Today’s Scripture Reading

³² Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? ³³ Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? ³⁴ Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

³⁵ You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other. ³⁶ From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire. ³⁷ Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, ³⁸ to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.

³⁹ Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. ⁴⁰ Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.

DEUTERONOMY 4:32-40

Today’s Devotional Reading

The Lord is God

God’s approach to establish a relationship with Israel at Sinai represents a significant moment in human history. Until Sinai, gods were considered territorially constrained and without obligation to peoples. However, God chose to deliver Israel from bondage in Egypt in such spectacular fashion in order to demonstrate his love for Israel so they might know God’s magnificence over and above the gods of other nations.

As highlighted in other texts, the book of Deuteronomy was written to help Israel understand and remember God’s power to deliver them, his sovereignty over heaven and earth (not a corner of land) and his love for them over other nations. Toward that end, Moses consistently reminded each generation of what God had done for their ancestors by calling them to remember the story of their deliverance.

John 1 narrates another monumental moment in human history, one that is worthy of being consistently remembered: the incarnation. When God took on human flesh and “made his dwelling” (literally, “tabernacled”; v. 14) among God’s people, they were provided greater access to God throughout Jesus’ public ministry. It is through Jesus that God has proven his power to deliver his people from the power of sin, shown us his absolute love and provided a way for all nations of the earth to have a relationship with the one, true God.

Jesus, thank you for making your dwelling among us people and enabling us to have a relationship with the one true God. Amen.

Today’s devotional reading is pulled from: The Jesus Bible, NIV Edition