American King James Version - AKJV - 1999
Deuteronomy 9
1
Hear, O Israel: You are to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fenced up to heaven,
Reference
Parallel theme
Deuteronomy 11:31
Deuteronomy 4:38
Deuteronomy 1:28
Deuteronomy 11:23
Deuteronomy 7:1
Joshua 1:11
References Israel
Deuteronomy 3:18
2
A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom you know, and of whom you have heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!
Reference
Parallel theme
Numbers 13:22
3
Understand therefore this day, that the LORD your God is he which goes over before you; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before your face: so shall you drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD has said to you.
Reference
Parallel theme
Joshua 3:14
Isaiah 33:14
References God
Deuteronomy 4:24
Hebrews 12:29
Romans 8:31
Deuteronomy 20:4
Deuteronomy 1:30
2 Thessalonians 1:8
References Lord
Joshua 3:11
Micah 2:13
4
Speak not you in your heart, after that the LORD your God has cast them out from before you, saying, For my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD does drive them out from before you.
Reference
Parallel theme
Deuteronomy 8:17
1 Corinthians 4:7
2 Timothy 1:9
Genesis 15:16
References God
Deuteronomy 12:31
Righteousness
Deuteronomy 9:5
5
Not for your righteousness, or for the uprightness of your heart, do you go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God does drive them out from before you, and that he may perform the word which the LORD swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Reference
Parallel theme
Genesis 26:4
Genesis 13:15
Ezekiel 20:14
References Abraham
Exodus 32:13
References God
Genesis 17:8
Genesis 28:13
References Lord
Genesis 12:7
Genesis 15:7
Righteousness
Titus 3:5
6
Understand therefore, that the LORD your God gives you not this good land to possess it for your righteousness; for you are a stiff necked people.
Reference
Parallel theme
Deuteronomy 10:16
Acts 7:51
References Lord
Deuteronomy 9:13
Deuteronomy 31:27
Exodus 32:9
7
Remember, and forget not, how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that you did depart out of the land of Egypt, until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.
Reference
Parallel theme
Exodus 16:2
Numbers 11:4
References Egypt
Exodus 14:11
References God
Numbers 21:5
Numbers 25:2
8
Also in Horeb you 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 stayed in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water:
Reference
Covenant
Exodus 34:28
Parallel theme
Exodus 24:18
Exodus 24:15
1 Kings 19:8
Matthew 4:2
References Lord
Exodus 24:12
Deuteronomy 9:18
10
And the LORD delivered to me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spoke with you in the mount out of the middle of the fire in the day of the assembly.
Reference
11
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.
Reference
Covenant
Deuteronomy 9:9
12
And the LORD said to me, Arise, get you down quickly from hence; for your people which you have 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.
Reference
13
Furthermore the LORD spoke to me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff necked people:
Reference
14
Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.
Reference
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.
Reference
16
And I looked, and, behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God, and had made you a molten calf: you had turned aside quickly out of the way which the LORD had commanded you.
Reference
Parallel theme
Exodus 32:19
17
And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke 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 you sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 106:23
2 Samuel 12:16
References Lord
Exodus 34:28
Deuteronomy 9:9
Deuteronomy 10:10
19
For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, with which the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me at that time also.
Reference
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 you 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.
Reference
22
And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibrothhattaavah, you provoked the LORD to wrath.
Reference
23
Likewise when the LORD sent you from Kadeshbarnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and you believed him not, nor listened to his voice.
Reference
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.
Reference
26
I prayed therefore to the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, destroy not your people and your inheritance, which you have redeemed through your greatness, which you have brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
Reference
27
Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not to the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin:
Reference
Parallel theme
Jeremiah 14:21
28
Lest the land from where you brought 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 has brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.
Reference
Summary of Deuteronomy 9
Deuteronomy, chapter 9, is a continuation of Moses’ speech to Israel before they cross the Jordan and enter the Promised Land. Moses warns them that they will have to fight many nations stronger and more numerous than them and have to overcome the challenge of giants living in large walled cities (Deut. 9:1-2). Moses reassures them that they should not fear these nations because the Lord will fight for them.
It may seem that they have been promised the land of Canaan because they have been shown to be more righteous than the people living on the land. Moses points out that this is not the reason for their entering and possessing the land (Deut. 9:4). They are not more righteous; it is God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that is the reason they are entering into possession of the land. They are entering into the promise of God and not because of anything they have done.
They must be shown to understand this so that they do not have the sense of pride that would come upon them if they thought they were more righteous. Moses reminds Israel of how they had rebelled against God and how they had been disobedient from the time they left Egypt (Deut. 9:8-9, 15, 17). Moses tells of the events at Horeb, when he had gone up the mountain to receive the Tables of Testimony, upon which the Lord had written the covenant with Israel. For forty days, he had been on the mountain, having eaten no food and drunk no water. It was the Lord who had given him the two tablets of stone with his own hand-carved writing on them.
While he was on the mountain, the people had grown impatient and had made a golden calf which they worshipped (Deut. 9:16). They claimed that it was this idol which had brought them out of Egypt. They were quick to turn away from the God who had brought them out of Egypt and instead to worship an idol. Moses was so angry and offended at their disobedience that he cast the two tablets from his hands and broke them on the rocks at the foot of the mountain (Deut. 9:17).
