“When you have had children and grandchildren, lived a long time in the land, become corrupt and made a carved image, a representation of something, and thus done what is evil in the sight of Adonai your God and provoked him; I call on the sky and the earth to witness against you today that you will quickly disappear from the land that you are crossing the Yarden to possess.”-Deuteronomy 4: 25-26
Moses is still feeling sore about the fact that even as God’s chosen mediator, he will never be able to step foot inside of and enjoy the fruits of the Promised Land.
And why?
Because of the rebellious behavior of the Israelites that caused him to act rashly.
Moses presents himself as an example of what will happen to this younger 2nd generation of Israelites if they aren’t careful to obey every detail of the covenant God has made with Israel.
Otherwise, Moses warns, what happened to me could just as well happen to you…
…as God is a consuming fire and no respecter of persons.
Heck, if even God’s chosen mediator wasn’t exempt, what makes you think you’re gonna get away with disobedience?
Now I want to show you how Moses applies a principle we first learned in the Book of Leviticus.
What am I talking about?
I’m talking about the God-ordained requirement that the testimonies of AT LEAST TWO WITNESSES was a non-negotiable absolute must for any trial that could result in the death penalty.
Do you recall what the death-penalty offenses are?
They are murder, adultery…
…and IDOLATRY…
…which is the focus of our discussion here.
So how is this principle being applied here?
Simple.
Moses applies this principle by calling on the HEAVENS and the EARTH to serve as the two witnesses against Israel should they fall into idolatry.
This makes sense.
The punishment for idolatry is death.
However, if Israel as a nation commits corporate idolatry, who in the world would be left to qualify as the 2 witnesses to testify against them?
There isn’t anybody, right?
Therefore, since the Torah CANNOT be broken, Moses has no choice but to call on the heavens and the earth to testify against them if they stray from the covenant.
There’s another interesting point I want to mention and if you’re into Bible prophecy, you’re gonna love this.
I’m sure you’ve heard about the two witnesses who will appear during the time of the Tribulation in Jerusalem.
Recall that the anti-Christ will kill these two witnesses and then publicly display their dead bodies on the streets of Jerusalem.
Again, this is nothing but an extension of the 2-witness requirement we first learned in the Book of Leviticus.
Remember, the Torah cannot be broken.
And this also goes to show that ultimately all mankind will be judged according to God’s Law during the end times (heck what other law is there?!).
In this case, the two witnesses who the anti-Christ will murder are necessary because the Creator of the Universe is sentencing all unbelievers to an eternal death.
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