Three things we learn about God as Moses reviews the rebellion of the children of Israel.

 

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Deuteronomy Chapter 9: Moses Rehearses Israel’s Rebellion

Deuteronomy 9:1-29 – Highlights of The Passage and Some Thoughts

Moses uses this chapter to remind the sons of Israel about all their rebellions against God from the time they left Egypt to the point where “this day” they were going to cross over the Jordan into the Promised Land.  We will avoid repeating the charges against Israel in our study, but we touch verses that have something to teach us about God. Let’s dig in:

Verse 3: It is God that is “crossing over before you”. Whenever and wherever God is sending us, he will go before us, as He did for the Israelites. And not only that, He will go “as a consuming fire.” You have a big meeting tomorrow with your boss, or your accuser, or any difficult meeting that God wants you to be part of, know this – God will go before you as a consuming fire. And it gets better.  The text says, “He will subdue (your enemy) before you.” He has already prepared the outcome. All you need to do is move in, and “drive them out and destroy them quickly” or whatever the Lord has spoken to you to do. Friends that is very powerful. If you can believe that and if you can claim that, and walk in His ways, you got it made.

Verse 10: Moses talks about the Lord having given him “the two tablets of stone written by the finger of God”. The Ten Commandments were not figments of Moses’ imagination. They were written by the “finger of God” because God knew mankind needed those commandments.  And they need them in A.D. as much as they needed them in B.C. Again, we either believe it and claim it, or we don’t. If we don’t, we can ignore each of the commandments. If we do, we must do all to keep each of those commandments.

Here they are in case you don’t have your Bible handy. The text of the Ten Commandments appears twice in the Hebrew Bible: at Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-17.

·  Thou shalt have no other gods before me

·  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image

·  Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain

·  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy

·  Honour thy father and thy mother

·  Thou shalt not kill

·  Thou shalt not commit adultery

·  Thou shalt not steal

·  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour

·  Thou shalt not covet

Yes, every one of them applies to you as a child of God and as a believer in Jesus Christ. There’s no getting around that. How and what you interpret some of them to mean is between you and God, but don’t be looking for any ‘bye’ as you might get in a tennis tournament because you’ve been good in the past. God, to my knowledge, isn’t into sports.

Verse 19: Moses says he “was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the Lord was wrathful against (the Israelites) in order to destroy you”. Let’s not make any mistake about it – God could and did get angry, very angry in the Old Testament. And we know that God doesn’t change. That tells me that God can and does get very angry today. Yes, He is a loving Father and He has proven that over and over – even with you, if you are honest. But that doesn’t mean He doesn’t get fuming angry at things or even at you and me. He can and He may well have or do so again in the future. If Moses, who was intimately associated with the Creator (Exodus 33:11a tells us, ‘Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend’), says God gets angry, then that’s good enough for me. So, I have to live my life in a way that does not get God angry. Not because He can’t handle it (like my nonagenarian father couldn’t handle it), nor because He would not forgive me (as sometimes my dad wouldn’t forgive me), but because I love God and I want my relationship with Him to a pleasing aroma to Him (which is what we all want with our earthly fathers to the extent possible).

Wrap-up

A simple chapter reminding the children of Israel of their rebellion against God, but you’ll remember that recently we decided that God should be the Hero of every passage of Scripture. And we need to focus on Him, rather than the human characters in the text. So, we gleaned the passage for gems about God and His character.  This time we found three:

1.     He goes before us and lays all the groundwork for the challenges we face when walking in His ways.

2.     He actually “hand wrote” the ten commandments. Think about that and what it means.

3.     He gets angry. Think about that and what it means.

It is my prayer that by keeping these three things in our minds, our relationship with God will grow and deepen.  Love to hear from you as we continue our journey through Deuteronomy.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.