This is another in a series on questions found in the Bible. It’s amazing what we can learn from questions. Today’s question comes from Deuteronomy 4:34, “Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
The context of this question is that the Lord’s people, Israel, have been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years and are about to enter the Promised Land. Before they enter, Moses is reviewing all of the incredible things that God has done and is warning them about the dangers of disobedience. The purpose of this question is to get the people to think about the fact that it is an amazing thing that God would take one nation, Israel, out of the middle of another nation, Egypt.
Just prior to this question, God told them to consider “whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?” God did an amazing thing for the people of Israel and God wants the people to realize that.
In our day we have become somewhat arrogant thinking that ancient peoples were simply superstitious and gullible. I think that the kinds of discussion and reasoning that takes place in the Bible proves that that is a false assumption. In these questions God is asking the people to ask themselves whether anything like this has ever happened before. He is asking them to take a step back and really look at what has happened to them and consider what unique events they have participated in.
For me this strengthens my faith in the truth and accuracy of what has been recorded in the Bible for our learning.
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