As Moses continues to recite the history lessons of the past 40 years, he is intent on driving home a message: It is not due to the Israelites' righteousness or holiness that God has favored them, it is because God honors His covenant and keeps His promises.
Why are the nations being displaced before them? Is it because of Israel's goodness? No! "It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you are going in to occupy their land; but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is dispossessing them before you, in order to fulfill the promise that the Lord made on oath to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob" (vs. 5).
In order to show the Israelites that their holiness is not really all that stellar, Moses reminds them of their frequent periods of rebellion. He says, "Know, then, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to occupy because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people" (vs. 6). At Horeb, right after the Exodus, they made and worshiped a golden calf (vs. 16). Other times of rebellion followed at Taberah, Massah and Kibroth-hattaavah (vs. 22). Later, at Kadesh-barnea, they refused to enter the Promised Land when instructed to do so by God (vs. 23). The verdict? "You have been rebellious against the Lord as long as He has known you" (vs. 24). Not exactly a ringing endorsement of their fidelity to God.
After all this rebellion, how was Moses able to persuade God not to destroy the Israelites? He reminded God of Who He is and what He had promised. "Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; pay no attention to the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin" (vs. 27).
The message of Deuteronomy 9 is that God is benevolent to the Israelites because of His character, His grace, His faithfulness - not theirs.
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