My daughter has been reading through the Bible from beginning to end. She’s currently in the Book of Joshua. Each night when I ask for her thoughts on what she read that day, she’ll reply, “Wow. Joshua killed a lot of people.” 

Deuteronomy 7:2 is about as far as you can get in the differences between us and them. In this verse, God tells the people of Israel, “And when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy” (NIV). Deuteronomy 7 is like horrible-tasting medicine. You don’t want to take it and it makes you go “blech.” Most Christians would just push that “Hide Notifications” button on Deuteronomy 7 if they could.

There’s no way to fully break this down in 600 words. However, we can urge you to read, study, think, scrutinize this passage until you think you got a handle on it. Don’t let this be a Scripture that you run from. Wrestle with it for yourself. Do your research. Don’t just accept what your friends think about it. 

Facts aren’t digs—and so we look at the facts. The people of Israel were given the Promised Land. The people of Israel were to be different from the rest of the world. They were to be holy and set apart from the culture around them. The Canaanites living in the land aren’t exactly living their best lives right now. False gods and idolatry are running rampant. Religious prostitution is an act of worship. Parents are sacrificing their babies in the fire to Molech. A land is filled with sexual sin—which is why in Leviticus 18, the people of Israel are told, “Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled” (Leviticus 18:24, NIV). Facts again. God takes sin very seriously. It is not a slap on the hand. It is not a plaything. It causes very real consequences in the hearts of the person, in the family, in the community, in the society and culture, in the land. 

God warns the people of Israel; no treaties with them, no intermarriage with them. Allowing the wickedness to linger in the land would be to leave the cancerous tumor in the body. Like leaving a full bottle out on the counter in the home of an alcoholic. Like a Playboy subscription that comes to the mailbox of the porn-burdened. It’s a constant threat, a constant temptation. 

How do we live in culture and not take part of it? Romans 12:2a (NIV) gives us a command, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world …” The verse in Romans commands us to not be conformed, not to be shaped by the wicked culture we see around us. We are to stand firm amid the wicked culture. We are to live differently. We must acknowledge that there are things accepted in our culture that, as Jesus-followers, we must abhor. 

Israel was commanded to “destroy them totally.” Israel didn’t do it. Israel made treaties. Israel gave their daughters in marriage to Canaanite sons. Israel grew apathetic and let the people stay in the land. Israel conformed to the pattern of their world. And because of that, we get the Books of 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles and all the Prophets of the Old Testament. Check out those books to see what happens.

Dig Deeper:

Where is the line between tolerating the culture and being completely free from it? Do you think that this “line” can be drawn for the whole Church or must be drawn on an individual believer’s level? 

• May 1: Ephesians 4:2
• May 2: Galatians 6:1-2
• May 3: Romans 2:3-4
• May 4: Romans 15:1
• May 5: Colossians 3:12-13
• May 6: 1 Peter 2:9
• May 7: John 17:15
• May 8: John 15:19
• May 9: Galatians 2:20
• May 10: 2 Corinthians 6:14-16
• May 11: 2 Corinthians 6:17-18
• May 12: 2 Corinthians 7:1
• May 13: Romans 13:14
• May 14: Colossians 3:10
• May 15: Galatians 5:16
• May 16: 2 Timothy 2:21
• May 17: Deuteronomy 14:2
• May 18: Psalm 119:9
• May 19: Psalm 4:3
• May 20: 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
• May 21: Colossians 4:5
• May 22: 1 Peter 1:15-16
• May 23: Jeremiah 1:5
• May 24: Leviticus 20:26
• May 25: 1 Peter 3:15
• May 26: 1 John 2:15
• May 27: Romans 6:6
• May 28: Hebrews 12:14
• May 29: Leviticus 19:2
• May 30: John 1:12-13
• May 31: Revelation 18:4