DEUTERONOMY 4 COMMENTARYWritten and edited by Glenn Pease

PREFACE

This verse by verse commentary quotes the great old commentaries as well as some

contemporary authors. All of this information is available to anyone, but I have brought it

together in one place to save the Bible student time in research. If anyone I quote does not want

their wisdom shared in this way, they can let me know and I will remove it. My e-mail is

glenn_p86@yahoo.com

Obedience Commanded

1 Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to

teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go inand take possession of the land the LORD, the God of

your ancestors, is giving you.

1. Gill, “Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments,.... The laws

of God, moral, ceremonial, and judicial, which they are exhorted to attend to and obey, in

consideration of the great and good things the Lord had done for them, ever since they came

from Horeb, where they were given them; such as providing for them, and feeding them in the

wilderness, preserving them from every hurtful thing, and delivering their enemies into their

hands, the two kings of the Amorites, which they are put in mind of in the preceding chapters;

hence this begins with "therefore hearken"; for nothing is a greater incentive to obedience than

the kindness and goodness of God:

which I teach you for to do that ye may live; the law was taught by Moses, but the Gospel of

grace and truth by Jesus Christ; and it was taught by him, as well as it was to be hearkened to by

them, in order to yield obedience to it; for not bare hearing, but doing the law, is the principal

thing of any avail; and which was to be done, that they might live; not a spiritual and eternal life,

which are not by the works of the law, but are had only from Christ, through his grace and

righteousness; but a corporeal life, and a comfortable enjoyment of the blessings of it, and

particularly that that might be continued to them:

and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you; the land of

Canaan, which the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had promised to give to their

posterity, and which they were to hold by their obedience to his laws.

2. Henry, “This most lively and excellent discourse is so entire, and the particulars of it are so

often repeated, that we must take it altogether in the exposition of it, and endeavour to digest it

into proper heads, for we cannot divide it into paragraphs.

I. In general, it is the use and application of the foregoing history; it comes in by way of

inference from it: Now therefore harken, O Israel, Deu_4:1. This use we should make of the

review of God's providences concerning us, we should by them be quickened and engaged to duty

and obedience. The histories of the years of ancient times should in like manner be improved by

us.

II. The scope and drift of his discourse is to persuade them to keep close to God and to his

service, and not to forsake him for any other god, nor in any instance to decline from their duty

to him. Now observe what he says to them, with a great deal of divine rhetoric, both by way of

exhortation and direction, and also by way of motive and argument to enforce his exhortations.

1. See here how he charges and commands them, and shows them what is good, and what the

Lord requires of them.

(1.) He demands their diligent attention to the word of God, and to the statutes and judgments

that were taught them: Hearken, O Israel. He means, not only that they must now give him the

hearing, but that whenever the book of the law was read to them, or read by them, they should be

attentive to it. “Hearken to the statutes, as containing the great commands of God and the great

concerns of your own souls, and therefore challenging your utmost attention.”

3. K&D, “The Israelites were to hearken to the laws and rights which Moses taught to do (that

they were to do), that they might live and attain to the possession of the land which the Lord

would give them. “Hearkening” involves laying to heart and observing. The words “statutes and

judgments” (as in Lev_19:37) denote the whole of the law of the covenant in its two leading

features. חּקים, statutes, includes the moral commandments and statutory covenant laws, for

which חק and חּקה are mostly used in the earlier books; that is to say, all that the people were

bound to observe; מׁשּפטים, rights, all that was due to them, whether in relation to God or to their

fellow-men (cf. Deu_26:17). Sometimes הּמצוה, the commandment, is connected with it, either

placed first in the singular, as a general comprehensive notion (Deu_5:28; Deu_6:1; Deu_7:11), or

in the plural (Deu_8:11; Deu_11:1; Deu_30:16); or העדת, the testimonies, the commandments as a

manifestation of the will of God (Deu_4:45, Deu_6:17, Deu_6:20). - Life itself depended upon the

fulfilment or long life in the promised land (Exo_20:12), as Moses repeatedly impressed upon

them (cf. Deu_4:40; Deu_5:30; Deu_6:2; Deu_8:1; Deu_11:21; Deu_16:20; Deu_25:15; Deu_30:6,

Deu_30:15., Deu_32:47). ירׁשּתם, for ירׁשּתם (as in Deu_4:22, Jos_1:16; cf. Ges. §44, 2, Anm. 2).

4. Mackintosh. “This is a universal and abiding principle. It was true for Israel, and it is true for

us. The pathway of life and the true secret of possession is simple obedience to the holy

commandments of God. We see this all through the inspired volume, from cover to cover. God

has given us His Word, not to speculate upon it or discuss it, but that we may obey it. And it is as

we, through grace, yield a hearty and happy obedience to our Father’s statutes and judgments,

that we tread the bright pathway of life, and enter into the reality of all that God has treasured

up for us in Christ. “He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth

Me; and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest

Myself to him.”

How precious is this! Indeed, it is unspeakable. It is something quite peculiar. It would be a very

serious mistake to suppose that the privilege here spoken of is enjoyed by all believers. It is not. It

is only enjoyed by such as yield a loving obedience to the commandments of our Lord Jesus

Christ. It lies within the reach of all, but all do not enjoy it, because all are not obedient. It is one

thing to be a child, and quite another to be an obedient child; it is one thing to be saved, and quite

another thing to love the Savior, and delight in all His most precious precepts. We may see this

continually illustrated in our family circles. There, for example, are two sons, and one of them

only thinks of pleasing himself, doing his will, gratifying his own desires. He takes no pleasure in

his father’s society, does not take any pains to carry out his father’s wishes, knows hardly

anything of his mind, and what he does know he utterly neglects or despises. He is ready enough

to avail himself of all the benefits which accrue to him from the relationship in which he stands to

his father – ready enough to accept clothes, books, money – all, in short, that the father gives; but

he never seeks to gratify the father’s heart by a loving attention to his will, even in the smallest

matters.

The other son is the direct opposite to all this. He delights in being with his father; he loves his

society, loves his ways, loves his words; he is constantly taking occasion to carry out his father’s

wishes, to get him something that he knows will be agreeable to him. He loves his father, not for

his gifts, but for himself; and he finds his richest enjoyment in being in his father’s company and

in doing his will. Now, can we have any difficulty in seeing how very differently the father will

feel towards those two sons? True, they are both his sons, and he loves them both, with a love

grounded upon the relationship in which they stand to him; but beside the love of relationship

common to both, there is the love of complacency peculiar to the obedient child. It is impossible

that a father can find pleasure in the society of a willful, self-indulgent, careless son. Such a son

may occupy much of his thoughts, he may spend many a sleepless night thinking about him and

praying for him, he would gladly spend and be spent for him; but he is not agreeable to him, does

not possess his confidence, cannot be the depositary of his thoughts. All this demands the serious

consideration of those who really desire to be acceptable or agreeable to the heart of our heavenly

Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

We may rest assured of this, that obedience is grateful to God; and “His commandments are

not grievous” – nay, they are the sweet and precious expression of His love, and the fruit and

evidence of the relationship in which He stands to us. And not only so, but He graciously

rewards our obedience by a fuller manifestation of Himself to our souls, and His dwelling with

us. This comes out in great fullness and beauty in our Lord’s reply to Judas, not Iscariot, for

whose question we may be thankful – “Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us,

and not unto the world? ‘ Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘If a man love Me, he will keep

My words; and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode

with him’” (I John 15).”

5. Ron Ritchie, “Let's look at the overall context for a moment. In 1401 B.C. the Lord led his

children to the eastern bank of the Jordan River. The forty years of wandering in the wilderness

were over for the second generation of Israelites, some two million strong, as they arrived under

the leadership of Moses and Joshua. As they stood on the plains of Moab and looked westward,

they could see the land that God had promised Abraham 685 years earlier (see Genesis 17). They

could also see the mighty Canaanite city of Jericho seven miles away in the foothills.

Then on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses, the great shepherd, prophet, and mediator,

called together all the people and reviewed the Law of God given to him on Mount Sinai. This

review became known as Deuteronomy, which in Hebrew means "These are the Words" (of the

Law of God). (The Septuagint translates it, "The Second Law.") This review was designed to

show this new generation the holy and loving character of the one and only living God as well as

the just demands of his holy Law. Israel would never be able to keep God's holy Law in their own

strength. But their hearts would be greatly encouraged when Moses told them the good news that

when they reached out to God in faith, he in turn would circumcise their hearts so that they

would desire to keep his Law out of love and appreciation (see Deuteronomy 30:1-10).”

