Deuteronomy 4:5-8 – God’s Word and our witness

The “statutes and judgments” Moses taught constituted a rule for life and conduct for the people of Israel. They were given to help them moderate their public behaviors, their religious practices as well as how they, as a nation could be governed. So Deuteronomy 4:6 explicitly told them “…to keep and do” what they had been instructed as they enter the promised land. Bear in mind that these instructions were given because they as a nation was brought into a covenant relationship with God, to be a witness for Him.   

So in these verses, reasons were given on why they should keep and do the statutes and judgments as they had been instructed. Firstly, by keeping and doing them they would show that they knew they have a set of divine guides on how to become a people with wisdom and understanding on life. Secondly, when they lived according to the statutes and judgments, they would attest to the reality of their God. The nations watching them would come to know that God was present with them and ready to come to their assistance whenever they called upon Him. Thirdly, in living out the statutes and judgments they would become a nation with righteous standards like no other nation.

Besides, these instructions would make them a great nation. The greatness would be seen in their coherence as a nation. Living out those prescribed standards would make them stand out as a people of a high standard of conduct. All these would ensure the flow of God’s blessings upon them. All things considered, the key is not in knowing what God had said, but in doing what they had been instructed. The blessings of a wise and understanding life were contingent on keeping and doing what they were instructed. It is one thing to know the instructions and quite another to do them.  

Just like the Israelites, we must also make keeping and obeying God’s Word the primary exercise in life. If we want to be God’s effective witnesses to people in this world, we need to live out God’s prescribed standards given in the Word. Paul has so clearly stated in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 saying that that the Word of God is divinely inspired. It is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” Let’s live out the Word!