11
God has driven them out before you, `Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought
me in to possess this land.'" Here Moses repeats three times that the righteousness of the
Israelites could have nothing to do with their entry into the promised land (vv. 4, 5a, 6a),
because they are a stubborn people who have continually disobeyed the Lord; rather, it
would be solely based on God's promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (v. 5b).
It is fairly easy to understand why Paul employs Deut. 9:4. To attempt to
establish one's own righteousness is to say, in effect, "because of my righteousness the
Lord will bless me." We might wonder, though, how Paul could use Deuteronomy
30:12-14 to represent "the righteousness of faith." At first glance, the context seems to
represent just the opposite. These verses find their place within the renewal of the
Sinaitic covenant for a new generation of Israelites, and are preceded by lists of covenant
blessings and curses and followed by a call for obedience. What could be more
concerned with the maintenance of life within the covenant community through works?
An examination of these verses in their context may shed some light on why Paul uses
them to express "the righteousness of faith."
In chapter 29, Moses exhorts the people of Israel to keep the covenant in light of
what God has done (vv. 9-15); however, he states that, even now, God has not given
Israel the capacity to properly understand or respond to his acts on their behalf (v. 4, 9).
As a result, Moses predicts that Israel will suffer the curses of the covenant, including the
capstone of all the curses, which is removal from the Promised Land and oppression by
the nations (v. 28). This would be the horrible reversal of Yahweh's saving act in
bringing Israel out of Egypt. The prediction of inevitable disobedience leading to exile
discussion on this topic, see Seifrid, "Paul's Approach to the Old Testament in Rom. 10:6-8," Trinity
Journal 6 (1985): 17-27.