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Deuteronomy Chapter 9 "Warnings, Prospective by Yehovah." This
Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location Deuteronomy 9:1 "Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven," Moses continues his second message to the children of Israel, and he is reminding them that the time is closing in for them to enter into the promise land. Moses is showing within this verse the urgency of their time of entering into the promise land, and reminding them of the greatness of the people that live in the land that they will possess. Deuteronomy 9:2 "A People great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, `Who can stand before the children of Anak!" " The children of the Anikims are giants [Geber], the offspring of the fallen angels [Nethinims] from the second influx, following the flood of Noah's day. Their size and reputation was very well know, even to our generation. Deuteronomy 9:3 "Understand therefore this day, that the Lord thy God is He which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire He shall destroy them, and He shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord hath said unto thee." Moses is reminding the children of Israel again that our heavenly Father is a "consuming fire" to our enemies. The movement against the enemies of God is swift, and when God gives a task to do, He expects it to be done quickly and with discipline. God is the same yesterday, during the time of Moses; as He is today in our generation, and that is how He shall be throughout all eternity. This is a type that even applies to you and I today. When Christians discipline themselves, the reason that there are no giants standing before us, is that with God before us, we don't have to worry about the Anakims or giants that would try to hinder us. There are no obstacles to hinder us when we are following God's instructions, for He has promised us the victory. Deuteronomy 9:4 "Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, `For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee." Moses is telling them, don't start thinking in your mind, that after God has chased them out of the land, that He did this because of your righteousness. Far from it, for God has told us the reason why He did this for you. It was definitely not; "For my [Moses and the Israelite's] righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land..." God's righteousness applies to all men, and these nations in their great wickedness and idolatry, was the reason that God drove them out of the land. Deuteronomy 9:5 "Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that He may perform the word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." "The word which the Lord sware unto thy father" is the everlasting covenant that God made with Abraham. That Abrahamic covenant that God gave to Abraham, was passed on to Isaac, the only child born to the marriage of Abraham and Sarah his wife, and then on to Isaac's son Jacob, with the help of Jacob's mother Rebecca. We know from Genesis 48:20 that this same covenant promise was then passed from Jacob [Israel] to Joseph's sons Ephraim and Manasseh, who would carry the blessing promises even to our generation. Genesis 48:20 "And he blessed them that day, saying, "In thee shall Israel bless, saying, `God make the as Ephraim and as Manasseh:' " and he set Ephraim before Manasseh." Though Ephraim would carry the name Israel, and the promises given to Abraham, Manasseh would also be blessed under that same blessing passed on by Israel. That covenant was carried by those tribes of the northern nation of "the house of Israel" that migrated through the Caucasus mountains to the lands where they would ultimately settle. These people of the covenant are well known by the greatness of their nations, and the wealth and blessings that God has given to them. The one thing that they all carry is their identity, not of the name of Israel, but in their identity of their migration through that ancient event; for they are called "Caucasians" to this day. Though the offspring of Ephraim and Manasseh simply don't know who they are, they do understand that they are very well blessed by God, and most of them don't understand why. Deuteronomy 9:6 "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." Moses is telling these children of Israel, standing before him in the wilderness to let this settle in your mind. Moses is also addressing this lesson to the people living in this generation that are living in and under these blessed lands. The blessings that we are enjoying are not for our righteous, but because God made a promise to father Abraham, and God is keeping His promise that He made to him. We haven't changed much in our attitudes in the past thirty five hundred years, for our people are still a "stiff-necked people". "Stiff-necked" as used here means "stubborn". We are very closed minded to the things that are going on around us, focused only on the immediate future. God's covenant is transpiring exactly as it was given to us in His Word, and the events of our day are going to happen exactly as it is written. Our generation is turning our backs on God's Word, and leaning on traditions and false doctrines, for in those traditions and false doctrines we are blinding our children to God's instructions. Our nation, as in the other Christian nations, are driving God's Word from our schools, and the only morality that is set for their lives is what each person set for him or herself. The motto for these times is; "if it feels good, do it". Their driving force is their own self-gratification and pleasures. It has become forbidden to speak against any ethnic group, or any form of their idolatry or wickedness. While at the same time it is pleasing to these perverted minds of today to have open season on Christians and God's holy Word. From the schools to the government, and to all parts of our society, defaming Christ and Christians has become a common practice, and most Christians sit back and allow it. However, we are to respect all ethnic groups for they are children of our Father. God loves them just as much as He loves you and I, and He gave His life for their sins, just as much as for yours and mine when we believe and repent in Jesus name. Christians are not second class citizens, and it is because of our God that they enjoy every blessing that they enjoy. When one comments against our Lord Jesus Christ, or the office of the Father, they are biting the very hand that is feeding them. To argue with them in most cases is like arguing with a mad