A Standard to Admire – The Purpose of the Law

A Standard to Admire

Deuteronomy 4:6

“Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’”

Looking good to the outside world?

Moses told the people of Israel that their obedience to God’s commandments would make them a people to be admired by outsiders. The commandments, statutes, ordinances, and rules of God, encoded in His Law, which Israel was to obey in the land of promise would enable them to demonstrate justice, mercy, goodness, fairness, and love such as the world had never seen. The nations would regard them as wise and understanding, able to solve difficult problems and live together in peace and prosperity without the need of political power or violence. The nations all had their own laws back then, but none of them rose to the heights of beauty, goodness, and truth that we see revealed in the Law of God. It makes sense that the nations, seeing the fruit of Israel’s obedience, would want to emulate at least some of that obedience, so that they also might prosper and be at peace. Israel was from the beginning intended to be a witness to the nations as to how obedience to God could bring blessing to a nation. Which means that God seems to have intended that even the unbelieving world should gain some of the benefit – albeit not unto salvation, but as a witness thereunto – of obedience to His Law.

In His “common grace” God shows love and blessing even to those who deny, ignore, or rebel against Him. How can you see that encouraging the nations to emulate His people in obeying the Law would be an example of this “common grace”?

—

“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.