Feb 19 2009
Remember Who You Are
Selected Text: Dueteronomy 1-4
As the time has come that Israel will finally be able to settle the land of Canaan, Moses gives instruction to the people he has led for over a generation. Not being able to cross over into the land with the Israelites (see Num. 27:12-14), Deuteronomy becomes Moses’ parting words with the nation - a second reminder of the law and covenant of God. Indeed ‘Dueteronomy’ means ’second law.’
The first several chapters of this book are Moses reminding Israel what God did for them since taking them out of Egypt. Step by step he goes through all that is told in Exodus and Numbers, telling to these children of slaves the reasons why they are to abide by the commandments to follow. It’s almost like Moses is reminiscing, saying, “Remember when God spoke with us at Horeb? and then we went from there to Kadesh, and remember how you rebelled against God there?” Moses would say, “I remember well.”
There is a collective memory within Israel at this time, one that Moses wants Israel to preserve. This is the history of their people that must be remembered for always. As God says in Isaiah 46:9, “Remember the former things of old…,” so Moses is pleading with Israel:
“Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven images… For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God” (Deut. 4:23,24)
“For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou has heard and lived?” (4:33,34)
In reality, the beginning chapters of Deuteronomy do what the Bible as a whole does for God’s people: it presents a historical narrative of God’s dealing with His people that His people may remember their God and walk in His ways. More than anything, the Bible is a book of history and its implications on morality based on recorded events. It’s by these events that our hearts are changed to understand and know the kind of God we serve.
