Deuteronomy 9 STUBBORN AND REBELLIOUS PEOPLE There are times when we are more conscious of the sovereignty of God than at other times. We wonder at God's mercy and grace when people are so ungrateful, unrighteous and sinful. But when we stop to consider ourselves, we are caused to ask, "What is man that Thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that Thou visitest him?" God's people are not immune to the ways and attractions of the world. For some reason there is a tendency to so some of the same things those "without God, without Christ and without hope" in the world do. It is never wise for us to look down on people and consider ourselves to be superior because we have been called by His grace and saved. "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall."
Israel was soon to enter the land of Canaan that God promised Abraham 400 years before. God told the children of Israel He would drive out the wicked people who lived there before them when they came into the land. His people would be able to defeat the inhabitants of the land because God was with them, not because of their own power and strength. He had to clarify some things to them first. The victories were not going to be given them by God because they deserved to win, but because of the wickedness of the people that lived there. The Israelites were not very nice people. They took the blessings God gave them daily for granted. They weren't very thankful for what they had been given and complained because they didn't have more. They seemed to think they deserved more than they had and God was more or less obligated to give it to them. How often this same attitude is among us when we are daily loaded with benefits and have more than we need, and yet want more, and feel deprived if we don't get everything we covet.
The giant Anakites must have been really intimidating people because of their size and strength. Forty years before, the Israelites were so afraid of them they refused to trust God to enable them to win a victory over the giants. Those huge people seemed to be a major factor in them disobeying God and refusing to go in and possess their possessions. Now here was the next generation of God's people and the problem still remained. They were promised victory, not because they deserved it, but because those wicked people had to be annihilated.
"Without faith it is impossible to please Him [God]," is a major factor in our lives today. I have to ask myself from time to time, "Am I willing to take this action without being sure of the outcome?" Faith is not some obscure concept we are to assent to. It is the deciding factor in any service for God we might be called upon to do. To not go forward in faith when God wants us to, is a stubborn response and that response is sin. To rebel against God's revealed will is sin of the same kind. "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." We need to constantly be renewed in the spirit of our minds so that we do not sin against the Lord by either the sins of omission or commission.
The list of unrighteous acts of the children of Israel had not escaped the eyes of God, and Moses recounted them to the children of Israel so they would not exalt themselves in pride. They had not arrived at a place where they deserved the promised land. God was going to use them by His power to drive out, and eliminate the people who lived there in great wickedness. The list of evils committed by those inhabitants of Canaan is not given here, but unspeakable evil was common practice, even in serving the gods they worshipped. There are times when the only way to eradicate evil and its on-going impact, is to totally annihilate those who practice it and pollute all other people who live nearby. The influence of immorality, unrighteousness and false gods has the power to claim the hearts and minds of people very quickly. Satan can even move those who lead our nation to pass laws that defy God's laws, and they threaten those who will not accept their decision, with reprisals.
The willful attitude of people who want their own way can be expected in little children, but in adults it is obnoxious behavior that can even cause wars. Stiff-necked people have taken a position that refuses to listen to any other opinion. Sometimes pride overcomes even common sense when people are stiff-necked, to the point they will not obey God. Cain was one such person. In essence he indicated, "If God won't take what I want to give Him, I won't give Him anything." Other apostates are named in scripture as those who knew what was right but deliberately turned away from it because they had their own personal opinion and agenda. To be stiff-necked is a deliberate rejection of divine authority.
The outcome of such an attitude is that those against whom you have set your will, are provoked, both by the attitude and the behavior that accompanies it. That is bad enough when people are provoked, but it becomes extremely serious and has great consequences when God is provoked to anger. There is a mindset that many have now, that we are supposed to be tolerant of anything and everything that people do. They "don't want to offend" those who are wayward, provoking, stiff-necked and unrighteous, for fear "They won't like us." Then the reasoning is, they won't listen to the Gospel and, "If they don't get saved, it will be our fault, because we weren't kind enough." The best kindness we can show people who love and live in sin, is to tell them what is right and how to avoid the consequences of sin. If we really love them as Christ loves them, we will not cover sin but show them how they can be forgiven of their sins.
Rebellion is in the heart of our children because it came to them by way of us. In any home there is a struggle for leadership between parents and a small headstrong infant who screeches and hollers non-stop in a way the parents cannot. Who is going to be in control here - the wise parents who have learned what is right and wrong, or the little pagan who knows only what he or she wants? This same rebellious way was in the nation of Israel when they chose to go their own way, and do their own thing in spite of what God said. They would not listen to Moses when he told them what God said. He recounted some of the times and ways they had turned a deaf ear to God's instruction, and how he interceded for them so they wouldn't all have died on the spot. It is within the capacity of the people of God today to deliberately turn a deaf ear toward teaching they don't want to hear because it would interfere with their own will and chosen lifestyle. To shut one's ears to the word of God and wise instruction given by trusted leaders, is really a wicked thing. How strange to think that I am right and those who do not agree with me are all wrong.
When we rely on our own opinions to direct our lives, we are stepping into an area in which we are in danger of going against God. Such an attitude and the action (or lack of action) that follows, means we will lose everything except for the grace of God. In times of decision and/or uncertainty, we must look for God's help and guidance, or the mistakes we make will have lasting consequences that we will forever regret. God used the nation of Israel to fulfill His purpose in spite of their unrighteous, rebellious and stiff-necked attitude. Their blessings did not come because they deserved them, but in spite of them. "It is of God's mercies we are not consumed."
The attitude of unbelief creates a whole host of problems and sins that have the power to bring us down in shame if they are not confessed and forsaken. To claim anything from God because we think we deserve it is foolish, arrogant and sinful. The lesson Moses was impressing upon the children of Israel as he reviewed their failures, was so they might approach the work before them in humility, faith and dependence on God. When we realize where our strength lies and submit ourselves as tools in the hands of the Master, then we can be used by God and the results can be blessings for us in spite of our failures and shortcomings. In such a time we can understand better the fact that "If God be for us who can be against us."
He still calls us His people. We are still His inheritance and there is no difficulty in tracing His gracious ways with us when we remember and review our past. When all is said and done, we will know that anything of value has been accomplished by God's power. He has reached out to us and done for us what we cannot do for ourselves. This holds true in personal life, family life, assembly life and national life. How dangerous it is for us to take credit for what God does in us and through us. How wise it is when there have been obvious times of blessing and success, to honestly GIVE GOD ALL THE GLORY.