Commentary - Deuteronomy 9:1-6

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, Moses is performing some essential pre-battle spiritual maintenance. Israel is on the very brink of crossing the Jordan, poised to take the land God promised them. The temptation at a moment like this, when victory seems imminent, is for men to start preening. Moses, speaking for God, gets right in front of this temptation and strangles it in the crib. The central point is hammered home with the force of a blacksmith's blow: this victory will be God's doing, not theirs. It is not because of their righteousness, but because of God's faithfulness to His own promises and because of the superlative wickedness of the Canaanites. Israel is being used as a divine scalpel to cut out a cancerous tumor from the land. A scalpel has no cause for boasting in the skill of the surgeon. Moses makes it painfully clear that Israel is not the hero of this story. Yahweh is.

The chapter opens by acknowledging the daunting task ahead, giants and fortified cities, only to immediately declare that Yahweh, as a consuming fire, is infinitely more daunting (vv. 1-3). Having established God's overwhelming power, Moses then turns to the state of Israel's heart, warning them not to attribute the coming victory to their own righteousness (v. 4). He repeats this for emphasis, stating plainly that they are not getting the land because of their goodness or integrity, but because of the wickedness of the inhabitants and because of the oath God swore to their fathers (v. 5). The passage concludes with a blunt and humbling assessment: "you are a stiff-necked people" (v. 6). This is not a pep talk designed to boost self-esteem. It is a dose of potent, undiluted truth designed to foster total reliance on God.

Outline

Context In Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy is structured as a series of farewell addresses from Moses to the generation of Israelites born in the wilderness. They are about to enter Canaan, and the book serves as a renewal of the covenant for this new generation. The first generation, who came out of Egypt, had perished in the wilderness because of their unbelief and rebellion. Moses is therefore deeply concerned that this new generation not repeat the sins of their fathers.

This passage in chapter 9 comes after a rehearsal of the Ten Commandments (Ch. 5) and the Shema (Ch. 6), and numerous exhortations to obedience. Moses is laying the theological groundwork for their life in the land. Before they even set foot across the river, it is absolutely essential that they understand the basis of their relationship with God. It is a relationship of grace. Their possession of the land is not a wage earned for righteous performance, but a gift given on the basis of God's promise. This section is a direct assault on the pride that would lead to the kind of self-righteous legalism that ultimately rejects grace.

Key Issues

Beginning: The Gospel According to Moses

Long before Paul wrote to the Romans and the Galatians, Moses was preaching the doctrine of justification by grace through faith. The fundamental temptation of the human heart, steeped in sin, is to believe that we can somehow earn God's favor. We want to be the authors of our own salvation, the captains of our own ship. We want to stand before God, holding up our resume, and expect Him to be impressed. This is the very essence of what the Bible calls pride.

Moses confronts this head-on. He tells Israel that the biggest danger they will face in the promised land is not the Anakim, but the sin that lurks within their own hearts. The temptation will be to look at the blessings of God, the milk and honey, the defeated enemies, and conclude, "I deserved this. My righteousness accomplished this." Moses teaches them, and us, that this is a damnable lie. The land is a gift. The victory is a gift. Salvation is a gift. It is given not because of righteousness in the recipient, but because of the faithful character of the Giver and in spite of the unrighteousness of the recipient. This is the gospel, and it is here in Deuteronomy in raw, potent form.

Yahweh as a Consuming Fire

(v. 3) The image of God as a "consuming fire" is meant to evoke both terror and comfort. For the wicked nations of Canaan, it is pure terror. Yahweh is going before Israel to burn up His enemies. The fire of His holiness cannot abide the presence of their vile and corrupt practices, like child sacrifice. He will "destroy them" and "subdue them" utterly. This is not a contest between equals. This is an infinite power moving against a finite rebellion. The Canaanites are dry stubble before this advancing flame.

For Israel, this image is a profound comfort, but it is also a sober warning. The same fire that goes before them to destroy the enemy is the same fire of the God who dwells among them. If they turn to the sins of the Canaanites, this fire will consume them as well, as the subsequent history of Israel demonstrates. Holiness is not to be trifled with. Their security lies not in their own asbestos righteousness, but in staying close to the one who commands the flames. He is their shield and their defense, but He is also the holy God who demands their exclusive worship.

Not for Your Righteousness

(vv. 4-6) This is the central message, the thesis statement of the passage. Moses repeats it three times for a reason. The dull of hearing, and that's all of us, need the truth drummed into our heads. "Do not say in your heart... 'Because of my righteousness...'" The heart is where the foul weed of pride takes root. It is a secret thought, a self-congratulatory whisper. God knows this tendency in us and exposes it before it can bear its rotten fruit.

Moses gives two reasons for the dispossession of the Canaanites, and neither of them is Israel's moral superiority. First, it is because of the "wickedness of these nations." God's judgment is not arbitrary. He is patient, as He was with the Amorites, whose iniquity was not yet full in Abraham's day (Gen 15:16). But there comes a point when the cup of wrath is full, and God acts in justice to cleanse the land. Second, it is to "confirm the oath which Yahweh swore to your fathers." God is a promise-keeper. His actions are rooted in His own character and His covenant faithfulness. He made an unconditional promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He will not break His word. His reputation is on the line. Israel's role is that of a beneficiary of this promise, not the earner of it.

A Stiff-Necked People

(v. 6) After demolishing any notion of their inherent righteousness, Moses delivers the final, crushing blow. The reason you need to know this isn't because of your righteousness is because, in point of fact, "you are a stiff-necked people." This is a common biblical metaphor for stubborn, rebellious, and intractable resistance to God's authority. It's the image of an ox that refuses to bend its neck to the yoke. Instead of submitting to the farmer's guidance, it stiffens up and resists.

This was not just a past failure; it was their present character. Moses is about to remind them of the golden calf incident and numerous other rebellions in the wilderness. They are being given a land of immense blessing not because they are compliant and obedient, but while they are stubborn and rebellious. This is the nature of grace. Grace is not given to the deserving. Grace is given to the stiff-necked. It is given to sinners. This is a truth that must be grasped if we are to understand God, the gospel, or ourselves.

Application

The message of this passage is a direct assault on the American gospel of self-esteem and positive thinking. The modern church is often more interested in making people feel good about themselves than in telling them the truth about themselves. But the Bible operates on a different principle: you must be torn down before you can be built up. You must be humbled before you can be exalted. We, like Israel, are a stiff-necked people.

Every blessing we enjoy, spiritual or material, is a gift of God's grace. It is not because of our righteousness. The moment we begin to think that God owes us something, or that our spiritual successes are the result of our own cleverness or moral effort, we have fallen into the same sin Moses warns against here. We are saying in our hearts, "Because of my righteousness Yahweh has blessed me."

The antidote to this pride is the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are saved not by our own righteousness, which the Bible says is as filthy rags, but by the perfect righteousness of Christ imputed to us by faith. He is the true Israel who was not stiff-necked, who perfectly obeyed the Father. He won the victory, and we are brought in to enjoy the spoils. Our standing before God is based entirely on His work, not our own. Therefore, there is no room for boasting, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must daily preach this Deuteronomic gospel to ourselves, lest we forget that we are saved by grace alone, and that we too are a stiff-necked people in constant need of that grace.