Our section of Scripture today deals with righteousness by faith, not righteousness by works which no imperfect human being can attain. Just as the Israelites will owe the Lord their thanks for their material prosperity in the promised land, they will also owe Him their thanks for their spiritual prosperity. The Lord chose Israel not because her citizens were born being somehow more valuable or special than any other human beings on earth; He chose Israel because of her faith. Her faith is what sets her apart from the other nations. Her faith is what causes the Lord to fight on her side, to protect her, to provide for her, and to give her good things. Salvation has always been and will always be by faith. Just as Abraham's righteousness was accredited to him by faith (Genesis 15:6) so also righteousness was obtained by Israel through faith, not by works. Faith is displayed by works (godly living, loving the Lord, loving others) but righteousness (salvation) is not earned by works but by faith. Abraham's faith is what saved him; his works were the outward display of the faith that was in his heart.
Moses says, "Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. The people are strong and tall---Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: 'Who can stand up against the Anakites?' But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; He will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord promised you." (Deuteronomy 9:1-3) This victory will be the Lord's doing. There's no way Israel could have fought and defeated such mighty armies if the Lord had not been with her. But human beings have a tendency to sometimes pat ourselves on the back and start thinking we achieved things on our own, so Moses is careful to point out that the Israelites must never start thinking later on, "We defeated great nations! No one had ever been able to drive these large and powerful people from the land until we came along. Instead, other nations lived in fear of the people who inhabited the land of Canaan. But look what we've accomplished! We fought them, destroyed them, and took everything that was theirs. The Lord allowed us to do all this because He is pleased with our works."
The only thing the Lord was pleased with was their faith, and like the faith of most people, it was weak at times. The behavior of the people wasn't always admirable. The behavior of any believer isn't admirable one hundred percent of the time. Israel faltered and stumbled here and there like we all do but the Lord is so merciful to us in our weakness. He knows our frailty for He is the one who fashioned us from the dust of the ground, which is why David praised Him for His mercy upon feeble human beings, saying, "As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust." (Psalm 103:13-14)
Moses continues, "After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, 'The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.' No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people." (Deuteronomy 9:4-6)
Is the Lord saying that the wickedness of the nations of the land of Canaan was greater than the faith of Israel? His words certainly come across that way but He could probably say the same thing about the unbelievers of the world today versus the believers. The wickedness of the unbelievers in this world is exceedingly wicked, just as the wickedness of the tribes of Canaan was exceedingly wicked. By contrast, are we who believe on the name of the Lord exceedingly faithful at all times? Or are we sometimes a stiff-necked people? I feel the point Moses is making is that the nations of the promised land were already very wicked in Abraham's day, when the Lord made His promise to give the land to Abraham's descendants, and that these nations have continued growing more and more wicked just as the Lord knew they would. The Lord also knew that the descendants of Abraham would believe on His name, so He made a great promise about them to Abraham. The Lord is accomplishing two goals with one action: He's bringing judgment upon the wicked nations of Canaan and He's fulfilling His promise to Abraham at the same time.
Whenever the Lord blesses us we mustn't make the mistake of thinking it's because we are righteous and good. It's because He is righteous and good.
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