Deuteronomy 7-8: Israel were to be distinct from Gentiles, not isolated from them

God chose the people of Israel as His primary representatives and He wanted them to remain pure and distinct from the Gentiles but He did not call the children of Israel to isolate themselves from the Gentiles.
The Gentile nations, for the most part, are have always been obsessed with anger, depression and death. God reveals His will even to the Gentiles where there’s rampant rebellion against it.

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Thought questions answered in the recorded discussion

What is the book of Deuteronomy all about?
- What happens when you submit yourselves to God’s commands, statutes and judgments?
- What should be between your eyes, on your hand and on your doorposts? (Deut. 6:8-9)
- What are God’s holy days, the “feasts of the LORD” (Lev. 23:39), to us?
  - Why are they called “testimonies”?
- What is a “commandment”?
  - How is it different from the “statutes” and “judgments”?
- Can we become righteous (people whose “conduct is morally right and justifiable” —Oxford American Dictionary) by following them?
How many nations did God want Israel to displace in the Promised Land? (Deut. 7:1)
- How many times has a trial, handicap or external force stopped you from doing God’s will because you were weaker than the obstacle?
  - What will God do about the obstacles?
  - Did God ever remove people from trials or tough times?
  - If not, what did those people do during those trials?
- Looking at Deut. 7:2, is God against interracial marriage?
- Why was God against intermarriage between Israel and the nations in and around the Promised Land? (Deut. 7:4)
- If God wanted Israel to be a light to the nations, how does this intermingling with surrounding nations have to do with the continuation of that light?
Why did God want Israel to burn the idols, the images of the foreign god-powers?
- How many times today do we put an “idol” in front of ourselves?
- Can leaders of nations or a church be an idol to us?
- How do idols affect our vision of the statutes, judgments and commandments, i.e., our view of God?
Does the Bible teach “once saved, always saved”?
- How is God going to confront those who “hate” Him, according to Deut. 7:10?
- How can we avoid this?
According to James 1:23-27, how do we know our spiritual condition day by day?
What happens when we do something against God’s statutes, judgments and commands intentionally?
- What happens to your heart when you do so?
  - What is God trying to do with your heart of stone? (Ezek. 36:26-27)
- Is the glimmer of awareness God gives all of us of His will at the same time there is rampant rebellion against it these days related to the prevalent obsession with anger, depression and death?
- Why in Deut. 7:20 is the “hornet” connected to the nations in the Promised Land becoming afraid of Israel?
  - What was Israel carrying out in driving out the nations of the land?
- What are the “weightier matters” of the Torah? (Matt. 23:23)
  - Why should we be careful to observe, to do, every command from God? (Deut. 8:1)
  - Why does God lead us through trials, as Israel faced hunger in the wilderness for 40 years?
    - How much food did the manna (God’s “daily bread” during Israel’s wilderness exile; see Ex. 16) provide each person?
    - Why did Israel receive the manna, according to Deut. 8:3?
      - Will God test us?
      - What won’t we know otherwise? (James 1)
  - How do we forget God in the midst of His blessings, as Moshe (Moses) cautions in Deut. 8:12-14?
    - How did Abraham respond to his wealth and comfort?
In your private life, what “judgments” has God given you to carry out?
- What happens when we say, as Frank Sinatra sang, “I did it my way!”?
Why is it important to listen to the words of Moshe?
- What relationship did Moshe have with God?
Has God ever spoken to other nations or peoples? (Deut. 8:20 & Rom. 2:13-15)