DEUTERONOMY LESSON 11
We will begin this lesson in Deuteronomy 9:1 "Hear, O Israel:
Thou [art] to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations
greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to
heaven,"
Moses continues to bring before them the fact that they are led
of God. They must listen carefully and obey. "This Day" means in the
very near future. The people in the lands they are about to possess
are not weak in the physical sense. In fact, they are very strong
physically. God is removing them, because of the magnitude of the
sins in their lives. They are idolatrous, which God will not permit.
They do have strong world fortifications, but none of this can stop
God.
Deuteronomy 9:2 "A people great and tall, the children of the
Anakims, whom thou knowest, and [of whom] thou hast heard [say], Who
can stand before the children of Anak!"
They were much larger people than the Israelites. Just as this
was no problem with Og, it will be no problem here. Instead of saying,
"who can stand before the sons of Anak", they should say, "who can
stand before God". There is no power on earth strong enough to
withstand God.
Deuteronomy 9:3 "Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy
God [is] he which goeth over before thee; [as] a consuming fire he
shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so
shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath
said unto thee."
The Israelites must not hesitate to go into the land, but they
must not depend on their own strength to defeat these people. God will
go before them. He is their strength. Psalms 140:7 "O GOD the Lord,
the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of
battle." The Scripture that helps me, when I feel I cannot go on is
the following. Isaiah 12:2 "Behold, God [is] my salvation; I will
trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH [is] my strength and
[my] song; he also is become my salvation."
Deuteronomy 9:4 "Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the
LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my
righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but
for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from
before thee."
It is not the righteousness of Israel that causes God to do this
for them, but the wickedness of their enemies. God loves Israel, and
wants them to return that love in obedience to Him. They are not
perfect, just loved.
Deuteronomy 9:5 "Not for thy righteousness, or for the
uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but
for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them
out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD
sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
Abraham was counted righteous, because of his great faith. The
blessings that were coming upon Israel were because of the promises
God had made to Abraham, and in turn to Isaac, and Jacob. The lack of
faith is the very thing that caused the Israelite fathers not to enter
the promised land, but wander 40 years. Now, this generation has a
chance to enter, if they have enough faith.
Deuteronomy 9:6 "Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God
giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness;
for thou [art] a stiffnecked people."
"Stiffnecked" means obstinate, rebellious, stubborn. Moses would
have them understand their righteousness is not what got them the
land. They receive the land on faith, because of their ancestor
Abraham. God is keeping His promise to Abraham.
Deuteronomy 9:7 "Remember, [and] forget not, how thou provokedst
the LORD thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou
didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place,
ye have been rebellious against the LORD."
They had been a people who were never satisfied. They had
murmured against God, Moses, and Aaron. They had made the golden calf.
They had sinned with false gods. They were a people who did not want
to be ruled of God. Over and over, the LORD had been angered by their
sins.
Deuteronomy 9:8 "Also in Horeb ye provoked the LORD to wrath, so
that the LORD was angry with you to have destroyed you."
I suppose their very worst sin had been when they made the golden
calf and worshipped it, while Moses was gone up the mountain to
receive the two tables of stone with the ten commandments graven in
them. They were without excuse, because God had spoken the ten
commandments from the fire on the mountain, and they had all heard.
They, also, had agreed to keep the commandments of God. The LORD would
have destroyed them all, had not Moses begged for their lives.
Deuteronomy 9:9 "When I was gone up into the mount to receive the
tables of stone, [even] the tables of the covenant which the LORD made
with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I
neither did eat bread nor drink water:"
Moses had fasted for forty days and nights, while on the mountain
top with God. He had been in the near presence of God. His head shone
so brightly, when he came down the mountain, that he had to wear a
veil to keep from blinding the people.
Deuteronomy 9:10 "And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of
stone written with the finger of God; and on them [was written]
according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount
out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly."
The main thing we must see in this, is that the fiery finger of
God wrote the commandments on the stones. This was the first set of
stones God prepared for Moses to bring and present to the people.
These were the same commandments God had spoken to them at the mount.
