The First Pep Talk

Deuteronomy 4

            Having briefly recounted Israel’s history, Moses turns his attention to encouraging them to faithfulness. In this chapter we hear several themes that will come back frequently in Deuteronomy: hearing the Lord, taking possession of the land, possessing that land depending on Israel’s obedience. I’d encourage you to flip back to Monday’s blog post, “Introducing Deuteronomy,” to be refreshed on how to read that sort of language. The Sinaitic covenant was for Israel and its promise was staying in the land. Toward the end of the chapter (vv. 25-31) we see this dynamic: idolatry will see them removed from the land; repentance will see them restored; in all cases, the Lord will provide a remnant because He will keep His promise to send a Savior through Israel.

            There are a couple other interesting points in chapter 4. First, there is the statement in verses 7-8 about how unique Israel is, especially in her relationship with her God. Israel’s God is near and has given them “such righteous decrees.” It’s an idea that will come up several times in Deuteronomy and which the New Testament will also apply to the Church. Among the many things that set Christianity apart from the other great world religions is the nature of our God, who is near to us, who understands us and is concerned for us, whose primary characteristic is His mercy. The gods of other religions are either far away (the technical language is “transcendent” rather than “immanent”) or they are arbitrary and uncaring or both.

            Second, there is the insistence that Israel’s God is unseen. In our day, that seems less controversial, because two of Christianity’s main competitors—Judaism and Islam—also reject images of their gods. But in the ancient world, the visual representation of the idol was exactly the thing that put one in the presence of that god. (1500 years after the exodus, the Romans would accuse both Jews and Christians of atheism, because they had statues of their gods and to a Roman an invisible god was no god at all.) Further setting Christianity apart, we confess that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. In the incarnation, He has revealed Himself by taking on human flesh.