AM Bible Study Group; May 11, 2011

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

Theme: In this chapter, God reminds His people that He was not giving the land to them because they were righteous, but because He is gracious.

As the second generation of the people of Israel were about to enter into the promised land and take possession of it, Moses wanted them not to become prideful—and thus forget their absolute dependency upon God, or their need to be consistently obedient to His commands. And so, in this chapter, he gives them an unpleasant review of their history. In it, he shows them that God did not give the land to them because they were righteous, but because He is gracious.

This chapter goes together with chapter ten; because in the first eleven verse of that chapter, Moses also reminds the people of how, after they broke the covenant God made with them (necessitating the braking of the two tablets of the law before them; see 9:17), God graciously gave them a second copy of the same law. God’s word never changes, because it is an expression of the unchanging nature of God Himself. What an illustration of how consistent God Himself is toward His people—even though they prove to be very inconsistent toward Him!

I. THE AFFIRMATION OF GOD’S GRACE TOWARD ISRAEL (vv. 1-7).

A. They were about to go in and take possession of the land on the other side of the Jordan River. Moses begins by reminding them of the dreadful nature of the people that they are about to conquer—that is, the Anakim; who were greatly feared as giants, and against whom it was thought that no one could stand (vv. 1-2).

B. But as fearsome as the Anakim may have been, God lets His people know that He Himself goes before them as a "consuming fire" to “destroy the Anakim and bring them down” before His people (v. 3). It would be thus that the Israelites would drive these fearsome people out of their land. The ease with which they will conquer the land might cause them to misinterpret the situation. They were not, therefore, to assume that God was giving the land to them because they were more righteous than anyone else. Rather, God specifies two reasons why He was driving them out before the Israelites: (1) because the people of the land they are entering were wicked; and (2) because He Himself keeps the promises that He made to their forefathers (vv. 4-5).

C. Far from allowing them to think of themselves as being worthy, God tells them, “Therefore understand that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people” (v. 6).

II. THE HUMBLING REVIEW OF ISRAEL’S NEED FOR GRACE (vv. 8-29).

A. As evidence of their stiff-necked ness—and in order to humble them, so that they stay dependent upon God and obey His laws—Moses reminds them of the sad story of their disobedience: “From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD” (v. 7). He begins by reminding them of the way they provoked God to wrath at Horeb (that is, Mount Sinai)—making Him “angry enough with you to have destroyed you” (v. 8). He reminds them of how they corrupted themselves right after they were delivered from Egypt by making the golden calf idol—even while God was giving His law to Moses (vv. 9-12; see also Exodus 32)!

1. God was so angry at that time that He offered to destroy the people of Israel and make Moses himself into a new nation (vv. 13-14). Moses himself came down from the mountain and witnessed their shocking disobedience after hardly any time had passed from their great deliverance from bondage (vv. 15-17). It was only by the intercession of Moses on their behalf that they were not destroyed (vv. 18-19).

2. Not only so, but God was also so angry with Aaron himself that He would have destroyed their appointed high priests—if not, once again for the intercession of Moses (v. 20).

3. Moses took their calf—which he called their “sin”—and destroyed it thoroughly (v. But what a reminder this should have been to them that, far from being worthy and righteous in the sight of God, they had stood on very thin ice before Him. It was only by Moses intervention that they were not completely destroyed by God for their sin!

B. Horeb was not their only failure on record. In verses 22-23, Moses also reminded them their failures afterward—at Taberah (Numbers 11:1-3), Massah (Exodus 17:7), and Kibroth Hattaavah (Numbers 11:4); and—most notably—at Kadesh Barnea, where the previous generation’s disobedience resulted in the forty years of wandering (Numbers 13-14). In all of it, they had proven that they were unworthy of the land they were conquering (v. 24).

C. In verses 25-29, Moses gives the details of his forty days of humble intercession for them on the mountain. And in doing so, he reinforces to them that the appeal he made to God for them was not on the basis of their worthiness but on the basis of God’s own character. He appealed to God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (vv. 25-27), and to God’s reputation as a faithful God before the nations (vv. 28-29).

* * * * * * * * * *

As Gentiles, we have been brought into the covenant inheritance of God’s chosen people. But we—like they—do not stand before God on the basis of our worthiness; but on the basis of His grace alone. This reminds us of Paul’s words to the Roman believers with respect to Israel:

And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? (Romans 11:17-24).