Deuteronomy 10:12 - Meaning and Application

This is a strong call to obey, drawn from the truth already set before them and pressed with force. Moses speaks like a skilled teacher, asking, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you?” (Deuteronomy 10:12). When God has shown mercy, it is right to ask what return we should make to him, as David did when he asked, “What shall I render?” (Psalm 116:12). If we think carefully about what God requires, we will see that it is both right in itself and full of benefit for us.

Here Moses plainly shows our duty to God, to our neighbor, and to ourselves. Our duty to God includes both the inner life and outward actions, our principles and our practice. We are to fear the Lord our God (Deuteronomy 10:12, 20), meaning we honor his greatness, accept his authority, stand in awe of his power, and respect his anger against sin. This is also gospel duty, as Revelation 14:6-7 shows. We are also to love him, being glad that he exists, wanting him to be ours, and delighting in thinking about him and being close to him. We fear him as the great Lord, and we love him as a good Father and giver.

We must walk in his ways, meaning the paths he has marked out for us. Our whole life should fit his holy will. We must serve him with all our heart and soul (Deuteronomy 10:12, 20), giving ourselves to his honor, placing ourselves under his rule, and working for the good of his kingdom among people. That service should be sincere and eager, with our whole inner self involved. Whatever we do for him should be done willingly and cheerfully. We must also keep his commandments and statutes (Deuteronomy 10:13), making his revealed will our guide in everything, doing what he commands and refusing what he forbids, trusting that his commands are for our good.

Obedience brings more than reward at the end, it also brings real honor and present peace. It is good for us now to be gentle and humble, pure and self-controlled, fair and generous, patient and content. These qualities make life steadier, safer, more pleasant, and truly noble. We must also honor God by swearing by his name alone (Deuteronomy 10:20), giving him credit for his perfect knowledge, rule, justice, and eternal being. And we must cling to him (Deuteronomy 10:20), staying faithful to the God we have chosen, trusting him, loving him, and never letting go.

Our duty to our neighbor is clear too. “Love the stranger” (Deuteronomy 10:19), and if that is required toward a stranger, then surely much more toward our own brothers and sisters. If Israel, a people set apart from all others, had to show kindness to strangers, then we, who are not fenced off by such a wall, should all the more care tenderly for every person who shares our human nature. As we have opportunity, that is, according to need and ability, we should do good to all people.

Two reasons are given for this. First, God’s care reaches all nations. He loves the stranger (Deuteronomy 10:18), meaning he gives life, breath, and all things even to those outside Israel. He knows those people perfectly, even when we know nothing about them. He gives food and clothing to those who have not received his law and statutes. Since God gives common gifts to all people, we should honor all people too. The wording also points to God’s special care for strangers in distress, which we should praise him for (Psalm 146:9) and copy in our own behavior.

Second, Israel itself had once been in the same condition. They had been strangers in Egypt, and people who have suffered distress and found mercy from God should feel deeply for others in the same position. They should be ready to show kindness. Yet despite these repeated commands, the Jews later grew deeply hostile toward the Gentiles, the nations outside Israel. They looked down on them, envied God’s grace when it came through Christ, and this brought final ruin on themselves.

Our duty to ourselves is also stated: “Circumcise the foreskin of your heart” (Deuteronomy 10:16). That means cast away corrupt desires and habits that keep you from fearing and loving God. Put sin to death in the flesh. Get rid of every kind of uncleanness and evil that blocks God’s word from reaching the heart freely. Do not rest in the outward sign of circumcision, which was only the marker, but seek the inward reality, a heart truly set apart for God (Romans 2:29). Christ’s command goes even farther, calling for severe dealing with sin, even to the point of cutting off a hand or plucking out an eye that causes offense. The more spiritual the covenant is, the more spiritual we must be in return, and the more closely we must fight sin.

We are also told to stop being stiff-necked, as they had been before (Deuteronomy 9:24). That means we must no longer be stubborn against God’s commands and corrections, but be ready to obey him in all things. A heart truly changed will be willing to yield to God and to take up his yoke.

He has the strength of a conqueror, so he is fearsome to those who resist and rebel against him. He also has the authority of a judge, so he is just to all who come before him or appeal to him. It is as much the honor of a judge to be fair and impartial, without favoring people or taking bribes, as it is for a commander to strike fear into the enemy. Our God is both.

He also has great possessions. Heaven and earth belong to him (Deuteronomy 10:14), along with all the armies, stars, and powers in them. Because of that, he is able to support us in his service and make up for any loss we suffer in doing our duty to him. Yet he has no need of us, or anything we have or do. We cannot live without him, but he is complete without us. That is why his kindness in receiving us and our service is so amazing. Heaven and earth are his, yet the Lord’s chosen share is his people.

So we must also consider the goodness and grace of God, and for that reason love him and serve and obey him from the heart. His goodness is as much part of his glory as his greatness is. He is good to everyone. Wherever he finds misery, he shows mercy. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow (Deuteronomy 10:18). It is his honor to help the helpless and to care for those who most need relief, especially those people others are quick to mistreat or ignore (Psalm 68:4, Psalm 68:5; Psalm 146:7, Psalm 146:9).

But God is especially good to Israel, who were under special obligations to him: “He is your praise, and he is your God” (Deuteronomy 10:21). Therefore, love him and serve him because of the relationship he has with you. He is your God, a God in covenant, meaning he has bound himself to you in faithful promise, and as such he is your praise. That means two things. First, he puts honor on you. You can boast all day long that you know him and are known by him. If he is your God, he is your glory. Second, he deserves honor from you. He is the God you are bound to praise. If he does not receive praise from you, where else should he expect it? He lives among the praises of Israel.

Think first about the gracious choice he made of Israel (Deuteronomy 10:15). He delighted in your fathers, and for that reason he chose their children after them. There was nothing in them that earned his favor or made them worthy of it. He chose them because it pleased him to do so. He was kind to them even though he did not need them.

Think second about the great things he had done for Israel (Deuteronomy 10:21, Deuteronomy 10:22). Moses reminds them not only of what they had heard from their fathers, but also of what they had seen with their own eyes, things they must tell their children. In particular, a mere seventy people, which was all Jacob’s family when they went down into Egypt, grew into a great nation, as countless as the stars in the sky. The more numerous they became, the more praise and service God expected from them. Yet, as happened in the old world, when they began to multiply, they corrupted themselves.