Schoolmaster to Christ
DEUTERONOMY CHAPTER 9
Schoolmaster to Christ
DEUTERONOMY CHAPTER 9
Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 9 (KJV)
"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; 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" (vv. 1, 2).
This chapter opens with that grand Deuteronomic sentence, "Hear, O Israel" – the keynote of this blessed book that has been engaging our attention. But the chapter now open before us presents subjects of immense weight and importance. In the first place, in terms of deep solemnity, the lawgiver sets before the congregation what lays before them as they enter the land. He does not hide the fact that there are serious difficulties and formidable enemies to be encountered. Of course, his purpose is not to discourage, simply to forewarn, forearm, and prepare. We will soon see what preparation was; but the faithful servant of God felt the rightness, the urgent need of putting the true state of the case before his brethren.
There are two ways of looking at difficulties: from a human point of view or from a divine one. We may look at them in a spirit of unbelief or in the calmness and quietness of confidence in the living God. In the report of the unbelieving spies in Numbers 13 we have an instance of the former; in the opening of our present chapter we have an instance of the latter.
It is not the province or the path of faith for the people of God to deny that there are difficulties to be encountered. It would be the height of folly to deny such because there are difficulties, and it would be foolhardiness, fanaticism, or fleshly enthusiasm to deny it. It is always good for people to know what they are about, and not to rush blindly into a path for which they are not prepared. An unbelieving sluggard may say, "There is a lion in the way;" a blind enthusiast may say, "There is no such thing;" the true man of faith will say, “Though there were a thousand lions in the way, God can soon dispose of them.”
But, as a practical principle of general application, it is important for the Lord's people to calmly and deeply consider what they are about before entering on a path of service or line of action. If this were attended to more in this present age, we would not witness so many moral and spiritual wrecks. What is the meaning of those solemn, searching, and testing words in Luke 14, addressed by our blessed Lord to the multitudes that thronged around Him?
"He turned and said to them, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother his wife, and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish" (vv. 26-30).
These are solemn and seasonable words for the heart. As we look out over the wide field of religious profession, how many partially attended buildings come into view giving occasion to the beholders for mockery. Under some sudden impulse or under the pressure of mere human influence, how many set out on a path of discipleship without a proper understanding or due consideration of all that is involved. Then when difficulties arise, when trials come, when the path becomes narrow, rough, lonely, and unpopular they give it up, proving that they had never really counted the cost, never taken the path in communion with God, never understood what they were doing.
Such cases are sorrowful; they bring reproach on the cause of Christ, giving the adversary occasion to blaspheme and greatly dishearten those who care for the glory of God and the good of souls. It is far better not to take the ground at all than, having taken it, to abandon it in dark unbelief and worldly-mindedness.
Therefore, we can perceive the wisdom and faithfulness of the opening words of this chapter. Moses plainly tells the people what was before them. Not to discourage, but to preserve them from self-confidence that is sure to fail in trial; and to cast them on the living God Who never fails a trusting heart.
"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."
Here is God's answer to all difficulties, no matter how formidable. In the presence of Jehovah, what were mighty nations, great cities, and fenced walls? They were nothing but chaff before the whirlwind. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Things that scare and stumble the coward heart afford an occasion for the power of God and the magnificent triumphs of faith to be displayed. Faith says, "Grant me only this, that God is before me and with me, and I can go anywhere." Thus the only thing in this world that glorifies God is the faith that can trust Him, use Him, and praise Him. Because faith is the only thing that glorifies God, it is the only thing that gives man his proper place – the place of complete dependence on God, ensuring victory and inspiring unceasing praise.
But we must never forget that there is moral danger in victory – danger arising out of what we are in ourselves. There is the danger of self-gratulation – a terrible snare to mortals. In the hour of conflict, we feel our weakness, nothingness, and need. This is good and morally safe. It is well to be brought down to the bottom of self and all that pertains to it, because there we find God in all the fullness and blessedness of what He is and there we find true victory and consequent praise.
But our treacherous and deceitful hearts are prone to forget from where the strength and victory come. Hence the moral force, value, and seasonableness of the following admonitory words addressed by the faithful minister of God to the hearts and consciences of his brethren, "Speak not thou in thine heart [here is where the mischief always begins] after that the Lord 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 those nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee" (emphasis added).
What ignorance we have of our own hearts; what a shallow sense of the real character of our ways. How terrible to think that we are capable of saying in our hearts such words as, "For my righteousness." Yes, we are capable of such egregious folly. Israel was capable of it and so are we because we are made of the very same material. That they were capable of it is evident from the fact of their being warned against it; for without a doubt, the Spirit of God does not warn against phantom dangers or imaginary temptations. We are capable of turning the actions of God on our behalf into an occasion of self-complacency. Instead of seeing in those gracious actions a ground for heartfelt praise to God, we use them as a ground for self-exaltation.
Therefore, we would do well to ponder the words of faithful admonition addressed by Moses to the hearts and consciences of the people. They furnish a wholesome antidote for the self-righteousness so natural to us as it was to Israel.
"Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land; but for the wickedness of those 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. Understand therefore, that the Lord giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiff-necked people. 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" (vv. 5-7).
This paragraph sets forth two great principles that if fully laid hold of must put the heart into a right moral attitude. In the first place, the people were reminded that their possession of the land of Canaan was simply in pursuance of God's promise to their fathers. This was placing the matter on the most solid basis – a basis that nothing could ever disturb.
