Then & Now

 “The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today.”

(‭Deuteronomy 5:2-3 ESV‬)

As we read Scripture, it seems that everything happened so long ago. After all, even the most recent writings of Scripture were penned almost two thousand years ago. And, for this reason, it doesn’t seem that it applies to us. It doesn’t seem that it speaks to us.

In reality, however, it does. Words that were spoken hundreds, even thousands of years ago, speak also to us today. And events that happened so long ago happened also to us.

This is brought out in the passage above. As the people of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land, Moses spoke to them these words. And, as we read them, we can only imagine how strange they must have sounded.

I say this because the people to whom Moses was speaking were not alive at Mount Horeb. Or, if they were, they were young children. It was their fathers who experienced the events to which Moses refers.

Their fathers heard the voice of God, speaking from the mountain. Their fathers trembled at the sound of his voice. And their fathers responded to the Lord, saying they would do all that he commanded.

But Moses emphasizes to the people, on the verge of entering the Promised Land, that God’s covenant was made with them. He emphasizes that God’s Word was spoken to them. He emphasizes that it was they who trembled at the sound of his voice. And he emphasizes that it was they who had received the salvation of God.

And the same, you see, is true for us. Words that God spoke to his people, thousands of years ago, he speaks also to us. The promises of Christ, given to his disciples, are given also to us. Jesus’ suffering and death were not only for the people of that one point in time, but also for us. 

We, then, are called to receive them as such. We are called to believe them. And we are called to proclaim them in this way.

God’s Word, you see, speaks across the generations. His work blesses the generations. And we receive the benefits of this by faith in his Son.