By the time we get to chapter 4, the history lesson shifts more into a sermonic mode. The recounting of events wasn’t just for history buffs; instead, it served a purpose, showing the people the power and grace of God working among them, and that even though they messed up, the Lord was still going to honor His covenant with them.

We can worship on the right day and understand the truth about death, hell, the mark of the beast, and so forth. But what does it all mean if we treat others nastily or oppress the weak among us or don’t administer justice fairly when we need to judge a situation?

If Israel were to be a witness, a holy people walking in truth amid a world steeped in error, idolatry, evil, and sin, surely they would have to be kind to the weakest and most marginalized among them. Otherwise, their witness would be nothing.

As believers, we have been called to reflect the character of God. When Moses talked about the power and majesty of God, he also said that God didn’t take a bribe and that He cared about the weak and the outcast.

When it came to “human rights,” the stranger, the widow, the orphan needed to be treated with the same fairness and justice as the Israelites expected for themselves.

Yahweh is the God of gods and Lord of lords, the sovereign Ruler and Sustainer of the creation (Col. 1:16, 17), but He also cares about the fatherless, the widow, and the stranger.

Circumcision was a sign of the covenant, but it’s only an outward sign. God wanted their hearts; that is, their minds, their affections, their love.

Jesus linked love for God and love for one’s neighbor into one commandment, and that commandment was the greatest of all.

The One who “upheld the unnumbered worlds through the vast realms of space” was the One who went to the cross for us.