Deuteronomy 9:11 "And it came to pass at the end of forty days
and forty nights, [that] the LORD gave me the two tables of stone,
[even] the tables of the covenant."
Moses stayed on the mountain, until the LORD told him to go. We
see total obedience on the part of Moses. The tables of stone with the
ten commandments are given to Moses.
Deuteronomy 9:12 "And the LORD said unto me, Arise, get thee down
quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out
of Egypt have corrupted [themselves]; they are quickly turned aside
out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten
image."
We see they had quickly forgotten the ten commandments, God had
spoken to them. Not only had God forbidden them to make a golden
image, but He had forbidden worship of it, too. It had been just a
short time since they had heard the voice of God, and yet they have
turned to idols.
Deuteronomy 9:13 "Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I
have seen this people, and, behold, it [is] a stiffnecked people:"
They are a people who want to do what pleases themselves. They do
not want to obey anyone. They have rebelled against God.
Deuteronomy 9:14 "Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot
out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation
mightier and greater than they."
The LORD, at this point in time, wants to destroy them all, and
start all over with Moses. He is already grieved that He chose them to
be His people. Moses actually pleads with God for their lives. God
does not destroy them, because of Moses' request.
Deuteronomy 9:15 "So I turned and came down from the mount, and
the mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant [were]
in my two hands."
God remained on the mount. He was present in the fire on the
mount. Moses came down the mountain alone with the two tables
containing the ten commandments.
Deuteronomy 9:16 "And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned
against the LORD your God, [and] had made you a molten calf: ye had
turned aside quickly out of the way which the LORD had commanded you."
Actually, they had convinced Aaron to make the golden calf. They
had so quickly turned aside to this golden calf to worship. They
wanted something they could see with their physical eyes. God is a
Spirit. The true God is Creator of all the world. He cannot be seen
with physical eyes.
Deuteronomy 9:17 "And I took the two tables, and cast them out of
my two hands, and brake them before your eyes."
When Moses threw the stones to the ground and broke them, it
showed that their agreement with God had been broken by them. They had
turned from the One True God to the worship of an image.
Deuteronomy 9:18 "And I fell down before the LORD, as at the
first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink
water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in
the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger."
Moses went back up on the mountain where the presence of God was.
He stayed on the mountain another 40 days and 40 nights, without
eating, or drinking water. They had provoked God to anger, and Moses
interceded for them.
Deuteronomy 9:19 "For I was afraid of the anger and hot
displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you.
But the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also."
The LORD spared them, because of Moses' prayers for them.
Deuteronomy 9:20 "And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have
destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time."
The mention of God being extremely angry with Aaron is not
mentioned in Exodus, but we can surely see why God would have been
angry with him. Perhaps, this is mentioned here, to show that even the
highest official in the church can, also, anger God. Just because a
person is a pastor of a church, does not exempt him from the penalty
for sin.
Deuteronomy 9:21 "And I took your sin, the calf which ye had
made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, [and] ground [it] very
small, [even] until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust
thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount."
The following Scripture tells a little more clearly why Moses
strewed the gold dust from the calf in the brook. Exodus 32:20 "And he
took the calf which they had made, and burnt [it] in the fire, and
ground [it] to powder, and strawed [it] upon the water, and made the
children of Israel drink [of it]." In a sense, they drank of their own
sin.
Deuteronomy 9:22 "And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-
hattaavah, ye provoked the LORD to wrath."
At Taberah, they murmured against God. At Massah, they complained
of lack of water, until God miraculously provided good water for them
to drink. At Kibroth-hattaavah they complained of the manna which fed
them. They were complaining about something all the time. God would
punish them, they would repent and then a short time later, it would
begin again.
Deuteronomy 9:23 "Likewise when the LORD sent you from Kadesh-
barnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you;
then ye rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and ye
believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice."
This is speaking of the twelve spies who went for forty days into
the promised land, to see if they could take it. God did not tell them
to question whether they could take it, or not. He told them to take
it. Only two spies, Joshua and Caleb, came back with a good report.
The others convinced the people not to go in. They were punished by
wandering in the wilderness, until the doubters died.
