From: Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
The Lord's Special Providence Towards His People
(Moses said to the people,) [32] "For ask now of the days that are past,
which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth,
and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as
this has ever happened or was ever heard of. [33] 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? [34] 0r 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
terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before
your eyes? [39] know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart,
that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there
is no other. [40] Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his
commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with
you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your
days in the land which the LORD your God gives you for ever."
Commentary:
4:32-40. The end of this first discourse carries an important theological
message: the profound notion of one God (monotheism); the election of Israel
as God's specific people; his special and kindly providence towards this
people; the might of God, as manifested in the prodigious works he does in
favor of the chosen people; and the consequence of all this--Israel's duty
to be faithful to the one and only God, keeping his commandments and
offering due cult only to him; by so doing, Israel will continue to enjoy
his protection.
Reading this and other passages in the sacred books shows the efforts the
inspired writers made to update the teaching of religious traditions and
apply it to the situation and needs of Israelites in later periods; this is
perhaps the reason for the frequent calls to fidelity to the Covenant. "In
the course of its history, Israel was able to discover that God had only one
reason to reveal himself to them, a single motive for choosing them from
among alt peoples as his special possession: his sheer gratuitous love (cf.
Deut 4:37; 7:8; 10:15). And thanks to the prophets Israel understood that it
was again out of love that God never stopped saving them (cf. Is 43:1-7) and
pardoning their unfaithfulness and sins (cf. Hos 2)" ("Catechism of the
Catholic Church", 218).
The Deuterononiic formula of "the Lord is God ["ha-Elohim", that is, the
only God] and there is no other besides him" (v. 35), which occurs often
(cf. 4:39; 6:4; 32:39; etc.) is also the essence of the Prophets' message
(cf. Jer 2:11-33; Is 41:2-29; 44:6; 46:9). The Prophets strove to draw
Israel towards or maintain it in fidelity to the One and Only God who
revealed himself to the patriarchs and to Moses, and helped to develop and
deepen an appreciation of monotheism, of the universality of the power of
Yahweh, of his moral demands, etc. But the core of all this teaching is to
be found expounded, profoundly and very specifically, in the book of
Deuteronomy. This teaching builds up the notion of the Lord as a jealous
God" (cf. Ex 20:5) who requires his adherents to be totally obedient to him;
it is a notion incompatible with worshipping the divinities adored by other
peoples (cf. Ex 20:3).
Being good, obeying the commandments of the Law of God, brings life (v. 40),
initially understood as longevity; whereas sin often brings with it
misfortune or death, as a punishment fro, God (cf. Ezek 18:10-13,19-20;
etc.). The fact that God is just in his treatment of man, rewarding him or
punishing, sooner or later, for the good or the evil he does, is a message
that runs right through the Old and New Testaments. In ancient texts, the
accent is on reward or punishment in this present life. In the New Testament
more emphasis is put on divine retribution in the future life. It is not
surprising that there should be this line of development in the biblical
ethic: God takes account of time and grace to lead men to the fullness of
truth.
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.