2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract

from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God

that I give you.

1. Gill, “Ye shall not add to the word which I command you, nether shall you diminish ought

from it,.... Neither make new laws of their own, and join them to the law of God, and set them

upon a level with it, or prefer them before it; as the Scribes and Pharisees did in Christ's time,

who by their traditions made the word of God of none effect, as do the Papists also by their

unwritten traditions; nor abrogate nor detract from the law of God, nor make void any part of it:

or else the sense is, neither do that which is forbidden, nor neglect that which is commanded;

neither be guilty of sins of omission nor commission, nor in any way break the law of God, and

teach men so to do by word or by example; not a jot or tittle is either to be put to it, or taken from

it, Pro_30:5.

that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you; in his name;

or which he delivered unto them as his commandments, and which were to be kept just as they

were delivered, without adding to them, or taking from them.

2. Our Daily Bread, “Imagine the frustration of a mother as she tries to gather her family for

supper. Her 8-year-old son comes through the door smuggling a dead bird behind his back. "Call

Ann for dinner," says his mother. "Then wash your hands and come to the table."

A minute later the 4-year-old daughter comes running into the kitchen, sobbing uncontrollably.

Her brother had just waved the stiff bird under her nose and told her that if she wasn't at the

table in 17 seconds, Mom wouldn't let her go out and play for a whole week.

This story about a misquoted mother doesn't begin to capture the confusion that follows when we

misquote the heavenly Father. Often we become preoccupied with our own ideas of how things

should be, like Job's friends, who didn't speak rightly about the Lord (Job 42:7). The result is

that we say more, or less, than God actually said in His Word (Deuteronomy 4:2). We need to

make sure we know exactly where His words stop and our opinions begin. If we don't, we may

misrepresent Him, and Proverbs 30:6 warns that we are then in danger of being found liars

before God.

Let's take care that we don't express our opinions as if they were God's words. —Mart De Haan

Lord, grant us wisdom to discern

The truth that You've made known,

And may we never teach one word

Beyond what You have shown. —D. De Haan

We must adjust our lives to the Bible—never the Bible to our lives.

Deuteronomy 4:15-31

3. Mackintosh, “Thus in the second verse we have a sentence or two which should be deeply

engraved on the tablets of every Christian’s heart – “Ye shall not add unto the word which I

command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it.” These words involve two grand facts with

regard to the Word of God. It is not to be added to, for the simplest of all reasons, because there

is nothing lacking; it is not to be diminished, because there is nothing superfluous. Every thing we

want is there, and nothing that is there can be done without. “Add thou not unto His words, lest

He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”

To suppose that aught can be added to God’s Word is, upon the very face of it, to deny that it is

God’s Word; and, on the other hand, if we admit that it is the Word of God, then it follows of

necessity (blessed necessity!) that we could not afford to do without a single sentence of it. There

would be a blank in the volume which no human hand could fill up, if a single clause were

dropped from its place in the canon. We have all we want, and hence we must not add: we want

it all, and hence we must not diminish. How deeply important is all this, in this day of human

tampering with the Word of God! How blessed to know that we have in our possession a book so

divinely perfect that not a sentence, not a clause, not a word, can be added to it.

We speak not, of course, of translations or versions, but of the Scriptures as given of God – His

own perfect revelation. To this, not a touch can be given. As well might a human finger have

dared to touch the creation of God, on the morning when all the sons of God sang together, as to

add a jot or a tittle to the inspired Word of God. And on the other hand, to take away a jot or a

tittle from it, is to say that the Holy Ghost has penned what was unnecessary. Thus the holy

volume is divinely guarded at both ends. It is securely fenced round about, so that no rude band

should touch its sacred contents.

4. Henry, “He charges them to preserve the divine law pure and entire among them, Deu_4:2.

Keep it pure, and do not add to it; keep it entire, and do not diminish from it. Not in practice, so

some: “You shall not add by committing the evil which the law forbids, nor diminish by omitting

the good which the law requires.” Not in opinion, so others: “You shall not add your own

inventions, as if the divine institutions were defective, nor introduce, much less impose, any rites

of religious worship other than what God has appointed; nor shall you diminish, or set aside, any

thing that is appointed, as needless or superfluous.” God's work is perfect, nothing can be put to

it, nor taken from it, without making it the worse. See Ecc_3:14. The Jews understand it as

prohibiting the alteration of the text or letter of the law, even in the least jot or tittle; and to their

great care and exactness herein we are very much indebted, under God, for the purity and

integrity of the Hebrew code. We find a fence like this made about the New Testament in the close

of it, Rev_22:18, Rev_22:19.

(3.) He charges them to keep God's commandments (Deu_4:2), to do them (Deu_4:5, Deu_4:14),

to keep and do them (Deu_4:6), to perform the covenant, Deu_4:13. Hearing must be in order to

doing, knowledge in order to practice. God's commandments were the way they must keep in, the

rule they must keep to; they must govern themselves by the moral precepts, perform their

devotion according to the divine ritual, and administer justice according to the judicial law. He

concludes his discourse (Deu_4:40) with this repeated charge: Thou shalt keep his statutes and his

commandments which I command thee. What are laws made for but to be observed and obeyed?

5. K&D, “The observance of the law, however, required that it should be kept as it was given, that

nothing should be added to it or taken from it, but that men should submit to it as to the

inviolable word of God. Not by omissions only, but by additions also, was the commandment

weakened, and the word of God turned into ordinances of men, as Pharisaism sufficiently

proved. This precept is repeated in Deu_13:1; it is then revived by the prophets (Jer_26:2;

Pro_30:6), and enforced again at the close of the whole revelation (Rev_22:18-19). In the same

sense Christ also said that He had not come to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfil

(Mat_5:17); and the old covenant was not abrogated, but only glorified and perfected, by the

new.

6. Jamison, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you — by the introduction of any

heathen superstition or forms of worship different from those which I have appointed

(Deu_12:32; Num_15:39; Mat_15:9). neither shall ye diminish aught from it — by the neglect or

omission of any of the observances, however trivial or irksome, which I have prescribed. The

character and provisions of the ancient dispensation were adapted with divine wisdom to the

instruction of that infant state of the church. But it was only a temporary economy; and although

God here authorizes Moses to command that all its institutions should be honored with unfailing

observance, this did not prevent Him from commissioning other prophets to alter or abrogate

them when the end of that dispensation was attained.

3 You saw with your own eyes what the LORD did at Baal

Peor. The LORD your God destroyed from among you

everyone who followed the Baal of Peor,

1. Gill, “Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baalpeor,.... Because of the idolatry

the people of Israel fell into by worshipping that idol, being drawn into it by the daughters of

Moab and Midian, through the counsel of Balaam, with whom they committed fornication; which

led them to the other sin, and both highly provoking to God. The Targums of Onkelos and

Jonathan are,"what the Word of the Lord has done to the worshippers of the idol Peor;"

for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you;

24,000 persons died on that account; which being a recent thing, fresh in memory, and what they

were eyewitnesses of, was a caution to them to avoid the same sins, as it is to us on whom the ends

of the world are come, Num_23:9.

2. Henry, “He urges God's righteous appearance against them sometimes for their sins. He

specifies particularly the matter of Peor, Deu_4:3, Deu_4:4. This had happened very lately: their

eyes had seen but the other day the sudden destruction of those that joined themselves to Baal-

peor and the preservation of those that clave to the Lord, from which they might easily infer the

danger of apostasy from God and the benefit of adherence to him. He also takes notice again of

God's displeasure against himself: The Lord was angry with me for your sakes, Deu_4:21,

Deu_4:22. He mentions this to try their ingenuousness, whether they would really be troubled for

the great prejudice which they had occasioned to their faithful friend and leader. Others'

sufferings for our sakes should grieve us more than our own.

(8.) He urges the certain advantage of obedience. This argument he begins with (Deu_4:1):

That you may live, and go in and possess the land; and this he concludes with (Deu_4:40): That it

may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee. He reminds them that they were upon their

good behaviour, that their prosperity would depend upon their piety. If they kept God's precepts,

he would undoubtedly fulfil his promises.

3. Jamison,”Deu 4:3-4 - “Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor ... the Lord

thy God hath destroyed them from among you — It appears that the pestilence and the sword of

justice overtook only the guilty in that affair (Num_25:1-9) while the rest of the people were

spared. The allusion to that recent and appalling judgment was seasonably made as a powerful

dissuasive against idolatry, and the fact mentioned was calculated to make a deep impression on

people who knew and felt the truth of it.”

