The Bible says in Deuteronomy 9:6-9, Understand
therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it
for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people.[7] Remember,
and forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD thy God to wrath in the
wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until
ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD.[8]
Also in Horeb ye provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry with
you to have destroyed you.[9] When I was gone up into the mount to
receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD
made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither
did eat bread nor drink water: From the beginning God told the
children of Israel how sinful they were. Look at how they are described by God.
They are stiff-necked. They provoked the Lord. They were rebellious against the
Lord. This is not a flattering picture of human nature and these were the best
of people: the people of God. But are we any different? No, we are all sinners.
In fact we are evil. That is why we need a Savior. It says to Christians in
First John 1:8-10, If we say that we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.[9] If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.[10] If we say that we have not
sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
In Deuteronomy 9:9 Moses talked about
when the Lord gave Him the tables of the covenant. We are talking about the
covenant of the law here. Why did not the covenant of the law work? It was not
the laws fault. It was the fault of those who agreed to obey the law. They did
not obey. They were just like us. Instead of being obedient, they were
rebellious. That is why God gave a new covenant through Jesus Christ. The new
covenant is based upon an unconditional promise. The new covenant is God
justifying us freely without earning it because we cannot justify ourselves.
There were some similarities between the giving of the old covenant and the
giving of the new covenant. There was a mediator for each of the covenants. The
old covenant came through Moses, and the new covenant came through Jesus
Christ. One similarity in the way the covenants were given is found in
Deuteronomy 9:9 where Moses says, then I abode in the mount forty days
and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water. It says
about Jesus in Matthew 4:1-2, Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted of the devil.[2] And when he had fasted forty
days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
The Bible says in Deuteronomy 9:10, And the LORD
delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God;
and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with
you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.
Jesus also wrote with His finger in John chapter 8 in the incident of the woman
taken in adultery. It says in John 8:6, This
they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped
down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them
not.
Concerning Deuteronomy 9:10, notice
the phrase was written according to all the words. When God
gave the written word of God, He gave all the words. There is nothing missing.
Every word is the exact word that God wanted to give. Now if God gave the exact
written words that He wanted to give, would God allow those words to get
corrupted or go missing over time? Of course, God would not allow that. Just as
God by His almighty power gave the written word, God by His almighty power has
preserved His written Word. Because of this, the Bible is reliable, it is true,
and it is without error. Jesus said in Matthew 24:35, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
In the next passage of scripture one
main point stands out: the importance of having an intercessor or a mediator
before God. We are sinners just like the children of Israel. The way to survive
Gods judgment is to have an intercessor: someone to plead your cause. That is
just one of the things that Jesus does for every believer. It says in First
John 2:1, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. The Bible
says in Deuteronomy 9:11-28, And it came to pass at the end of forty days and
forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of
the covenant.[12] And the LORD said unto me, Arise, get thee down
quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt
have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I
commanded them; they have made them a molten image.[13] Furthermore the
LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a
stiffnecked people:[14] Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot
out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and
greater than they.[15] So I turned and came down from the mount, and the
mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two
hands.[16] And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against the LORD
your God, and had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly out of
the way which the LORD had commanded you.[17] And I took the two tables,
and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes.[18]
And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights:
I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye
sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.[19]
For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth
against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also.[20]
And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for
Aaron also the same time.[21] And I took your sin, the calf which ye had
made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even
until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that
descended out of the mount.[22] And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at
Kibroth-hattaavah, ye provoked the LORD to wrath.[23] Likewise when the
LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I
have given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God,
and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice.[24] Ye have been
rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you.[25] Thus I
fell down before the LORD forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the
first; because the LORD had said he would destroy you.[26] I prayed
therefore unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, destroy not thy people and thine
inheritance, which thou hast redeemed through thy greatness, which thou hast
brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.[27] Remember thy
servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this
people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin:[28] Lest the land
whence thou broughtest us out say, Because the LORD was not able to bring them
into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he hath
brought them out to slay them in the wilderness. Yet they are thy people and
thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy mighty power and by thy
stretched out arm.
The Bible says in Deuteronomy 10:1-2,
At
that time the LORD said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the
first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood.[2]
And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which
thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark.
Notice that God said about the
children of Israel in verse 12, they are quickly turned aside
out of the way which I commanded them. Human beings are so weak and so
sinful that it is common for those who start following Jesus to quickly turn
aside. That is not out of the ordinary. That is what commonly happens. And
that is why the Lord tells all believers very clearly in First John 1:9, If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Guess what: new believers are the
weakest of believers and are likely to easily and quickly fail. Every new
believer had better learn First John 1:9, and cling to it, and put it into
practice every single day. If they do not, they will stop walking with the
Lord. All Christians need to know that we can walk in fellowship with the Lord
Jesus, not because of how good we are, but because He is always willing to
forgive us our sins. Fellowship with Jesus is never based upon the goodness of
the believer, but is always based upon the mercy and forgiveness of Christ our
Savior.
God told Moses that He was going to
destroy the Israelites because of how quickly they had departed from serving
Him. Why didnt God destroy them? Moses prayed to God in Deuteronomy 9:25-26, Thus I fell
down before the LORD forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first;
because the LORD had said he would destroy you.[26] I prayed therefore
unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, destroy not thy people and thine
inheritance. If Moses intercessory prayer worked for the wicked and weak
children of Israel, just think how effective the intercession of Christ is on
our behalf. What a great Savior we have. It says about Jesus in Hebrews 7:25, Wherefore he
is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for
them. The continual intercession of Christ for believers is
just one of many reasons to believe in the eternal security of the believer.
One reason that God did not destroy
the children of Israel was in memory of others who came before who had a
stronger faith and who were better followers of God. It says in Deuteronomy
9:27, Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. If God did
not destroy them because of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; then think of the good
situation that we are in because we have Jesus, the only One who never sinned,
as our spiritual forebear. Because of Jesus, we will never be punished or
destroyed by the Judge.
Another reason that God did not
destroy the children of Israel is given in Deuteronomy 9:28 that has to do with
Gods honor. If God destroyed His own people, then the heathen could mock and
speak against God. But the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Whom the Lord saves, He saves to the uttermost. Jesus will not lose even one of
the millions that He has saved. His good name and His integrity will be
preserved. It says in Deuteronomy 9:28, Yet they are thy people and thine
inheritance. Once you are one of Gods children through faith in Christ, you
will always be one of His children. God does not cast off His children.
The Bible says in Deuteronomy 10:1-2,
At
that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the
first, and come up onto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. And I
will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou
brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark. What transpired in this incident is
a good example of the immutability of the Word of God. The reason that the Word
of God cannot be destroyed or harmed is because the Word comes from God. God gave
the written Word to the human race. Therefore, God will not allow His Word to
be destroyed. Of course, there have been and always will be many attacks
against the Word of God. But all of the attacks will fail because it is Gods
Word. Even if someone collected all the Bibles in the world and created a great
fire and burned them all up, then the same thing would happen when Moses broke
the Ten Commandments. God would simply tell one or more humans to write His
words again, and it would be the exact same words as were written the first
time because God gives the words. Jesus said in Matthew 24:35, Heaven and
earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
God uses human beings as His
instruments. God used Moses to write the Ten Commandments as well as the rest
of the first five books of the Bible. When these people wrote, it was the same
as if God was writing. It is the Word of God. That means it comes from God. It
says in Second Peter 1:21, For the prophecy came not in old time by the
will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Everyone
should understand the importance and the value of the Bible. It is the only
book that comes from God. All other books, including all other religious books,
come from man. How wonderful God is to us to have given us a written Word that
cannot be destroyed and that we will have forever to enjoy.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2015 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved