God’s Hornet

Deuteronomy 7:20 says, “Moreover the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.”

While fly fishing along the Naches River, I encountered a lot of brush to battle through. Walking along the road, I would find places to get to the water. I had just come out of one of these clearings when hornets started attacking me. I threw down my pole and ran down the road slapping my head—trying to beat them away. They finally left me. I had six bites (more than I got fishing) on my head. I got my pole and went home with a headache the rest of the day.

The term, “mad as a hornet” would suggest that they could have an attitude. Imagine what a hornet sent by God could do. The hornet mentioned in our text is only the clean-up crew. The main attack was to come from the Israelites themselves. 

Today there are those that condemn Israel for attacking their enemies, especially chasing them underground where they are hiding. They don’t see Israel as God’s people. Many of them don’t see God in the equation, nor do they care about God or even believe there is a God. “If there is a God, why would he favor one group of people over another?” they might say.

In Deuteronomy 7 we find some important answers. Beginning in Deuteronomy 5:1, we see that Moses called all the congregation of Israel together to talk to them before they are to enter into the Promised Land. Besides Joshua and Caleb, the oldest of them would have been about 59. Many of them could remember Mt. Sinai and the commandments given. The doubters had died. Deuteronomy 7:6 says, “For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God; The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” That may not seem fair. Why would God choose one person above another? 

The answer lies in our free will that we were created with. Those that choose to obey God, He keeps. Those that choose to disobey, He throws out. The flood was an example.

The Israelites standing at the Jordan were given a fresh start. A new life was ahead of them. In Deuteronomy 7:1, Moses says that, “…the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land.” A few verses back (Deuteronomy 6:23 & 25), Moses says, “…he brought us out…that he might bring us in…” and “…it shall be our righteousness, if we observe and do all these commandments….”

This brought out and bringing in is very much like what God does today when He saves us from sin—brings us out of it, and then brings us in to a Holy walk with Him.

So where do the hornets come in? In Deuteronomy 7:2-5, Israel was commanded to get rid of wickedness in the land, namely the wicked people. They were to show no mercy, not to marry, not to make covenants—but to utterly destroy them. So when God calls us out of sin, into a holy walk, He commands us not to destroy people but the old man. Who is the old man? He is the man we once were when we served sin.

Romans 8:13 states, “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Mortify means to kill. God promised to help the Israelites with hornets (V. 20). This killing must be done through the Spirit. As partners with the Holy Spirit we can go after those wicked deeds. Some are easier to kill than others. We could despair when some deed hides from our effort. Don’t give up. We have on our side God’s Hornet!