In this chapter, Moses reminds the Israelites that they will
enter a land that is already inhabited…
(Deut. 9:1-2) Hear, O Israel:
you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater
and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, (2) a
people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you
have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’
The people who lived in the land of Canaan were not the
common, everyday man. Many of them were giants, just like the Anakim (Deut.
2:11, 21). Naturally speaking, the Israelites were bound to be killed, since
the Canaanites were much bigger and much more powerful people. Moses reminds
them of this not to make them afraid, but so that they would not forget that it
is God who will help them in their conquest. Although the other people were
stronger and were even giants, the Lord would give them the victory.
(Deut. 9:3) Know therefore
today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the LORD
your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive
them out and make them perish quickly, as the LORD has promised you.
This also applies to us today. Sometimes the trials or the
issues of life seem impossible for us, but if God is for us, who can be against
us? (Romans 8:31).
IT IS NOT FOR YOUR
RIGHTEOUSNESS
Another point that Moses wanted to make clear was that the
Israelites were not getting this land because they “deserved it”, but because
that is what God had decided.
(Deut. 9:4) Do not say in
your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out
before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that
the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is
because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving
them out before you.
The Canaanites were driven out of the Promised Land not
because it was the Israelites turn to live in the land, but because their evil
had reached its worst. If the Canaanites would have left their wicked
traditions and submitted to Yehovah, they probably would have cohabited with
the Israelites, just like Rahab did, the woman who helped the Israelite spies
(Joshua 6:17). But the Canaanites did not see God as their God and they perverted
their ways, so the Land drove them out because of their wickedness.
The Israelites had to understand this so that they would not
think of themselves as superior or “worthy”.
(Deut. 9:5-6) Not because of
your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to
possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations
the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he
may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac,
and to Jacob. (6) “Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not
giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness,
for you are a stubborn people.
This principle also has a clear spiritual application: No
one can earn their salvation through their own merit. Justice alone does not
“give us Heaven”, since “there is no one righteous, not one” (Rom. 3:10).
Salvation is only through the merit of Jesus (Heb. Yeshua), who died on the cross to pay for our sins.
(Titus 3:5-7) he saved us,
not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own
mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, (6)
whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, (7) so
that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope
of eternal life.
(Galatians 2:16) yet we know
that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in
Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be
justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of
the law no one will be justified.
One of the clearest explanations about this subject was
written by Paul in his letter to the Romans:
(Romans 3:20-26) For by works of
the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the
law comes knowledge of sin. (21) But now the righteousness of God has been
manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness
to it—(22) the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who
believe. For there is no distinction: (23) for all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God, (24) and are justified by his grace as a gift,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (25) whom God put forward
as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s
righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former
sins. (26) It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that
he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
In this letter Paul, just like Moses, tells us believers:
“don’t think it is because of your righteousness”.
(Romans 3:27-31) Then what
becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of
works? No, but by the law of faith. (28) For we hold that one is justified
by faith apart from works of the law. (29) Or is God the God of Jews only?
Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, (30) since God
is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through
faith. (31) Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On
the contrary, we uphold the law.
It’s clear that salvation comes through faith and not by our
works; but after being saved, the Lord expects us to obey Him.
(Romans 6:15-18) What then? Are
we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! (16) Do
you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient
slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which
leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? (17) But
thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient
from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, (18)
and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
Salvation comes through faith, so that all the glory goes to
God. Next comes obedience, because when we become God’s children, God expects
us to live like He commands.
(Ephesians 2:8-10) For by grace
you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the
gift of God, (9) not a result of works, so that no one may
boast. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Now back to Deuteronomy… Moses made it clear that the
Israelites would receive the Promised Land, not because they “deserved it” but
because of the grace of God. To make his point more effective, Moses lists
several times in which Israel failed God in the desert…
ISRAEL FAILED IN THE
DESERT
Moses gives Israel a dose of reality: he makes them remember
that they are not perfect, since they failed God in several occasions on their
way through the desert…
(Deut. 9:7) Remember and do
not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the
wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to
this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.
There is a double order in this verse: “remember” and “do
not forget”. They had to keep in mind that they would receive the Promised
Land, not because they deserved it, but because it was God’s will.
What did they have to remember and not forget? Here, Moses
mentions the places where the Israelites provoked the Lord to wrath:
- In Horeb
- In Massah
- In Taberah
- In Kibroth-hattaavah
- In Kadesh-barnea
a. In Horeb (also
known as Mount Sinai)
There the Israelites failed God, making a false image of Him
in the shape of a golden calf…
(Deut. 9:8-12) Even at Horeb
you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry
with you that he was ready to destroy you. (9) When I went up the mountain
to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that
the LORD made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and
forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. (10) And
the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of
God, and on them were all the words that the LORD had spoken with you
on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. (11)
And at the end of forty days and forty nights the LORD gave me the
two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. (12) Then
the LORD said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your
people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have turned
aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have made themselves a
metal image.’
Not even two months had passed since the people had made the
Covenant with God, accepting to obey Him, when they failed God. Thinking that Moses
had died, they made a false image of God in the image of a golden calf, which
violates one of the first commandments that God gave them (Ex. 20:4-5). The
Israelites deserved a punishment for such a sin, and that is what God showed
Moses…
(Deut. 9:13-16) Furthermore,
the LORD said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, it is a
stubborn people. (14) Let me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out
their name from under heaven. And I will make of you a nation mightier and
greater than they.’ (15) So I turned and came down from the mountain, and
the mountain was burning with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in
my two hands. (16) And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against
the LORD your God. You had made yourselves a golden calf. You
had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded
you.
