Deuteronomy 10:22 Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.
Who knew that so many famous people were born or reared in Danville, Illinois? If you visit my wife’s hometown, you will notice that many of the stoplights have a little sign with a picture of a celebrity of some kind, whether an astronaut, an actor, or a scientist, and it will give a brief bio of the person who was from Danville, Illinois. They are proud to be the home of people who have accomplished something.
Have you ever known someone who has forgotten where they are from? They are born to humble means but then they become rich, famous, or brilliant, and they forget where they came from, forget their hometown, and forget their people. That is an easy thing to do. Sometimes we forget where God has brought us from and the regard He has for others who are weak. We need to be mindful of God’s grace in our lives and God’s treatment of those who are in need.
Deuteronomy 10:17-18 says, “For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward. He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.” Basically, the Bible is saying that God has no need to pander to or impress people. He doesn’t have to flatter them or do nice things so that they will do Him some nicety. He doesn’t regard persons. He doesn’t care about your degrees, dollars, or IQ. He doesn’t take rewards or bribes, and He doesn’t regard people based on how great they are. He is God.
He is a God of gods, a Lord of lords, yet such a God has regard to the weakest among us, those who are fatherless, widows, or strangers. In Moses’ day being fatherless or a widow would have been quite a bit different than it is in our culture today in America. God is concerned about the fatherless, the widow, and the stranger. Those who are, in their own way, lacking strength they might otherwise have.
Then verse 22 says, “Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.” God had regard for the family of Jacob before they were the children of Israel. No doubt Jacob’s family had a lot of money, but there was a time of famine and they were a family not a nation. They became slaves in Egypt, yet God had regard to them and brought them out. He was their God. He was their Father and their strength.
The takeaway is found in verse 19 which says, “Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.” In other words, don’t forget where you came from. Don’t forget where God brought you from. Don’t forget that God loves you, not because you are great but because He is.
In short, our treatment of the weak should be a reflection of God’s treatment of us. The way I treat other people says much about how I view myself and thus how I view how God has treated me. In Romans 5:6 it says, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” God saved me, not when I was good, but precisely when I was wicked and because I am wicked. It is His righteousness that gains me entrance into Heaven and fellowship with Him. It is Christ’s own righteousness purchased on the cross.
James 1:27 says, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction.” God is a father. He has been a father to me, and I am to visit those who have no father and have regard to those who have lost their husband. The Bible is saying that all of us are weak, and we are weaker than we know. If we are strong, our strength is tenuous at best, and it is a wise person who treats others, specifically the weak, in light of how God has treated us.