“1 Hear, O 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. 2 The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?” 3 But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across 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 has promised you.
4 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. 5 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, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 6 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.
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We Christians shouldn’t consider ourselves better than anyone else, but sometimes we do. There is a tendency in the church to set us insiders up as better than outsiders. This is profoundly sad but, at times, we do it.
Every group has a tendency to view insiders as superior to outsiders. If you are Dutch or if you have spent some time around Dutch people, you might know the saying, “if you aren’t Dutch, you aren’t much.” That is the Dutch way people of saying that insiders are superior to outsiders. It is really quite wrong. Imagine hearing, ‘if you aren’t black, total value you lack,’ or, ‘if you aren’t Spanish, I wish you would vanish.’ Those are simply ways of saying that insiders are superior to outsiders. You might find such rhymes funny if you are the inside, but being told that you aren’t much, or that you lack value, or that you should vanish is anything but funny to someone on the outside.
Now there is something good about being Dutch, just like there is something good about being black or being from Spain. Scripture is incredibly clear about the value God puts upon every tribe, tongue, and nation. However, I use ethnicity as an example because it is one very prevalent way in which we humans exalt our own ingroup over against an outgroup.
We Christians do that too. We do, at times, consider ourselves better than those outside the church. We do, at times, seem to think that we deserve the favor of God while outsiders deserve the wrath of God. We do, at times, seem to think that we deserve the smile of Jesus while others deserve his frown.
Now, as has been made clear, this way of thinking is by no means unique to Christians, but it is particularly egregious in Christians because we, of all people, should be aware of our natural outsider status. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone people. Our very foundations give us absolutely no reason for pride, and yet we all too easily assume that the favor of God says something preferential about us. It is remarkable how quickly a man who is changed by grace alone looks down on others who haven’t received that same grace. It is remarkable how quickly we can even make grace about ourselves.
The grace of God says nothing preferential about us. It says something glorious about God. That is the claim of this sermon: the grace of God says nothing preferential about us. It says something glorious about God.
We will see this in two points. First: possessing the promises. Second: it is all of grace. First, in verses 1-3, we will look at how we possess God’s promises. Second, in verses 4-6, we will see that these promises and our possession of them comes from grace.
First: possessing the promises. Israel was about to enter the Promised Land, and Moses knew what receiving such grace could do to the human heart. He knew that many in Israel would think that their possession of the Promised Land and the dispossession of the Canaanites from the land said something favorable about themselves.
Moses, therefore, made clear that there was nothing peculiar to Israel that made them worthy of the Promised Land. Verse 1, “Hear, O 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.”
Israel would not take the land because they were stronger than the Canaanites. They weren’t. They would not take the land because they were in any way greater than the Canaanites, because they weren’t. They would not take the land because they were morally superior to the Canaanites. Moses will make clear that they were not.
Humanly speaking, there was no reason to think that Israel should have taken the Promised Land. When Israel entered the Promised Land, the question would arise, ‘what is so special about them?’ The answer would be, ‘nothing, other than the grace of God.’ That is also the answer to the question ‘what is so special about the church?’ ‘Nothing, other than the grace of God.’
Israel would enter the land because and only because of the promise of God. God, for no reason other than grace, decided to give the land to these people; that is why it is called ‘The Promised Land.’ The people would only enter the land by God’s promise. They could not defeat the people who lived there. Moses described them this way; “The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?”
The previous generation had recognized that. The spies sent out by Moses reported that their armies could not take the land. Given their own strength, their assessment was correct.
Now this next generation was going to bump up against the very reason their parents were unwilling to enter the land. These Canaanites were no weaker than before. Israel was no stronger than before. The circumstances had not changed. The question was whether or not this generation would trust the promises of God. This is why Moses said in verse 3, “be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; He will subdue them before you.”
Israel had reason to fear the Canaanites. They had greater reasons to fear God. The Anakites were strong and tall, but God was a devouring fire. Moses told Israel to fear God more than they feared the Anakites.
