“Indeed, inquire about the past, before you were born: since the day God created human beings on the earth, from one end of heaven to the other, has there ever been anything as wonderful as this? Has anyone heard anything like it? Did any other people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of a fire, as you have heard, and stay alive?“-Deuteronomy 4:32-33
In spite of the bleak picture Moses paints when he tells the Israelites that God will surely scatter them across the planet for their idolatry, he also brings a healthy balance to the situation.
Moses lets them know in no uncertain terms that although they will surely fall into idolatry and be judged for it…
…they can rest assured that just as surely restoration and forgiveness will also occur.
Why?
Moses gives two reasons.
First, God will never abandon Israel because of the promises He made to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Second, and this is an interesting reason, the Lord will never forsake Israel because He is a God of love and mercy.
Moses then goes on to explain what was to his audience’s ears a mind-blowing concept at the time: the fact that their God is the ONLY god in existence.
In order to substantiate this radical claim, Moses tells the people that the proof of the monotheism he is promoting is in the very most recent history of Israel itself.
He makes his point in rhetorical form by asking the following questions:
Has there ever been a nation or society in the history of mankind that has ever experienced the things Israel has?
Has there ever been a group of people anywhere in the world who directly heard the audible voice of God?
Has any other nation’s gods or goddesses specially elected a specific group of people away from all the other nations of the world, rescued them from slavery via supernatural destruction of their oppressors, and then given them a covenant by which to live their lives?
Has any other nation in the world been led by a visible cloud and pillar of fire that was seen not just by Israel but by anyone who was in the area?
Moses makes it clear that it is only Israel out of all the nations in the world that have experienced such things.
And because it is only Israel that has experienced such things, like it or not, Moses tells Israel, you are special.
You may be in this world but you are no longer of this world and you had better get used to it.
You wanna know why Israel is so at odds with the rest of the world?
Seriously, have you ever thought about why Israel is looked upon as so strange, out of place and even threatening to all the other societies and cultures everywhere else on the planet?
Well, Moses is giving us the answer right here in Deuteronomy.
He’s saying the reason you are looked at as different is because YOU ARE DIFFERENT.
You possess a unique history and will live by a set of morals and principles that will run counter to every other society that has ever been in existence or ever will be in existence.
Moses continually drives the point home that no other nation has ever been in (or ever will be) in Israel’s chosen position…
…and no other nation but Israel has ever received such perfect and divine instructions (the Torah) to live by.
Moses doesn’t mention it here but what we also now know to be true in hindsight is that the world is going to hate Israel for their chosen status and differences.
Why?
Well, again…simply because they’re different.
And another reason is because the whole world is under the control of the evil one and the evil one otherwise known as Satan hates Israel.
Think about it.
We’re living in a world that pressures everybody to be the same.
Probably like no other time in history, we’re living in a day and age that is seeking to erase every God-ordained difference and principle established in Scripture.
There is now a movement to erase the distinction between male and female.
There is pressure to get everyone to accept the same “moral” standards and be open to the idea of a one world dominating organization that will rule all the nations of the world under their anti-godly rules standards.
So what do you think is gonna happen when you have one peculiar nation that stands up and says HELL NO…we’re not submitting to this nonsense because our God has commanded us to live a different way?
I can answer that question with one word.
Armageddon.
That’s what’s gonna happen folks.
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