dog, for their minds are closed, and their orders to attack are coming from their father Satan. Though these people think that it is cute and that they can get away with their wreckless talk and slams against God's people, the day is coming very shortly when God will take care of all of them. God expects you and I to be disciplined and to make a stand when the time calls for it. We are not going to let things get out of hand like they did in Gibeah, of Judges 19, when God destroyed them then for their wickedness, however it is going to happen again. Today God is calling a group of Christians out that have the backbone to stand their ground and make a difference around them. We do make a difference when we love our heavenly Father enough to make a stand for God's ways. Deuteronomy 9:7 "Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness: for 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." Moses is reminding us to remember, even to our generation, the generation of the fig tree, that we observe God's instruction that he has given us. In our generation God just doesn't expect our discipline, but He demand it of us. Moses is reviewing here the times that the Israelites had, from the moment that they left Egypt, to the time that he is giving them this speech some forty years later. Moses is telling them just how much trouble they had been to the Lord. They pushed God right to the limit of God's wrath. This is as we are doing today, as a people stiff-necked, stubborn, and set on having our own way. One person standing on the side of the Lord does make a difference. It pleases God to see discipline in your life, and remember that you and God make a majority. Remember what Peter said about our generation in II Peter 3. II Peter 3:1 "This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up our pure minds by way of remembrance; II Peter 3:2 "That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us that apostles of the Lord and Saviour:" II Peter 3:3 "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts," II Peter 3:4 "And saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." The liars and scoffers are here today, and the world is full of them. They scoff at God, His creation, they scoff at God's Word and they pretend that God simply does not exist. They think that by their ignorance of God's Word and their following their own lustful desires, it just doesn't matter what God, the prophets, or apostles have said and write. They are setting the stage for God to turn them over to Satan upon his arrival on earth at the sixth trumpet. It is a dangerous position to be in. Deuteronomy 9:8 "Also in Horeb ye provoked the Lord to wrath, so that the Lord was angry with you to have destroyed you." Moses is reminding these children of Israel just how close they came to destruction when they provoked the Lord. They pushed God right up to the point that He was going to destroy them. When Moses went up on Mount Horeb [Sinai], the people could see what was going on up on the mountain, they heard the voice of God, yet they still took the gold and silver that Pharaoh gave them and created their own forms of idolatry. God bless them, and they simply could not see where the blessings came from. They used the things of God's blessings to form their own religious ways to God, whom they despised. There is simply is no logic to that line of thinking, but yet that is the very same thought pattern that is common today. God blesses someone, and that person uses those same blessings that God gave him or her to provoke the Lord to wrath on him or herself. Deuteronomy 9:9 "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:" Moses is telling them, you saw the tables of the commandments and you even heard the voice of God from that mountain, and it was the same thing that I told you. Moses is reminding them that he was there before the Lord for those forty days and nights on their behalf. "Forty" in biblical numerics stands for "probation". Moses entire life was made up of three periods of forty years. The first being the forty years that he was brought up in Pharaoh's household, the second period was after he was booted out of Egypt, during the time that he was in the land of the Midianites, when he was married. Then the third forty year period was from the release of the Israelites in Egypt, to this moment when he was speaking to them just prior to the entering into the promise land. Moses was up on mount Horab [Sinai] for forty days and forty nights, the same time that Jesus was in the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. It is a very long time to be waiting for someone to return. They lost sight of those miracles that God had preformed for them to that time, including Aaron the high priest, and they turned to idolatry. Most of the people that saw the fire up on the mountain thought that Moses was dead and gone, and they turned immediately away from God. Moses was up there forty days without bread or water, just as Christ was in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. 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." Again Moses is reminding them that they had heard what God said. Deuteronomy 9:11 "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. " Not only were the ten commandments given on that day, but God gave to them His covenant on stone tables also. The covenant that He had made between God Himself and His children. Deuteronomy 9:12 "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 truned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image." When Moses was on the mountain, the Lord knew exactly what was happening amongst His people down there at the foot of the mountain, when their leader was gone. They made themselves a molten image of a calf and even their religious leader Aaron was taking part in the idolatry. They took all their gold and formed it into a golden calf. The very covenant of God was broken by His people before they could receive it from the hand of Moses. Just as Moses stood alone against the people on that night, it is a type of Christ standing alone, and all His followers strayed off when the stand had to be made. While Christ was on the cross, his disciples went back to their fishing, and what ever else they did, completely oblivious to what was happening to their Messiah. The thousands that He had fed and that followed him were gone to their own ways, and completely turned their backs on Him. Are you seeing how Moses was a type of Christ? What happened once shall happen again. There is nothing new under the sun, what happened once shall happen again, for