Day 170: Not what we deserved – Deuteronomy 9 vs 1 -14
1-2 Listen, O Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land belonging to nations much greater and more powerful than you. They live in cities with walls that reach to the sky! The people are strong and tall - descendants of the famous Anakite giants. You’ve heard the saying, ‘Who can stand up to the Anakites?’ 3 But recognize today that the Lord your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the Lord has promised.
4-5 After the Lord your God has done this for you, don’t say in your hearts, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we are such good people!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way. It’s not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfil the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6-8 You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not - you are a stubborn people. Remember, and never forget, how angry you made the Lord your God out in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until now, you have been constantly rebelling against him. Even at Mount Sinai you made the Lord so angry he was ready to destroy you.
9-12 This happened when I was on the mountain receiving the tablets of stone inscribed with the words of the covenant that the Lord had made with you. I was there for forty days and forty nights, and all that time I ate no food and drank no water. The Lord gave me the two tablets on which God had written with his own finger all the words he had spoken to you from the heart of the fire when you were assembled at the mountain. At the end of the forty days and nights, the Lord handed me the two stone tablets inscribed with the words of the covenant. Then the Lord said to me, “Get up! Go down immediately, for the people you brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted gold and made an idol for themselves!” 13-14 The Lord also said to me, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. Leave me alone so I may destroy them and erase their name from under heaven. Then I will make a mighty nation of your descendants, a nation larger and more powerful than they are.” Deuteronomy 9:1-14 New Living Translation (English Standard Version link)
The last study in Deuteronomy showed the danger of when success and riches go to a persons head and they forget all about God. What is the warning that today's reading gives in vs 4-5?
The danger was that after winning some big battles against the strong nations described in vs 1-2, the people might think it was because they were such good people that God was on their side. They were saying – “we deserved God's blessing because of our goodness”. But what was Moses' reply to that sort of thinking? (vs 6-8)
Having explained that it was because wickedness had reached such a level in the Canaanite nations that God was driving them out, Moses reminded the people of how stubborn and rebellious they were. In vs 9-12 he points out a particular incident which showed that they deserved to be wiped out for their sin just as much as the pagan nations of Canaan. As Christians we also need to remember that God did not save us because of our goodness - but because of His grace. This is how the apostle Paul put it in Titus 3 vs 3-7.
“We also were once foolish and disobedient! We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. But when God our Saviour revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.” We must always keep that in mind so that we don’t become self-righteous in our thinking.