skip to Main Content

September 1, 2017

Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.

Reading along with us in Deuteronomy? Here’s today’s reading:

Deuteronomy 9 (ESV)

“Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’ Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the Lord has promised you.

“Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lordis driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

“Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. Even at Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you. When I went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10 And the Lordgave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the Lord had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. 11 And at the end of forty days and forty nights the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.12 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have made themselves a metal image.’Continue Reading

*If you click “Continue Reading”, you will leave this page and navigate to “bible.com” where you can read the rest of the chapter. Be sure to come back to this page to share what God has revealed to you by commenting below. 

Already registered? Click here to log in.

Not registered? Click here (LHCC members only)

Next: Deuteronomy 10

Back: Deuteronomy 8

This Post Has 5 Comments
  1. I think it’s so accurate how God humbles the Israelites when He knows they would become prideful and self-righteous for conquering the Promised Land. He points out how stubborn they’ve been and how they’ve disobeyed Him everywhere they went. I try to imagine myself standing before God and having Him list off all the times I’ve been disobedient, prideful, self-righteous and everything the Israelites are.
    It’s a reminder to not become self-righteous, but I also think it’s a reminder of God’s grace for us today. To me, this looks a lot like judgement and reminds me that through Jesus we will not have to face this judgement.

  2. 3Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God.
    Overall review for the people. Seems all the great men review and remember accurately.

  3. Moses is recounting all the ways Israel has proven themselves over and over again to be stubborn, rebellious idolaters over these 40 years, lest they believe for one moment that what God is bringing them into and giving them is a reward for their righteousness. No — He is punishing the wicked, AND He is keeping His promise to Abraham, Issac and Jacob.

    The gospel is here! Do you see it?

  4. It’s important to make note of the times when God repeats Himself in a short stretch of verses. In verses 1-6, I count 3 times that God says He is giving Israel this land to them because of the wickedness of the people there and not the Israelite’s righteousness. How easy it would be for them to tell themselves differently? How easy it is for us? And God’s blessing and His acceptance of them through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is a foreshadowing of our acceptance in Christ.

    I wonder how hard it was for Moses to recount these times of disobedience? Imagine what it was like for him to go from the glory of God up on the mountain to his people worshipping an idol? Talk about a juxtaposition….But then for Moses to sacrifice himself in fasting to show his dedication to the people and ask God to not destroy them as they deserved. And then for Moses to remember the mercy expressed there and so many other times in light of Israel’s disobedience. Yes he is reminding this new generation, don’t be like that other generation. But also remembering Israel’s great God who persevered with them through it all.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back To Top