Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. (Deuteronomy 9:6)
Once again we have a verse to remind us that, in spite of our continued stubbornness and resistance to the will of God, He is gracious and good. Where these ancient Israelites were concerned, the land was given to them because of His promise, not their righteousness. Where we are concerned, I’m sure all of us can identify certain blessings He has bestowed upon us in spite of our shortcomings and failures. As it is written, “The Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:5).
Again where ancient Israel is concerned, it is important to remember that during times of stubbornness and resistance to God, they had a leader who continually stood in the gap on their behalf. While Moses was on Sinai receiving the commandments of God, written in stone by the finger of God, they were committing their most atrocious offense — fashioning a Golden Calf. Frankly, had it not been for Moses’ intercession, Israel would have perished then and there. As the Psalmist said, “He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them” (Psalm 106:23).
So the point today is to recognize we are just as stubborn and stiff-necked at times, falling short of the mark. Yes, there have even been those times that, in relation to His holiness, we were so far off the mark that we would have deserved death. However, we have a Shepherd, a Redeemer and an Advocate who stands in the gap for us. By Him we are delivered from death and have access to the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Let us meditate on the goodness of God in that when we were in our sin, He loved us. He loved us so much that He determined, in the person of the Messiah, He would be our intercessor. As Isaiah wrote: He (God) saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him (Isaiah 59:16).
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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