Justice, Mercy, and Omniscience

Deuteronomy 4:23-31

If you’ve been reading along on my blog for very long, you might recall that I have been journaling through the Bible this year, instead of my usual through the Bible in a year reading plan. I am currently working my way through the book of Deuteronomy, (this journaling thing will probably take a couple years) and was struck by a familiar phrase in Deuteronomy 4:29.

But before we get there, you need to understand the context:

The book of Deuteronomy is essentially the record of Moses’ final words to the people of Israel, in preparation for their entrance into the promised land under Joshua’s leadership after Moses’ death. This was a lot of change for the people of Israel, and they had already reached the land once and failed to trust God enough to enter. (See Numbers 13.)  

Now, forty years later, the children of those Israelites were about to be faced with the same decision: trust God and go forward into the land, or rebel and disobey. This new generation had seen some amazing things, and it is possible—even likely—that most of them would have been old enough to remember the parting of the Red Sea, the majestic display of God’s presence at Sinai, and the many miraculous provisions of food and safety along the way.

They all certainly experienced God’s miraculous provision of manna from day to day, and had seen God provide water from a rock. Now, Moses stands before them and begins at the beginning, with God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt. He points out that this same God has promised to be with them and to go before them as they enter the land He has promised to give them.

But Moses also gives a warning: In fact similar warnings are found throughout Moses’ final words to his people, but this one stood out:

“Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which He made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee. For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.” (vv.23-24)

This is a warning we all need periodically. We need to be reminded that God is never satisfied with second place in our hearts and lives. He is to be first and only on the throne of our hearts. This description of God as a jealous God is linked, in a way, to His justice. God is perfectly just, and since He is the only God, the only one worthy of worship, His justice requires that worship be given only to the one who alone is worthy of it.

But it doesn’t stop there: Moses gives another warning, a glimpse into what we readers already know will happen later on.

“When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke Him to anger: I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you. And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor smell.” (vv.25-28)

God knew what would happen further on in Israel’s history. Because He knows all things, He already saw how the people of Israel would forsake Him, and warned them of the exile their sin would require. But in the midst of justice and omniscience, notice also God’s mercy on display:

“But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”(v.29)

This is the verse that jumped out at me as I read the passage the other day. It reminded me of another passage particularly special to me, which comes from Jeremiah 29, which was written to the captives in Babylon, scattered among the nations just as God had said:

“And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” (v.13)

There are many parallels between this chapter and the passage in Deuteronomy 4. Perhaps the exiles would have heard the familiar words and been both convicted and encouraged by God’s justice, mercy, and omniscience.

God had promised judgement, but He also extended mercy in promising His people a way to return, to Himself first, and then in His perfect time, to the land as well.

But what does all this mean for you and I, who live on this side of the exile and so far removed in time from the events of the Old Testament?

I think this passage has much to offer us. It reminds us of God’s perfect justice, and that He must bring judgment for sin. It also reminds us of His mercy, which extends hope and offers a way back to Him when we stray.

It also reminds us that God knows all: He knows our past, present, and future. He knows when we will sin and need forgiveness and restoration, and He knows when we will need that reminder to seek Him with our whole heart.

This passage also reminds us of His perfect, unfailing faithfulness, even in the face of our faithlessness and rebellion against Him.

Even before the people of Israel let themselves be led away from God to worship the idols of the people of the lands around them, God planted the seeds of hope they would need when God’s justice required the exile and all the destruction, loss, grief, and bewilderment that would entail.

Jeremiah’s words reminded the exiles of the age-old promise of God’s faithfulness, His mercy, and His willingness to forgive—and it reminds you and me of the faithfulness, mercy and forgiving heart of our unchanging, unchangeable God!

“For I know the thoughts I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give thee an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11)