If Israel focused on the Anakites, they would have no confidence in the promise of God to give them the land. If they focused on the power of God, they would have confidence in the promise God made to give them the land.
The same goes for you. If you focus on what it is that you fear, you will have minimal confidence in the power of God to do what He has promised. If you focus on the power of God, you will have confidence in the power of God to do what He has promised. Let’s just take death as an example. If you focus on death, you will have no confidence in the promises that God has given for what happens after death. If, however, you focus on God, you will confidence in the promises that God has given for what happens after death.
Israel was not to focus on the Anakites; they were to focus on God. The Anakites were stronger than the Israelites but the Lord was stronger than the Anakites. The Anakites might be strong and tall, but God is a devouring fire. You are not to focus on what you fear; you are to focus on God. What you fear might be far more powerful than you, but God is far more powerful than it or him or them.
When you find God’s promises called into question, do not focus on that which calls them into question. Focus on God. “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers.” Focus on that when you fear what people can do to you. “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.” Focus on that when you fear people’s judgments of your obedience.
If you do not live in a proper fear the power of the Lord, you will fear something, and that fear will run your life. Moses told Israel not to fear the Anakites but rather to fear God. The Anakites were only strong and tall; God is a devouring fire.
Notice that Moses did not encourage Israel by referring to anything in them. He didn’t tell them, ‘yes the Anakites are stronger and taller but you are quicker and cleverer.’ We tend to do that. We tend to look for some sort of sufficiency in our selves. We tell ourselves that we are enough for this particular situation. Perhaps we aren’t. Israel wasn’t. They were too weak. “Who can stand up against the Anakites?” was a saying of that day and nobody would have said, “Israel.” Don’t focus your attention on yourself. Focus it on God.
Jesus didn’t focus his attention on all which was threatening. He focused his attention on his Father. You never see him worried over the plans of the Pharisees, or the interference of Herod, or the final decision of Pilate. You see him focusing on his Father. Follow him.
Moses focused the people’s attention upon God and then he focused their attention upon their own responsibility. He spoke about the Lord’s power to dispossess the Anakites and then he said, “you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord has promised you.”
Now the matter of this annihilation of people groups and its relation to ethics is important and, Lord willing, we will give it attention. We cannot, however, do justice to it today. I want to focus our attention on the relationship between here divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Moses had already spoken of divine sovereignty; he said, “be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire.” He now speaks about human responsibility.
God would give Israel the land, but Israel would need to take the land. God would defeat the Canaanites, but Israel would need to fight the Canaanites. It would all be of God and yet Israel would still have a role to play.
That is how it works with God. God does it all, but you have a role to play. “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you both to will and to work according to His good purpose.” God does it all, but you have a role to play.
After the conquest of the Promised Land, Israel could honestly say, ‘God did it all,’ and yet recognize the necessity of what they did. When a Christian enters glory, she can honestly say, ‘God did it all,’ and yet recognize the necessity of what she did.
Moses was clear that God did it all. You see that in our second point: it is all of grace. We humans have a perverse ability to make everything about ourselves. You can recognize this in Moses’ words to Israel. Verse 4, ‘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.”’
Israel would be tempted to think that the grace of God said something preferential about them. God made clear that this was not the case. He didn’t choose Israel in the first place because of anything about them. That is true for you if you are a Christian. God did not choose you because you, by nature, were more spiritually sensitive than a Muslim living in Abu Dhabi; you weren’t.
God has not given you grace because of anything preferential in you. He didn’t save you because you are you. God has no fundamental bias towards you. You have a bias towards yourself. That is our nature. God doesn’t have a bias towards you.
The idea that God will treat you differently because you are you is both the root and the height of pride. When Israel received the land, they would think it was because of something in them. ‘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.”’
