Deuteronomy 10:12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good? 14 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. 15 Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. 16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. 18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. 19 Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
As we noted yesterday, the reason they people of Israel ended up in exile is because they forsook their love and obedience toward God. In His restating His expectations after the wilderness wanderings just before they entered the Promised Land, He explained the reason for His commands about how they were to view and treat the fatherless, the widow, and the sojourner. Here He especially emphasizes that they were to love the sojourner - to watch out for them and do what was best for them. Why? Because that is what God had done for them: He had set His heart in love of them while they were sojourners in Egypt. God was calling on them -and calling on us - as His people to demonstrate His character of love, justice, and compassion. When we don't, we're heading down the wrong road toward exile.
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