4 After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, DO NOT SAY to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, IT IS ON ACCOUNT OF THE WICKEDNESS of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. 5 IT IS NOT BECAUSE OF YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS OR YOUR INTEGRITY that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, Deuteronomy 9
The name Deuteronomy is derived from two Greek words ‘deutero’ meaning second and ‘nomos’ meaning law, the second giving of the law. All the adults (excluding Joshua and Caleb) who’d come out of Egypt had died in the desert and so the next generation had to be brought into covenant with God under the law for a second time. As we’ve seen before Christ rebuffed the devil in each of His temptations by quoting from the Book of Deuteronomy. There are many New Testament quotes from this Book, some scholars say eighty direct quotes, so it’s very significant.
The late David Pawson, in his teaching on Deuteronomy available on YouTube, gives an intriguing example of how God spoke to Winston Churchill through the above verses. Churchill had just been made First Lord of the Admiralty, chief of Britain’s shipping in WW 1, it was a momentous time for the nation. Apparently his ego had become inflated by this appointment. He was spending the night in a large country house with a Bible, perhaps a Gideon Bible, by the bedside. Churchill read these verses, where the Lord said it’s not because of your righteousness that I’m going to defeat Britain’s enemies, but because of their wickedness. He never forgot those verses and that may have been part of the reason God was able to use him to stand so mightily for freedom in two World Wars.
We too must keep this in mind when the Lord delivers us from the hands of the wicked in this present time.
Ascribe greatness to our God, the rock,
his work is perfect and all his ways are just.
Ascribe greatness to our God, the Rock,
his work is perfect and all his ways are just.
A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
good and upright is he.
A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
good and upright is he.
Deuteronomy chapter 32 is known as the Song of Moses, words from a well known modern chorus given above. (Deuteronomy 32:3,4) Moses was the third person still alive after leaving Egypt, but he would not cross over with them into the Promised Land. Before he died he sang these words to the Lord and later blessed the tribes, prophesying to each one in turn. (Simeon was not given a blessing by Moses, but did inherit with Judah in Canaan). It’s always good to worship the Lord, but it may be particularly important for us to remember His ‘Goodness and Faithfulness’ in our own day.
May the Lord bless and keep you today. Immanuel, God is with us.