In the story of Abraham, God led him from
the land of Ur to Haran and subsequently to Canaan. Abraham just obeyed God and
followed His instructions. God gave
three promises : 1. I will bless those
who bless you and curse those who curse you 2.
Your descendants will occupy Israel.
3. You will have a son. At that time, Abraham and his wife Sarah were
very old, and he wondered how he was going to have a child. Later Abraham and Sarah bore Isaac, Isaac had
Jacob and Jacob had 12 sons. One of his
sons, Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt.
He served in the royal household and became powerful. There was a great famine in Canaan, and
Joseph invited his family to move to Egypt. This was where the story of the
Israelites being enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. Later they were led by Moses out of Egypt to
wonder in the desert for 40 years where God taught the
Israelites.
The secrets of victory and success
There are three principles.
Principle
1 – Destroy the enemies totally and remove all
idols.
The Israelites are to destroy all
inhabitants of Canaan and break down all their altars and idols.
Deut. 7:1-2, 5-10, 16-26
(73% of Chapter 7 is devoted to Principle
1)
There are two reasons for the total
destruction of the Canaan inhabitants:
a)
God’s righteous judgment
against the wickedness of Canaan inhabitants.
b)
Preparation of the spiritual
setting for the coming of the Messiah.
Applications
for Christians
(a)
Destroy the enemy-- sins in our
life.
(b)
Remove all the idols– things in
our life that take the place of God.
Principle
2 – Do not be mismatched with unbelievers.
“Do not intermarry with them (Canaan
people). Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for
your sons” Deu 7:3
Reason: “for they (Canaan people) will turn
your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger
will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.” (Deut. 7:4)
Principle
3 – Diligently obey the word of God.
Therefore, take care to follow the
commands, decrees and laws I give you today.
If you pay attention to these laws and are
careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love
with you, as he swore to your ancestors.
(Deut. 7:11-12)
3-Fold
Blessing from the Lord
1.
Materials blessing
God will bless the crops of your land—your
grain, new wine and olive oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your
flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors .
(Deut. 7:13b)
2.
Physical Blessing
The Lord will keep you free from every
disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt,
but he will inflict them on all who hate you.
(Deut. 7:15)
3.
Familial Blessing
He will … increase your number. He will
bless the fruit of your womb… You will
be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be
childless…
(Deut. 7:13 & 14)
Summary
Principle
1 — Destroy the enemy totally and remove all the idols
Principle
3 — Diligently obey the Word of God
(a)
Material Blessing
(b) Physical Blessing
(b) Physical Blessing
(c)
Familial Blessing
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