship — tearing down altars, breaking sacred pillars, cutting down Asherah poles, and burning carved images with fire, sparing nothing even if valuable.RH Aug 4, 1904+4 It was spoken by Christ Himself as Israel's invisible leader when God delivered the seven nations before them — Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites — to be utterly destroyed and dispossessed with no covenant, mercy or intermarriage, because Israel was a holy people chosen and redeemed to be special above all people.Ms 38, 1898, par. 2–5+2 Such total removal was required for them to be holy and separate from idolatry, since alliances and marriages with idolaters would turn them and their children from following God to serve other gods and kindle His anger to sudden destruction.7MR 309.1–3+4 The beautiful groves, shrines and altars would deceive the senses and displace God in the mind, so rejecting them kept Israel from corruption and preserved sacred truth to restore God's moral image in man and share its light with the world.Ms 151, 1901, par. 47–49+4 The command still speaks as God's voice for admonition upon those on whom the ends of the world are come, requiring full surrender and daily obedience to all His commandments from greatest to least in preparation to stand in review before God.7MR 309.1–3+4

The command required Israel to deal with the Canaanites by destroying their altars, breaking down their images or sacred pillars, cutting down their groves or Asherah poles, and burning their graven or carved images with fire, thus completely removing every place and object of false worship.RH Aug 4, 1904+4 The work was to be total, leaving no idolatry to remain and preserving nothing, not even articles that were valuable or finely made.5T 328.1–329.1+2 That thorough clearing belonged among the important teachings to be brought before the people, including the rejection of illustrations of heathen shrines in church publications.Lt 259, 1902, par. 3–5

The speaker was Christ Himself, the same One who healed the sick in Palestine, speaking as Israel's invisible leader, guide and protector enshrouded in the pillar of cloud, instructing them and preparing their way at every difficulty.Ms 38, 1898, par. 2–5+1 In its setting the charge was to smite and utterly destroy the seven nations when God delivered them before Israel — the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites — dispossessing them and occupying all the territory God specified, with borders enlarged as numbers increased.Ms 38, 1898, par. 2–5+2 With that destruction Israel was to make no covenant with them, show them no mercy, and make no marriages with them, neither giving daughter nor taking daughter.Ms 38, 1898, par. 2–5+1

The command was given because Israel was a holy people chosen to be a special people above all people on the earth, loved not because they were more in number, for they were the fewest of all people.Ms 38, 1898, par. 2–5+1 He loved them to keep the oath sworn to their fathers, and because He had redeemed them with a mighty hand from the house of bondmen, from Pharaoh king of Egypt.Ms 38, 1898, par. 2–5+1 He is the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy to a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments, and repays those who hate Him to their face.Ms 38, 1898, par. 2–5

The thorough clearing of altars, sacred pillars, Asherah poles and carved idols was what holiness unto God required, a complete separation from idolatry by which His people were kept distinct from surrounding worship.7MR 309.1–3+3 That removal was to be total, leaving no place or object of false worship standing, and it shows how strictly His people must guard themselves against worldliness.RH Aug 4, 1904+2 Holiness therefore meant active rejection, breaking down and burning rather than allowing idolatry to remain.Ms 132, 1903, par. 1–6+2

With that rejection went the prohibition of covenant, alliance, intermarriage, commingling and intimate companionship with idolaters, worldlings and those who reject the truth.Ms 38, 1898, par. 2–5+2 Such unions were forbidden because they would turn Israel and their children away from following God to serve other gods and to sin and dishonor Him.Ms 38, 1898, par. 2–5+3 That turning would kindle the anger of the Lord to sudden destruction.Ms 38, 1898, par. 2–5+1 Association with unbelievers corrupts, making sin lose its offensiveness, and alliances that compromise faith must be avoided in order to remain separate.Ms 151, 1901, par. 47–49+1

