ekev continued

Deut 9

Moses tells the Israelites not to fear the people of the land that they're going to enter. Even though the people are giants and their cities are fortified to the heavens, God will destroy those people before the Israelites.

The beginning of verse 1 in the Hebrew is "Shema Yisrael". The more famous Shema Yisrael is from Deut 6:4 which says "the Lord our God, the Lord is One." Here, Moses tells the Israelites to listen up because they're about to cross the Jordan and take over from nations greater and stronger than they are.

Next time you're asked if you know the Shema, you might ask, which one? ;) (Deut 6:4 or Deut 9:1)

God is described as a consuming fire (verse 3). Only because of God's help will the Israelites be able to destroy their enemies.

But Israel has to remember that they are getting the land NOT because of her righteousness but because the nations that were there were so bad. The other nations were wicked and practiced all sorts of abominations including the horrific practice of human sacrifice.

Moses reminds the Israelites of their wickedness as well in recounting the incident of the golden calf (egel zahav).

Moses, the man of uncircumcised lips, who was heavy of speech and heavy of tongue, has managed to wax eloquent and even throw in some good old fashioned Jewish guilt into the narrative. Listen...

"When I ascended the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water" 9:9

Twice more, Moses will say that he ate no bread and drank no water for 40 days. Think he's trying to tell the Israelites something? One interpretation is that Moses was so focused on God that he didn't have these other human concerns.

Moses tells of the people's great sin with the golden calf, God's angry response and Moses' own plea before the Lord to forgive the people. And lo, God did not destroy the people and make of Moses a greater nation as He promised.

"The prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16

Thanks be to God, Who was pleased for the sake of His righteousness, to render His Law great and glorious. Isaiah 42:21.