Deuteronomy 4:1-8
Radiant Witness
Chronological Bible Reading Plan
Back in Exodus the people of Israel and God entered into a covenant saying that God would be their God and they would be His people. In the eyes of God this covenant was seen as a marriage agreement. Today we would call it an engagement but in those days when the covenant was made it was seen as a marriage and could only be broken with a divorce. This is illustrated in the relationship between Mary and Joseph. Engaged to be married but not having gone through the wedding ceremony, Joseph had determined to divorce Mary when he found out that she was pregnant. (Matthew 1:18&19)
When Israel entered into the covenant, God gave them the law that they were to follow. The Law was not a means to salvation. Their commitment to God by faith was. The Law was their witness and task. Israel was to bring the Law to a world that was living for themselves and oblivious to the true and living God. This is their task. (See Ephesians 2:10)
In verses 1 through 8 of Chapter 4 God told the people that if they would follow the law He would bless them and the nations of the world would see how blessed they were and desire to follow God themselves. This is their witness. Though the nations may be illiterate or not have a copy of the Bible they could “read” the Word of God by observing the blessing bestowed on the nation of Israel. Conversely, if Israel were to reject God or abandon the Law the consequences that resulted from that decision could be readily observable as well.
This same principle applies to the Church. We read in Ephesians 5 that the Church is the bride of Christ. In verses 25-27 we read, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory having no spot or wrinkle or any such things; but should be holy and blameless.” NASB
This is the witness of the Church to the world based on our commitment to our Lord Jesus.
This commitment is based on a love relationship, His love for His Church and the Church’s love for Him. Jesus said in John 13:34&35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another,” NASB
So, as the Church, we have our mission just as the nation of Israel has theirs. As we continue our reading through the Old Testament we can learn a lot from Israel that we can apply to our relationship with our Lord and the carrying out of our task.
In the book of Deuteronomy Moses is preparing the nation for their entrance into the Promised Land. This is their mission field. This is also the place where battles are fought and dependence upon the Lord’s leading is learned.
The Church is in the mission field as well. We have battles to face and we also are learning to depend on the leading of the Lord. After all, “We love, because He first Loved us.” 1John 4:19 NASB
May God Bless and Guide
Dave