4. K&D, “The Israelites had just experienced how a faithful observance of the law gave life, in

what the Lord had done on account of Baal-peor, when He destroyed those who worshipped this

idol (Num_25:3, Num_25:9), whereas the faithful followers of the Lord still remained alive. ּדבק ּב ,

to cleave to any one, to hold fast to him. This example was adduced by Moses, because the

congregation had passed through all this only a very short time before; and the results of

faithfulness towards the Lord on the one hand, and of the unfaithfulness of apostasy from Him

on the other, had been made thoroughly apparent to it. “Your eyes the seeing,” as in Deu_3:21.

4 but all of you who held fast to the LORD your God are

still alive today.

1. The people of Israel had some powerful examples of what disobedience led to. Those who chose

to follow another God were wiped out for their folly. God is a jealous God, and if those he loves

chose to love another, he is just like a husband who sees his wife in the arms of another man. He

will be filled with jealous anger and seek revenge. If you don't cheat on your mate, don't cheat on

God either, for it is even more dangerous in the consequences. A mate may never know, but God

always does, and there will not be a happy ending to the story. The story with these people is only

happy, and they are alive, because they did not follow the foolish people who went after Baal.

2. Gill, “ But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God,.... To the worship of the Lord your God,

as the Targum of Jonathan; attended the service of the sanctuary, were observant of the laws of

God, and walked in his statutes and judgments; did not apostatize from him by idolatry or

otherwise, but kept close unto him, and followed him fully:

are alive everyone of you this day; which is very remarkable, that in such a vast number of

people not one should die in such a space of time, it being several months since that affair

happened; and besides, in that time there was a war with the Midianites, and yet not one person

died in that war, nor as it seems by this account by any disease or disaster whatever; see

Num_31:49.

5 See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD

my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in

the land you are entering to take possession of it.

1. Gill, “Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded

me,.... He had faithfully delivered them, without adding them, or diminishing from them, and had

diligently instructed the Israelites in them, had taken pains to lead them into a thorough

knowledge and understanding them:

that ye should do so in the land whither ye go possess it; do in like manner as the commandments

the Lord direct to; or that which is right (e); proper and fitting to be done, by doing which they

continue in the land they were about to possess, therefore when in it were to be careful to them;

some of them could not be done till they came into it, and all were to be done in it.

2. K&D, “But the laws which Moses taught were commandments of the Lord. Keeping and doing

them were to be the wisdom and understanding of Israel in the eyes of the nations, who, when

they heard all these laws, would say, “Certainly (רק, only, no other than) a wise and understanding

people is this great nation.” History has confirmed this. Not only did the wisdom of a Solomon

astonish the queen of Sheba (1Ki_10:4.), but the divine truth which Israel possessed in the law of

Moses attracted all the more earnest minds of the heathen world to seek the satisfaction of the

inmost necessities of their heart and the salvation of their souls in Israel's knowledge of God,

when, after a short period of bloom, the inward self-dissolution of the heathen religions had set

in; and at last, in Christianity, it has brought one heathen nation after another to the knowledge

of the true God, and to eternal salvation, notwithstanding the fact that the divine truth was and

still is regarded as folly by the proud philosophers and self-righteous Epicureans and Stoics of

ancient and modern times.

3. Jamison, “Deu 4:5-6 -

this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all

these statutes — Moses predicted that the faithful observance of the laws given them would raise

their national character for intelligence and wisdom. In point of fact it did do so; for although the

heathen world generally ridiculed the Hebrews for what they considered a foolish and absurd

exclusiveness, some of the most eminent philosophers expressed the highest admiration of the

fundamental principle in the Jewish religion - the unity of God; and their legislators borrowed

some laws from the constitution of the Hebrews.

6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdomand understanding to the nations, who will hear about all

these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise

and understanding people.”

1. Having laws that regulate life and behavior is a sign of a wise people. It protects the innocent

and bring about justice for those who are hurt by disobedience to the laws. The pagan world will

see the wisdom of Israel because of the way their lives are kept ordered and balanced, and they

will be impressed. Obedience to God's laws was a key way that his people could be a witness to

the world that they were under a truly wise God.

2. Gill, “Keep therefore and do them,..... Observe them, take notice of what is expressed by them,

and perform them, both as to matter and manner, as they require:

for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations; that is, their wisdom

and understanding would appear to other nations by their observance of the commands of God:

which hear all these statutes; which they had a report, got knowledge of by some of the

philosophers who travelled into those parts, and by the translation of the Bible into the Greek

language:

and say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people; that had such a body of

laws, in which they were instructed, and according to which they were governed, and in which

they walked; that were so agreeable to reason, truth, justice, and equity; insomuch that so far as

they became known they were admired and copied after, both by Greeks and Romans; and hence

it was that the oracle (f) declared, that only the Chaldeans and Hebrews were a wise people; the

Hebrews came from Chaldea, as Abraham the father of them.

3. “Observe [God's laws] carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the

nations. - Deuteronomy 4:6

TODAY IN THE WORD

In Worldwide Challenge magazine, Dan LaGue describes a dramatic moment in Chinese

missions: 'On a warm, summer night in 1904, a small hunting party . . . showed up at the door of

Methodist missionary Samuel Pollard. Pollard . . . recognized the hunters as Miaoa people from

the nearby Yunnan mountains who worshiped gods of wood and stone. The Miao wanted to learn

to read. They had a burning desire to know the God of the Christians, too, although [Pollard]

didn't know it. But he soon understood, for the following Friday five more Miao appeared at his

gate, and within a month, nearly 100 tribesmen had visited him.'

Somehow the Miao people had learned about the true God, and they saw enough of His reality in

the lives of Christians that they wanted what the Christians had. Samuel Pollard devoted the next

eleven years to learning the Miao language, reaching those people for Christ and establishing a

thriving church in their villages.

What a blessing it is when the witness of God's people draws unbelievers to Him! Israel had a

definite responsibility to its idol-worshiping neighbors. The people's obedience to God was

designed to distinguish Israel from the other nations and to be a powerful witness to God's

greatness and righteousness.

Moses made God's intent clear in the opening verses of Deuteronomy 4, which marks a new point

in his sermon. To this point, Israel's lawgiver had been reviewing the nation's history. Now he

turned to an exhortation based on what the people had heard.

Today's reading divides neatly into two points two motivations for the people to obey God's law.

First, obedience to God produces blessing, the theme of this month's studies (Deut 4:1, 2, 3, 4).

The Israelites who 'held fast to the Lord' were the ones who had survived the desert wanderings

and were ready to take possession of the Promised Land. If the people needed a reminder of the

disaster of disobedience, they needed only to recall God's judgment at Baal Peor (Nu. 25:1-9),

where 24,000 sinning Israelites died in a plague.

Obedience had a second benefit a witness to the nations (Deut 4:5, 6, 7, 8). When God's people

are faithful to Him, they radiate blessing to those around them wherever they go.

TODAY ALONG THE WAY

We usually think of our witness as something we do or sometimes as what we fail to do. But the

Bible indicates that our witness is primarily a matter of what we are. Both Paul (Phil. 1:27-note)

and Peter (1Pe 2:12-note) urge us to live exemplary Christian lives. One reason for this is that

those outside the faith will see our testimony and glorify God. Since that's the case, this weekend

would be a good time for us to review the quality of our witness in recent days.

4. Jordan, “ Israel's wisdom is in loyalty to the Law which apparently

restricts its freedom but in reality guides and elevates its life;

the national prosperity and greatness resulting from this obedi-

ence shall lead other nations to recognize its real cause.

5. Henry, “He urges the wisdom of being religious: For this is your wisdom in the sight of the

nations, Deu_4:6. In keeping God's commandments, [1.] They would act wisely for themselves;

This is your wisdom. It is not only agreeable to right reason, but highly conducive to our true

interest; this is one of the first and most ancient maxims of divine revelation. The fear of the Lord,

that is wisdom, Job_28:28. [2.] They would answer the expectations of their neighbours, who,

upon reading or hearing the precepts of the law that was given them, would conclude that

certainly the people that were governed by this law were a wise and understanding people. Great

things may justly be looked for from those who are guided by divine revelation, and unto whom

are committed the oracles of God. They must needs be wiser and better than other people; and so

they are if they are ruled by the rules that are given them; and if they are not, though reproach

may for their sakes be cast upon the religion they profess, yet it will in the end certainly return

upon themselves to their eternal confusion. Those that enjoy the benefit of divine light and laws

ought to conduct themselves so as to support their own reputation for wisdom and honour (see

Ecc_10:1), that God may be glorified thereby.

