WEDNESDAY 09 February 2022 “Unique God” Deut. 4:32-40

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Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

What if someone told you they were present, an eye witness, to one of the most significant events of all time? I mean down through all human history!? If that happened to me, I’d drop whatever I was doing, and I’d make time… right now, to hear their story, what about you?

We’re on the journey with Moses and he is nearing the end of his first farewell message spoken to the Israelite people as they prepare to soon leave the desert behind, cross the Jordan river, and enter the land God had promised their ancestors, the land of Canaan. Yesterday we saw Moses lay out two very different paths before them and urge them to be sure they understood the end result of both paths, and then to be sure they chose the right path!

Next Moses made this remarkable statement: “Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created mankind on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? Has any other people heard the voice of Almighty, Creator God speaking out of fire, as you have and lived?Has any god ever tried to take one nation out of another nation, by testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? (Deut. 4:32-34)

Wow! What an outrageous statement! In fact it’s so outrageous, I urge you to read it again and ponder every phrase. The short answer to Moses’ startling questions is of course NO! No other people have ever experienced what he described here. Do you agree? From the first creative action of God in Genesis 1 to the time Moses and these 1 million people stood on the Jordan river plain, NO, nothing like what these people had experienced with God had ever been experienced by any other people, any place in the world. Never! The miracles by which God had delivered the Hebrew slaves from Egypt were beyond any miraculous things ever witness by mankind. Also, God had never before, and never since, spoken audibly to a large group of people… never! And all those people standing in front of Moses that day, age 60 to about age 45, had been eye witnesses to these events which had happened 40 years before.

Also, Moses was right, never before in human history had the Almighty, Creator, Holy God gotten directly involved in human politics and government activities and actually rescued out a people being held in slave bondage by another people. In this case about 1 million Hebrew slaves rescued by God Himself from inescapable slave bondage in Egypt.

Now, I have a question for us. Why would Moses so powerfully and graphically ask these questions of these people at this time? I offer two reasons… first, Moses was soon going to hand over the reins of leadership to Joshua and then Moses would die. That would be beyond traumatic for none of these people knew any other leader than Moses. There would never be another Moses. Before he died, Moses needed to challenge these people to hold very tightly to the the irrefutable truth that THEY were unique among all human beings of all time. They had direct experiences with God that no one else ever had, and those experiences were to form the foundation of the identity of this people Israel for all generations to come!

Second, we human beings have very sophisticated brains, which can remember in amazing detail, even sounds and smells, many years later. But those amazing brains, when connected with our will power often do some really stupid things. One of the most stupid of all is to FORGET things which are very, very important. OR to re-write history in our memories so the truth is distorted and we then discount it as unimportant. Moses knew it wouldn’t take long and all the oldest of the people standing before him that day, those who had been clear thinking young adults when those events took place 40 years before,… they would be dead. And when that generation was gone, and no one was left who had experienced it first hand, then all they’d have is stories. And you and I both know how easily stories can be stretched or changed to the point they are nothing but unbelievable myths. The integrity of this people and their future hung on the absolute certainty they all had that day, that what Moses had stated was absolutely, unequivocally TRUE! All these people had either seen it with their own eyes or heard the story from their parents who had been eyewitnesses.

Of course friends there is a huge difference between being able to declare historical facts to be true, and being able to explain the significance of those historical facts, right? So the next statement Moses made was very, very significant. I can see Moses taking a big deep breath and almost shouting these words: “You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides Him there is no other.” (Deut. 4:35) Friends, if you like to underline important things in books you read, make sure you underline that statement in your Bible! Have you learned this important life lesson: God is intentional! God always has a plan and He’s always working His plan. Everything that happens in our universe is known to God and either God has permitted it or God has caused it to happen. Either way, God will accomplish His larger, eternal purposes and will include everything… every event, every person, in that Divine purpose accomplishment. Now ponder that a moment. It’s deep. It’s significant. Do you understand it?

All these remarkable, one of a kind miracles which had occurred had a purpose. God did these remarkable things to prove to the entire world that HE, the one, true, living, almighty God is unique. There is nothing or no being like Him. Paul wrote it this way in Colossians 1:15 “By Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible…all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together…” It means nothing existed before God. Nothing came into existence without God. All that exists, anywhere in all the universe, was either created by God, or fabricated by man from something God created, or exists as the result of the God initiated, natural reproductive process. NOTHING created itself. Nothing exists by accident. And that one, true, living, all powerful, all knowing, God is Holy and created all things for His glory! There is no person or being that comes anywhere close to being who God is!

Then Moses again took another breath and probably shouted this challenge: “Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on earth below. There is no other.” The name by which this God identified Himself to Moses at the burning bush is translated into English as LORD. When Moses asked what it meant, God said “I AM WHO I AM”. (Ex. 3:14) It means, I AM more than you or any person will ever fully comprehend; I AM more than you or any person will ever need; I have NO limitations, none. Whether you agree or not, is not important. It is fact. Your life and mine, my friends, and the existence of the entire universe depends on the truthfulness of God and who God is. God Himself defines and describes Himself. God Himself is the origin of all things and thus God defines TRUTH, Right and Wrong. God holds time, and life in His hands. (Isaiah 45:18,19) Period. End of story!

Moses ended this first powerful message with this statement: “Keep God’s decrees and commands, which I am giving you this day, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time.” (Deut. 4:40) And then Moses sat down. His first powerful message of farewell was concluded. The people slowly dispersed, going to their tents. They had much to think about. That night I imagine families sat around campfires with the oldest in each family asking the younger ones important questions like: “What didn’t you understand in all Moses said today? Do you have any doubts about the truthfulness of what we heard? Do you have any questions you want to ask me? I am eye witness to that which Moses described. When I’m gone from this earth, your lives may depend on how strongly you believe and hold fast to the truthfulness of what Moses said today. It will be absolutely critical that you explain it, exactly as you heard it, to your grandchildren. Every generation will be responsible to be sure the generations which follow them understand it fully, before they die. The future of our nation depends on the integrity with which you live and hold to these truths today.”

So in closing, what are the essential truths that form the foundation of the country where you live? What is the role of God in your country? How important is it in your family that God’s truth is respected, honored and passed to each younger generation? I think it’s time to pause right here and ponder. I urge you to take your journal and list the top 5 or 10 fundamental truths upon which your family and your nation are built. Where does God and His truth fit in that list? And spend a few moments talking with God about this. The lives of our grandchildren may depend on it!

Today’s Scripture is Deuteronomy 4:32-40.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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