My Bible study in 2013 took me to Deuteronomy, where I found a marvelous thing that you don't hear much about. The theme is, as much as modern nations carry forth the provisions of the Jewish law, they do good for their people.
Deuteronomy chapter 4 The nations will hear about all (the Jewish law) and say, these Israelites have such righteous laws. What other nation is so great as to have the Lord near them whenever they pray to him? Surely these Jews are a wise and understanding people.
Deuteronomy chapter 32 Carefully obey this law. It is not just idle words, it is your life. By it you will live long in the land.
Even non-Jews were treated fairly in the Jewish law. Deuteronomy chapter 1: Do not show partiality in judging, even in a case between an Israelite and an alien.
The same Bible book that extols the Jewish law has the shocking account of the extermination, at God's command, of all Amorites who remained in the cities, in other words those who heard about the coming of the Jews and didn't decide to take a vacation trip while the heat was on. One Amorite man would tell his neighbor, "You know those Jews, the ones whose god forced Pharoah to liberate them from Egypt forty years ago? Those losers knocked around the back country since then, but the word is that they are coming this way. Well, would you believe there is a business opportunity up the coast I am going to go check out. Might just take my family. If you decide to stick around, would you water the plants? See ya!"
The Amorite conquest was not a small deal. Of just the Amorites of Bashan, there were sixty walled cities that were conquered.1 To understand why God did this to the Amorites, the practices of the Amorites must be considered. In contrast to Deuteronomy's account of the good reputation of the Jewish law among the nations, there was wide knowledge at the time of evil pervading the Canaanite peoples, where child sacrifice (passing the sons through the fire) was common.2 3
That the Jews would take this land is established in Genesis 12 where God directs Abraham to travel in Canaan and tells Abraham it will all belong to his descendants. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
When you consider the Jewish law, you must know that some of it was set aside in New Testament times. In Acts chapters 10 and 11, when the early Christian church was persecuted in Jerusalem, the righteous Jew Peter learned from God that some things were now pure which had formerly, for the benefit of the ancient Jews, been impure. Peter summarized God's new relation to people: "All the prophets testify about Jesus that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness."
But many provisions of the Jewish law remain: forbidding of bribery, murder, and theft, honoring of parents, faithfulness of a husband to his wife, etc. Any people in any culture who uphold these permanent laws of God do good for themselves and everyone around them. Modern laws which uphold the permanent laws of God are good. Modern laws which contradict God's commands are a threat to the people.4
In the U.S., politics and Hollywood culture get too much attention. Spend some time learning about God's intentions for us, "that you might live long in the land."
Moses' dealings with the Israelites echo today. The Israelites were under the first covenant whereas we are under the second (Jesus offers forgiveness if we will just accept it) but our obedience is necessary for both. The Israelites were much closer to God's miracles but even that had limited influence on them. Both covenants are covenants of love, Deuteronomy 7:12.
Deuteronomy 8:11-20
Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you today. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down...when your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery...He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end [after the entire generation of those liberated from Egypt died in the 40 years of wandering] it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.
If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them [see following list], I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.
June 6, 1999, July 7, 2002 Steve McMeans at Coggin Ave. Baptist
Modern Idols
Materialism--money or things are more important than God
Hedonism--this is often accepted--food, laziness, entertainment overdone
Humanism--man as god where man is the measure of all things. This is from the Renaissance. Peer pressure, academic thought culture, the Jesus Seminar, "I know the Bible says that, but..."
Secularism--God is out of the public life
Theological liberalism--a weak God
Relativism
Pluralism--many gods, who knows which one is the highest? Many paths to the same God.
Materialism--stuff is god, stuff possesses you. (Money is not the root of evil, the love of money is the root of evil.)
Egoism--I am god, I run my own life, I take care of things
Footnotes
1 The territory is modern Israel, the West Bank, east of the Jordan River, and Lebanon. Though this area is largely desert now, most of it was forested then, such as 2 Samuel 18, the Forest of Ephraim. In Numbers 13, the Valley of Eshcol is where the spies found abundant produce when Moses sent them. In the thousands of years since, there has been devastating erosion that has taken away most of the topsoil. This has partly been from invading armies that have burned fields and cut down trees, such as Assyrians, Babylonians, and Romans (70 AD). Further evidence that this area was verdant is the population of the Amorites and other Canaanites; the Amorites of just Bashan had sixty walled cities. Today, Israel imports much grain but exports citrus and greenhouse produce, with just the limited water available from the Jordan.
2 Look up Moloch on Internet, hollow bronze statues over furnaces. Wikipedia on Moloch: "Carthaginian nobles believed they had displeased the gods by substituting low-born children for their own children. They attempted to make amends by sacrificing 200 children of the best families at once." 2 Chr. 28:3, 33:6; Jer. 7:31, 19:2–6
3 The emphasis, again and again, is that Amorites were driven out, more than being wiped out, though any armies that came against the Jews were indeed wiped out. Joshua 24:12: "I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you." Joshua 23:4: "God himself will drive them out of your way. He will push them out before you."
4 Culture brings about unrighteous law in representative democracies when people demand licentiousness. "Conservative" doesn't have to mean favoring the rich and powerful, it can mean conserving what has been shown to be good. Libertarianism or liberalism means advancing what allows men to be autonomous (for example, independent of God). Liberalism also can mean believing that humans can ultimately be perfected and have no need for laws or God. And liberalism can mean giving liberally, which both liberals and conservatives can do.