Deuteronomy 4:6-8 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” 7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? 8 And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?
So often I find myself wanting to say to people I meet, “It’s not about you!” But that would be rude, wouldn’t it? As more and more people take part in the selfie culture, I see that self-absorption take over their lives. They seem to believe their own hype.
But people down through the centuries have been self-absorbed. But the difference between then and now is the level of poverty that most people experienced. When you are on the edge of food deprivation, you don’t have time or energy to be self-absorbed.
But now most of the world, at least my corner of the world has enough food to survive. And since we are almost the fattest county in the world, we eat too much of the wrong things. With us, it isn’t so much availability or affordability of the right food, but the convenience of the bad alternatives.
Our text directs Israel’s vision outward. The reason for the LORD’s provision, for His deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt was not their salvation alone. Yes, the LORD brought them out. But the LORD brought them out for a purpose. Our text points out that purpose.
They are to be obedient to the wisdom the LORD is passing along to them so that the nations will see the superiority of the wisdom. They will want to know what makes Israel different from the other nations and the answer will be “The LORD.”
The LORD could have picked any nation to do His bidding. Any nation would have been a candidate for His grace. He could have shown His grace to any people He wanted. He chose Israel.
So Israel had a duty to be obedient. In order for the wisdom of the LORD to be fully realized, they had to be obedient to the decrees. This would His vision for humanity to be fully seen by the nations. Their obedience would showcase the LORD’s wisdom.
Israel was to become the new car showcase. The nations would come and inspect this new vehicle for the LORD’s wisdom by watching Israel’s life as people of the LORD. This is what would mark them as different.
And another big thing that set them apart was the visible presence of the LORD among them. The nations could see the pillar of cloud and fire. He would show up in answer to their prayers. Israel’s God was responsive wile theirs were not. That is a big selling point of the LORD. He shows up and answers prayers.
The sad part of the story is that Israel failed miserably at this task of obedience. They lived the life of their ancestors and disobeyed in the full range of options. They out and out disobeyed with a stubborn rebellion just like Pharaoh of Egypt. But the also just drifted away over time, allowing the cultures around them to influence them.
Their life was much like our life when in comes to obedience. We often have bursts of obedience followed by either outright rebellion or slow drift. I can be difficulty, in fact it is very difficult to maintain obedience in the long haul of life.
We are not too far removed from their walk of faith.
The Arnold Journey 