the hornet
Deuteronomy 7:20
7:20 the hornet. See note on Joshua 24:12.
7:25 burn with fire. The burning of the image may seem extreme at first, especially in view of the intrinsic value of the gold or other materials used in making the image. But it must be remembered that the worship of idols actually involved demon-worship (I Corinthians 10:19,20), and the apparently lifeless image might well be “possessed” by a very real demonic spirit. This may be relevant today to the careless purchase of pagan religious objects as travel souvenirs, which are actually replicas of objects of pagan worship in pantheistic religions.
7:26 abomination. The Bible often applies the term “abomination” to idols or idolatry. If such artifacts are kept in one’s house, even merely as a decoration, God warns that those in the house could be “snared therein” and even become “a cursed thing like it.”
8:3 suffered thee to hunger. God may on occasion cause His people to go through a period of material deprivation, in order to provide them a greater spiritual blessing, especially the exhilarating experience of seeing His providential supply, day after day, of their needs.
8:3 doth man live. This is the great passage quoted by Christ during His own temptation (Matthew 4:4), indicating the supreme importance of not just the concepts but the very words of God, providing also a strong proof of verbal inerrancy of the Scriptures.
8:4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee. This was another of the Lord’s miraculous providences for His people in the wilderness. Deuteronomy 29:5 adds that “thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.”