The danger lay in influence and appeal, for the attractive groves, shrines, temples and altars could deceive the senses, displace God in the mind, and draw the people into worship of other gods.ST Jan 13, 1881+1 Not even valuable or finely made articles of heathen worship were to be preserved, lest their appeal draw Israel into idolatry.ST Jan 13, 1881 To spare the Canaanites and their worship would have exposed Israel to spiritual ruin, so the severity of the command was not cruelty but protection.ST Jan 13, 1881 Safety lay not in substituting human ideas of clemency for the divine command but in obeying the expressed will without hesitation.ST Jan 13, 1881

Rejection of idolatrous worship kept Israel from corruption so that sacred truth could be preserved and its light shared with the world.Ms 134, 1899, par. 5–6+1 Worship of the true God with righteous principles in life would restore the moral image of God in man.Ms 134, 1899, par. 5–6 Keeping His commandments, statutes and judgments was therefore to be strictly observed as conditions of life and not as arbitrary compulsion.Ms 38, 1898, par. 2–5 Obedience to His righteous law was the way to become all that God proposed, with God Himself as teacher ennobling His people and giving skill and wisdom.Ms 63, 1899, par. 3–6+1 That obedience would bless with vigor of intellect, preserve from the diseases afflicting other nations, protect from disease, and make them marvels of prosperity before the nations in which His majesty and power would be seen until Christ's kingdom extends over all the earth.Ms 63, 1899, par. 3–6+1

The command was written for admonition upon those on whom the ends of the world are come and still speaks as God's own voice to the present generation.STMW9 52.3 It is to be studied with profit now together with the fourth through the eighth chapters of Deuteronomy, and with the whole of chapter 7 especially verse 6 together with chapters 1 and 8, while the broader charge spans Deuteronomy 4 through 11.7MR 309.1–3+1 The reason for earnest study is that the day of God's great final review is near and the time of investigation is now, when every character will be investigated and every case decided for eternity before standing before the Judge of all the earth to answer for deeds done.7MR 309.1–3

It is part of the charge in Deuteronomy 4-8 that must be read to the people, read carefully and regarded, revealing God's dealings with His people.STB 628.4–629.2+1 It must be searched out personally and made the study book, with special interest in doing what it says, and it means much to those who carry responsibilities in sanitarium work.STB 628.4–629.2+1 Every soul must sanctify himself daily according to it, lest he be found in rebellion, so that the Lord will be glorified through His people.Lt 42, 1910, par. 6

What it requires is full surrender and continuing simplicity of obedience to all the Lord's commandments according to His special directions, from the greatest to the least, with none of the important things specified in His Word neglected.STB 628.4–629.2+1 Those who are a holy and peculiar people chosen by the Lord must purify their souls from all commonness, bring character into harmony with Him, and honor Him.STB 628.4–629.2+1 This means putting away fretting, crossness and irritability even in the family and speaking kindly, being prepared to stand in review before God with strength and to call Him Father.Ms 83, 1910, par. 22–24 Obedience matters to God, and those who love Him and keep His commandments will be welcomed into the heavenly city.Ms 146, 1906, par. 51–54

Applied to the home from babyhood, it requires complete separation from idolaters, forbidding marriages with worldlings and all commingling and intimate companionship with the openly wicked and unbelieving, with active rejection of idolatry by tearing down its places of worship and destroying its sacred objects.Ms 151, 1901, par. 47–49 Parents must guard and shield their children from the words, practices, sentiments and temptations of disobedient associates, teach obedience to parental requirements, keep their own spirit in subjection to God's will, and teach righteousness and justice by example as well as precept with no half-hearted work.Ms 151, 1901, par. 47–49 The urgency is that association with unbelievers corrupts and makes sin lose its offensiveness, turning sons away from following God to serve other gods and to sin and dishonor Him, kindling the anger of the Lord to sudden destruction.Ms 151, 1901, par. 47–49

Applied to sacred work, those who are holy and peculiar must be clean, set a consecrated example in word and deportment before children and households, and serve God with fear, love and wholehearted obedience to His commandments and statutes.STB 628.4–629.2 It belongs among the important teachings that should be brought before the people, and it supports rejecting illustrations of heathen shrines in church publications because it requires the destruction of objects and places used in idolatrous worship.Lt 259, 1902, par. 3–5