Deuteronômio 9

Deuteronômio 9

Cole says obstinate "is a farmer’s metaphor of an ox or a horse that will not respond to the rope when tugged." This idiom obstinate ("stiff-necked") occurs five more times all are in the Pentateuch (Ex. 33:3, 5; Ex 34:9; Dt. 9:6, 13) There is a similar expression “stiffen your neck” usually directed at Israel (Dt. 10:16; 2 Ki 17:14; 2 Chr 30:8; Neh 9:16, 17; Pr 29:1; Jer. 7:26; Jer 17:23). These obstinate/stiff-necked people would not bow under the true and living God’s authority (cf. Jer 27:11-12), but readily “bowed down” to an inanimate, lifeless golden calf and worshiped it Their stiff necks were a simply a reflection of the underlying pathology -- their hard hearts. NET Note - The Hebrew word translated stubborn means "stiff-necked." The image is that of a draft animal that is unsubmissive to the rein or yoke and refuses to bend its neck to draw the load. This is an apt description of OT Israel (Ex 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9; Dt 9:13). Compare the equivalent allusion, Is. 48:4, ‘Thy neck is an iron sinew,’ which would not bend. Jer. 5:5, ‘But these (the great men) have altogether broken the yoke and burst the bonds.’ Jacob says the image (stubborn) is that of the people walking before God, and when he called to them the directions, they would not bend their neck to listen; they were resolute in doing what they intended to do (Exodus, 943). The figure describes them as refusing to submit, but resisting in pride. The sad record of Israel's history is one generation of stubborn/stiff-necked men and women after another (Dt 31:27, 2 Ki 17:14, 2 Chr 30:8, 36:13, Neh 9:16, 17, 29, Jer 7:26, 17:23, 19:15). The irony is that this same expression used of Pharaoh who was stiff-necked (his heart was hardened) in refusing to let Israel go to worship Yahweh. Now that they have been delivered to worship Yahweh, they became stiff-necked like Pharaoh! Deuteronomy 9:14 'Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.' Let me: Ex 32:10-13 Isa 62:6,7 Jer 14:11 15:1 Lu 11:7-10 18:1-8 Ac 7:51 blot: De 29:20 Ex 32:32-33 Ps 9:5 Ps 109:13 Pr 10:7 Rev 3:5 and I will: Nu 14:11,12 Deuteronomy 9 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries GOD'S SEEKS TO DESTROY ISRAEL Let Me alone - NET = "Stand aside." It means basically "Loosen your grip from Me" and is used in Ps 46:10 ("Be still..."). ESV Note - Moses’ intercession for the makers of the golden calf is not described until Dt 9:25, though it is alluded to in Dt 9:19, in order to keep the theme of Israel’s stubbornness uninterrupted through Dt 9:24 (cf. Ex. 32:9-10, 15). McIntosh has an interesting comment on Let Me alone - The words let me alone resonate with meaning in this context. They contain the implicit notion that, if Moses should choose to press the case, God would abandon his proposal for the sake of Moses' intercession. So it is with all biblical warnings. If God had determined to destroy Israel, he would not have announced his displeasure with them to Moses; he simply would have executed his purpose. Prophetic warnings carry with them either an expressed or an implied condition: "unless you repent" (cp. Rev. 2:5NKJV). God is someone to whom we can pray, and (from our point of view at least) our prayers make a difference. To Moses' credit, he donned the mantle of the intercessor and pleaded for "his" people. (Holman Old Testament Commentary) That I may destroy (shamad) them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they - In Ex 32:10+ we have the parallel passage - "Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.” The promise I will make of you a nation is promise God had given to Abraham (Ge 12:2+, Ge 18:18). When Israel rebelled in Numbers, God gave Moses a similar, even slightly stronger offer declaring "“I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.” (Nu 14:12+) And since Moses was a human like all of us, this might have been a tempting and attractive offer, but such did not prove the case for the man Moses of whom God said no one was more humble (Nu 12:3+). Moses was clearly not in it for his glory, but for the glory of God (cf 1 Cor 10:31+) Alan Cole - the people would now bear the tribal name of ‘sons of Moses’, not ‘sons of Israel’. The price was only to abandon his shepherd’s calling, and to let Israel go. Their own behaviour had earned their rejection, as he is reminded here. But no true shepherd could do this: so comes the intercessory prayer of Moses (Ex 32:11–13, taken up again in Ex 32:31, 32), reminiscent of the prayer of Abraham (Gen. 18:22–33). (TOTC-Exodus) Criswell - The command of God was a test similar to that given Abraham in Ge 22:2. The fate of Israel was being placed in the hands of Moses. God could not and would not retract His promise made to Abraham. If in His wrath He destroyed the nation because of their apostasy, He would then fulfill the covenant through the descendants of Moses. Moses could have given up the people who were guilty and exalted himself. However, he passed the test and proved that the preservation of his people was more important to him than the honor of becoming the founder of a new nation. Blot out (wipe)(04229)(machah) means to twipe, to wipe out and is often connected with divine judgment as with God wiping out all life in the flood (Ge 6:7, Ge 7:23); Amalek (Ex 17:14+), destroying Jerusalem (2 Ki 21:13); threatening to wipe out Israel's name (Dt. 9:14). Ps. 51:1 = "blot out my transgressions"; Ps. 51:9 = "blot out all my iniquities." Ps 69:28 = " May they be blotted out of the book of life." The Septuagint (Lxx) translates machah here with the verb exaleipho means literally to completely wipe off. Literally exaleipho means to remove by wiping off, as when a blackboard is erased. The word was applied to the process of obliterating writing on any material. Some of the uses in Scripture retain this literal meaning but most uses speak of a figurative blotting out or wiping off. The idea in all the uses is to cause something to cease by obliterating or eliminating any evidence. Twice in the Revelation God promises He will wipe away every tear. A number of uses in both OT (Septuagint) and the NT use this verb to describe the blotting out or wiping away of sins. Exaleipho was used by Thucydides of whitewashing a wall. Deuteronomy 9:15 "So I turned and came down from the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. I turned: Ex 32:14,15-35 came down from the mountain De 4:11 5:23 Ex 9:23 19:18 Heb 12:18 Deuteronomy 9 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries MOSES RETURNS TO CAMP So I turned and came down from the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands - Don't miss this scene! Moses had been on the mountain 40 days and it seems very plausible that for 40 days the mountain was burning with fire. Even in the face of such an awesome scene Israel wantonly rebelled against the words they had heard from God on the mountain burning with fire. Forty days had caused them to forget the awesome manifestation of the LORD.