For the fifth time in his address, Moses says, “Hear, O Israel!” (See 4:1; 5:1; 6:3–4.) He was giving them the Word of God, and when God’s speaks to His people, they must listen. The word “hear” is used over fifty times in Deuteronomy, for God’s people live by faith, and “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). The Jews couldn’t see their God, but they could hear Him, while their pagan neighbors could see their gods but couldn’t hear them (Ps. 115:5). In this section, Moses reminded the people that their conduct since leaving Egypt had been anything but exemplary, in spite of His longsuffering and grace.
The grace of God (9:1–6). The phrase “this day” doesn’t mean the very day on which Moses was speaking, for Israel didn’t enter the land of Canaan until over forty days later (1:3; 34:8; Josh. 4:19). The word “day” refers to a period of time during which God is doing a special work, such as the day of creation, which was six days (Gen. 2:4), or the “day of the Lord,” when God will judge the world (Joel 2). God reminded Israel of the unbelief of the previous generation at KadeshBarnea, when they saw the obstacles in Canaan but forgot the power of their God (Deut. 9:1–2; Num. 13—14). God assured His people that there was no need to fear the future because He would go before them to help them defeat their enemies. He wouldn’t do it instead of them, for they had to do their part and fight the battles, nor would He do it in spite of them, for they had to be obedient and respect His laws, but He would work in them and through them to conquer the nations in the land (Phil. 2:12–13; Prov. 21:31).
Once again, Moses reminded the nation that the land was a gift from the Lord, not a reward for their righteousness. God had graciously covenanted with Abraham to give him and his descendants the land of Canaan (Gen. 12:1–3; 13:14–17; 15:7–21), and He would keep His promise. The people in the land were wicked and ripe for judgment, and even though Israel wasn’t a perfect people, God would use them to bring that judgment. The emphasis is on the grace of God and not the goodness of God’s people, and this emphasis is needed today (Titus 2:11—3:7). When we forget the grace of God, we become proud and start thinking that we deserve all that God has done for us, and then God has to remind us of His goodness and our sinfulness, and that reminder might be very painful. That’s the theme of the next part of Moses’ message.
The discipline of God (9:7—10:11). Moses was addressing a new generation, but they needed to hear this part of the message and realize that they were sinners just like their ancestors. The theme is expressed bluntly in 9:24, “You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I [the Lord] knew you [chose you]” (). God called Abraham and led him to the Promised Land, but then he fled to Egypt to escape a famine (Gen. 12:10ff.). No sooner were the Jews delivered from Egypt than they began to complain about the way God led them and fed them (Ex. 15:22ff.). The scenery in the drama of the life of faith may change, but the actors and the script are pretty much the same: God blesses, we enjoy the blessings, then we rebel against His disciplines and miss the blessing He planned for us.
In his review of Israel’s history of rebellion, Moses started with their worship of the golden calf at Mount Sinai (Deut. 9:7–21; 25–10:11; Ex. 32) and then simply mentioned the places where they rebelled on the journey from Sinai to Kadesh-Barnea (Deut. 9:22). After that, he declared the nation’s unbelief and rebellion at Kadesh-Barnea (vv. 23–24), followed by a second reminder of the episode of the golden calf (9:25—10:11). Moses didn’t follow a strict chronological account of all the events in Israel’s history but emphasized their two greatest sins: the worship of the golden calf at Sinai and the refusal to enter the land at Kadesh-Barnea.
Israel committed a very great sin when they worshipped the golden calf (Ex. 32—34). Behind them was the history of their deliverance from Egypt, a demonstration of the grace and power of the Lord, and yet they rebelled against their Redeemer! Israel was the people of God, redeemed by His hand, and yet they manufactured a new god! Before them was Mount Sinai where they had seen God’s glory and holiness demonstrated and from which they had received the law of the Lord. In that law, God commanded them to worship Him alone and not to make idols and worship them. They had accepted that law and twice promised to obey it (Ex. 24:3, 7), and yet they broke the first and second commandments by making and worshipping an idol, and the seventh commandment by engaging in lustful revelry as a part of their “worship.”
Impatience and unbelief prompted Israel’s great sin at Mount Sinai, for Moses had been on the mountain with the Lord for forty days and nights (Ex. 24:1–18). Aaron should have opposed their request for a new god, but instead he compromised and went along with their demands, hoping it would bring peace to the camp. Imagine the first high priest making an idol! Moses had given his brother authority to act in his absence (v. 14), and Aaron could have rallied the tribal leaders and urged the Israelites to obey the Lord; but he wanted to please the people and avoid conflict. Centuries later, Pontius Pilate would make the same mistake when he obeyed the crowd that wanted Jesus to be crucified (Mark 15:15).
