Deuteronomy9

Deuteronomy 9 warns Israel not to attribute their success in possessing the land to their own righteousness, but rather to God's power and the wickedness of the nations they displace. Moses reminds them of their persistent rebellion throughout their wilderness journey, particularly the incident of the golden calf at Horeb. He recounts his fervent intercession that saved them from divine wrath, emphasizing their "stiffnecked" nature.

Israel Will Conquer, Not by Merit

1
Hear, Israel! You are to pass over the Jordan this day, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the sky, ​
2
a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard say, “Who can stand before the sons of Anak?” ​
3
Know therefore this day, that the LORD your God is he who goes over before you as a devouring fire. He will destroy them, and he will bring them down before you. So you shall drive them out, and make them perish quickly, as the LORD has spoken to you. ​
4
Don’t say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out from before you, saying, “For my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land”; because the LORD drives them out before you because of the wickedness of these nations. ​
5
Not for your righteousness, or for the uprightness of your heart, do you go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. ​
6
Know therefore, that the LORD your God doesn’t give you this good land to possess for your righteousness; for you are a stiff-necked people. ​

Remember Israel’s History of Rebellion

7
Remember, and don’t forget, how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you left the land of Egypt, until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD. ​

The Sin of the Golden Calf at Horeb

8
Also in Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was angry with you to destroy you. ​
9
When I had gone up onto the mountain to receive the stone tablets, even the tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. ​
10
The LORD delivered to me the two stone tablets written with the finger of God On them were all the words which the LORD spoke with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.
11
It came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, even the tablets of the covenant.
12
The LORD said to me, “Arise, get down quickly from here; for your people whom you have brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them. They have made a molten image for themselves!” ​
13
Furthermore the LORD spoke to me, saying, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
14
Leave me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under the sky; 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. The two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.
16
I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God. You had made yourselves a molten calf. You had turned aside quickly out of the way which the LORD had commanded you.
17
I took hold of the two tablets, and threw them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes. ​
18
I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. ​
19
For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the LORD was angry against you to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me that time also.
20
The LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. ​
21
I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burnt it with fire, and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. I threw its dust into the brook that descended out of the mountain.

Continued Rebellion in the Wilderness

22
At Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth Hattaavah, you provoked the LORD to wrath. ​
23
When the LORD sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, “Go up and possess the land which I have given you,” you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and you didn’t believe him, nor listen to his voice. ​
24
You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you.

Moses' Intercession for the Nation

25
So I fell down before the LORD the forty days and forty nights that I fell down, because the LORD had said he would destroy you. ​
26
I prayed to the LORD, and said, “Lord GOD, don’t destroy your people and your inheritance, that you have redeemed through your greatness, that you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
27
Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Don’t look at the stubbornness of this people, nor at their wickedness, nor at their sin, ​
28
lest the land you brought us out from say, ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’ ​
29
Yet they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.” ​

Study Notes for Deuteronomy 9

Verse 1

Moses assures Israel of victory despite the overwhelming strength of the Canaanite nations. The phrase 'fenced up to heaven' emphasizes the seemingly insurmountable obstacles that only divine power can overcome.

Verse 2

The Anakims were a race of giants whose presence terrified the spies at Kadesh-barnea (Num 13:33). Moses reminds the people that even the most feared enemies are powerless before the LORD.

Verse 3

God is described as a 'consuming fire' (cf. Deut 4:24), emphasizing His holiness and the certainty of His promised destruction of the wicked inhabitants of the land.

Verse 4

This verse preempts the possibility of national pride. The conquest is explicitly attributed to God’s judgment of the Canaanites, not Israel’s supposed moral superiority.

Verse 5

The conquest is driven by two theological principles: the judgment of the present wickedness of the nations and the faithfulness of God to the covenant sworn to the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).

Verse 6

The epithet 'stiffnecked' refers to stubbornness or rebellion, metaphorically suggesting an ox that refuses to submit to the yoke. This confirms that Israel’s possession of the land is purely an act of divine grace.

Verse 7

Moses shifts from future conquest to past history, providing concrete evidence that Israel is indeed 'stiffnecked.' The wilderness experience was characterized by continuous provocation of God's wrath.

Verse 8

Horeb (Mount Sinai) was the location where the covenant was established. To rebel immediately after receiving the Law signifies a profound and grievous breach of faith.

Verse 9

Moses' 40-day fast was a period of intense communion with God while receiving the Law, highlighting the contrast between his devotion and the people's quick descent into idolatry below.

Verse 12

The phrase 'thy people which thou hast brought forth' is God distancing Himself from the rebellious nation, speaking to Moses as the immediate leader. They had quickly 'corrupted themselves' by making the molten calf.

Verse 14

God's offer to destroy Israel and make a new nation through Moses tests Moses' character and commitment. His subsequent intercession proves his faithfulness as a mediator.

Verse 17

Moses breaking the tablets was a symbolic act demonstrating that the covenant, which those tablets represented, had already been shattered by Israel's idolatry (Exod 32:19).

Verse 18

This second 40-day fast was an act of desperate intercession on behalf of the people. This demonstrates Moses’ essential mediatorial role between a righteous God and a sinful people.

Verse 20

Aaron, despite being the high priest, was complicit in the creation of the calf (Exod 32:4). His life was spared only through Moses’ fervent prayer, underscoring the severity and breadth of the sin.

Verse 22

Moses lists three specific locations where Israel rebelled: Taberah (complaining, Num 11), Massah (testing God, Exod 17), and Kibrothhattaavah (craving meat, Num 11). This proves their continual rebellion.

Verse 23

The refusal to enter the land at Kadesh-barnea (Num 14) was the climactic act of faithlessness, directly rebelling against the clear command of God and resulting in the 40-year delay in the wilderness.

Verse 25

This verse reiterates Moses’ persistent intercession (first mentioned in v. 18). The repetition emphasizes the intensity and length of the prayer required to turn away God’s destructive anger.

Verse 27

Moses’ prayer appeals not to the people’s merit but to God's loyalty to the unconditional covenant promises made to the forefathers (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). This is the foundation of the plea.

Verse 28

Moses strategically appeals to God's reputation among the nations. If God destroyed Israel, the Egyptians would interpret it as divine weakness or hatred, potentially dishonoring the LORD’s great name.

Verse 29

The final affirmation reminds God that Israel, despite their failings, remains 'thy people and thine inheritance,' redeemed by the visible demonstration of God's power in the Exodus.

Use ← → arrow keys to navigate
Settings

Reading Style

Typeface

Font Size 19px

Reading Width 45 chars

Options