Moses said there were two reasons they were given this land that was occupied by other nations.

Deut 9:4  Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee. 

                                                                                                                                                     

The children of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land. Moses assured them God would give them victories over the children of Anak and all the nations of Canaan. But at the same time, Moses warned them about thinking too highly of themselves. They must not suppose that it was due to their righteousness that God had been good to them. Moses said don’t even think about it: “speak not thou in thine heart” (verse 4).

To guard against this evil imagination and self-righteousness, Moses said there were two reasons they were given this land that was occupied by other nations.

First, he told them that it was not because of their righteousness did God drive out the Canaanites and give them the land but because of the wickedness of these nations. The Canaanites were a hopelessly corrupt race, and deserved extermination; Israel was only God’s instrument to accomplish this work (verse 5).

Second, it was because of the promise that God had made with their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would give them this land and He was delivering on His promise (verse 5). It was not for the sake of the Israelites, but for His own sake, for the promise made to their pious ancestors.

Moses pointed back to their continuous rebellions during the forty years in the wilderness. From the beginning to the end of their journey towards the Promised Land, they had been a rebellious and stiffnecked people. They had broken their covenant with their God. They had caused Moses to break the tables of stone containing the Ten Commandments. Notwithstanding their sin, God’s wrath had been turned to mercy by the prayer of Moses, and had repented of His design to destroy them (verse 5-26).

Today, even some Christians harbor this vain imagination that it is their righteousness that they have been blessed. They think their worldly successes and achievements are the rewards for their superior virtue and faithfulness. Unfortunately, their worldly wisdom often does not translate into spiritual wisdom.

                                                                                                                           

Self righteous people place confidence in themselves. God’s word warns: “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Proverbs 26:12). Such persons think their spiritual state is good when really it is badly distorted, like the church at Laodicea in Revelation 3:17.

God says there is more hope for a fool than such a self-conceited person. In other words, the fool knows he is a fool and will try to learn and improve himself to get out of his foolishness. But a self-conceited man does not know his foolish condition and remains in it. A fool is teachable but not a man who is self-conceited.

We are not righteous enough to deserve the good land—heaven. We cannot earn our way into the heavenly country. It is not because of our righteousness that God loves us and gives us the heavenly home. It is by His grace that we can inherit that eternal abode. Let us be thankful for His abundant grace and mercy in Christ Jesus: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.