The people failed God, which is why Moses broke the Tables
of the Testimony of the Covenant. Although they deserved it, God forgave them
when they repented.
(Deut. 9:17-19) So I took hold
of the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before
your eyes. (18) Then I lay prostrate before the LORD as before,
forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of
all the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of
the LORD to provoke him to anger. (19) For I was afraid of the
anger and hot displeasure that the LORD bore against you, so that he
was ready to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me that time
also.
Then, Moses mentioned other places where they also failed
God…
(Deut. 9:22) At Taberah
also, and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the LORD to
wrath.
b. In Massah
In this place, the Israelites could not find water to drink.
Instead of asking humbly, they took it against Moses and wished that they had
never left Egypt. The text says that the Israelites “tempted the Lord”, which
can also be translated as “they tested the Lord”; in other words, they didn’t
believe in God.
(Exodus 17:7, NKJV) So he called
the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention
of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, “Is
the Lord among us or not?”
c. In Taberah
Another place where the people complained against God was in
Taberah…
(Numbers 11:1-3) And the people
complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, and
when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of
the LORD burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the
camp. (2) Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to
the LORD, and the fire died down. (3) So the name of that place was
called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burned among them.
Although it doesn’t specifically say the cause for their
complaints, if we read between the lines we can figure out who complained…
The text points out that the punishment fell over “some
outlying parts of the camp”. “Outlying parts” in Hebrew is: Ketse,
which can also be translated as: boarder, boundary, limit, edge. The Israelites
were encamped around the Tabernacle, and the ones who lived on the boarder of
the camp were the foreigners who joined Israel. In the following verses we see
what the foreigners complained about…
(Numbers 11:4-6, NKJV) Now the mixed
multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of
Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to
eat? (5) We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the
cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; (6) but
now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except
this manna before our eyes!”
This complaint tainted the entire people of Israel, and we
will see the consequences in what happened next…
d. In
Kibroth-hattaava
Not only the foreigners, but also the Israelites complained
about the food that God was giving them. Instead of being thankful for
consistently having free food, they began to want other things.
This is the classical example of not being thankful for what
one has. One always wishes to have more, and there is no satisfaction. The lack
of gratitude is equivalent to saying that what God has given us is not enough.
We will not read the entire story because of its length
(Numbers 11:4-35), but we will see the conclusion of what happened there.
(Numbers 11:31-34) Then a wind
from the LORD sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let
them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s
journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the
ground. (32) And the people rose all that day and all night and all the
next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten
homers. And they spread them out for themselves all around the
camp. (33) While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was
consumed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and
the LORD struck down the people with a very great plague. (34)
Therefore the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had the
craving.
*Note: a homer is equivalent to what a person can eat in a
day. They gathered ten times more than that. Without any refrigeration, that
would surely decompose with the heat of the desert. On top of the craving, this
was a sign of greed.
Kibroth is the plural of Kever, which means: tomb or grave
Taavah means: yearning, desire
The Bible translates Kibroth-hattaavah as: “grave of the
greedy”
e. In Kadesh-barnea
Another place Moses Mentioned was Kadesh-barnea, which is on
the south boarder of the Promised Land.
(Deut. 9:23) And when
the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and take
possession of the land that I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the
commandment of the LORD your God and did not believe him or obey his
voice.
Standing at the gates of the Promised Land, the Israelites
did not cross over because they did not believe in God. That generation died in
the desert.
Moses reminded all of this to the New Generation so that
they might see that Israel is neither perfect nor deserves anything. In
reality, the Israelites deserved to be destroyed in the desert because they
rebelled too much against God. However, they were not destroyed because there
was repentance and Moses interceded on their behalf.
(Deut. 9:24-25) You have been
rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you. (25) “So I
lay prostrate before the LORD for these forty days and forty nights,
because the LORD had said he would destroy you.
In the end, God gave Israel the Land because He had promised
he would, not because Israel deserved it.
(Deut. 9:26-29) And I prayed to
the LORD, ‘O Lord GOD, do not destroy your people and your heritage,
whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of
Egypt with a mighty hand. (27) Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. Do not regard the stubbornness of this people, or their wickedness or
their sin, (28) lest the land from which you brought us say, “Because
the LORD was not able to bring them into the land that he promised
them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to put them to death
in the wilderness.” (29) For they are your people and your heritage, whom
you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.’
Moses not only thought about the people of Israel, but also in
the Name of God. His name would be put to shame if His People were destroyed in
the desert. This is a subject that the prophet Isaiah also talked about…
(Isaiah 48:9-11) For my name’s
sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I
may not cut you off. (10) Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have
tried you in the furnace of affliction. (11) For my own sake, for my own sake,
I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to
another.
To end with a cheery on the top, let’s read what Isaiah
wrote a few verses later, which goes hand in hand with the message of the
entire book of Devarim…
(Isaiah 48:17-18) Thus says the LORD,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you
to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. (18) Oh that you had paid
attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and
your righteousness like the waves of the sea
More lessons on
Deuteronomy: DEVARIM (Deut.)
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