Deuteronomy was written just a few weeks before Joshua would lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land. In the book, Moses reminded the people about God’s laws and expectations. As he spoke about conquering the land, he reminded them that they were to destroy all the people of the land because of their wickedness (De 9:4-5). Once the inhabitants of the land learned that Israel would destroy them, many of them would hide in caves and other secret hiding places. This would present a problem for Israel, but not for God. God would drive them from their hiding places with hornets. (Read Deu 7:20).

This unusual promise from God is full of information about our great God that in a casual reading we often miss.

Transition

This evening, I want to show you three helpful principles we can learn about our great God from this verse.

Our great God is the Sovereign of the Universe.

  1. He is the LORD
    1. We remember that when LORD is in all capital letters in the KJV that it represents God’s Hebrew name Jehovah.
    2. Jehovah is the only eternal and self-existent being.
      1. He is the I AM. (Exodus 3:14) And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
      2. He is the Creator of all. (Genesis 2:4) These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
      3. He is the Preserver of all. (Nehemiah 9:6) Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.
  2. He is the LORD of all nature
    1. All nature bows to the command of God. God created the laws of nature and He can overrule them whenever He chooses.
    2. The Bible is full of examples of God overruling nature.
      1. During Noah’s flood, God opened the fountains and the heavens. (Genesis 7:11) In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
      2. During the 10 Plagues, God changed water to blood, controlled the frogs, lice, flies, sickness, hail, locusts, darkness and took the life of the firstborn.
      3. God parted the Red Sea for Israel to cross. (Exodus 14:21) And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
      4. During 40 years in the wilderness God led by fire and cloud, fed with manna, gave water from a rock, caused the earth to open to swallow rebels, sent snakes to bite complainers, and caused a donkey to talk.
      5. In Elijah’s day, God stopped the rain for 3 years, sent fire from heaven, and brought a great rain in answer to prayer.
      6. During Elisha’s ministry, God caused oil to multiply, leprosy to depart, and an iron axe head to float.
      7. When Jonah fled from God, the LORD sent a great storm and a huge fish to swallow Jonah yet keep him alive.
      8. In the book of Daniel, God revealed dreams, protected men from fire, and closed the mouths of lions.
      9. During Jesus’ ministry, He healed all manner of ailments, raised the dead, and walked on water.
    3. Truly, our God is the LORD of all nature. Here in Deuteronomy 7:20, He sent hornets on a mission to chase hiders out of their hiding places.
    4. Since the LORD is the Sovereign of the universe, He is always in control of every situation. Sometimes He allows bad to take place, but even then, He will use it for our good and He is still in control.

Our great God always sees hiders.

  1. God knew that the Canaanites would hide
    1. They feared for their lives and tried to hide.
    2. The mountains and hills of Israel were full of dens, caves and secret strong holds where people could hide. We know this from the story of Lot, from the book of Joshua, from the book of Judges, from David’s hiding from Saul, and from several other Bible references.
    3. It is our human nature to try to hide when we have done wrong.
      1. You may hide a secret sin from your parents or your spouse. You may try to do forbidden things in secret. You may think that the thoughts of your mind are your personal secret.
      2. The truth is, we may hide things from people but we can never hide anything from God.
      3. (Jeremiah 23:24) Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
      4. (Psalms 44:21) Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
      5. (Psalm 139:11) If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. (12) Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
      6. (Hebrews 4:13) Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
    4. If you think you are hiding some secret sin, you are only fooling yourself. God knows all about it.
  2. God used hornets to bring out the hiders
    1. Isn’t that amazing? God knew where the Canaanites were hiding and He just spoke to the hornets and said, “Go get them!” They flew into the dens, caves, and secret hiding places and drove them out.
    2. God is in control of all nature. He can use any creature or substance to do His will. When His children do wrong, He will always chasten them (Pr 3:11-12).
    3. If you are trying to hide something from God, it would be far wiser to surrender and confess your guilt to God.

Our great God can to help us through any situation.

  1. Hiding enemies can be a great concern
    1. Perhaps Joshua contemplated the problem they would have if the enemies hid. This is a real problem, even in warfare today.
    2. God promised Israel that He would solve the problem for them by using hornets.
  2. No problem is too difficult for our great God.
    1. We may not be fighting enemies that are hiding in the caves, but each of us has situations that overwhelm us.
    2. Some situations seem like they have no solution. The situation may be a rebellious child or wayward child, an unloving spouse, an unsaved loved one, a financial debt, a lingering illness, a miserable neighbour or an unstable job.
    3. No matter how hopeless our situation may seem, we must remember that nothing is too hard for our great God. He may not solve it as we would, but His solution will be the best in the end.

Conclusion

From this unusual verse, we have found three helpful principles about our great God that can help us tonight. 1) Our great God is the Sovereign of the universe. The elements and creatures of nature are at His command. 2) Our great God always sees hiders. The devil wants us to think that we can hide sin from God, but he is a liar. We can hide nothing from God. 3) Our great God can help us through any situation. He knows our burdens. If we will cast our burden on Him, He will deal with it as He knows is best.

When all looks hopeless, remember the hornets.

Song: There is Power in the Blood – 198
—
Hiders and Hornets
17 April 2016 PM – Deuteronomy 7:20 –Scott Childs