(REFLECTIONS ON Deuteronomy 22:13-30)

Faithfulness is one of the foundational elements of Christianity. We are able to called sons and daughters of God because of Jesus Christ’s faithfulness to God, carrying the sins of the world on His shoulders and being willing to sacrifice His life on the cross for the world.

That God was willing to send His Son, Jesus Christ to the world in order to repair the broken relationship between humanity and Himself, is also a testament of His faithfulness to His creation. This imagery of faithfulness is not foreign to us because we traditionally associate it with human relationships and marriage.

It is no wonder then that this image of faithfulness and marriage is applied to the church, with Jesus Christ as the bridegroom and the church as the bride. God through Jesus Christ has already displayed His faithfulness to the world, and it is this same faithfulness that He desires from the church.

We are required to be faithful as Christ’s bride, just as Christ acted in faithfulness for us. Yet, that is where we struggle isn’t it? Yes, we can speak of Christ’s faithfulness, God’s faithfulness, but when the focus turns to our faithfulness, we know that we often fall short.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to us, however, because if our relationship and faithfulness to God is anything like the faithfulness of the world in human relationships and marriage, then it is quite clear that we are the weak link.

This is the same struggle Israel had with God on their journey into the Promised Land, that is the struggle of being faithful to the God that was, is, and will always be faithful to them.

When we read today’s Scripture, isn’t it just showing us more of the same? Human relationships and the failure of faithfulness in marriages just shows us how unfaithful this world actually is. Husband accuses wife, wife accuses husband, abuse and unfaithfulness runs rampant, and trust is broken.

We see it clearly even in the world today, brokenness, separation rather than unity, faithlessness rather than faithfulness.

However, the brokenness that we see in marriages today, just shows us even more, how much we need a Savior like Christ, a bridegroom like Christ, that is faithful even when we were not, that loves us even when we don’t love Him, that remains with us and calls us His own even when we use and abuse Him for our own selfish purposes.

Our hope is in the faithfulness of God, and His Son, Jesus Christ. We cannot hope in our own faithfulness, or the faithfulness of people and institutions of this world. We are the unfaithful, and that is why Christ in His faithfulness came to take our place and sacrifice Himself on the cross. It is His faithfulness that covers over our unfaithfulness, and that is why we must believe in His name.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy 22