that is the nature of man within himself. The third type within this is what is happening in our generation because people never change. We have the Word, and yet the people chose to replace their own religious thoughts and traditions, instead of waiting patiently and observing the signs of our day for the Messiah to return. Many Christians will be taken into idolatry and worship the beast, only it will not be a golden image of beast, but a religious system that will have Satan himself as the head. People are taking all the blessings that God has given to them, and they have used those blessings to formed what ever imagination that come to them, to be their spiritual guide. Anything that you place between you and God is your idol, and God doesn't like it. Stop and ask yourself; What is more important to me than God and His Word? Your answer is what your idol is, for it could be your house, your car, or even a loved one. Deuteronomy 9:13 "Furthermore the Lord spake unto me, saying, `I have seen this People, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked People:" God saw the orgies that were taking place, He saw their golden calf, and He knew the thoughts of their minds. He knew exactly how stiff-necked these people that called themselves "His people" were. "Stiff-necked" means that they are hardheaded and closed minded to anything that God is speaking to them about. Deuteronomy 9:14 "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.' " This is God's Words to Moses. 'When God looked down as saw these crusty sinful people, God knew that He did not have to look to far into the future for a better people for Moses to lead. God intended to kill every last one of them that took part in those religious orgies, and have their innocent children and new born children be the ones that would enter into the promise land. Today when we look around us we see that our young people are not being given hope, when there is hope. What is present for our children is mob rule and filthiness in lifestyles, instead of the hope that a child can look forward to, and have the hope instilled in their lives. There is hope, and this world is not lost nor shall it be. It will always be under the control of our Heavenly Father, even though the entire world turns against God, you always have the authority by God to rise above it. God will bless you even when the times are rough, and He will see you through them. Deuteronomy 9:15 "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." This is why the people thought Moses had been killed, they saw the mountain burning with fire. Deuteronomy 9:16 "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." The children of Israel lost every thread of hope and memory of God's love for them. They completely forgot what God had told them through Moses, and even their religious leader had turned to idolatry, traditions and evil religious order. Deuteronomy 9:17 "And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes." When Moses saw what was going on in the camp, He took the precious tables of the law that were in his hand, and broke them as they all watch. Moses was disgusted with them all for their wickedness. Try sacrificing yourself and going without food and water for forty days, and then come to find at the end that it was all for naught. How disgusted Moses must have been when he witnessed their sin and filth. Stop and look around you today as to what is being allow in our churches in the name of God, through what is called tradition. Then observe the position of our governmental leaders over the very thing that God has said is an abomination to Him, that of Sodomy. We call ourselves a Christian nation, yet our leaders take pride in the very filth that God has told us that He hates. Deuteronomy 9:18 "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." When Moses was up on that mountain he did not know what God knew of the wickedness was going on in the camp. Now Moses could see what God knew when in anger He wanted to destroy the entire bunch. The drive and punch is taken out of Moses as he sat there in complete disgust. Even Aaron the spiritual leader was the very one that saw the direction of the wickedness, went out to create this golden image for the people. Are you starting to see how this is a type of what we are observing today within our nation and churches? The direction is to turn away from what God's Word teaches, and to their own desires and lusts. Moses knows that if he doesn't plead their cause, God's anger will destroy the world nation. Can you blame God? Deuteronomy 9:19 "For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the Lord was wroth against you to destroy you, but the Lord harkened unto me at that time also." God is so patient and longsuffering, and God will always listen a person that is trying to follow Him, as Moses was. Deuteronomy 9:20 "And the Lord was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time." Aaron is assigned to be the head priest by God, and even Aaron turned his back on God and took part in the creation of this golden calf. It was through Aaron and his sons that the Levitical priesthood was formed. We know that two of Aaron's sons were struck down by God because of their taking part in strange fire on the altar of God. We see how short minded people can be in their flesh bodies, however we see the same thing happening by the so-called high priests of today, in their church houses. They partake of their false doctrine, and traditions that go against God's Word, and all the time they think in their minds that they are doing something righteous and spiritual. They teach their doctrines as being of God, where there is not a bit of truth in it. We can see how the events that Moses faced and the people standing here in the wilderness are types of what we are seeing today in our land. Deuteronomy 9:21 "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 thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount." Naturally fire will not destroy God, but this was for a display to the people. Moses took the milted fragments of that golden calf, and ground it to where it was nothing but dust. Then he threw the dust into the water, to carry it away to where even the fragments could not be retained. Moses is telling this stiff-necked bunch of people that they have been in trouble since they left Egypt. Deuteronomy 9:22 "(And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah, ye provoked the Lord to wrath." These are three places where the people went against God's instructions. "Taberah" was the place where the people rebelled against