Deuteronomy 10:17, commentary and pictures

The Lord is supreme above every so-called god and every ruler, great and mighty and to be held in awe and reverent fear. He shows no favoritism for status, place, or profession and takes no bribe, but judges by incorruptible principle that cannot be bought, deceived, or turned aside toward hypocrisy and selfishness. That same greatness is joined to merciful care, for He defends the fatherless and the widow in just judgment and loves the stranger by providing food and clothing. For their own good His people are to fear Him, walk in all His ways, love Him, serve Him with all heart and soul, cling to Him, keep His commandments and statutes, and cut away stubbornness of heart, loving the stranger as themselves because they were strangers in Egypt. As Judge of all the earth He will examine every person as closely as if there were no other being on earth, weighing character and works in the balance of eternal justice and approving or condemning according to truth and righteousness rather than outward distinction.

Meaning and Setting

The Lord is supreme over every god and ruler, a great God, mighty and terrible, meaning awe-inspiring and to be feared and reverenced. That He regards not persons and takes no reward means He shows no favoritism on account of status, place, or profession and accepts no bribe. He judges by incorruptible principles that cannot be bought or sold, cannot be deceived, and does not approve hypocrisy and selfishness. His impartial justice is joined in its immediate context to merciful care: He executes just judgment in defense of the fatherless and widow and loves the stranger by giving him food and raiment, or clothing.

It belongs to Moses' rehearsal of instruction to Israel before entering Canaan. That rehearsal reminded them that heaven and the heaven of heavens and the earth with all in it are His, and that He delighted in their fathers and chose their seed above all people. It recalled that He had done great and terrible things before their eyes, and that He had multiplied them from seventy who went down into Egypt to as the stars of heaven.

The instruction speaks as truly to present readers as to backsliding Israel. It includes Seventh-day Adventists who are to remember and act on it rather than be converted to worldly or nominal church practices. It includes Christian churches today with the privilege of every spiritual advantage. It includes students to be educated in it to distinguish right from wrong, reform character, and care for physical well-being.

What God Requires

Because they themselves had been strangers in Egypt, his people must love the stranger. That love is loving him as themselves, with practical pity and mercy that meets his need. It is shown in giving food and raiment, or food and clothing, to the stranger as God Himself does. What He requires of them is for their own good. It is to fear Him, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, and to serve Him with all the heart and with all the soul.

It is to cleave to Him and cling to Him, to make Him their praise, and to keep His commandments and His statutes. It is to circumcise the heart and be no more stubborn or stiffnecked. His commandments, summed in the ten commandments, express His will and His character and the duty of all men. When hearts are thoroughly converted and softened and subdued by the Holy Spirit they are brought into perfect harmony with His attributes and placed under His control. That control gives spiritual life and efficiency and power, while fierce passion is seen as grievous sin.

The command to love the stranger applied even outside one's own nation. It required practical compassion to a wounded and dying stranger-neighbor in suffering. The priest and the Levite failed to live by it when they turned away from the wounded man because he might be a Samaritan. Merely reading the law without bringing it into the daily life stands condemned.

Impartiality in Life and Judgment

The Lord is the Judge of all the earth who at the final day renders a just decision. Though all nations pass in judgment before Him, He examines the case of each individual with as close and searching scrutiny as if there were not another being on earth. He approves or condemns according to works, weighing character in the balance of eternal justice, and He cannot be bribed and cannot be deceived. He is able so to judge because He made man and owns the worlds and all the treasures they contain. This impartial judgment leaves every person a free moral agent with fate in his own hands, accountable to God for time and influence and opportunities. His impartiality means He knows whether each person serves Him in truth and righteousness or acts in opposition to His will, and men are accounted holy because they are faithful stewards in trust, not because of outward distinction or profession. Those who seek Him through acquaintance with His Word and obedience will receive the grace of Christ to stand on vantage ground, to labor in His vineyard with the heart's best service, to refuse false paths, and to stand firmly on eternal truth.

His ways are merciful and set the example for His workers to reflect His character in their treatment of others. That example calls them to tender-hearted dealing rather than domination, and rather than grasping or unjust dealing. He does not favor persons nor approve hypocrisy and selfishness. He will deal with people as they deal with others, and will not support plans that take away another person's rights through pressure or force. For His commandment-keeping people worldly policy must never be policy or principle. They must not divorce their interests to confederate with men of the world or with men of the church whom the world has converted to worldly methods and plans, but must look to God and derive strength and power from Him alone and must not trust those who are not obedient to His commandments.

Because He favors no person or place, His goods and resources should be used without partiality. That means supporting work in places where none is being done rather than concentrating resources in one favored location while needs elsewhere are left unmet. As great and mighty and terrible He inspires awe and trembling before His glory. This warns against treating His holy name carelessly or irreverently, especially in prayer.