We are God’s ‘SPECIAL PEOPLE’ in this world!
March 1 Bible
Reading: Deuteronomy Chapters 25-27
We are God’s ‘SPECIAL PEOPLE’ in this world!
"This day the Lord your God commands you to
observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe
them with all your heart and with all your soul. Today you have proclaimed the Lord to be your God, and that you
will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His
judgments, and that you will obey His voice. Also today the Lord has proclaimed you to be His special people,
just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments, and that He
will set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and
in honor, and that you may be a holy people to the Lord your God, just as He
has spoken."
(Deut 26:16-19)
In the above
passage God is ratifying the Abrahamic Covenant with the Israelites, and these
verses are a part of the covenant renewal
ceremony. Moses concludes his lengthy exposition of the covenant by demanding
total obedience from the Israelites
as they were God’s ‘special people’. Since
the Israelites had accepted the terms of God’s covenant by their pledge of
obedience to God (v. 17; Exodus 24:7), the two parties of the covenant (God and
the Israelites) now “proclaimed”
loyalty to each other (vv. 17, 18).
God acknowledged the Israelites as His own ‘special people’ and promised to exalt them above all other nations, since they had agreed to walk
in godly ways. They were to be a ‘holy
people’ set apart from the other nations by God as His peculiar treasure. In
turn, the Israelites were to respond to this great honor by completely
obeying God!
Throughout the
book of Deuteronomy, God is demanding obedience
from the Israelites, which should be part of their loving response to God
accepting them as His ‘special people’.
The first generation had declared their loyalty to God at the foot of Mount
Sinai (Exodus 24:7). Now, in this covenant renewal ceremony, the new Israelite generation reconfirms
their commitment to God that they will live by His revelation henceforth!
The Hebrew
word for ‘special people’ speaks of
God’s delight in His people as His special jewel, an adornment that He treasures. This also denotes an elect people, set apart by the Lord to
Himself, committed to the Lord and His revelation, and exalted above all the other
nations (Exodus 19:5; Malachi 3:17).
As God’s ‘special people’ of our times, we should
be totally obedient to God’s Word as
well. When we are close to God, we will separate
ourselves from the worldly system
(1 John 2:15-17) and anything that
stands in our way to do God’s will in our lives. If we do that, God promises to
honor us as He did to Abraham long ago (Gen. 12:2, 3; Isaiah 60; Romans 8:18,
19). God has designated His church as His ‘special
people’, holy and separated for carrying out His plan in
this world. Let us rise up to carry
out our responsibilities today!