Deuteronomy 9:24 "Ye have been rebellious against the LORD from
the day that I knew you."
Moses had trouble with them, even before they left Egypt. They
had complained the entire 40 years. Moses is trying to make them
realize, they have not been acting in faith toward God.
Deuteronomy 9:25 "Thus I fell down before the LORD forty days and
forty nights, as I fell down [at the first]; because the LORD had said
he would destroy you."
This 40 days was in addition to the first 40 days. This time
Moses has to prepare the stones himself for God to write on. He is
pleading with God for their lives.
Deuteronomy 9:26 "I prayed therefore unto the LORD, and said, O
Lord GOD, destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou
hast redeemed through thy greatness, which thou hast brought forth out
of Egypt with a mighty hand."
Moses reminds God that He chose these people. These are the
people of the inheritance. God miraculously freed them from Egypt,
Himself. He destroyed Pharaoh's army for them. He must not give up on
them now.
Deuteronomy 9:27 "Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their
wickedness, nor to their sin:"
Moses reminds God of His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
He is saying, "Do this because you promised them, not because of these
stubborn people. They were a wicked, sinful, stubborn people. God had
delivered them from the clutches of Egypt. Now, He is having
difficulty getting Egypt out of them. They had lived in a heathen
nation. They had picked up many of the ways of the world. God does not
destroy them for Abraham's sake.
Deuteronomy 9:28 "Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out
say, Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which
he promised them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out
to slay them in the wilderness."
All of the people in the lands around them knew that God was with
this people. They knew of the ten plagues that freed them from Egypt.
They knew that God had parted the Red Sea for them to cross. They knew
God destroyed Pharaoh's army for these people. They were aware that
God was leading them with a fire by night, and a smoke by day. If He
destroys then now, it will appear God is lacking in power. Moses has
made a good point.
Deuteronomy 9:29 "Yet they [are] thy people and thine
inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy mighty power and by thy
stretched out arm."
The best statement of all is, perhaps, the fact that they are
God's people. He has chosen them. As bad as they are, they are His.
They do not deserve to be saved. God saved them in spite of that fact.
It sounds familiar doesn't it. We do not deserve to be saved either.
God saves, us because He loves us, not because we deserve it.
Deuteronomy 11 Questions
1. What does "this day", in verse 1, mean?
2. What kind of people will Israel face?
3. Why is God moving these people out for Israel?
4. Their cities were said to be fenced up to _________.
5. These people were tall like the ____________.
6. Instead of saying "Who can stand before the sons of Anak" they
should say what?
7. How will God destroy their enemies?
8. Quote Psalms chapter 140 verse 7.
9. Quote Isaiah chapter 12 verse 2.
10. It is not the righteousness of Israel, but the __________ of their
enemies that causes God to drive them out.
11. Who had God given His Word to about this land?
12. Abraham was counted righteous, because of his ________ ________.
13. What had caused the Israelite fathers not to go into the promised
land?
14. What does "stiffnecked" mean?
15. God is keeping His promise to ___________.
16. What terrible thing had they done at Horeb?
17. Why were they without excuse?
18. The LORD would have destroyed them all, had not ________ begged
for their lives.
19. How long did Moses fast on the mountain?
20. How were the tables of stone written?
21. Why did God tell Moses to get down quickly to the people?
22. What did God want to do, when He saw the golden calf?
23. What did Moses find, when he came down the mount?
24. What reaction did Moses have?
25. Where did Moses go then?
26. The LORD spared the people, because of Moses' ___________ for
them.
27. How did God feel toward Aaron?
28. Why did He not kill Aaron?
29. Quote Exodus chapter 32 verse 20.
30. What had happened at Taberah?
31. What had happened at Massah?
32. What had happened at Kibroth-hattaavah?
33. What had they done wrong at Kadesh-barnea?
34. Who were the only two spies, who came back with a good report?
35. When had Moses started having trouble with the people of Israel?
36. What was different about the ten commandments on the tables of
stone, the second time Moses got them?
37. Who did Moses tell God to remember?
38. What would the nations around think, if God killed the Israelites?
39. Who do these people really belong to?
40. How are we, Christians, like the Israelites?
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