August 16, 2025
Moses began the next section of his 2nd Speech with “Shema” = “Hear, O Israel.”
Remember that behind this call to “hear” is the expectation of action – of response.
As James would later admonish, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22)
So far, Moses has spent a lot of time calling the people to remember. Why? Some would say, “forget the past – there’s nothing to be done about it now.”
True enough. We can’t do anything about the past, but the past does have the power to inform our future – either by crippling us or by empowering us to make different choices going forward.
George Santayana said, “Those who don’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
C.S. Lewis said, “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
Moses starts – In the Future (9:1-6).
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’ve heard it said: "Who can stand up against the Anakites?"
But be assured today that Yahweh is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them and you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as Yahweh has promised you.
After Yahweh your God has driven them out, do not say to yourself, "Yahweh has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness."
It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, Yahweh your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
And there you go…. God’s promises have little to do with our righteousness and integrity and everything to do with his righteousness and integrity.
He was not taking the Children of Israel into the Land because they deserved to go in, but because he made a promise and he can always be counted on to keep his promises.
Moses went a step further – Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that Yahweh is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.
Webster definition: “stiff-necked” is defined as haughty and stubborn and describes someone who is obstinate or inflexible in attitude or behavior.
Synonyms: mulish - headstrong - willful - strong-willed - self-willed - pigheaded - bull-headed - difficult - contrary - perverse - recalcitrant - inflexible - iron-willed - uncooperative - unbending - unyielding
Exhibit A – The Past = What you did (9:7-10:11)
Remember this and never forget how you provoked Yahweh your God to anger in the desert. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against Yahweh:
At Horeb you aroused his wrath so that he was angry enough to destroy you….. Why? Because you sinned against him; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. You turned aside quickly from the way that he commanded you. Yahweh was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too.
(Moses interceded on behalf of the people).
You also made Yahweh angry at Taberah, at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah. And when he sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, he said, "Go up and take possession of the land I have given you." But you rebelled against his command - you did not trust him or obey him. You have been rebellious against Yahweh ever since I have known you.
And yet …. He said to me, "Go and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land that I swore to their fathers to give them."
The Present (10:12-11:1)
And now, O Israel, what does Yahweh ask of you but to fear him, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe his commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.
To Yahweh your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet he set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today.
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.
For Yahweh is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.
Fear Yahweh and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. Your forefathers who went down into Egypt were 70 in all, and now Yahweh your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Love Yahweh your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.
Exhibit B – The Past = What Yahweh did (11:2-7)
Remember that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of Yahweh your God: his majesty, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm; the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots, how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea as they were pursuing you…
It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the desert until you arrived at this place, and what he did to Dathan and Abiram when the earth opened its mouth right in the middle of all Israel and swallowed them up with their households, their tents and every living thing that belonged to them. But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things Yahweh has done.
Back to the Future (11:8-25)
Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, and so that you may live long in the land that Yahweh swore to your forefathers to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.
The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land Yahweh cares for; his eyes are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.
If you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today – to love Yahweh your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul – then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.
Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then Yahweh's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land he is giving you.
Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that Yahweh swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.
If you carefully observe all these commands – to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways and to hold fast to him – then he will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.
Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the western sea. No man will be able to stand against you….
The Present (11:26-32)
You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you. When you have taken it over and are living there, be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.
God was calling this new generation to change the ending of the story. Their beginning and middle were filled with rebellion and disobedience, but the ending could be different if they chose obedience and faithfulness – if they chose to love God, walk in his ways and hold fast to him.
That is really the call for us all. We cannot change the beginning chapters of our story. We cannot change the genes that have been passed to us – generations of inherited sin. We cannot change our parents’ past choices. We cannot change our past choices. But we can choose to change how our story ends. We can change hurt and pain into victory – wounds and scars into evidence of God’s care - faithlessness into faithfulness – disobedience into obedience – stiff-necks into supple and compliant hearts.
The past need not become the future.
Micah 6:8 - He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does Yahweh require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Until Next Time……………
