In Deuteronomy chapters 7-9, Moses is reminding the children of Israel of all the Lord has done for them as He led them in the wilderness for the past 40 years. He reminds the people of the Lord’s faithfulness, and of His love, care, and protection. He reminds them that He had a purpose for the trials they experienced during their years of wandering. He explains in Deuteronomy 8:2 that the trials were “to humble thee and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep His commandments or no.” Finally, Moses warns the people against forgetting the Lord their God when they got settled and comfortable in the land.
I love how relevant these Old Testament principles are to us today. I don’t know about you, but I often forget all that the Lord has done for me! During difficult times, it is so easy for me to forget that the Lord has a purpose for the trials. I have to be reminded to pray, “Lord, please teach me the lesson you have for me” rather than “Lord, take this trial away!”
I so easily get settled and comfortable in my Christian walk when things are going well.
How I need these reminders from Moses, just as much as the children of Israel!
In Deut. 9:6-7, Moses goes on to say, “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. Remember, and forget not, how thou provokest 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 unto the Lord.”
God is reminding the people that they did not earn the right to the promised land. Rather, He chose to give it to them because of His great mercy. Because he chose to love them in spite of their sin. In Deuteronomy 7:7-8, Moses reminds the people, “The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the Lord loved you.”
What an awesome reminder that the O.T. Gospel is the same as the N.T. Gospel. Titus 3:5 says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”
I am so very thankful for our merciful Savior! I am thankful that it is not by our “works of righteousness” that we will be awarded the Promised Land! How hopeless would that be. No, it is only through His perfect and complete righteousness.
He chose to love us in spite of our unworthiness, just as He chose to love the people of Israel in spite of their sin.
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