Dt. 9: It Ain't Me

Deuteronomy 9:5 "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."

Ah, yes. That is why these other nations could not live when Israel came around. These weren't just nations minding their own business. These other nations were steeped in idolatry and wickedness. This dispossession of the land of these other nations was more about their wickedness than Israel's righteousness. Because, as Moses says, they had rebelled against the LORD since the day they left Egypt.

This is interesting as a parallel to the Holy of Holies. As only the priests, those who were ceremonially clean could perform priestly duties, only the nation of Israel, the people God set apart in the world, could possess the promised land. Certain death (God's judgment) awaited those who did not follow God's commands in priestly duties...ahem, Nadab and Abihu.

Why were these nations so wicked though? They all came from one source, that being Noah...at least from the text I have read thus far, and therefore had a chance to know what God did for Noah, and God's covenant with Noah. Somewhere along the line, the connection was disrupted. The storyline ceased. People didn't need God or didn't know God. Was God absent from their lives? No, I don't think so. From what I have read, God has worked in many non-Israelite people...Balaam, Abimelech, Pharaoh. Granted, they were in the context of Israel. But God made a promise to Noah.

By this logic, there are no people alive on this earth with any excuse not to know about God. This probably steps on some toes, but someone's ancestry dropping the ball on the existence and knowledge of God results in them being outside His covenant. God's covenants were good from generation to generation, and those who agreed to them were those who were declared righteous.