◄ Deuteronomy 9:9 ►
When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread and drank no water.
Study Bible
When I went up on the mountain
This phrase refers to Moses ascending Mount Sinai, a significant event in Israel's history. Mount Sinai, also known as Horeb, is traditionally located in the Sinai Peninsula. This mountain is where God revealed Himself to Moses and gave the Law. The ascent signifies Moses' role as a mediator between God and the Israelites, a type of Christ who mediates the New Covenant.

to receive the tablets of stone
The tablets of stone are the physical manifestation of God's covenant with Israel, containing the Ten Commandments. These tablets symbolize God's law and His direct communication with His people. The use of stone indicates permanence and the unchanging nature of God's commandments.

the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you
This covenant is a binding agreement between God and the Israelites, establishing them as His chosen people. It is a continuation of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The covenant is conditional, requiring Israel's obedience to God's laws. This foreshadows the New Covenant through Jesus Christ, which is based on grace and faith.

I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights
The period of forty days and nights is significant in biblical numerology, often representing a time of testing, trial, or preparation. This duration parallels other biblical events, such as Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. It emphasizes the seriousness and solemnity of the covenant-making process.

I ate no bread and drank no water
Moses' fasting during this time indicates a supernatural sustenance provided by God, as human survival without food and water for such a period is impossible. This act of fasting signifies total dependence on God and mirrors the spiritual discipline seen in other biblical figures. It also prefigures Christ's fasting in the wilderness, highlighting themes of reliance on God and spiritual preparation.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Moses
The central figure in this passage, Moses is the leader of the Israelites and the mediator between God and His people. He ascends Mount Sinai to receive the Law.

2. Mount Sinai
The mountain where Moses meets with God and receives the tablets of the covenant. It is a place of divine revelation and covenant-making.

3. The Tablets of Stone
These are the physical representation of God's covenant with Israel, containing the Ten Commandments.

4. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant-making God of Israel, who gives the Law to Moses for His people.

5. The Israelites
The people of God, who are the recipients of the covenant and the Law given through Moses.
Teaching Points
The Significance of Forty Days
The number forty often symbolizes a period of testing, preparation, and transformation in the Bible. Reflect on how God uses such times in our lives to prepare us for His purposes.

The Importance of Fasting
Moses' fast underscores the importance of spiritual discipline and dependence on God. Consider how fasting can deepen our relationship with God and heighten our spiritual awareness.

The Role of the Mediator
Moses acts as a mediator between God and Israel, prefiguring Christ as the ultimate mediator. Reflect on how Jesus bridges the gap between God and humanity.

The Covenant Relationship
The tablets of stone represent God's covenant with His people. Consider how we are called to live in covenant relationship with God, obeying His commandments and walking in His ways.

Divine Revelation and Obedience
Moses receives God's Law on the mountain, highlighting the importance of receiving and obeying God's Word. Reflect on how we can prioritize God's Word in our daily lives.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does the forty-day period on Mount Sinai teach us about preparation and encountering God in our own lives?

2. How can the practice of fasting, as demonstrated by Moses, enhance our spiritual journey and relationship with God?

3. In what ways does Moses' role as a mediator point to the work of Jesus Christ in the New Testament?

4. How does understanding the covenant relationship between God and Israel help us appreciate our own covenant relationship with God through Christ?

5. What practical steps can we take to ensure that we are receiving and obeying God's Word in our daily lives, similar to how Moses received the Law on behalf of Israel?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 24:18
This passage describes Moses entering the cloud on Mount Sinai and staying there for forty days and nights, providing a parallel account of the event in Deuteronomy 9:9.

Matthew 4:2
Jesus fasts for forty days and nights in the wilderness, drawing a parallel to Moses' fast and highlighting themes of preparation and divine encounter.

