Moses’ intercession was effective. God heard his plead and
gave the people a second chance. Note here that Moses was addressing the new
generation of Israelites. All that he described were what their forefathers did
to disappoint God. The purpose of his exhortation was to get this new
generation to complete the journey which their fathers had started. They all
perished in the wilderness because of their stubbornness and unbelief.
None of them, except Joshua and Caleb, was allowed to enter the promised land. If
this new generation would not believe God and fail to get up and enter the
promised land, the whole plan of God for Israel would be incomplete. The whole
purpose of recollecting the failures of their fathers was to tell this
generation not to commit the same error.
Deuteronomy
10:6-10 are put in parenthesis. Why? This was likely not part of the address
that Moses gave to the people. It was likely added to the book later. But they
reveal to us several things. Firstly that God heard the prayer of Moses, and
that mercifully He allowed the rebellious children of Israel to continue in
their journey. Remember God was so angry that He wanted to destroy them. Secondly,
we also know that God spared Aaron, for he did not die immediately. He
only died in the last month of the fortieth year of the wandering. His son
Eleazar was appointed priest in his place. Aaron was only barred from the promised
land like Moses when they both disrespected God at the incident in Meribah,
recorded in Numbers 20. Thirdly, the function of the Levi, the building
of the Tabernacle, and the construction of the Ark of the Covenant were only
given later and not at the point of their failures. They only took place after
the incident at Horeb. Fourthly, this parenthesis also shows us that God not
only had forgiven them. It also shows us that His covenant with them was
intact. In His mercy, He gave them a new set of the Ten Commandments in the two
stone tablets He told Moses to hew. They were preserved and ferried in the Ark,
journeying with them till they entered the promised land.
Deuteronomy
10:10-11 resumes Moses' address to the people. It tells us that because of his
prayer God did not destroy the children of Israel but spared them. The reason
Moses painted the picture of their father’s stubbornness and God’s mercy and
patience was to urge this new generation to complete the journey into the
promised land. God’s whole plan for Israel as a nation would only be complete
if they would move forward and possess the land. Hence Moses was calling on
them to harness their faith, put their trust in God, cross the Jordan and take
the land. Just as the challenge was issued to the second generation of
Israelites, the same challenge is issued to us in Hebrews 12:1-2. Like them, we
must pick up our faith and get up and get on with our journey. And focusing on
how Jesus finished His race will help us. We must aim to complete the race,
claim our inheritance, and not abort it midway. No matter the circumstance, in
God we are winners and not losers. Hence, we must persevere to the very end of
the journey in the strength that He will surely provide. He never fails in His
promise!
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