Today’s first reading is from the Book of Deuteronomy, the fifth and final book of the Torah, presenting Moses’ farewell speeches to the Israelites as they prepare to enter the Promised Land. Structured as a renewal of the Covenant, Deuteronomy restates the Law given at Sinai, calling the people to fidelity, obedience, and love for the Lord. It emphasizes the heart of Israel’s relationship with God—not merely external compliance, but covenant loyalty shaped by memory, gratitude, and reverence.
In our first reading Moses reminds the people of Israel’s unique experience of God’s direct action in history with them. It was not the interaction with some remote unknown deity. They have had a personal experience of God, “the LORD, a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love and fidelity.” (Ex 34:6) That experience shaped them (and us) as religious people.
We would do well to pause and consider the landscape of religions across time up to now. How do they compare with the claims Christianity makes about God? Perhaps a short review is in order.
- Deism: God is remote and silent, likened to a clock maker who sets the universe in motion and then leaves it alone. There is no personal relationship. A good deal of modern people are deist at heart.
- Ancient Near East religions (e.g., the Babylonians): gods were powerful but capricious, often in conflict with one another. Sometimes their conflict spilled out into humanity. But always the gods demanded offering with no assurance of justice or mercy. It all seemed arbitrary. Divine interaction with humanity was most often not for human good.
- Classical Greek Religion | Norse Religion | etc.: Olympian gods were anthropomorphic possessing jealousy, pride, lust – and often on those bases, intervened in human affairs. Humanity was most often pawns in their Olympian games. The Trojan War in the Iliad was the result of divine egos. Humanity was a playground for the Norse God Loki. The divine interest was self-interest, not benevolence.
- Hinduism: Brahman is the impersonal, formless, transcendent Absolute which does not interact with people in a personal way. The goal is to realize atman = Brahman and escape the cycle of rebirth. (Note: to be fair there are many schools of Hinduism)
- Buddhism: There is no personal deity in this impersonal cosmos. The universe operates according to karma and dharma, not divine will. Suffering is real but there is no one to whom appeal for deliverance.
- Taoism: The Tao is the impersonal principle behind all things, not a personal god. Harmony with the Tao brings peace, but there is no personal divine being who speaks, loves, or redeems.
An exception to the above is Islam which, like Christianity and Judaism, is a monotheistic religion. But Islam is different in that while Allah speaks through revelation. While Allah is certainly aware of every detail of creation (Qur’an 6:59), he is more transcendent and unapproachable. Allah does not enter history or form personal covenants. There is no divine indwelling, no theophanies, and no relational intimacy comparable to “God walked with Abraham” or “spoke to Moses face to face.” The mercy of Allah is given through law, not presence.
Throughout the Bible and in the person of Jesus, God is spoken of as a Father. In Islam, Allah is never referred to as “Father.” This term is explicitly rejected. “The Jews and the Christians say, ‘We are the children of Allah and His beloved.’ Say: Why then does He punish you for your sins? Nay, you are but human beings of His creation…” (Qur’an 5:18). The relationship between God and humanity in Islam is master-servant, not father-child.
In that light consider that in a single verse, our first reading asks the question: “Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?” (v. 33) Moses’ appeal is both experiential (you saw, heard, were saved) and rational (what other nation has a god like this?). The God of Israel speaks to his people, acts to liberate them, enters into a Covenant relationship, loves them, and is absolutely unique: “The Lord is God…there is no other.” (v.39)
This is our God: a personal God who reveals, redeems, and relates. The Lord who so loved the world He acted in history by sending His only Son that we might know Him, love Him, serve Him and be with Him in this life and the life to come. Such is our God.
Image credit: Detail of “The Transfiguration of Jesus” by Raphael (1516-1520) | Vatican Museum | PD-US