In this message we will cover the general advices and warnings found in 9:1—10:22.
In 9:3 Moses charged the children of Israel, saying, "Know therefore today that Jehovah your God is the One crossing over before you as a consuming fire; it is He who will destroy them and it is He who will subdue them before you, so that you may dispossess them and destroy them quickly, as Jehovah has said to you." Although Jehovah is a loving God, here He is revealed as a consuming fire that will destroy the nations.
In verses 4 through 6 we see that God would dispossess the nations, not because the children of Israel were righteous but because the nations were wicked. In verse 4 Moses continued his charge: "Do not say in your heart when Jehovah your God drives them out from before you, Because of my righteousness, Jehovah has brought me in to possess this land. Rather, it is because of the wickedness of these nations that Jehovah is about to dispossess them from before you." Therefore, God's dispossessing the nations was not due to the uprightness of the heart of His people; it was due to the wickedness of the nations. This indicates that even the wickedness of the nations serves God's purpose.
In verse 7 Moses went on to say, "Remember, do not forget, that you made Jehovah your God furious in the wilderness; from the day that you came forth from the land of Egypt up until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against Jehovah." Here Moses reminded the people that their history was a history of rebellion. From the time they came out of Egypt, they had been rebellious continually. The forty years in the wilderness were years of rebellion.
Suppose some among the new generation of the children of Israel said, "This rebellion was not our fault—it was the mistake of our fathers. They were the ones who rebelled and died in the wilderness. That rebellion had nothing to do with us. We are different." To any who might have spoken in this way, Moses might have replied, "Do not say that you are different from your fathers. You are sons of rebels, and rebels can only bring forth rebels. Just as a serpent cannot bring forth a lamb, so a rebel cannot bring forth one who is obedient. You need to realize that, as sons of rebels, you also are rebels."