Today we begin Deuteronomy Chapter Nine.
For the Complete Jewish Bible, click here.
For the King James Bible, click here.
“‘Hear O Israel! You are to cross the Jordan today, to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, great cities fortified up to the sky; a people great and tall, the ‘Anakites, whom you know about and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the descendants of ‘Anak?’”-Deuteronomy 9:1-2
Recall I mentioned at the beginning of our study of Deuteronomy that this fifth book of the Bible is essentially a sermon of Moses.
And because it is a sermon there is quite a bit of repeating of the many laws that came before.
But it’s not just a mere reiteration of what came before.
Moses is also doing a great deal of expounding on the meaning of all the laws and how they are to be applied once the Israelites enter into the Promised Land.
Do you remember how I told you the New Testament is comprised of more than 50% of quotations straight from the “Old” Testament?
Well, let me you ask this?
Can you guess which book is quoted more than any of the others from among the books of the “Old” Testament?
It is Deuteronomy.
I believe this is because of the sermon nature of this book.
Rather than just a dry repeat of the laws, Moses dives deep into the intent and purpose behind the laws.
And by the way, Yeshua’s Sermon on the Mount is also a sermon that expounds on the law.
That’s probably why Christians like to study the Sermon on the Mount more than the other parts of the New Testament.
Now this chapter kicks of with the famous words “Hear O Israel“.
Do you recall what this phrase is in Hebrew?
That’s right…it’s SHEMA ISRAEL.
This is one of the key phrases in all of Scripture that we analyzed very carefully a couple of months ago.
Remember, SHEMA is a forceful statement that demands VIGOROUS ACTION.
It means to sit up, pay attention, and then get off your butt and make some serious changes in your life.
I would think a better way to translate SHEMA ISRAEL is to say “Hear and obey Israel” as opposed to just “Hear O Israel“.
Onward.
The main theme of Chapter Nine is clearcut.
The God of Israel has declared a Holy War against the native inhabitants of the Land of Canaan.
Don’t forget a holy war is not a war fought in the Name of God, rather it is a war led by God Himself.
Israel is only God’s agent in the whole matter.
God is going to go forward and with a strong hand dispossess nations who are not only well entrenched and as a result well prepared to deal with outside attacks but are also much stronger (physically that is) and much larger in numbers.
There’s an important thing I want to remind you about this whole situation here.
IT WAS NO SECRET TO THE PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE EAST THAT ISRAEL WAS GETTING READY TO ATTACK CANAAN.
All of the great kings of the various Canaanite groups were prepared to wage a war and were just waiting for Israel to show up.
Note the mention of the Anakites in verse 2.
These folks were legendary for being huge (think of Goliath) and a ferocious nation of fighters who slew anyone who dared take them on.
In fact, their exploits in battle were so renown that the saying “who stand up to the children of the Anakites” became commonplace.
Yet Moses makes it clear that Israel is not to fear them BECAUSE…
…”Adonai your God will himself cross ahead of you as a devouring fire; he will destroy them and bring them down before you”.
Amen.
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