6. Clarke, “Keep - and do them; for this is your wisdom - There was no mode of worship at this

time on the face or the earth that was not wicked, obscene, puerile, foolish, or ridiculous, except

that established by God himself among the Israelites. And every part of this, taken in its

connection and reference, may be truly called a wise and reasonable service.

The nations - and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people - Almost all the

nations in the earth showed that they had formed this opinion of the Jews, by borrowing from

them the principal part of their civil code. Take away what Asia and Europe, whether ancient or

modern, have borrowed from the Mosaic laws, and you leave little behind that can be called

excellent.”

7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods nearthem the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we

pray to him?

1. God's presence among the people was unique in the world of religions. Other people had their

gods, but they could never experience the nearness of their presence like Israel, for they had a

God who really existed and cared about them as revealed in the laws he gave to guide their lives.

2. Gill, “Not so much for their number, for they were the fewest of all people; nor for the

largeness of their territories, for the land they were going to possess was but a small country; nor

for their wealth and riches, and warlike exploits, though they were not contemptible in either;

but for their happy constitution in church and state, being directed and governed in both by laws

which came immediately from God himself; for their knowledge of divine things, and for

spiritual blessings and privileges they were favoured with, of which a special instance is given:

who hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is, in all things that we call upon him for?

God was nigh unto them in respect of relation, being their covenant God and Father, and they his

sons and daughters, to whom the adoption belonged; and with respect to place and presence, his

tabernacle being in the midst of them, the seat of his Shechinah, or divine Majesty, being in the

most holy place, between the cherubim over the mercy seat; and he going before them in the

pillar of cloud by day, and in the pillar of fire by night, and who might be applied unto at all

times for whatsoever they stood in need of; and who was always near unto them, to give them

advice and counsel, help and assistance; to hear their prayers, and communicate unto them

things temporal and spiritual they stood in need of: and so the Lord is nigh to all that call upon

him in faith, with fervency, and in sincerity and truth; and herein the glory and greatness of a

people, as of Israel, lies, in being nearly related to God, a people near unto him, both as to union

and communion; and in having a communication of good things from him. God is both a God at

hand and afar off, Jer_23:23.

3. Octavius Winslow, “Are you not ready to exclaim, "What a glorious privilege is prayer?" Ah,

yes! And you may add, "What mighty power, too, it possesses!" The power of a holy wrestler with

God approaches the nearest to an act of omnipotence of any display of finite might whatever.

Angelic mightiness must be weakness itself in comparison. What eloquence in that one word

'Father,' lisped in believing prayer! Demosthenes and Cicero, in the glory of their eloquence,

never surpassed, no, never equaled it. It is breathed-and heaven's door expands; it is uttered

again-and the heart of God flies open. With such a key in the hands of faith, which may at any

moment unlock the treasury of God, as prayer, why do we not oftener use it! Oh that the Spirit of

God might stir us up to more earnest prayer!-teaching us to enshrine everything, to pervade and

saturate everything, in the heart and with the spirit of humble, importunate, believing prayer.

What real and immense gainers should we be, did we "in everything, by prayer and supplication,

with thanksgiving, let our requests be made known unto God." "For what nation is there so

great, who has God so near unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him

for?"

In a word, my Christian reader, "have faith in God" at all times, and in all things. This is the

utmost that He asks at your hands-no unreasonable or impossible requirement. Would Jesus have

limited you to this single duty, making your whole happiness for both worlds dependent upon it,

were it so? Never! Relinquishing your own wisdom, resting from your own toil, and ceasing from

man, God would have you now cast yourself upon Him in simple faith for all things. You have

had faith in the creature, and it has disappointed you; in earthly good, and it has faded away; in

your own heart, and it has deceived you. Now, have faith in God! Call upon Him in your trouble,

try Him in your trial, trust Him in your need, and see if He will not honor the faith that honors

Him. "Have faith in God,"-words of Jesus, oh how sweet! Spoken to allure your chafed and

weary spirit to its Divine and blessed rest. Press the kind message to your grateful heart,

responding, in a strain of blended praise and prayer, "Lord, I believe; help You my unbelief."

By this grace you may be assimilated with the Divine will, may be transformed into the Divine

image, may be trained for active toil or for passive endurance. Limit not a Divine blessing so

inexhaustible in its resources, and so free in its bestowment; but out of the Savior's fullness

receive grace for grace, that in all things "the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,

and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."

4. Henry, “He urges the singular advantages which they enjoyed by virtue of the happy

establishment they were under, Deu_4:7, Deu_4:8. Our communion with God (which is the

highest honour and happiness we are capable of in this world) is kept up by the word and prayer;

in both these Israel were happy above any people under heaven. [1.] Never were any people so

privileged in speaking to God, Deu_4:7. He was nigh unto them in all that they called upon him

for, ready to answer their enquiries and resolve them by his oracle, ready to answer their requests

and to grant them by a particular providence. When they had cried unto God for bread, for

water, for healing, they had found him near them, to succour and relieve them, a very present

help, and in the midst of them (Psa_46:1, Psa_46:5), his ear open to their prayers. Observe, First,

It is the character of God's Israel that on all occasions they call upon him, in every thing they

make their requests known to God. They do nothing but what they consult him in, they desire

nothing but what they come to him for. Secondly, Those that call upon God shall certainly find

him within call, and ready to give an answer of peace to every prayer of faith; see Isa_58:9,

“Thou shalt cry, as the child for a nurse, and he shall say, Here I am, what does my dear child cry

for?” Thirdly, This is a privilege which makes the Israel of God truly great and honourable. What

can go further than this to magnify a people or a person? Is any name more illustrious than that

of Israel, a prince with God? What nation is there so great? Other nations might boast of greater

numbers, larger territories, and more ancient incorporations; but none could boast of such an

interest in heaven as Israel had. They had their gods, but not so nigh to them as Israel's God was;

they could not help them in a time of need, as 1Ki_18:27. [2.] Never were any people so privileged

in hearing from God, by the statutes and judgments which were set before them, Deu_4:8. This

also was the grandeur of Israel above any people. What nation is there so great, that hath statutes

and judgments so righteous? Observe, First, That all these statutes and judgments of the divine

law are infinitely just and righteous, above the statutes and judgments of any of the nations. The

law of God is far more excellent that the law of nations. No law so consonant to natural equity

and the unprejudiced dictates of right reason, so consistent with itself in all the parts of it, and so

conducive to the welfare and interest of mankind, as the scripture-law is, Psa_119:128. Secondly,

The having of these statutes and judgments set before them is the true and transcendent

greatness of any nation or people. See Psa_147:19, Psa_147:20. It is an honour to us that we have

the Bible in reputation and power among us. It is an evidence of a people's being high in the

favour of God, and a means of making them high among the nations. Those that magnify the law

shall be magnified by it.

5. K&D, “This mighty and attractive force of the wisdom of Israel consisted in the fact, that in

Jehovah they possessed a God who was at hand with His help when they called upon Him (cf.

Deu_33:29; Psa_34:19; Psa_145:18; 1Ki_2:7), as none of the gods of the other nations had ever

been; and that in the law of God they possessed such statutes and rights as the heathen never

had. True right has its roots in God; and with the obscuration of the knowledge of God, law and

right, with their divinely established foundations, are also shaken and obscured (cf. Rom_1:26-

32).

6. Jamison, “Deu 4:7-9 - “what nation is there so great — Here he represents their privileges and

their duty in such significant and comprehensive terms, as were peculiarly calculated to arrest

their attention and engage their interest. The former, their national advantages, are described

(Deu_4:7, Deu_4:8), and they were twofold: 1. God’s readiness to hear and aid them at all times;

and 2. the excellence of that religion in which they were instructed, set forth in the “statutes and

judgments so righteous” which the law of Moses contained. Their duty corresponding to these

pre-eminent advantages as a people, was also twofold: 1. their own faithful obedience to that law;

and 2. their obligation to imbue the minds of the young and rising generation with similar

sentiments of reverence and respect for it.”

8 And what other nation is so great as to have suchrighteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am

setting before you today?

1. Other nations had their laws, but Moses is saying they could not match the laws they had from

God in terms of their righteousness, meaning that they were truly fair and just to all the people,

and not showing any favoritism to any group in the society. They had an ideal body of laws that

could not be matched by any other nation.