The seven nations were to be dispossessed on the ground of their wickedness. In the exercise of His righteous government, God was about to drive them out. Basically, a landlord has the right to eject bad tenants; and the nations of Canaan had not only failed to pay their spiritual rent, but they had injured and defiled the property to such an extent that God could no longer endure them. Therefore, irrespective of the incoming tenants, He was going to drive them out. These dreadful tenants must be evicted, no matter who was going to get possession of the property. The iniquity of the Amorites had reached its highest point and nothing remained but that judgment should take its course. Men might argue and reason regarding the moral fitness and consistency of a benevolent Being unroofing the houses of thousands of families, putting the occupants to the sword. But we may depend on the government of God making short work of such arguments. God knows how to manage His own affairs without asking man's opinion. He had borne with the wickedness of the seven nations to such a degree that it had become absolutely insufferable. The land itself could not bear it. Any further exercise of forbearance would have been a sanction of terrible abominations; and of course this was a moral impossibility. The glory of God demanded expulsion of the Canaanites.
Yes; and we may add, the glory of God demanded the introduction of the seed of Abraham into possession of the property; to hold as tenants under the Lord God Almighty, the most High God, Possessor of heaven and earth. Thus the matter stood for Israel, had they but seen it. Their possession of the land of promise and the maintenance of God's glory were so bound up together that one could not be touched without touching the other. God had promised to give the land of Canaan to the seed of Abraham. Did He not have a right to do so? Will infidels question God's right to do as He will with His own? Will they refuse to the Creator and Governor of the universe a right they claim for themselves? The land was Jehovah's and He gave it to His friend, Abraham. Yet, although this was true, the Canaanites were not disturbed in their tenure of the property until their wickedness became unbearable.
Thus we see that in both the outgoing and incoming tenants, the glory of God was involved. That glory demanded that the Canaanites should be expelled because of their ways; and that glory demanded that Israel should be put in possession because of the promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
But, in the second place, Israel had no ground for self-complacency, as Moses plainly and faithfully instructs them. In the most touching and impressive manner he rehearses in their ears all the leading scenes of their history, from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea; he refers to the golden calf, the broken tables of the covenant, Taberah and Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah. At verse 24, he sums it all up with these pungent humbling words, "Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you."
This was plain dealing with heart and conscience. The solemn review of their whole career was calculated to correct all false notions about themselves. If viewed from a proper standpoint, every scene and circumstance in their entire history only brought to light the humbling fact of what they were, and how near they had been, again and again, to utter destruction. With what stunning force must the following words have fallen on their ears.
"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. Furthermore, the Lord spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people; 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" (vv. 12-14).
All this was withering to their vanity, pride, and self-righteousness. Their hearts should have been moved to the deepest depths by those tremendous words, "Let me alone, that I may destroy them." How solemn to reflect on the fact these words revealed – their appalling nearness to national ruin and destruction. How ignorant they had been of all that passed between Jehovah and Moses on the top of mount Horeb. They had been on the brink of an awful precipice. Another moment might have dashed them over. The intercession of Moses had saved them – the man they had accused of taking too much on him. How they had mistaken and misjudged him – how totally astray in their thoughts. This man they had accused of self-seeking and desiring to make himself a prince over them, had actually refused a God given opportunity to become the head of a greater and mightier nation than they. Yes and this same man had earnestly requested that if they were not to be forgiven and brought into the land, his name might be blotted out of the book.
How wonderful was all this; it turned the tables on them. How small they must have felt in view of all these wonderful facts. Surely, as they reviewed all these things they might well see the folly of the words, "For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land." How could the makers of a molten image use such language? Instead, they should see, feel, and determine themselves no better than the nations that were about to be driven out from before them. It was the sovereign mercy and love of their covenant God that made them different. And to what did they owe their deliverance out of Egypt, their sustenance in the wilderness, and their entrance into the land? Simply the eternal stability of the covenant made with their fathers, "a covenant ordered in all things and sure."
We now quote the splendid paragraph that closes this chapter – a paragraph eminently fitted to open Israel's eyes to the folly of their thoughts respecting Moses, their thoughts respecting themselves, and their thoughts respecting that blessed One Who had so marvelously borne with all their dark unbelief and daring rebellion.
"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. 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. Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look; not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their uncleanness, nor to their sin: 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."
What marvelous words addressed by a human being to the living God. What powerful pleadings for Israel. What self-renunciation. Moses refuses the offered dignity of being the founder of a greater and mightier nation than Israel. He only desires that Jehovah be glorified and Israel pardoned, blessed, and brought into the Promised Land. He could not endure the thought of any reproach being brought on that glorious Name so dear to his heart; neither could he bear to witness Israel's destruction. These were the two things he dreaded; and he cared nothing at all about his own exaltation. This beloved and honored servant cared only for the glory of God and the salvation of His people. Regarding himself, his hopes, his interests, his all, he could rest with composure in the assurance that his individual blessing and God's glory were bound together by a link that could never be snapped.
How grateful all this must have been to the heart of God; these earnest, loving pleadings of His servant must have been refreshing to His spirit – much more in harmony with His mind than the intercession of Elias against Israel, hundreds of years afterwards. They remind us of the blessed ministry of our Great High Priest Who always lives to make intercession for His people, and Whose active intervention on our behalf never ceases for a single moment.
And how touching and beautiful to note the way Moses insists on the fact that the people were Jehovah's inheritance, and that He had brought them up out of Egypt. The Lord had said, "Thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt." But Moses says, "They are Thy people, and thine inheritance, which Thou broughtest out." This is truly exquisite. Indeed this whole scene is full of profound interest.