Then he went down into the camp, burned the idol, ground it to powder, and caused the children of Israel to scatter it over the face of the earth (Deut. 9:21). Moses tells Israel that this was not the only time that they had acted thus; at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah, they had provoked the anger of the Lord (Deut. 9:22). It was at Kadesh-barnea that they had spoken against the Lord and rebelled against Moses (Deut. 9:9). Their continual unrighteousness had made it clear to the Lord that it was not because of Israel’s righteousness that they would possess the Promised Land. These events in the past had shown that the people were unrighteous and without faith.
They had rebelled time and again. Moses spoke of how for forty days he had prayed before the Lord because of the unfaithfulness of Israel, who had not eaten bread nor drunk water. Moses pleaded with the Lord not to destroy the children of Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hands of the Egyptians (Deut. 9:27). He spoke of how he had prayed that the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob might not be broken. He pleaded with the Lord to show mercy to them because they were his people and had he delivered them with such great power out of Egypt.
In all of this, Moses speaks of how grievous it was to the Lord, to the point that he told him that if he destroyed them, he would bring upon Aaron too the reproach of the Egyptians. Moses tells of how he (Aaron) had failed the people of Israel, just as they too had failed the Lord.
It is this rebellious nature of the people that Moses has already told Israel of in previous chapters, which should bring them to a point of humility before the Lord. This chapter serves the purpose of reminding Israel that the possession of Canaan was not due to their own righteousness, but it was the promise of God and it was the wickedness of the Canaanites that caused them to dispossess them. It is a chapter of repeated warnings to Israel not to take pride in what they are about to receive.
As Israel is shown to be so unrighteous, yet still held in the promise of God, we can see the importance of intercession. Israel, as a nation, was deserving of judgment because of their continual unfaithfulness and rebellion. Moses is continually before the Lord in prayer on behalf of Israel, pleading with him to keep his promise, not to destroy them. Moses reminds the Lord of the promise made to their fathers and of the mercy which he has shown them in bringing them out of Egypt.
It is a reminder to us that we are not to take pride in our own righteousness, but in the righteousness of Jesus Christ our Lord. As we continue into the Promised Land, we must remember that it is his possession and he has promised to give it to us.
It may seem that they have been promised the land of Canaan because they have been shown to be more righteous than the people living on the land. Moses points out that this is not the reason for their entering and possessing the land (Deut. 9:4). They are not more righteous; it is God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that is the reason they are entering into possession of the land. They are entering into the promise of God and not because of anything they have done.
They must be shown to understand this so that they do not have the sense of pride that would come upon them if they thought they were more righteous. Moses reminds Israel of how they had rebelled against God and how they had been disobedient from the time they left Egypt (Deut. 9:8-9, 15, 17). Moses tells of the events at Horeb, when he had gone up the mountain to receive the Tables of Testimony, upon which the Lord had written the covenant with Israel. For forty days, he had been on the mountain, having eaten no food and drunk no water. It was the Lord who had given him the two tablets of stone with his own hand-carved writing on them.
While he was on the mountain, the people had grown impatient and had made a golden calf which they worshipped (Deut. 9:16). They claimed that it was this idol which had brought them out of Egypt. They were quick to turn away from the God who had brought them out of Egypt and instead to worship an idol. Moses was so angry and offended at their disobedience that he cast the two tablets from his hands and broke them on the rocks at the foot of the mountain (Deut. 9:17).
Then he went down into the camp, burned the idol, ground it to powder, and caused the children of Israel to scatter it over the face of the earth (Deut. 9:21). Moses tells Israel that this was not the only time that they had acted thus; at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah, they had provoked the anger of the Lord (Deut. 9:22). It was at Kadesh-barnea that they had spoken against the Lord and rebelled against Moses (Deut. 9:9). Their continual unrighteousness had made it clear to the Lord that it was not because of Israel’s righteousness that they would possess the Promised Land. These events in the past had shown that the people were unrighteous and without faith.
They had rebelled time and again. Moses spoke of how for forty days he had prayed before the Lord because of the unfaithfulness of Israel, who had not eaten bread nor drunk water. Moses pleaded with the Lord not to destroy the children of Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hands of the Egyptians (Deut. 9:27). He spoke of how he had prayed that the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob might not be broken. He pleaded with the Lord to show mercy to them because they were his people and had he delivered them with such great power out of Egypt.
In all of this, Moses speaks of how grievous it was to the Lord, to the point that he told him that if he destroyed them, he would bring upon Aaron too the reproach of the Egyptians. Moses tells of how he (Aaron) had failed the people of Israel, just as they too had failed the Lord.
It is this rebellious nature of the people that Moses has already told Israel of in previous chapters, which should bring them to a point of humility before the Lord. This chapter serves the purpose of reminding Israel that the possession of Canaan was not due to their own righteousness, but it was the promise of God and it was the wickedness of the Canaanites that caused them to dispossess them. It is a chapter of repeated warnings to Israel not to take pride in what they are about to receive.
As Israel is shown to be so unrighteous, yet still held in the promise of God, we can see the importance of intercession. Israel, as a nation, was deserving of judgment because of their continual unfaithfulness and rebellion. Moses is continually before the Lord in prayer on behalf of Israel, pleading with him to keep his promise, not to destroy them. Moses reminds the Lord of the promise made to their fathers and of the mercy which he has shown them in bringing them out of Egypt.
It is a reminder to us that we are not to take pride in our own righteousness, but in the righteousness of Jesus Christ our Lord. As we continue into the Promised Land, we must remember that it is his possession and he has promised to give it to us.