June 5: Deuteronomy 9
The only difference is God’s grace
This chapter continues the same theme of Deuteronomy 8 - that God’s grace is amazing, and it is entirely . . . gracious. Grace means a favor bestowed that is completely unearned and undeserved. That favor is possession of the Promised Land, currently occupied by the Anakim, a vile and evil people.
Now, “unearned” and “undeserved” are two different concepts. The Israelites were never good enough to earn this favor (Deuteronomy 9:4). Nor were they at all deserving of it. In fact, they deserved the same thing as the Anakim. There was nothing inherently different about the Jews from any other nation, in terms of morals, strength or anything else. This is not a statement of anti-Judaism, but a statement of equality - the Jews were just like every other nation. This is the point of the bulk of the chapter, Deuteronomy 9:8-29.
Paul puts it this way in Romans 3:9-12:
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
It’s at this point that we gain some moral clarity about the destruction of these Anakim by the Jews, as they took the Promised Land. God always brings salvation through judgment. The Flood, through the waters (Genesis 6); the Exodus, through the plagues (Exodus 7-12); the Promised Land, through the destruction of the peoples there; and one day, the new heavens and new earth, by throwing death and hades into the lake of fire, along with anyone whose name is not written in the book of life (Revelation 20:13-15).
Judgment on the one does not mean that the other deserves the blessing. This is no more clear than on the cross, when judgment landed on the Lamb of God, so that we might be grafted in to God’s one, great Olive Tree of salvation (Romans 11:18-19). The Jews were not better than the Anakim; the Golden Calf incident proves this (Deuteronomy 9:13-21). And we Gentiles are no better than the Jews (Romans 11:20).
The only difference is God’s grace.
Yet God’s mercy is meant to lead us not to licentiousness1 but repentance (Romans 2:4).
Licentiousness: noun, unprincipled and promiscuous in sexual matters, like Israel with the golden calf