They would be tempted to come up with some sort of reason for why they were in the land and the Canaanites were not. Moses was making clear that God’s grace really had nothing to do with them. Paul said the same thing about your salvation. “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
The Israelites would be tempted to compare themselves with the Canaanites to justify their possession of the land and you will be tempted to compare yourself with the people of the world to justify your salvation. Don’t do that. First of all, don’t do that because you don’t know much about the hearts of others. Second of all, don’t do that because all people are so complex that to even begin comparing one person with another is problematic. Third of all, don’t do that because the grace that you enjoy has as little to do with you as it has to do with the density of those blocks. I dare say that none of us has ever spent any time trying to justify the reason that we were saved and others are not by examining those blocks, and yet those blocks will tell you just as much about why you enjoy the grace of God as examining yourself will.
You will never find anything preferential in you that would explain the grace of God. You can only explain the grace of God by what is in God.
If you want to understand your salvation, don’t look inside yourself for some rationale. Look at Jesus. Consider the grace of God in Jesus. If you consider his righteousness, then you know that your salvation had nothing to do with your righteousness. If you consider what he has done, then you know that your salvation had nothing to do with anything you have done. Your salvation is not about you. It is about Jesus.
Israel’s possession of the land was not about them; it was about the grace of God. It was also about the wickedness of the nations. Verse 5, “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.”
God’s decision to give Israel the land had nothing to do with the righteousness of Israel but His decision to give Israel the land had a good deal to do with the unrighteousness of the Canaanites.
This is a reminder that God is the God of the whole world. The Israelites knew God because He had made Himself known to them, but that doesn’t mean that He wasn’t also the God over the Canaanites. He is the only God.
God dealt with the Canaanites on the basis of the Canaanites’ actions. The Canaanites were not condemned because they happened to be in Israel’s way. They were condemned by their own actions. Any thought that God so myopically favored Israel as to be unjust towards anyone is unfounded and any thought that God so myopically favors you as to be unjust towards others is equally unfounded.
God dealt with the Canaanites on the basis of the Canaanites’ actions. You see this by the fact that He expels the Israelites from the land for the same reason that He expelled the Canaanites from the land. He gave Israel no treatment preferential over and above the Canaanites in that regard. Israel had no reason to expect that God would tolerate their sin because they were, after all, His people. The same goes for you. Any idea that you can live in disobedience to God because you happen to be part of His apparent in-group is nowhere to be found in God’s word.
In fact, what is found is very much the opposite. John the Baptist warned people who thought they were in God’s in-group that they weren’t. He said, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.” God’s word to you this morning might be, ‘produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, “I grew up CRC.”’ The point is that we must not simply assume that God is on our side; rather, we must examine ourselves to see if we are on God’s side.
Israel would be tempted to believe that they possessed the land because they were superior to the Canaanites. That was not the case. Moses made that clear by reminding them that they were, in fact, a stiff-necked people. Verse 6, “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.”
This language of stiff-necked comes from draft animals that had to be forced to do their work properly. Psalm 32 makes the same point saying, “Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.”
Israel was not naturally obedient. They were naturally stiff necked. Over the next couple chapters Moses reminds the people of their natural tendency to do what they want rather than what God wants. This culminates in his call for Israel to circumcise their hearts.
The same goes for you. You are not naturally obedient. Just as Moses spoke about the need to circumcise the heart, Jesus spoke of the need to be born again.
This is the logical corollary of the undeserved grace of which we have been speaking. Since there is nothing inherently superior about a Christian compared with a non-Christian, what can account for the new life God requires? What can account for this love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? What can account for this godliness if you are not inherently any godlier than an unbeliever? You must be born again.
This leaves you with no cause for boasting. Just as Israel had no cause to boast in their possession of the Promised Land, you have no cause for boasting in your salvation. The Israelites had nothing to boast in before the Canaanites. You have nothing to boast in before the world.
Your only boast is in the grace of God. If you are a Christian, what is it that makes you different from those who are not? The only answer is the grace of God.
Now, if you are not a Christian, you can be different by the grace of God. You can find your justification in something outside yourself. In fact, you must find your justification outside yourself. Find it in Jesus. You can be forgiven not because of something you do, but because of something Jesus did. He died on the cross for your sin. You can have hope not because of something in you, but because of something Jesus will do. He will make all things new. This is all about him. Keep it about him. Amen.