1 Kings 19:8
Elijah's forty-day journey to Horeb (another name for Sinai) echoes Moses' experience, emphasizing the significance of forty days in spiritual preparation and revelation.
Sermons
Human Memory a Repository of GuiltD. Davies Deuteronomy 9:7-17
Humiliating MemoriesR.M. Edgar Deuteronomy 9:7-29
The Sin At HorebJ. Orr Deuteronomy 9:8-22
People
Aaron, Anak, Anakites, Isaac, Jacob, Moses
Places
Beth-baal-peor, Egypt, Horeb, Jordan River, Kadesh-barnea, Kibroth-hattaavah, Massah, Taberah
Topics
Abide, Abode, Agreement, Ascended, Ate, Bread, Covenant, Drank, Drink, Drinking, Drunk, Eat, Eaten, Forty, Mount, Mountain, Nights, Onto, Receive, Recorded, Stayed, Stone, Stones, Tables, Tablets, Taking
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Deuteronomy 9:9

     1654   numbers, 11-99
     4293   water
     8431   fasting, reasons

Deuteronomy 9:8-21

     4269   Sinai, Mount

Deuteronomy 9:9-10

     5377   law, Ten Commandments

Deuteronomy 9:9-11

     4366   stones
     5574   tablet

Library
The Hebrews and the Philistines --Damascus
THE ISRAELITES IN THE LAND OF CANAAN: THE JUDGES--THE PHILISTINES AND THE HEBREW KINGDOM--SAUL, DAVID, SOLOMON, THE DEFECTION OF THE TEN TRIBES--THE XXIst EGYPTIAN DYNASTY--SHESHONQ OR SHISHAK DAMASCUS. The Hebrews in the desert: their families, clans, and tribes--The Amorites and the Hebrews on the left bank of the Jordan--The conquest of Canaan and the native reaction against the Hebrews--The judges, Ehud, Deborah, Jerubbaal or Gideon and the Manassite supremacy; Abimelech, Jephihdh. The Philistines, …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 6

Moses' Prayer to be Blotted Out of God's Book.
"And Moses returned unto the Lord and said. Oh! this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou--wilt, forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray they, out of thy book which than hast written." In the preceding discourse we endeavored to show that the idea of being willing to be damned for the glory of God is not found in the text--that the sentiment is erroneous and absurd--then adduced the constructions which have been put on the text by sundry expositors, …
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

The Blessings of Noah Upon Shem and Japheth. (Gen. Ix. 18-27. )
Ver. 20. "And Noah began and became an husbandman, and planted vineyards."--This does not imply that Noah was the first who began to till the ground, and, more especially, to cultivate the vine; for Cain, too, was a tiller of the ground, Gen. iv. 2. The sense rather is, that Noah, after the flood, again took up this calling. Moreover, the remark has not an independent import; it serves only to prepare the way for the communication of the subsequent account of Noah's drunkenness. By this remark, …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Mount Zion.
"For ye are not come unto a mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that no word more should be spoken unto them: for they could not endure that which was enjoined, If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned; and so fearful was the appearance, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake: but ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto …
Thomas Charles Edwards—The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews

The Angel of the Lord in the Pentateuch, and the Book of Joshua.
The New Testament distinguishes between the hidden God and the revealed God--the Son or Logos--who is connected with the former by oneness of nature, and who from everlasting, and even at the creation itself, filled up the immeasurable distance between the Creator and the creation;--who has been the Mediator in all God's relations to the world;--who at all times, and even before He became man in Christ, has been the light of [Pg 116] the world,--and to whom, specially, was committed the direction …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Deuteronomy
Owing to the comparatively loose nature of the connection between consecutive passages in the legislative section, it is difficult to present an adequate summary of the book of Deuteronomy. In the first section, i.-iv. 40, Moses, after reviewing the recent history of the people, and showing how it reveals Jehovah's love for Israel, earnestly urges upon them the duty of keeping His laws, reminding them of His spirituality and absoluteness. Then follows the appointment, iv. 41-43--here irrelevant (cf. …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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