Today's context will sound very familiar, as Moses is recapping the 40 year journey from slavery in Egypt to the outskirts of the promised land. He starts Deuteronomy 5 by reminding them of what had happened in Exodus 33. (side note--isn't it strange to think these were just normal people, living their lives? They didn't know they were living in "Bible times", or that their stories would be written in a book called "Exodus" or "Deuteronomy". Boggles my mind! 😲) In Numbers 14 yesterday, the punishment for their sin of doubting the power of God to bring them safely into the promised land was that they would "wander" in the wilderness for 38 years. (Remember, at that time, they were 2 years in to an 11 day trip that would take them 40 years!) The rebellious generation would pass away--2 million people in 38 years--and the children, the generation that the people were sure would be "spoils of war", would enter the promised land. This was the promise of our steadfast, loyal God in Numbers 14:31 "But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected."
Moses is teaching this new generation of Israelites the statutes and rules, the Ten Commandments, given to him by God. Although this covenant was given to the former generation, Moses reminds them the promise does not hinge on the life or death of the promisee, but on the changelessness of the Eternal Promisor. Moses repeats what God said after the commandment not to make any carved images and/or bow down to them..."for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments."
These verses change me because of the sense of limited punishment, but limitless grace. I made a quick family tree of my own family, including my paternal grandparents, my dad and his 3 sisters, the 11 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, and 5 great-great grandchildren. 5 generations, 42 people in all. He disciplines those who hate Him for 3 or 4 generations; in contrast, He shows unwavering, stubborn, loyal love to THOUSANDS who love Him and keep His commandments. Romans 5:15 says "But the free gift is not like the trespass....the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of one man Jesus Christ overflowed to the many." A living covenant that does not fade with the passing of thousands of years, but builds on the trustworthy foundation of Jesus Christ, God's plan A of redemption, with no need for a plan B. He is the Lord our God, and we shall have no other gods before Him.
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