Righteousness is being right

Deuteronomy 9: Consequences of unbelief

Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as I attempt to read the Bible with fresh eyes, as if I don’t know anything about it, and without consulting experts on what it “really” means.. Let’s see where this takes us!

I’m reading Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version.

Deuteronomy 9

The LORD tells the Israelites that they’ll “dispossess nations larger and mightier than you,” not because the Israelites are righteous or “deserve” the land, but because those nations are wicked:

5 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 the Lord your God is dispossessing them before you.

This reminds me of Genesis 15:6: “And he [Abraham] believed the Lord; and the LORD] reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

In much of the chapter, the LORD reminds the Israelites that, time and again, they weren’t righteous. Meaning, that they didn’t believe the LORD.

We often associate “righteous” with virtuous or morally disciplined. But at the root of it is faith. To believe in the…