THE LORD YOUR GOD
Deuteronomy 27 and 28
“Be silent, Israel, and listen! You have now become the people of the Lord your God. Obey the Lord your God and follow his commands and decrees that I give you today.”
In Exodus 33 (our passage for week 2), after the golden calf incident, God told Moses “Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”
To be the people of God is a heavy responsibility, not just because we bear God’s name and we must not sully it, but also because his eyes are on us always; that is both a blessing and a curse. “I might destroy you on the way,” God tells the Israelites.
When we become Christians, we too sign up to be a part of the people of God. The major difference is that we are shielded from God’s wrath by the blood of Jesus our Lord. But do not make the mistake of thinking that everything is now free and easy because we have a golden pass.
Many people think that they are signing up for a golden pass whereas the truth is that we are signing up to be the people of God and the golden pass shields us from God’s wrath while the Holy Spirit works in us so we become fit for the Kingdom.
Perhaps too our Gospel has become perverted and we trick people into a commitment they do not intend to keep.
The God of Moses, the God of the Old Testament, is the God of the New Testament and we must not paint a false picture of him. The Old Testament is very clear: fear God. He is compassionate and merciful and has given us his Son so that judgement can be withheld but his purpose for his people is that they reflect his glory.
“The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.”