Commentary - Deuteronomy 10:10-11

Bird's-eye view

In these two verses, Moses is recounting the restoration of the covenant after the catastrophic apostasy with the golden calf. This is not a minor hiccup; this was a full-blown, covenant-breaking divorce proceeding, and Israel was the guilty party. The central action here is the successful intercession of a mediator. Moses, acting as a type of Christ, stands in the breach for the people. His forty days and nights on the mountain, a second time, demonstrate the arduous nature of this mediation. The outcome is glorious: Yahweh relents. He hears the plea of the mediator and agrees not to annihilate His people. This is pure, unadulterated grace. Following this reaffirmation of the covenant, God immediately issues a command: 'Arise, go.' The grace of forgiveness is never a grace that terminates in sitting still. It is a commissioning grace. Forgiveness leads directly to the mission, which for Israel was the conquest and possession of the promised land. This passage, then, is a beautiful miniature of the gospel: covenant-breaking sin, costly mediation, gracious forgiveness, and the resultant commissioning to take dominion.

This is a hinge point. The first set of tablets was smashed, symbolizing the broken covenant. Now, with a new set of tablets quarried by Moses but inscribed by God, the covenant is reestablished. God's willingness to listen to Moses is not a sign of weakness or vacillation in God, but rather a demonstration of how He has ordained for mediation to work. He responds to the prayers of the appointed representative. The command to possess the land is therefore not just a return to the original plan, but a return that is now drenched in the grace that flows from a restored relationship. They are to go forward not on the basis of their own righteousness which was a manifest failure, but on the basis of God's sworn oath to their fathers and His mercy secured by their mediator.

Outline

Context In Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy is a series of sermons delivered by Moses to the new generation of Israelites poised on the plains of Moab, ready to enter Canaan. It is a renewal of the covenant made at Horeb (Sinai). Chapter 9 recounts Israel's history of rebellion, culminating in the golden calf incident, which Moses details to humble the people. He wants them to know that they are not entering the land because of their own righteousness, but because of God's faithfulness to His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Chapter 10 continues this theme, describing how God, in His mercy, restored the covenant. Moses reminds them that he had to carve new stone tablets, ascend the mountain again, and intercede desperately on their behalf. Our passage, verses 10 and 11, is the climax of that story of restoration. It is the moment where God's anger is turned aside and the forward momentum of the covenant plan is re-engaged. This sets the stage for the rest of the book, which lays out the laws and stipulations of the covenant life they are to live once they possess the land.

Key Issues

The Mediator's Successful Plea

When a covenant is broken as spectacularly as Israel broke it at Sinai, there are only two options: dissolution or restoration. Dissolution means the death of the guilty party. Restoration requires a mediator who can stand in the gap, absorb the heat of the righteous anger of the offended party, and plead a case for mercy. This is precisely what Moses does. His forty days and nights on the mountain are not a hunger strike; they are a picture of intense, focused, agonizing intercession. He is laboring in prayer.

And God listens. This is central. God has established the world in such a way that the prayers of His appointed representatives matter. They are a real cause with a real effect. This does not mean that God is persuaded against His will or that His eternal decrees are altered. Rather, God has decreed the means as well as the ends. He decreed that Israel would be spared, and He decreed that they would be spared through the earnest intercession of Moses. Moses' prayer was as much a part of God's sovereign plan as was the deliverance itself. This is a profound encouragement for our own prayers. We pray because God works through prayer. The success of Moses' plea is a shadow of the ultimate success of our Lord Jesus, the greater Mediator, whose intercession for us is perfect and unending.

Verse by Verse Commentary

10 “I, moreover, stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights like the first time, and Yahweh listened to me that time also; Yahweh was not willing to destroy you.

Moses begins by emphasizing the cost of his mediation. He stayed on the mountain, prostrate before God, for another forty days and nights. This parallels the first forty days when he initially received the law. The first time was for revelation; this second time is for restoration. The repetition shows that covenant renewal is just as serious and demanding a business as covenant initiation. This was not a quick "I'm sorry" and a wave of the hand from God. It was a deep and profound breach that required a deep and profound work of intercession.

And the result was that Yahweh listened to me that time also. The word "listened" here means more than just "heard the sound of." It means He heard favorably, He responded to the plea. Moses' prayer was effectual. Why? Because it appealed to God's own character and His own promises. Moses had argued that God's reputation among the nations was at stake and that He had made an oath to the patriarchs (Deut 9:26-29). The result was that Yahweh was not willing to destroy you. This is anthropomorphic language, to be sure. It does not mean God was vacillating. It means that in the unfolding drama of history, in the real-time interaction between God and His mediator, the verdict swung from judgment to mercy. The intercessor prevailed, precisely as God had ordained that he would.

11 Then Yahweh said to me, ‘Arise, go on your journey ahead of the people, that they may go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.’

The very first word from God after this intense period of intercession is a command to get up and get moving. Arise, go. Grace does not lead to passivity. Forgiveness is not a hammock; it is a launching pad. The pardon for their idolatry immediately transitions into the renewal of their mission. The purpose for which they were delivered from Egypt is now back on the table. Notice the flow: intercession, pardon, commission. This is the pattern of the gospel life.

And what is the mission? That they may go in and possess the land. This is the Dominion Mandate applied to Israel in their specific historical situation. They are to take possession of the inheritance God has granted them. This is not a suggestion; it is a command that flows directly from their restored relationship with God. And the basis for this command is not their recent good behavior, which was non-existent, but rather the ancient promise: the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. God's covenant faithfulness is the engine that drives history. Israel's sin was a massive roadblock, but the power of God's oath, activated by the plea of a mediator, is sufficient to clear the road and get the convoy moving again.

Application

This passage is a potent reminder that our relationship with God is based entirely on grace secured by a mediator. Like Israel, we have all danced around our own golden calves. We have broken covenant with God in thought, word, and deed, and we deserve to be destroyed. Our only hope is that we have a greater Mediator than Moses, the Lord Jesus Christ, who did not spend eighty days on a mountain, but who offered Himself once for all on a cross and who ever lives to make intercession for us (Heb 7:25).

Because His intercession is perfect, our forgiveness is complete. And because our forgiveness is complete, we too receive a command: "Arise, go." The grace that saved us is the grace that sends us. We are not called to possess a literal land with swords, but we are called to the task of discipling the nations, of bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. We are to "possess the land" of our families, our vocations, our communities, and our cultures for the glory of King Jesus. We do this not because we are worthy, but because God has sworn an oath, not to Abraham, but to His own Son, that He will give Him the nations for His inheritance (Ps 2). Our failures and sins are many, but the intercession of Christ is perfect, and the promise of God is sure. Therefore, let us rise from our knees in gratitude and get on with the journey.