The God of the Old Testament — Yahweh — is an angry, unloving tyrant of a deity. Full of wrath and judgement. But the God of the New Testament — Jesus — is a peaceful, hopeful, loving deity.
Balderdash! This sentiment is so rife among people who are only passingly familiar with the Bible (yes, this does indeed refer to some of my fellow Christians as well) that it is basically a cultural maxim at this point. But aside from the many stories of Jesus speaking harsh truths — and speaking the truth harshly1 — today’s passage highlights how the God of the Old Testament (who is the same God in the New Testament because God is the same yesterday, today, and forever) was also evangelistically minded. Even in the earliest incarnation of the Israelites, He wanted all the peoples of the world to see His goodness shining through His people. Just like he does today.
Deuteronomy 4:5-8 says:
5 Look! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the Lord my God told me to do, so that you might carry them out in the land you are about to enter and possess. 6 So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, “Indeed, this great nation is a very wise people.” 7 In fact, what other great nation has a god so near to them like the Lord our God whenever we call on him? 8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this whole law that I am about to share with you today?
We know that since God began to give these laws He has consistently said that they are not only for the Israelites, but also for any foreigners living among them! Two prominent examples are both Rahab and Ruth; outsiders who joined themselves to the God of Abraham. And both of these outsiders just happened to join the lineage of Jesus Christ! God’s evangelistic heart on full display.
He wants us to obey His commands not merely because it will go well for us if we do, but ALSO because our obedience will set us apart. It will make us shine like Moses shone in a world of darkness. And the people who see us will recognize that we have wisdom and understanding2. And want what we have.
Let’s pray that God would help us to live lives that make other people want what we have.
Deuteronomy 3:21-5:33 | 072/365
- Jesus called people snakes, flipped tables, cursed a fig tree, literally called the Apostle Peter “Satan”. Hardly the granola-crunching hippie we paint Him to be. Jesus was a strong leader who was unafraid of upsetting people who should have known better! ↩︎
- 128k.ca/2024/01/26/the-physical-and-the-metaphysical/ ↩︎