Does Deuteronomy 7:7-8 imply that God only loved Israel and not the surrounding nations?

Question

Deuteronomy 7:7-8 NASB

The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Here, Moses talks about the love of God for Israel. Does this passage imply that God did not love other nations and peoples? The surrounding context of this passage talks about God‘s commandment to the Israelites to completely destroy the peoples that were in the land of Canaan. Does that mean that God didn’t love them? I understand the reason why they had to be destroyed, as Moses points that out, but my question is around love because it was brought up in these verses as connected to God’s relationship with Israel.

Answer 1

The אַֽהֲבַת יְהֹוָה “Love of YHVH” in [Deuteronomy 7:8] was for faithful Israelites that were slaves to Egyptians (who worshipped the Egyptian creator ram-god Khnum).

Why would YHVH have loved the Egyptian belief that Khnum a goat-headed god created humanity from clay in the Nile?

Deuteronomy 7:8 - “But because of the Love of YHVH for you, and because He keeps the oath He swore to your forefathers, YHVH took you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.”

The statement in [Deuteronomy 7:8] about the Love of Israel’s devotion to El Shaddai, at a time when Egyptians rejected any other creator of humanity besides the ram-god Khnum. | Context of Passover & the exodus from Egypt.

Answer 2

No. God loves all people, wanting all to turn to Him, as He is the Creator, The Most High Living God of all people.

"29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:" (Rom. 3:29, KJV)

"7 The moment I speak concerning a nation, And concerning a kingdom, To pluck up and to break down, and to destroy, 8 And that nation hath turned from its evil, Because I have spoken against it, Then I have repented of the evil that I thought to do to it." (Jer. 18:7-8, KJV)

The faithful of all nations have always been welcome to God. Remember that Rahab, a Caananite woman, is in Jesus' familial line, as is Ruth the Moabitess.

Jesus reminded the Jews that God had favored those outside of Israel when none in Israel had received any blessings.

"25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;

26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.

27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian." (Luke 4:25-27, KJV)

Remember the Roman centurion in Matt. chap. 8.

"10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 8:10-11, KJV)

Also that Cornelius of the Italian band was called a righteous man before Peter was sent to him (Acts 10:1-22). Those of any nation who feared God and worshiped Him were always acceptable to Him.

God chose the people of Israel for Abraham's sake - the friend of God, who was counted righteous because of his faith - to be a nation of priests as examples to all of the other nations of earth (Ex. 19:5-6). But, when they built a golden calf to worship while Moses was on the mountain, God selected the tribe of Levi as His priests as they chose to stand with God (Ex. 32:26).

Israel was not chosen because of anything they did. They were not better than the nations around them, as they participated in the abomination against the Lord, the practice of pagan idol worship. But, God was choosing them to carry out His plan of salvation for all nations through His Son, Yeshua / Jesus. The gentile nations were always going to be blessed through the nation of Israel because of the promise to Abraham.

That is the blessing foretold by the Feast of Tabernacles, also called the Feast of Nations, and Season of our Joy, where all nations were welcome to tabernacle with God.

"and thy name is no more called Abram, but thy name hath been Abraham, for father of a multitude of nations have I made thee;" (Gen. 17:5, YLT)

"for all the peoples of the earth knowing that Jehovah, He [is] God; there is none else;" (1 Kings 8:60, YLT)

"...or My house, `A house of prayer,' Is called for all the peoples." (Isa. 56:7, YLT)

The plan was always to bring the faithful to God from all the nations of the earth.

Answer 3

God of Abraham told him that his descendants will be enslaved until the time to Punish the wicked is due:

The Lord said to him, “Your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land; they will be slaves there and will be treated cruelly for four hundred years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and when they leave that foreign land, they will take great wealth with them. You yourself will live to a ripe old age, die in peace, and be buried. It will be four generations before your descendants come back here, because I will not drive out the Amorites until they become so wicked that they must be punished.” Genesis 15:13‭-‬16 GNT

there are some verses that also mentioned that the land will puke out it's inhabitants if there are too much wicked deeds done.

Why God loves (or choose Israel) is due to these verses:

Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him. Genesis 15:6 GNT

Maybe there isnt anyone else accepts God invitation, except Abraham? But why God accepts Abraham and not others (nation)?

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the Almighty God. Obey me and always do what is right. Genesis 17:1 GNT

Because Abraham obey and do what's right in the eyes of God Almighty.

Answer 4

God hates the wicked. When it is shown that he commanded their destruction and annihilation then it indeed means that he doesn't love them. When God annihilate the nations of the wicked, it is not merely to cleanse the land for the good people of God, but also to save the innocent ones from themselves from being crushed and persecuted. For example during the during the destruction of the native American tribes, by sending the man of God, Columbus, he saved countless innocent natives from being sacrificed to their gods and all kinds of other evil acts. This shows he avenged the injustice on the other nations as well as they too are his children. However we must remember the ultimate justice is avenged in the afterlife. As not all wicked are destroyed on earth and few innocent receive vengeance or justice.

ESV Deuteronomy 32:39-43: ““‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear, As I live forever, if I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and will repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh— with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the long-haired heads of the enemy.’ “Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people’s land.””

Genesis 15:16: “And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Gotquestions writes on Gen 15:16

One thing Genesis 15:16 shows is the certainty of God’s judgment on the wicked. The Amorites and other Canaanites were exceedingly wicked (for a list of some of their sins, see Leviticus 18). During the time of Moses, God gave the reason for the Canaanites’ downfall: “The land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants” (Leviticus 18:25). God had predicted this all the way back in Abraham’s time. The Amorites were wicked, and Judgment Day was coming.

Ellicot comments,

The conquest of Canaan by Israel was parallel to that of the enervated Roman empire of the West by the Germans; only we see the preparation for it. and God’s purpose explained; and we also see that if the Amorites had not made the scale of justice weigh down heavily, they would not have been deprived of their country.

God did not love the wicked nations but overlooked them until the end times.

This is the verse which states he did not know and love any other nations:

Amos 3:2: ““You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

Acts 17:30: “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,”