In answering this question, we do not need to rely on our own prideful worldviews, but can simply refer to the Word of God to see how He determines the attributes of a Great Godly Nation.

At the beginning of Deuteronomy 4 we find God presenting both the privileges and the duties of a Great Nation as He sees it in significant and comprehensive terms. The point of the presentation from God was to get attention and engage interest – the marks of any good teacher. Thus, when it comes to the advantage of being a great nation in God’s view, the advantages are simple stated in Deuteronomy 4:7-8 as follows:

1) God’s readiness at all times, to both hear them and aid them, and
2) The excellence of their religious and Godly practices.

Now, as far as God is concerned, the excellence of religious and Godly practices

comprise the “statutes and judgements” which God himself provided His chosen people through his agent, the man Moses.

The duties which God expected of His chosen people need to be understood, as these are prescriptions to receiving Godly advantage. Here God required two duties from His people:

1) Faithful obedience to His prescribed Law, and
2) An obligation to forever teach their children to reverence and respect both God and the Law which He gave them.

Before we delve further into other teachings on a Great Nation, I believe we need to understand how this applies to Christians today, for immediately the questions arises: Do the Laws of God through Moses and the Old Testament still apply to Christians today? The short answer is No, and for a short teaching on this, please see our article: Do God’s 10 Commandments Apply to Christians Today? Briefly therefore, for Christians, what is important is to understand that the Old Testament laws are there to help us recognise our sins and wrongdoings, though it is Jesus who took away our sin and who forgives us our sins. The Lord Jesus Christ is the primary example for all Christians to follow, for He alone both obeyed the law and modelled its true intention.

In Deuteronomy, the Bible gives us 10 precepts, 10 rules or principles which teach correct behaviour regarding a Great Nation as far as God sees it. These are:

Wisdom and Understanding: through the Laws of God

Deuteronomy 4:5-6 “Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgements, even as Jehovah my God commanded me, so that you should do so in the land where you go to possess it. And you shall keep and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”

Nearness to God: through consecration to His Word and Will

Deuteronomy 4:7 “For who is a great nation whose God is coming near to them, as Jehovah our God is, in all our calling on Him?”

Miraculous Answers to Prayer

Deuteronomy 4:3 “Your eyes have seen what Jehovah did because of Baal-peor. For Jehovah your God has destroyed from among you all the men that followed Baal-peor.”

The Possession of God’s Righteous Judgements and Statutes

Deuteronomy 4:8 “And who is a great nation whose statutes and judgements are so righteous as all this Law which I set before you today?”

Obedience to the Laws of God

Deuteronomy 4:1 “And now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the judgements which I teach you, in order to do them, so that you may live and go in and possess the land which Jehovah, the God of your fathers gives you.”
Deuteronomy 4:5-6 “Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgements, even as Jehovah my God commanded me, so that you should do so in the land where you go to possess it. And you shall keep and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”
Deuteronomy 4:9 “Only take heed to yourself and keep your soul carefully, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. But teach them to your sons, and your sons’ sons.”
Deuteronomy 4:14 “ And Jehovah commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgements so that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it.”
Deuteronomy 4:23-24 “Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which He made with you, and make you a graven image, a likeness of anything which Jehovah your God has forbidden you. For Jehovah your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”

Acceptance of God’s Word: without changes and additions

Deuteronomy 4:2 “You shall not add to the Word which I command you, neither shall you take away from it, so that you may keep the commands of Jehovah your God which I command you.”

Hatred of Idolatry

Deuteronomy 4:3-4 “Your eyes have seen what Jehovah did because of Baal-peor. For Jehovah your God has destroyed from among you all the men that followed Baal-peor. And you who held fast to Jehovah your God are alive, every one of you, this day.”
Deuteronomy 4:15-19 “Therefore take good heed to yourselves, for you saw no kind of likeness on the day Jehovah spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire, lest you act corruptly and make yourselves a graven image, the likeness of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish in the waters beneath the earth; and lest you lift up your eyes to the heavens, and when you see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, lest you should be driven to worship them and serve them, which Jehovah your God has allotted to all nations under all the heavens.”

Sound and Biblical Educational, Economic and Civil Programmes

Deuteronomy 4:5-10 “Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgements, even as Jehovah my God commanded me, so that you should do so in the land where you go to possess it. And you shall keep and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
For who is a great nation whose God is coming near to them, as Jehovah our God is, in all our calling on Him?
And who is a great nation whose statutes and judgements are so righteous as all this Law which I set before you today?
Only take heed to yourself and keep your soul carefully, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. But teach them to your sons, and your sons’ sons. Remember the day that you stood before Jehovah your God in Horeb, when Jehovah said to me, Gather the people to Me, and I will make them hear My Words so that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and they may teach their sons.”
Deuteronomy 4:14 “And Jehovah commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgements so that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it.”

Absolute Faith in the Providence of God: and ergo, trust in Him against all enemies

Deuteronomy 4:38-40 “…. in order to drive out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day. Therefore, know this day and consider within your heart, that Jehovah is God in Heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no other. Therefore, you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you this day, so that it may go well with you and with your sons after you, and so that you may make your days longer upon the earth which Jehovah your God gives you forever.”

Recognition of God as the Creator and Sovereign of all things

Deuteronomy 4:16-20 “… lest you act corruptly and make yourselves a graven image, the likeness of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish in the waters beneath the earth; and lest you lift up your eyes to the heavens, and when you see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, lest you should be driven to worship them and serve them, which Jehovah your God has allotted to all nations under all the heavens.
But Jehovah has taken you and brought you out from the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to Him a people of inheritance, as you are today.”
Deuteronomy 4:32 “For ask now of the days past which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and from the one end of the heavens to the other end of the heavens, where there has been a thing as great as this, or has been heard any like it.”
Deuteronomy 4:39-40 “Therefore, know this day and consider within your heart, that Jehovah is God in Heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no other. Therefore, you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you this day, so that it may go well with you and with your sons after you, and so that you may make your days longer upon the earth which Jehovah your God gives you forever.”

Being a Great Nation is not about man and man’s views of great nationhood, but of God’s views. He has set the standard and His reasonable expectation for us in that. In First Timothy 2:1-6 the Lord also speaks to us through Paul in His expectations of Christians today, saying:

“First of all, I exhort that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
For God is one, and there is one Mediator of God and of men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

Now the words are different, but the Spirit who wrote them is the same. Making any country a Great Nation may be beyond the reach of individual Christians, but that certainly does not mean that each of us does not have a role to play. God makes it clear: We are all called to pray and intercede and give thanks for our leaders. Now the important part: “so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” This is a conditional requirement. If we don’t do, we won’t received. Simple as that!

Jesus gave us the same Godly direction in the Great Commission saying in Matthew 28-19-20

“Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the world. Amen.”

The same Spirit is in the words of Jesus in Mark 12:28-31, when a scribe came to Him:

“… he asked Him, Which is the first commandment of all?
And Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This is the first commandment.
And the second is like this: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.'”

Secular history shows that when countries have, by their actions and words, honoured God and those things which God holds in high esteem, such as the Promised Land, the land of Israel, then these countries have been blessed. Just as it was in Deuteronomy 4, even today there are privileges and duties. All Christians have been given the tools to make a difference today for the coming Kingdom of God. I pray that this article will also be one for you.

Amen.