2. Gill, “And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous,....

Founded in justice and equity, and so agreeable to right reason, and so well calculated and

adapted to lead persons in the ways of righteousness and truth, and keep them from doing any

injury to each other's persons and properties, and to maintain good order, peace, and concord

among them:

as all this law which I set before you this day? which he then repeated, afresh declared, explained

and instructed them in; for otherwise it had been delivered to them near forty years ago. Now

there was not any nation then in being, nor any since, to be compared with the nation of the Jews,

for the wise and wholesome laws given unto them; no, not the more cultivated and civilized

nations, as the Grecians and Romans, who had the advantage of such wise lawgivers as they were

accounted, as Solon, Lycurgus, Numa, and others; and indeed the best laws that they had seem to

be borrowed from the Jews.

9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so thatyou do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let

them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them

to your children and to their children after them.

1. Forgetfulness is one of the great weaknesses of human beings, and we see its results in Israel so

often. They forgot their heritage and departed from their roots. They forgot the laws of God and

did things their way rather than the way God instructed them, and it led to judgment. We cannot

imagine how any people could forget the wonders and miracles they experienced, but they did,

and chose to go after pagan gods. They stopped teaching their children their history, and in

ignorance their children went after other gods.

2. Gill, “Only take heed to thyself,.... To walk according to this law, and not swerve from it:

and keep thy soul diligently; from the transgressions and breaches of it:

lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen; either the statutes and judgments set

before them, and the circumstances of the delivery of them; or the punishment inflicted on the

breakers of them; or the favours bestowed on those that observed them:

and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; out of thy mind and memory, and have

no place in thy affections, through a neglect and disuse of them:

but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; their children and grandchildren, that they may be

trained up in them in their youth, and so not depart from them when grown up, and in years; see

Deu_6:7.

3. Henry, “He charges them to be very strict and careful in their observance of the law (Deu_4:9):

Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently; and (Deu_4:15), Take you therefore good

heed unto yourselves; and again (Deu_4:23), Take heed to yourselves. Those that would be

religious must be very cautious, and walk circumspectly. Considering how many temptations we

are compassed about with, and what corrupt inclinations we have in our own bosoms, we have

great need to look about us and to keep our hearts with all diligence. Those cannot walk aright

that walk carelessly and at all adventures.

4.“Watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them

slip from your heart. - Deuteronomy 4:9

TODAY IN THE WORD

The 18th-century actor Charles Macklin once boasted to fellow actor Samuel Foote that he could

repeat any speech after hearing it just once. So Foote challenged Macklin to repeat what he was

about to say and then launched into a very hard-to-remember series of nonsense sentences.

Macklin had to admit defeat.

It's hard to remember perfectly something we have heard only once. That's why God repeated

His commands through each generation of His spokesmen and then recorded them so that we

might obey Him and be blessed.

Moses knew how forgetful the Israelites were. He was well aware that they had trouble

remembering even the amazing miracles of God's grace they had witnessed in the desert. If the

generation standing before him was prone to forget, how in the world would their children ever

learn and remember the lessons of obedience?

The answer was to instill the decrees of God in each generation of children as if they were the

first people ever to receive them. Later on we'll review the great Shema, the confession of Israel's

one God, that God commanded the people to teach to their children (Deut 6:4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9).

Moses anticipated that command by cautioning the people not to forget the giving of the Ten

Commandments at Horeb, or Mount Sinai. It was such an awe-inspiring visitation of God that it

seems impossible that anyone who saw it could forget what happened.

Deuteronomy 4:9 helps us to understand that Moses was not worried about a simple memory

lapse on the people's part. He was concerned that God's holy commands would slip from their

hearts that is, that they would grow lackadaisical in their obedience. And if the parents became

careless in following God, where would their children end up?

The presence of God on Sinai was so terrifying that even Moses trembled with fear

(Deuteronomy 9:19). This business of remembering and obeying God's law was serious stuff.

Why? Because day-to-day blessing from God depends on obedience to Him even though we have

the ultimate blessing of redemption in Christ.

TODAY ALONG THE WAY

The author of Hebrews cites Israel's experience at Sinai to illustrate the superior covenant we

have in Christ (Heb 12:18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24-note).

We can thank the Lord that we do not have to stand at the foot of Sinai but we can't afford to

forget that we serve the same holy, awe-inspiring God. He still demands that His people reverence

His holy name. Hebrews 12 ends with this reminder: 'Our God is a consuming fire' (He 12:29-

note). Ask God today to help you give Him the worship and reverence that is due Him.

5. K&D, ““Only beware and take care of thyself.” To “keep the soul,” i.e., to take care of the soul

as the seat of life, to defend one's life from danger and injury (Pro_13:3; Pro_19:16). “That thou

do not forget את־הּדברים (the facts described in Ex 19-24), and that they do not depart from thy heart

all the days of thy life,” i.e., are not forgotten as long as thou livest, “and thou makest them known

to thy children and thy children's children.” These acts of God formed the foundation of the true

religion, the real basis of the covenant legislation, and the firm guarantee of the objective truth

and divinity of all the laws and ordinances which Moses gave to the people. And it was this which

constituted the essential distinction between the religion of the Old Testament and all heathen

religions, whose founders, it is true, professed to derive their doctrines and statutes from divine

inspiration, but without giving any practical guarantee that their origin was truly divine.

6. Clarke, “Only take heed to thyself - Be circumspect and watchful.

Keep thy soul diligently - Be mindful of thy eternal interests. Whatever becomes of the body,

take care of the soul.

Lest thou forget - God does his work that they may be had in everlasting remembrance; and he

that forgets them, forgets his own mercies. Besides, if a man forget the work of God on his soul,

he loses that work.

Lest they depart from thy heart - It is not sufficient to lay up Divine things in the memory, they

must be laid up in the heart. Thy word have I hidden in my heart, says David, that I might not sin

against thee. The life of God in the soul of man can alone preserve the soul to life everlasting; and

this grace must be retained all the days of our life. When Adam fell, his condition was not

meliorated by the reflection that he had been once in paradise; nor does it avail Satan now that

he was once an angel of light. Those who let the grace of God depart from their hearts, lose that

grace; and those who lose the grace, fall from the grace; and as some have fallen and risen no

more, so may others; therefore, take heed to thyself, etc. Were it impossible for men finally to fall

from the grace of God, exhortations of this kind had never been given, because they would have

been unnecessary, and God never does an unnecessary thing.

But teach them thy sons - If a man know the worth of his own soul, he will feel the importance of

the salvation of the souls of his family. Those who neglect family religion, neglect personal

religion; if more attention were paid to the former, even among those called religious people, we

should soon have a better state of civil society. On family religion God lays much stress; and no

head of a family can neglect it without endangering the final salvation of his own soul. See the

note at the conclusion of Gen_18:32 (note), Gen_19:38 (note), and Deu_6:7 (note).

10 Remember the day you stood before the LORD yourGod at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people

before me to hear my words so that they may learn to

revere me as long as they live in the land and may teachthem to their children.”

1. Gill, “ Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord in Horeb,.... Above all things Moses

would have them take care not to forget the day the law was given from Mount Sinai, which was

so awful and solemn, when they saw the fire, the smoke, the lightning, and heard the thunder and

the sound of the trumpet; all which were very shocking and terrifying: and though the men of

this generation were but young then, being under twenty years of age, yet many of them were old

enough to observe these things, and which one would think should never wear out of their minds:

when the Lord said unto me, gather me the people together; not the elders of the people only, but

the whole body of the people, as he did, and brought them to the foot of Mount Sinai, Exo_19:17,

and I will make them hear my words; the ten commands which were spoken by the Lord himself

aloud, with an articulate voice, in the hearing of all the people; and was such a terrible voice of

words, that they that heard it entreated it might be spoken to them no more, Heb_12:19.

that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth; to reverence him

the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy; to fear to offend him by breaking his laws, so

holy, just, and good, and delivered in such an awful and solemn manner:

and that they may teach their children; the words they had heard, teach them obedience to them,

and to be careful not to act contrary to them; since that would bring down judgments upon them,

and deprive them of the favour they enjoyed, of which they had seen instances.

