Deuteronomy 10:12 ¶ And
now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD
thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy
God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 13 To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his
statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? 14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is
the LORD’S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.
15 Only the LORD had a delight in thy
fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above
all people, as it is this day. 16
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more
stiffnecked. 17 For the LORD your God is
God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which
regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: 18
He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the
stranger, in giving him food and raiment. 19
Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of
Egypt. 20 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy
God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.
21 He is thy praise, and he is
thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine
eyes have seen. 22 Thy fathers went down
into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made
thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.
Cross-reference verse 12 to Micah;
Micah 6:8 He hath shewed
thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do
justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
What do we as Christians have that marks us in even a deeper way
than these marvelous verses in the Old Testament under the Law?
Romans 12:1 I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
What can be greater than being completely devoted to God, a living
sacrifice?
Verse 14 is an important verse on the sovereignty of God.
Regularly we must be reminded of God’s ownership of the entire universe.
Genesis 14:19 And he
blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of
heaven and earth:
Psalm 24:1 ¶ «A Psalm of
David.» The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they
that dwell therein.
Psalm 50:10 For every beast
of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills…12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for
the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
1Corinthians 10:26 For the
earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.
Verse 15 emphasizes the special relationship Israel is to have
with God. Considering our faults, weaknesses, and sins against God one would
have a hard time understanding why God would take delight in any group
of people, particularly the Hebrews whose behavior has been chronicled in the
pages of the Bible. But He does. No greater love can exist than that of a
sovereign God who loves a pathetic creation that chooses to disobey and disrespect
Him moment by moment. But they are a chosen people.
Deuteronomy 7:6 For thou
art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to
be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of
the earth.
Verse 16 shows us that God wanted and wants more than a
superficial obedience. He wants it from the heart. He gave us a similar phrase
linking our internal lives with the sacrifices made in the Old Testament.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Then, the Holy Spirit through Paul shows us the evidence of our
having the Spirit of God inside of our own spiritual hearts.
Galatians 5:22 But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against
such there is no law.
Verse 17 underscores who God is as sovereign of the universe in
power and might.
1Chronicles 16:25 For great
is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods.
1Chronicles 16:26 For all
the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.
Psalm 136:2 O give thanks
unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Daniel 2:47 The king
answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of
gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest
reveal this secret.
Who is also Christ, the Saviour and the Word by which all things
were created.
John 1:1 ¶ In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the
beginning with God. 3 All things were
made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Revelation 19:11 ¶ And I
saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was
called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his
head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he
himself. 13 And he was clothed with a
vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed
him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword,
that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of
iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty
God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and
on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
You cannot bribe Him and He doesn’t care who you are in the
world’s ranking system.
Verse 18 underscores God’s championing of the cause of the
powerless in man’s world.
Psalm 68:5 A father of the
fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.
Psalm 103:6 ¶ The LORD
executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
Psalm 146:9 The LORD
preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of
the wicked he turneth upside down.
Calling to mind what we are told of true religion in the New
Testament.
James 1:27 Pure religion
and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and
widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
Verse 19 refers to the stranger and that the Israelites
were strangers in the land of Egypt.
The
word stranger is used to denote a
foreigner, an alien to a people, who lives among that people.
Genesis
15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a
surety that thy seed shall be a stranger
in a land that is not theirs, and
shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
Genesis
17:12 And he that is eight days old
shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is
born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy
seed.
Leviticus
24:22 Ye shall have one manner of law,
as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the
LORD your God.
Verses 20-22 underscore the amazing and miraculous growth of the
children of Israel and God’s providence for them. This is something they should
bring to mind every day but in spite of it they will take God for granted and
forget Him much as Christians seem to do today.
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