Introduction
‘Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?” But be assured today that the LORD your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the LORD has promised you. After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The LORD has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.’ Deuteronomy 9:1-6
Not Because Of Israel’s Righteousness
Previously, Moses told Israel of their failure to keep the Lord’s command to take possession of Canaan, Deuteronomy 1:21 / Deuteronomy 1:26.
We remember the first time Israel came to Canaan, they sent out 12 spies into the land, but the spies come back with a bad report, speaking about fortified cities and giants in the land, Numbers 13:25-33.
Here, Moses, tells Israel that they now know what to expect but they should also know that if they act in faith and trust God, they will take possession of the land because God has given the land into their hands, Deuteronomy 1:30 / John 15:5.
I guess we could ask, why God gave the land to Israel? Did God give Israel the land because they were so righteous? The answer is certainly not, Ezekiel 36:20-31, they had failed to carry out God’s will a few times and they were certainly guilty of sinning against Him.
Israel didn’t receive the Promised land from God because of their righteousness. God used Israel to drive the Canaanites out because they were wicked people and were heavily involved in idolatry. God gave Canaan to Israel because He had made this promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Genesis 12:1-3 / Galatians 3:16.
Their victory over these wicked Canaanites would stand as a warning to Israel and the surrounding nations, that when a nation gives up on God, God gives up on it, Genesis 15:16. If Israel ever gave up on God, they themselves would be driven from the land as they drove the Canaanites from the land.
Moses is now about to list all the times Israel had sinned against the Lord and notice that Israel are described as a ‘stiff-necked people’, 1 Corinthians 10:12.
The Golden Calf
‘Remember this and never forget how you aroused the anger of the LORD your God in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against the LORD. At Horeb you aroused the LORD’s wrath so that he was angry enough to destroy you. When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water. The LORD gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. On them were all the commandments the LORD proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. At the end of the forty days and forty nights, the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. Then the LORD told me, “Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned away quickly from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves.” And the LORD said to me, “I have seen this people, and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! Let me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.” So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the LORD your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you. So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes. Then once again I fell prostrate before the LORD for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the LORD’s sight and so arousing his anger. I feared the anger and wrath of the LORD, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the LORD listened to me. And the LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too. Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain. You also made the LORD angry at Taberah, at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah. And when the LORD sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, he said, “Go up and take possession of the land I have given you.” But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. You did not trust him or obey him. You have been rebellious against the LORD ever since I have known you. I lay prostrate before the LORD those forty days and forty nights because the LORD had said he would destroy you. I prayed to the LORD and said, “Sovereign LORD, do not destroy your people, your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin. Otherwise, the country from which you brought us will say, ‘Because the LORD was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.’ But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.” Deuteronomy 9:7-29
Israel, the stiff-necked nation, rebelled against God’s will when they left Egypt, Exodus 32:7-29 / Exodus 34:1-4.
Just in case, Israel becomes arrogant in their upcoming conquests, they must remember how easy it was for their fathers to rebel at Mount Sinai, that is, Horeb, in making the golden calf, Exodus 32-33.
God, their Father, had redeemed them from Egypt and sustained them in the desert, but they were ungrateful and sinned against the Lord.
Moses had heard the noise but hadn’t seen anything while upon Sinai receiving the law written on tablets of stone but as He approaches the camp and sees the chaos and molten calf, he is horrified.
Here, Moses, reminds this current generation that God had clearly told Israel not to make or worship any graven images, but yet, these stiff-necked people did it anyway, Exodus 20:4 / Exodus 20:22-23 / Deuteronomy 4:12-16. They violated God’s law, which was sinful, 1 John 3:4.
Horrified at the sight of Israel’s sin, Moses throws the two tablets of stone on the ground, which results in them being broken to pieces before the people and then he falls on his face in mourning.
When Moses broke the tablets of stone because of the sin of the people, it was a symbol of breaking the covenant between God and Israel.
The ten commandments written on the stone tablets were the conditions for the covenant. The covenant was thus broken when the conditions were broken by the people who sinned by reverting to the false gods of Egypt, Exodus 32:19.
Moses became really frightened of the anger and displeasure of the Lord, seeing that the people had sinned by making the calf and so, Moses, the prophet of God, quickly takes the image, burns it with fire, grinds it into small pieces as fine as dust, and throws the dust into the brook.
Because God was going to destroy His people, Moses’ only hope to save Israel and Aaron, Exodus 32, was to pray to God and ask Him not to do so.
Because Israel sinned at Mount Sinai, God was willing to start a new nation from the seed of Moses, however, this plea to Moses by the people to intercede for Israel was answered by Moses as he pled for their forgiveness.
Moses’ intercession focused on an appeal to God’s love and mercy, and His faithfulness to keep His promise to Abraham, Genesis 12:1-3.
If His promise weren’t kept, the Egyptians would mock the supposed ‘false god’ of the Israelites who led them into the wilderness to die. We must remember that God was willing to carry out His threat.
After leaving Sinai, Israel sinned again at Taberah, when they complained against the Lord about the hardship they were going through, Numbers 11:1-3.
They also sinned at Massah when they became thirsty, it was there, they put the Lord to the test, they wondered if God was amongst them or not, Exodus 17:7.
Rather than praying to God about it, they complained and blamed God for their misery. When they were about to stone Moses to death, God intervened and gave them water from a rock, Exodus 17:1-7.
Israel also sinned at Kibroth Hattaavah when they weren’t happy just eating manna, they wanted some meat to eat, Numbers 11:4. God satisfied their ungratefulness by causing a great multitude of quail to fly into the camp, Numbers 11:18-20.
Israel begin gathering the meat, cooking, and eating it, but while the meat was chewed in their mouths, God killed many with a great plague and the people were buried at Kibroth Hattaavah, which means ‘graves of cravings’, Numbers 11:33-34.
Israel also sinned at Kadesh-Barnea, when they refused to take possession of the land of Canaan as the Lord had commanded, Numbers 13:25-14:1-45.
It was after this sin, that the Lord had determined to wipe Israel from the face of the earth because of their wicked and rebellious behaviour.
We can almost feel how disappointed God was when He says, ‘you have been rebellious against the LORD ever since I have known you.’ John 16:9 / Hebrews 3:1-4:10.
Oberst, in his commentary, points out the following descriptions concerning Israel.
1. Stiff-necked, Deuteronomy 9:6 / Deuteronomy 9:13
2. Rebellious, Deuteronomy 9:7 / Deuteronomy 9:23-24
3. Corrupted themselves, Deuteronomy 9:12
4. Provoked Jehovah to wrath, Deuteronomy 9:7-8 / Deuteronomy 9:22
5. Believed not God, Deuteronomy 9:23
6. ‘Sinned’ and ‘were evil,’ Deuteronomy 9:18
7. Quickly turned aside, Deuteronomy 9:12
It’s then that Moses falls down before the Lord God and prays for forty days and forty nights on behalf of the people.
He calls upon the Lord to remember the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He may make Israel a great nation, give them a land to dwell in and bless all nations through the seed of Abraham, Genesis 12:1-3. God heard Moses’ prayer and accepted it, Numbers 14:20-24.
Once again, we’re reminded in this chapter, that God’s blessings are conditional upon being obedient to Him and His word. We’re reminded that God will keep His promises and more importantly we begin to understand the patience, 2 Peter 3:9, and love of God with sinful people, 1 John 4:7-11.
