Today’s Scripture reading is a continuation of a speech Moses gave to Israel as they prepared to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. Moses reminded Israel that they were stubborn and stiff-necked. This is a concept we see throughout the Bible. There are verses that warn us against being stiff-necked.
When we stopped reading yesterday, Moses told Israel that they were about to cross the Jordan River, and they would encounter greater and mightier nations. Moses assured Israel that Yahweh would cross before them in order to destroy their enemies.
Deut. 9:4 ¶ “Do not say in your heart when Yahweh your God has driven them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness Yahweh has brought me in to possess this land,’ but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that Yahweh is dispossessing them before you.
Notice the contrast. Yahweh was not helping Israel because Israel was righteous. Instead, Yahweh was helping Israel because the Canaanites were wicked.
Deut. 9:5 It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that Yahweh your God is dispossessing them before you, in order to confirm the oath which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Yahweh swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that their descendants would possess the land of Canaan (see Genesis 12:7, 13:15, 17:8, 26:3, 28:4, and 35:12). When Yahweh made those promises, He referenced the sins of the Amorites which would lead to the destruction of the Amorites. (see Genesis 15:16).
Deut. 9:6 ¶ “So you shall know it is not because of your righteousness that Yahweh your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.
Look at the term “stiff-necked people”. Israel was very stubborn. Moses reminded Israel that they were not being given the land because they were righteous; in fact, they were not righteous. Instead, they were very stubborn. There are multiple verses in the book of Exodus in which Israel was described as a stiff-necked people (see Exodus 32:9, 33:3, 33:5, and 34:9).
Deut. 9:7 Remember, do not forget how you provoked Yahweh your God to wrath in the wilderness; from the day that you went out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against Yahweh.
Deut. 9:8 Even at Horeb you provoked Yahweh to wrath, and Yahweh was so angry with you that He would have destroyed you.
Deut. 9:9 When I went up to the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which Yahweh had cut with you, then I remained on the mountain forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water.
Deut. 9:10 And Yahweh gave me the two tablets of stone written by the finger of God; and on them were all the words which Yahweh had spoken with you at the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly.
The two tablets contained the Ten Commandments. When Moses received the two tablets, Israel had already heard the contents of them, and they had promised to observe everything Yahweh commanded them (see Exodus 24:3).
Deut. 9:11 Now it happened at the end of forty days and nights, that Yahweh gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.
Deut. 9:12 Then Yahweh said to me, ‘Arise, go down from here quickly, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made a molten image for themselves.’
Israel had promised to obey the ten commandments, meaning they had promised not to make any idols. And yet, while Moses was on the mountain for 40 days, Israel made a molten image for themselves.
Deut. 9:13 Yahweh spoke further to me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed, they are a stiff-necked people.
Deut. 9:14 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 more numerous than they.’
This statement is recorded in Exodus 32:9-10. Moses was reminding Israel that they were a stiff-necked people.
Unfortunately, all humans across all ages are stiff-necked, and we see this throughout the Bible. There are multiple verses in the latter books of the Old Testament which refer to stiff-necked people. Some examples are 2 Chronicles 30:8, Isaiah 48:4, and Jeremiah 7:26.
We see admonitions regarding this in the New Testament. Jesus confronted His disciples about their hard hearts (see Mark 8:17). He was also grieved at the hard hearts of the Pharisees (see Mark 3:5). Stephen accused the first century Jews of being stiff-necked, just like their fathers (see Acts 7:51). Paul wrote about Yahweh reaching out to an obstinate people (see Romans 10:21).
This is something we need to guard against. The author of Hebrews exhorted us to avoid a hard heart and see to it that we believe in Jesus and encourage one another day after day (see Hebrews 3:12-13).
Deut. 9:15 ¶ “So I turned and came down from the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.
Deut. 9:16 And I saw that you had indeed sinned against Yahweh your God. You had made for yourselves a molten calf; you had turned aside quickly from the way which Yahweh had commanded you.
Deut. 9:17 And I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my hands and shattered them before your eyes.
This action is recorded in Exodus 32:19.
Deut. 9:18 And I fell down before Yahweh, as at the first, forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water because of all your sin which you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of Yahweh to provoke Him to anger.
Deut. 9:19 For I was afraid of the anger and the wrath with which Yahweh was provoked against you in order to destroy you, but Yahweh listened to me that time also.
Look at the word “afraid”. Moses knew Israel had committed a grave sin, and he was afraid that Yahweh would destroy Israel.
Notice the word “listened”. Moses asked Yahweh to forgive Israel, and Yahweh agreed not to destroy them (see Exodus 32:32).
Deut. 9:20 And Yahweh was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him; so I also prayed for Aaron at the same time.
Yahweh was angry with Aaron because Aaron was the one who made the golden calf.
Deut. 9:21 Now I took your sinful thing, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that came down from the mountain.
It is easy for us to read the Bible and make statements about how we will always obey God no matter what obstacles come our way. However, when life happens and we are actually facing obstacles, it is tempting to take the easy path and disobey God’s commandments.
Israel vowed to obey the Ten Commandments, but then became impatient when Moses was on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. They provoked Aaron into making a false god that would take them back to Egypt. So too, we can become impatient. When God doesn’t do what we want, when we want it, then we tend to lose patience with God. God does not exist to do what we want. We exist to do what God wants. If that involves waiting on God, then we must wait.
Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. If you have already joined my email list, thank you and please tell others about Bible Mountain. If you have not joined my email list yet, please do so now. In order to join, go to BibleMountain.com, click on subscribe, and that will take you to a page where you can sign up. Your email address will not be sold or given away. Once again, thanks for visiting Bible Mountain.
“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”