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Texts -- Deuteronomy 9:1-17 (NET)

Context
Theological Justification of the Conquest
9:1 Listen , Israel : Today you are about to cross the Jordan so you can dispossess the nations there, people greater and stronger than you who live in large cities with extremely high fortifications . 9:2 They include the Anakites , a numerous and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said, “Who is able to resist the Anakites ?” 9:3 Understand today that the Lord your God who goes before you is a devouring fire ; he will defeat and subdue them before you. You will dispossess and destroy them quickly just as he has told you. 9:4 Do not think to yourself after the Lord your God has driven them out before you, “Because of my own righteousness the Lord has brought me here to possess this land .” It is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out ahead of you. 9:5 It is not because of your righteousness , or even your inner uprightness , that you have come here to possess their land . Instead, because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out ahead of you in order to confirm the promise he made on oath to your ancestors , to Abraham , Isaac , and Jacob . 9:6 Understand , therefore, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is about to give you this good land as a possession , for you are a stubborn people !
The History of Israel’s Stubbornness
9:7 Remember – don’t ever forget – how you provoked the Lord your God in the desert ; from the time you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place you were constantly rebelling against him. 9:8 At Horeb you provoked him and he was angry enough with you to destroy you. 9:9 When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets , the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained there forty days and nights , eating and drinking nothing . 9:10 The Lord gave me the two stone tablets , written by the very finger of God , and on them was everything he said to you at the mountain from the midst of the fire at the time of that assembly . 9:11 Now at the end of the forty days and nights the Lord presented me with the two stone tablets , the tablets of the covenant . 9:12 And he said to me, “Get up , go down at once from here because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have sinned ! They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a cast metal image .” 9:13 Moreover, he said to me, “I have taken note of these people ; they are a stubborn lot! 9:14 Stand aside and I will destroy them, obliterating their very name from memory , and I will make you into a stronger and more numerous nation than they are.” 9:15 So I turned and went down the mountain while it was blazing with fire ; the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands . 9:16 When I looked , you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God and had cast for yourselves a metal calf ; you had quickly turned aside from the way he had commanded you! 9:17 I grabbed the two tablets , threw them down , and shattered them before your very eyes .

Pericope

NET
  • Deu 9:1-6 -- Theological Justification of the Conquest
  • Deu 9:7-24 -- The History of Israel's Stubbornness

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

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  • Let me share with you a couple of quotations that point out the importance of this book."Deuteronomy is one of the greatest books of the Old Testament. Its significance on the domestic and personal religion of all ages has no...
  • I. Introduction: the covenant setting 1:1-5II. Moses' first major address: a review of God's faithfulness 1:6-4:40A. God's past dealings with Israel 1:6-3:291. God's guidance from Sinai to Kadesh 1:6-462. The march from Kades...
  • This brief section places the events that follow in their geographical and chronological setting. It introduces the occasion for the covenant, the parties involved, and other information necessary to identify the document and...
  • Moses encouraged Joshua, his successor, to take courage on the basis of all that God had done for Israel thus far, especially in defeating Sihon and Og (vv. 21-22). A better translation of verse 22 is ". . . for Yahweh [the c...
  • "The passage at hand is without comparison as a discourse on the doctrine of God."56Moses' three rhetorical questions (vv. 32-34) clearly point out the uniqueness of Yahweh."In addition to His self-disclosure in event, in his...
  • These verses are similar to 1:4-5. They summarize and introduce with historical references what follows. In a larger sense these verses summarize all of chapters 1-3. This is narration about Moses, not a discourse by Moses."T...
  • ". . . Deuteronomy contains the most comprehensive body of laws in the Pentateuch. It is clearly intended to be consulted for guidance on many aspects of daily life, in sharp contrast with the laws of Leviticus, which are ver...
  • Another writer suggested that chapters 6-26 expand the Decalogue with the intent of addressing the spirit of the law.92He believed the structure of the book supports his contention that the writer chose exemplary cases. Moses...
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  • "From a literary standpoint Deut 9:1-10:11 is a travel narrative much like Deut 1:6-3:29, with which, in fact, it shares much in common. For example, both are introduced (1:1-5; 9:1-6) and concluded (3:29; 10:11) by a setting...
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  • Moses' homiletical exposition of the law of Israel that follows explains reasons for the covenant laws that arose from the Ten Commandments. This address concludes with directions for celebrating and confirming the covenant (...
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  • "The presentation of the commandments and the statutes and ordinances that will guide Israel's life in the land is over now. Verse 16 serves as a concluding bracket around chapters 5-26, matching Moses' introduction to the wh...
  • "Moses assigned the priests and elders the duty of regularly republishing the law of the covenant. The effect of this was to associate the priests and elders with Joshua in the responsibility of rule and in the esteem of Isra...
  • When the people had dealt with the sin of Achan as God had commanded, Israel was ready to engage the enemy again.8:1-2 In view of Israel's defeat God's encouraging words were necessary to strengthen Joshua's resolve (cf. 1:9)...
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  • The writer proceeded to explain the superiority of the New Covenant by comparing it with the Old Covenant using the figure of two mountains: Sinai and Zion.12:18-21 These verses describe the giving of the Old Covenant at Mt. ...
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