There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat
and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord
your God has blessed you.
(Deut. 12:7)
The Lord has made a covenant with us and we are to hold our-
selves accountable to it so that we may reap God's provisions.
We are to put God’s commands “upon our hearts” and “walk in
his ways,” constantly rejoicing and remembering the covenant
God has made with us. God should be the center of our hearts,
minds, and lives. Some of the most beautiful, simplistic verses
in Deuteronomy describing this entanglement, this relationship
of God and man are verses 26:17-18:
"You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will
walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and
that you will obey him. And the Lord has declared this day that you are his
people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all
his commands."
This covenant remains in the New Testament, as God gifts His
people the Holy Spirit in keeping with his promises:
He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our
hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
(2 Cor. 1:21-22)
Christ is God’s fulfillment of His covenant and of His promise.
The parallels seen between Deuteronomy and the New Testa-
ment illustrate God’s unending faithfulness and everlasting love,
incarnate in Jesus Christ. The relentless love and faithfulness
of God and His covenant described in Deuteronomy form the
groundwork for the coming of Christ.
Deuteronomy changed my opinion of the Old Testament. It
showed me that the rawness, truth, and conviction found in
Paul’s letters in the New Testament originated in the Old, pro-
viding the basis for the narrative that would unfold in the Gos-
pel. I found a newfound love and praise for our God. He is
beautiful in His dichotomous character—in His fierce love and
anger. He is also faithful, keeping His holy covenant through the
generations from the promised land to the blood of Christ. He
is glorious, righteous, my provider, my conqueror. I know more
now what it means to truly fear and love our God.
All passages taken from the 1984 NIV.
Mikaela Carrillo is a freshman intending to concentrate in Public Health.
It is in the midst of the laws and regulations of the
early Old Testament, and the constant stumbles of
his people, that God's divine love and faithfulness
shine through, culminating in the powerful, arrest-
ing affirmations and truths of Deuteronomy.
A beautiful covenant between God and His people is reflected
in these lines as both declare their commitment to one another.
It is in the midst of the laws and regulations of the early Old
Testament, and the constant stumbles of his people, that God’s
divine love and faithfulness shine through, culminating in the
powerful, arresting affirmations and truths of Deuteronomy.
This makes it all the more beautiful to see those promises, those
affirmations, those truths reflected in the Gospel and God’s ul-
timate sacrifice. He pursues His people to the point of giving
His one and only son: the epitome of sacrificial love. In His
covenant to His people and in His unconditional love, God lays
down the life of His son, Jesus Christ, so that His people may be
reconciled to Him and redeemed from the laws and procedures
established in the Old Testament that could never be upheld.
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