God. Numbers 11:1 "And when the People complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and His anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp." The fire came because of the murmurings of the people against the instructions that God gave to them. Massah is the place where Moses struck the rock twice instead of talking to it as God had instructed. Because of Moses' disobedience, God prohibited him from entering into the promise land. Moses just lost his temper over the people's constant complaining about water. "Kibroth-hattaavah" in the Hebrew tongue is "heeps of lust". These Israelites had given God a real challenge to his emotions. These same people witnessed the mighty hand of God as He brought the miracles upon Egypt to bring them out of their bondage, yet they lost sight of God when it really mattered. Numbers 11:2 "And the People cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched." Numbers 11:3 "And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the Lord burnt among them." God can bring a plague on a people and the people will deny that the plague even existed as Pharaoh did, even in our day. When you see the type of things happening around you that are similar to those other events recorded in the Bible, than know that God's judgment on those people will also be similar to what He brought on those people of ancient times. Though the times are different, the types are the same. Deuteronomy 9:23 "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." When God gives a command, and He tells you that He will give by the victory, it is time to do it. There were no conditions to this command; no ifs, ands, or buts, go and get up there and take the land. I have given you the victory. Take it. So what did they do, sat back and cried, whined, and rebelled against God. They simply did not believe God at His Word. They are calling God a liar. Moses told them God gave you the land, yet you listened to the eight that came back out of the ten. The democracy of majority rule went against God's command. This is the problem with a democracy when it is blind to God's Word, and open to lies and traditions, for it will lead you down the wrong path. The people focused on the giants that were out there, and they shut their mind to what God had said. They did not let God fight their battles for them, but sat back like a bunch of cry-babies. Friend, if you want some real good sound advise.. "Don't ever call God a liar." You will pay a price for the foolishness of your idle words. When God makes something clear to you like He did to them, you had better believe it. Deuteronomy 9:24 "Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.)" Moses was not to happy with them as he stood there reviewing the past. Though this is addressed to that group of people standing there before Moses, it is just as real today. Our people do some of those same stupid things that are common today. Stop and look around you, and look at the many things that are going on in our land that God detests. The riots and murders, the taking God's Word out of the schools, and even the mixing of strange religious ideas with God's Word and calling in Christian is a common thing. Common sense within God Word should tell us that we take care of each other, even our neighbors. Deuteronomy 9:25 "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." Moses knew God and believed that He would spare His people and that is why he petitioned God on their behalf. The people needed an intercessor and Moses was that man. It is also important that even in our generation that we pray for our generation, as we see what is going on around us. We pray that perhaps God would lift the plague that is upon our land and the other Christian nation, however, I believe that we are in that final generation, and God is allowing the entire world to drift into their own doom, when Satan arrives in his role as the "instead of Christ", the Antichrist. The world today will not believe because they have closed their eyes to the truth from God's Word. No matter how much prayer is given, we are at that time in God's plan where the events of our day, of the end times are taking place right before our eyes. It is important that each of us individually put our spiritual armor on and in place, for the battles that are before us will be spiritual battles. Moses never gave up, to the very end, and neither will those with the seal or truth of God's Word in their minds. Deuteronomy 9:26 "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 redeemed through Thy greatness, which Thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand." Moses pleaded with God to spare the people, not for their greatness, but for Thy greatness, for God's eternal greatness, and Your inheritance save Your people. What good is there to any inheritance if there is no one to pass that inheritance on to, that is why Moses is pleading for God's mercy on the people. It was for Thy sake, and Thy mercy that You brought them out of Egypt, and because of Thy promise to your servant Abraham. God is good and He is fair to His people. Deuteronomy 9:27 "Remember Thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin:" It doesn't hurt to pray for the people that their eyes will be opened, but Moses is asking God to remember the promises that He made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to show mercy to the people for their sakes. Deuteronomy 9:28 "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.' " Moses knew how to play on God's heart, and here he is reminding God of what the Egyptians would say. They would look on God as one who hated His own people. One that would take them to the wilderness with promises of a good land, and then slaughter them out there in the desert. Deuteronomy 9:29 "Yet thy are Thy People and Thine inheritance, which Thou broughtest out by Thy mighty power and by Thy stretched out arm." We see that God did deliver them out of Egypt, even through all the difficulties of the wilderness, and through their own doubt and disbelief, God brought them to this point to where they are about to enter the promise land. Though God did all this for His people, those people tried and tested God to the limit. God did give the inheritance to their children, even though the ones that tested God died out there in the wilderness. God kept His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but those that refused to believe and take God at His word, were passed over. Now their children are about to enter into that land of milk and honey.
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