2. Henry, “He urges God's glorious appearances to them at Mount Sinai, when he gave them this

law. This he insists much upon. Take heed lest thou forget the day that thou stoodest before the

Lord thy God in Horeb, Deu_4:10. Some of them were now alive that could remember it, though

they were then under twenty years of age, and the rest of them might be said to stand there in the

loins of their fathers, who received the law and entered into covenant there, not for themselves

only, but for their children, to whom God had an eye particularly in giving the law, that they

might teach it to their children. Two things they must remember, and, one would think, they

could never forget them: - [1.] What they saw at Mount Sinai, Deu_4:11. They saw a strange

composition of fire and darkness, both dreadful and very awful; and they must needs be a

striking foil to each other; the darkness made the fire in the midst of it look the more dreadful.

Fires in the night are the most frightful, and the fire made the darkness that surrounded it look

the more awful; for it must needs be a strong darkness which such a fire did not disperse. In

allusion to this appearance upon Mount Sinai, God is said to show himself for his people, and

against his and their enemies, in fire and darkness together, Psa_18:8, Psa_18:9. He tells them

again (Deu_4:36) what they saw, for he would have them never forget it: He showed thee his great

fire. One flash of lightning, that fire from heaven, strikes an awe upon us; and some have

observed that most creatures naturally turn their faces towards the lightning, as ready to receive

the impressions of it; but how dreadful then must a constant fire from heaven be! It gave an

earnest of the day of judgment, in which the Lord Jesus shall be revealed in flaming fire. As he

reminds them of what they saw, so he tells them what they saw not; no manner of similitude,

from which they might form either an idea of God in their fancies or an image of God in their

high places. By what we see of God sufficient ground is given us to believe him to be a Being of

infinite power and perfection, but no occasion given us to suspect him to have a body such as we

have.

3. K&D, “Deu_4:10-12

In the words, “The day (הּיום, adverbial accusative) “that thou stoodest before Jehovah thy God

at Horeb,” etc., Moses reminds the people of the leading features of those grand events: first of all

of the fact that God directed him to gather the people together, that He might make known His

words to them (Exo_19:9.), that they were to learn to fear Him all their life long, and to teach

their children also (יראה, inf., like ׂשנאה, Deu_1:27); and secondly (Deu_4:11), that they came near

to the mountain which burned in fire (cf. Exo_19:17.). The expression, burning in fire “even to

the heart of heaven,” i.e., quite into the sky, is a rhetorical description of the awful majesty of the

pillar of fire, in which the glory of the Lord appeared upon Sinai, intended to impress deeply

upon the minds of the people the remembrance of this manifestation of God. And the expression,

“darkness, clouds, and thick darkness,” which is equivalent to the smoking of the great mountain

(Exo_19:18), is employed with the same object. And lastly (Deu_4:12, Deu_4:13), he reminds

them that the Lord spoke out of the midst of the fire, and adds this important remark, to prepare

the way for what is to follow, “Ye heard the sound of the words, but ye did not see a shape,” which

not only agrees most fully with Ex 24, where it is stated that the sight of the glory of Jehovah

upon the mountain appeared to the people as they stood at the foot of the mountain “like

devouring fire” (Deu_4:17), and that even the elders who “saw God” upon the mountain at the

conclusion of the covenant saw no form of God (Deu_4:11), but also with Exo_33:20, Exo_33:23,

according to which no man can see the face ( ּפנים) of God. Even the similitude (Temunah) of

Jehovah, which Moses saw when the Lord spoke to him mouth to mouth (Num_12:8), was not the

form of the essential being of God which was visible to his bodily eyes, but simply a manifestation

of the glory of God answering to his own intuition and perceptive faculty, which is not to be

regarded as a form of God which was an adequate representation of the divine nature. The true

God has no such form which is visible to the human eye.

11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountainwhile it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black

clouds and deep darkness.

1. Gill, “And ye came near and stood under the mountain,.... At the foot of it, in the lower part of

the mountain, as the Targum of Jonathan, and agrees with Exo_19:17.

and the mountain burnt with fire unto the midst of heaven; the flame and smoke went up into the

middle of the air: with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness; which thick darkness was

occasioned partly by the smoke, which went up like the smoke of a furnace, and partly by the

thick clouds, which were on the mount, and covered the face of the heavens, which were black

and tempestuous with them; the Septuagint renders it a "tempest", Exo_19:18, which denotes the

obscurity of the law, and the terrors it works in the minds of men.

12 Then the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard

the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a

voice.

1. Gill, “ And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire,.... For the Lord descended on

Mount Sinai in a cloud, in fire, and was in the thick darkness, from whence he delivered out the

ten commands:

ye heard the voice of the words; distinctly and plainly, not only the sound of them, but the words

themselves, and so as to understand what was meant by them:

but saw no similitude; not any likeness of the person speaking, by which they could form any idea

of him in their minds, which was purposely done to prevent idolatry:

only ye heard a voice; that was all.

2. Chuck Smith, “Now, he points out the fact that when they heard the voice of God they didn't

see any form at all, deliberately so. For God did not want them making any kind of a

representative likeness of God. Now in all of the nations around them they had all of their little

carvings, all of their little idols that were representing their gods. Some of them were female idols

with multi-breasts, some of them were male-type idols. Some of them were weird, wings. Some of

them looked like fish. Some of them looked monstrous, gargoyle kind. This is God. This is what

God looks like. He said, "not so". God doesn't want you making any graven image. God doesn't

want you making any kind of a representative likeness of Him. It's not to be done.

3. Henry, “What they heard at Mount Sinai (Deu_4:12): “The Lord spoke unto you with an

intelligible voice, in your own language, and you heard it.” This he enlarges upon towards the

close of his discourse, Deu_4:32, Deu_4:33, Deu_4:36. First, They heard the voice of God, speaking

out of heaven. God manifests himself to all the world in the works of creation, without speech or

language, and yet their voice is heard (Psa_19:1-3); but to Israel he made himself known by

speech and language, condescending to the weakness of the church's infant state. Here was the

voice of one crying in the wilderness, to prepare the way of the Lord. Secondly, They heard it out of

the midst of the fire, which showed that it was God himself that spoke to them, for who else could

dwell with devouring fire? God spoke to Job out of the whirlwind, which was terrible; but to

Israel out of the fire, which was more terrible. We have reason to be thankful that he does not

thus speak to us, but by men like ourselves, whose terror shall not make us afraid, Job_33:6,

Job_33:7. Thirdly, They heard it and yet lived, Deu_4:33. It was a wonder of mercy that the fire

did not devour them, or that they did not die for fear, when Moses himself trembled. Fourthly,

Never any people heard the like. He bids them enquire of former days and distant places, and

they would find this favour of God to Israel without precedent or parallel, Deu_4:32. This

singular honour done them called for singular obedience from them. It might justly be expected

that they should do more for God than other people, since God had done so much more for them.

13 He declared to you his covenant, the Ten

Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and

then wrote them on two stone tablets.

1. Gill, “And he declared unto you his covenant,.... So the law was called, because it contained, on

the part of God, things which he would have done or avoided, to which were annexed promises of

long life and happiness in the land he gave them; and they, on their part, agreed to hearken to it,

and obey it, Exo_24:3,

which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; which see at large in Exo_20:1,

and in this book afterwards repeated, Deu_5:6,

and he wrote them upon two tables of stone; to denote the durableness of them; the Targum of

Jonathan says on tables of sapphire; but it is most likely that they were written on tables of

marble, since there were great quantities of it in Mount Sinai; See Gill on Exo_31:18.

2. K&D, “The Israelites, therefore, could not see a form of God, but could only hear the voice of

His words, when the Lord proclaimed His covenant to them, and gave utterance to the ten words,

which He afterwards gave to Moses written upon two tables of stone (Exo_20:1-14 [17], and

Exo_31:18, compared with Exo_24:12). On the “tables of stone,” see at Exo_34:1.

14 And the LORD directed me at that time to teach you

the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you

are crossing the Jordan to possess.

1. Gill, “And the Lord commanded me at that time,.... When the ten commandments were

delivered on Mount Sinai, and Moses was ordered to come up to God in the mount:

to teach you statutes and judgments; laws ceremonial and judicial, besides the ten commands

given them:

that ye may do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it; the land of Canaan, which was

on the other side of Jordan, and over which they must go in order to possess it; and when they

came there, they were to hold the possession of it by attending to those laws which forbad the sins

for which the old inhabitants of it were expelled out of it; and besides these, there were also

several laws, both ceremonial and judicial, which were to be peculiarly observed in the land, as

well as others they were obliged to do while without it.

2. K&D, “When the Lord Himself had made known to the people in the ten words the covenant

which He commanded them to do, He directed Moses to teach them laws and rights which they

were to observe in Canaan, viz., the rights and statutes of the Sinaitic legislation, from Ex 21

onwards.