Never underestimate the importance of spiritual leadership that encourages obedience to the Word of God. Aaron failed God, who had appointed him as high priest; he failed his brother who was depending on him to guide the nation; and he failed the people who desperately needed strong spiritual leadership. When Moses confronted him, Aaron tried to excuse his way out of his sin by blaming the people! All he did was take their golden jewelry and throw it into the fire, and out came a calf! (See Ex. 32:22–24.) Moses spent another forty days and nights on the mountain, interceding for Aaron and the people. God was ready to slay Aaron, wipe out the nation, and begin a new nation with Moses, but Moses prayed for Aaron and the people and refused God’s offer to make him the father of a new nation. Moses faced this same test at KadeshBarnea and again put the glory of God and the good of the people ahead of personal promotion (Num. 14:12). Moses was more concerned with the glory of God and His reputation before the pagan nations, for he knew that the fear of God had to go before Israel if they were to conquer the land and claim their inheritance.
We can’t help but admire Moses as the leader of God’s people. He spent forty days on the mountain, learning how to lead the people in their worship of God, and then he spent another forty days fasting and praying, interceding for a nation that complained, resisted his leadership, and rebelled against the Lord. But leaders are tested just as followers are tested, and Moses passed the test. He showed that his great concern wasn’t his own fame or position but the glory of God and the good of the people. In fact, he was willing to die for the people rather than see God destroy them (Ex. 32:31–34). A true shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11).
After reviewing Israel’s great sin at Sinai, Moses mentioned Israel’s repeated rebellions on the way to Kadesh-Barnea (Deut. 9:22). At Taberah, the people complained about their “hardships” and God sent fire that consumed some of the people on the outskirts of the camp (Num. 11:1–3). Then the people who complained to Moses begged him to pray for them, and God listened to Moses and stopped the judgment. “Taberah” means “burning,” and the name should remind all of us that it’s a sin to complain (Phil. 2:14–15; 1 Cor. 10:10). At Massah, the Jews complained because they were thirsty, so Moses struck the rock and God provided water abundantly (Ex. 17:1–7). “Massah” means “testing” and is joined with “Meribah” which means “quarreling.” “Kibroth Hattaavah” means “graves of lust” and refers to the time Israel became weary of the manna and craved meat to eat (Num. 11:4ff.). God sent flocks of quail over the camp of Israel and all the people had to do was knock the birds down, dress them, cook them, and eat them. It was the old “Egyptian appetite” asserting itself again, the flesh rebelling against the Spirit. While the people were eating the meat, God’s judgment fell and He sent a plague to the camp. “So he gave them what they asked for, but he sent a plague along with it” (Ps. 106: nlt). Sometimes God’s greatest judgment is to let us have our own way (Rom. 1:22–28).
Finally, Moses rehearsed Israel’s great failure at Kadesh-Barnea (Deut. 9:23–24; Num. 13—14). During the march from Egypt to Kadesh, the Jews had seen the hand of God at work day after day, meeting their every need, but at Kadesh, they felt that God wasn’t great enough to give them victory over the nations in Canaan. They had “an evil heart of unbelief” (Heb. 3:12), which is actually rebellion against the Lord. Unbelief is a sin of the will; it’s tempting the Lord and saying, “I will not trust the Lord and do what He commands me to do!” The ten unbelieving spies walked by sight, not by faith, and saw only the problems in the land. Moses, Aaron, Caleb, and Joshua walked by faith and believed that God could defeat any enemy and overcome every obstacle.
This review of Israel’s sins is quite an indictment, but God never forsook the people of Israel and often forgave them when He should have judged them. “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities” (Ps. 103:10; see Ezra 9:13). God is always faithful to His promises; when we don’t allow Him to rule, He will overrule and still accomplish His purposes. However, we will miss the blessings that He planned for us.
Every believer and every Christian ministry, whether it be a local church or a parachurch ministry, must trust God to meet their needs a day at a time. If we complain along the way, we’re only giving evidence that we don’t trust God but think we know more than He does about what’s best for us. When we come to those “Kadesh-Barnea” places in life, when we must claim what God has planned for us and move forward by faith, we must not rebel against God and refuse to trust and obey. If we do, we may find ourselves wandering through life, failing to accomplish what God has planned for us. Claiming our inheritance in Christ is one of the major themes of the book of Hebrews, and the writer uses Israel as the main illustration (Heb. 3—4).