Idolatry Forbidden

15 You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoketo you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves

very carefully,

1. Gill, “Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves,.... As to keep all the laws given them, so

particularly to avoid idolatry:

for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst

of the fire; and therefore, as they had nothing that directed and led them, so they had nothing

that could be a temptation to them, to make any form or likeness, and worship it.

2. Henry, “He charges them particularly to take heed of the sin of idolatry, that sin which of all

others they would be most tempted to by the customs of the nations, which they were most

addicted to by the corruption of their hearts, and which would be most provoking to God and of

the most pernicious consequences to themselves: Take good heed, lest in this matter you corrupt

yourselves, Deu_4:15, Deu_4:16. Two sorts of idolatry he cautions them against: - [1.] The

worship of images, however by them they might intend to worship the true God, as they had done

in the golden calf, so changing the truth of God into a lie and his glory into shame.

The second commandment is expressly directed against this, and is here enlarged upon,

Deu_4:15-18. “Take heed lest you corrupt yourselves,” that is, “lest you debauch yourselves;” for

those that think to make images of God form in their minds such notions of him as must needs be

an inlet to all impieties; and it is intimated that it is a spiritual adultery. “And take heed lest you

destroy yourselves. If any thing ruin you, this will be it. Whatever you do, make no similitude of

God, either in a human shape, male of female, or in the shape of any beast or fowl, serpent or

fish;” for the heathen worshipped their gods by images of all these kinds, being either not able to

form, or not willing to admit, that plain demonstration which we find, Hos_8:6 : The workman

made it, therefore it is not God. To represent an infinite Spirit by an image, and the great Creator

by the image of a creature, is the greatest affront we can put upon God and the greatest cheat we

can put upon ourselves. As an argument against their making images of God, he urges it very

much upon them that when God made himself known to them at Horeb he did it by a voice of

words which sounded in their ears, to teach them that faith comes by hearing, and God in the

word is nigh us; but no image was presented to their eye, for to see God as he is is reserved for

our happiness in the other world, and to see him as he is not will do us hurt and no good in this

world. You saw no similitude (Deu_4:12), no manner of similitude, Deu_4:15. Probably they

expected to have seen some similitude, for they were ready to break through unto the Lord to gaze,

Exo_19:21. But all they saw was light and fire, and nothing that they could make an image of,

God an infinite wisdom so ordering his manifestation of himself because of the peril of idolatry. It

is said indeed of Moses that he beheld the similitude of the Lord (Num_12:8), God allowing him

that favour because he was above the temptation of idolatry; but for the people who had lately

come from admiring the idols of Egypt, they must see no resemblance of God, lest they should

have pretended to copy it, and so should have received the second commandment in vain; “for”

(says bishop Patrick) “they would have thought that this forbade them only to make any

representation of God besides that wherein he showed himself to them, in which they would have

concluded it lawful to represent him.” Let this be a caution to us to take heed of making images

of God in our fancy and imagination when we are worshipping him, lest thereby we corrupt

ourselves. There may be idols in the heart, where there are none in the sanctuary. [2.] The

worship of the sun, moon, and stars, is another sort of idolatry which they were cautioned

against, Deu_4:19. This was the most ancient species of idolatry and the most plausible, drawing

the adoration to those creatures that not only are in a situation above us, but are most sensibly

glorious in themselves and most generally serviceable to the world. And the plausibleness of it

made it the more dangerous. It is intimated here, First, How strong the temptation is to sense; for

the caution is, Lest thou shouldest be driven to worship them by the strong impulse of a vain

imagination and the impetuous torrent of the customs of the nations. The heart is supposed to

walk after the eye, which, in our corrupt and degenerate state, it is very apt to do. “When thou

seest the sun, moon, and stars, thou wilt so admire their height and brightness, their regular

motion and powerful influence, that thou wilt be strongly tempted to give that glory to them

which is due to him that made them, and made them what they are to us - gave them their beings,

and made them blessings to the world.” It seems there was need of a great deal of resolution to

arm them against this temptation, so weak was their faith in an invisible God and an invisible

world. Secondly, Yet he shows how weak the temptation would be to those that would use their

reason; for these pretended deities, the sun, moon, and stars, were only blessings which the Lord

their God, whom they were obliged to worship, had imparted to all nations. It is absurd to

worship them, for they are man's servants, were made and ordained to give light on earth; and

shall we serve those that were made to serve us? The sun, in Hebrew is called shemesh, which

signifies a servant, for it is the minister-general of this visible world, and holds the candle to all

mankind; let it not then be worshipped as a lord. Moreover, they are God's gifts; he has imparted

them; whatever benefit we have by them, we owe it to him; it is therefore highly injurious to him

to give that honour and praise to them which is due to him only.

(6.) He charges them to teach their children to observe the laws of God: Teach them to thy sons,

and thy sons' sons (Deu_4:9), that they may teach their children, Deu_4:10. [1.] Care must be taken

in general to preserve the entail of religion among them, and to transmit the knowledge and

worship of God to posterity; for the kingdom of God in Israel was designed to be perpetual, if

they did not forfeit the privilege of it. [2.] Parents must, in order hereunto, particularly take care

to teach their own children the fear of God, and to train them up in an observance of all his

commandments.

3. K&D, “Deu 4:15-16 -

As the Israelites had seen no shape of God at Horeb, they were to beware for their souls' sake

(for their lives) of acting corruptly, and making to themselves any kind of image of Jehovah their

God, namely, as the context shows, to worship God in it. (On pesel, see at Exo_20:4.) The words

which follow, viz., “a form of any kind of sculpture,” and “a representation of male or female” (for

tabnith, see at Exo_25:9), are in apposition to “graven image,” and serve to explain and

emphasize the prohibition.

4. Jamison, “Deu 4:7-9 -

what nation is there so great — Here he represents their privileges and their duty in such

significant and comprehensive terms, as were peculiarly calculated to arrest their attention and

engage their interest. The former, their national advantages, are described (Deu_4:7, Deu_4:8),

and they were twofold: 1. God’s readiness to hear and aid them at all times; and 2. the excellence

of that religion in which they were instructed, set forth in the “statutes and judgments so

righteous” which the law of Moses contained. Their duty corresponding to these pre-eminent

advantages as a people, was also twofold: 1. their own faithful obedience to that law; and 2. their

obligation to imbue the minds of the young and rising generation with similar sentiments of

reverence and respect for it.

5. Don Robinson, Deuteronomy 4:15-16, “Definition: Any time I trust any person or anything

more than God or anytime I value any person or any thing before God that's called an idol. That

is a definition of idol. It's when I trust anything or anyone else more than God. The second

command of the Ten Commandments says "Don't make any idols." Why is that? Another place

in the Bible, in the book of Deuteronomy, it says this "For your own good don't sin by making an

idol in any form." "For your own good" -- circle that. It says, I want you to have a correct

understanding of what I'm like, have a correct image of me in your mind. It's really for your own

good.

Any time I expect other people to meet a need in my life that only God can meet, I'm going to be

disappointed. Any time you take anything -- and we can even make good things idols, you can

make your family an idol. There's nothing wrong with your family but anytime you look to any

single person or any single thing in life to meet all your needs, you're going to be let down. It's the

idea, of "If I could just get married, then I'd be happy." "If I could just find that right person,

my life would be totally fulfilled." That's creating an idol. Or, "If I could just get this job" or "If

I could just make `X' amount of money, then I would feel significant. Then I would feel confident.

Then I would feel good about myself. Then life would be fantastic." You have just created an idol.

And you're going to be discouraged by it.”

16 so that you do not become corrupt and make foryourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed

like a man or a woman,

1. Moses is making it clear that God is spirit, and must be worshiped in spirit and truth. He is

never to be made into an image and worshiped as an idol. That was the number one sin and folly

that led to the failure of God's people to remain under his blessing. Idolatry was the greatest

curse of Israel, and it has always been, and will always be for believers to the end of history.

2. Gill, “Lest ye corrupt yourselves,.... And not themselves only, but the word and worship of

God, by idolatry, than which nothing is more corrupting and defiling, nor more abominable to

God:

and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure; a graven image, in the likeness of any

figure, an idea of which they had formed in their minds:

the likeness of male or female; of a man or a woman; so some of the Heathen deities were in the

likeness of men, as Jupiter, Mars, Hercules, Apollo, &c. and others in the likeness of women, as

Juno, Diana, Venus, &c. Some think Osiris and Isis, Egyptian deities, the one male, the other

female, are respected; but it is not certain that these were worshipped by them so early.

3. Out Daily Bread, “Immortal, invisible, God only wise,

In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,

Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,

Almighty, victorious -- Thy great name we praise. - Smith

God made us in His image; don't try to make Him in yours.

4. Jamison, “Deu 4:16-19 -

Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image — The things are here specified of

which God prohibited any image or representation to be made for the purposes of worship; and,

from the variety of details entered into, an idea may be formed of the extensive prevalence of

idolatry in that age. In whatever way idolatry originated, whether from an intention to worship

the true God through those things which seemed to afford the strongest evidences of His power,

or whether a divine principle was supposed to reside in the things themselves, there was scarcely

an element or object of nature but was deified. This was particularly the case with the Canaanites

and Egyptians, against whose superstitious practices the caution, no doubt, was chiefly directed.

The former worshipped Baal and Astarte, the latter Osiris and Isis, under the figure of a male

and a female. It was in Egypt that animal-worship most prevailed, for the natives of that country

deified among beasts the ox, the heifer, the sheep, and the goat, the dog, the cat, and the ape;

among birds, the ibis, the hawk, and the crane; among reptiles, the crocodile, the frog, and the

beetle; among fishes, all the fish of the Nile; some of these, as Osiris and Isis, were worshipped

over all Egypt, the others only in particular provinces. In addition they embraced the Zabian

superstition, the adoration of the Egyptians, in common with that of many other people,

extending to the whole starry host. The very circumstantial details here given of the Canaanitish

and Egyptian idolatry were owing to the past and prospective familiarity of the Israelites with it

in all these forms.

5. Mackintosh, “We know that the Spirit of God does not warn us against things to which we are

not liable. He would not say to us, “Neither be ye idolaters,” if we were not capable of being such.

Idolatry takes various shapes. It is not, therefore, a question of the shape of the thing, but the

thing itself – not the outward form, but the root or principle of the thing. We read that

“covetousness is idolatry,” and that a covetous man is an idolater; that is, a man desiring to

posses is himself of more than God has given him is an idolater – is actually guilty of the sin of

Israel when they made the golden calf and worshiped it. Well might the blessed apostle say to the

Corinthians – say to us, “Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.” Why be warned to

flee from a thing to which we are not liable? Are there any idle words in the volume of God?

What mean those closing words of the first Epistle of John – “Little children, keep yourselves

from idols”? Do they not tell us that we are in danger of worshiping idols? Assuredly they do.

Our treacherous hearts are capable of departing from the living God, and setting up some other

object beside Him; and what is this but idolatry? Whatever commands the heart is the heart’s

idol, be it what it may-money, pleasure, power, or aught else,- so that we may well see the urgent

need for the many warnings given us by the Holy Ghost against the sin of idolatry.

But we have in the fourth chapter of Galatians a very remarkable passage, and one which speaks

in most impressive accents to the professing church.

The Galatians had, like all other Gentiles, worshiped idols; but, on the reception of the Gospel,

had turned from idols to serve the living and true God. The Judaizing teachers, however, had

come among them and taught them that unless they were circumcised and kept the law, they

could not be saved. Now this, the blessed apostle unhesitatingly pronounces to be idolatry – a

going back to the grossness and moral degradation of their former days, and all this after having

professed to

receive the glorious Gospel of Christ. Hence the moral force of the apostle’s inquiry, “Howbeit

then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now,

after that ye have known God, orrather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and

beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months,

and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain.”

This is peculiarly striking. The Galatians were not outwardly going back to the worship of idols.

It is not improbable that they would have indignantly repudiated any such idea. But, for all that,

the inspired apostle asks them, “How turn ye again?” What does this inquiry mean if they were

not going back to idolatry? And what are we now to learn from the whole passage? Simply this,

that circumcision, and getting under the law, and observing days, and months, and times, and

years – that all this, though apparently so different, was nothing more or less than going back to

their old idolatry. The observance of days and the worship of false gods were both a turning

away from the living and true God, from His Son Jesus Christ, from the Holy Ghost, from that

brilliant cluster of dignities and glories which belong to Christianity.

All this is peculiarly solemn for professing Christians. We question if the full import of Galatians

4:8-10 is really apprehended by the great majority of those who profess to believe the Bible. We

solemnly press this whole subject upon the attention of all whom it may concern. We pray God

to use it for the purpose of stirring up the hearts and consciences of His people every where to

consider their position, their habits, ways, and associations; and to inquire how far they are really

following the example of the assemblies of Galatia, in the observance of saints’ days and such

like, which can only lead away from Christ and His glorious salvation. There is a day coming

which will open the eyes of thousands to the reality of these things, and then they will see what

they now refuse to see, that the very darkest and grossest forms of paganism may be reproduced

under the name of Christianity, and in connection with the very highest truths that ever shone on

the human understanding.

17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the

air,

1. Gill, “The likeness of any beast that is on the earth,.... As there are scarce any but the likeness

of them has been made and worshipped, or the creatures themselves, as the ox by the Egyptians,

the sheep by the Thebans, the goat by the Mendesians, and others by different people:

the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air; as the hawk, and the bird called Ibis, and

another by the name of Cneph by the Egyptians, and the eagle by others.

2. Clarke, “The likeness of any beast, etc. - Such as the Egyptian god Apis, who was worshipped

under the form of a white bull; the ibis and hawk, among the fowls, had also Divine honors paid

to them; serpents and the crocodile among reptiles; besides monkeys, dogs, cats, the scarabaeus,

leeks, and onions! See this explained at large, Exo_20:4.

18 or like any creature that moves along the ground orany fish in the waters below.

1. Gill, “The likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground,.... As serpents by many; and

indeed that creature is introduced into almost all the idolatries of the Heathens, which seems to

take its rise from the serpent Satan made use of to deceive our first parents:

the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth; as the crocodile and

hippopotamus, or river horse, by the Egyptians; and Dagon and Derceto, supposed to be figures

in the form of a fish, among the Phoenicians.

19 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the

moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not beenticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things

the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations

under heaven.

1. Gill, “And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven,.... The starry heaven, which to do in itself is

not sinful; and may be lawfully and commendably done, to raise admiration at the wonderful

works of God in them, and lead to adore the author of them: but if not guarded against may be

ensnaring:

and when thou seest the sun and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven; those bright

luminaries, so glorious to behold, and so useful and beneficial to the earth, and the inhabitants of

it:

shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them; should have an impulse on their minds and

their hearts, be inclined and drawn to the worship of them, partly by considering their splendour,

glory, and usefulness, and partly by the example of others; for the worshipping of these seems to

be and is the first kind of idolatry men gave into, at least it was very ancient; see Job_31:26,

which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven; the sun and the

moon by their constant revolutions visit all the parts of the world, and stars are fixed in both

hemispheres, so that all nations of the earth receive the benefit and advantage of all these

heavenly bodies; but were never designed to be the objects of their worship, as might be learnt

from their being divided to them, sometimes one part of the earth enjoying them, and then

another, and not present with them all at one and the same time, which, if deities, would have

been necessary; see Psa_19:6.

2. Chuck Smith, “There is something within man that drives him to worship. You've gotta

worship something. It's like Bob Dylan said, "You've gotta serve somebody" and that's true.

You're driven to serve somebody. There's a driving, compelling force for you to serve somebody

and it is always tragic when men leave the worship and serving of the true and the living God, the

creator and the sustainer of the universe of all life and life forms. And they begin to make a

likeness of God like a man or like a woman or like an animal and they begin to bow down and

worship these little likenesses. They begin to offer their prayers before these likenesses. There's

something within man that compels him to worship but God doesn't want you worshiping before

any altar. When the woman of Samaria said unto Jesus, "Our fathers say that we're to worship

God in this mountain. You say that we are to worship Him in Jerusalem. Where do we worship

God?"(John 4:20). Jesus said, "The day is coming and now is when they that worship God will

neither worship in this mountain nor in Jerusalem for God is a spirit and they that worship Him

must worship Him in spirit and in truth and God is seeking such to worship Him"(John 4:23-24).

3. K&D, “They were not to allow themselves to be torn away ( נּדח) to worship the stars of heaven,

namely, by the seductive influence exerted upon the senses by the sight of the heavenly bodies as

they shone in their glorious splendour. The reason for this prohibition is given in the relative

clause, “which Jehovah thy God hath allotted to all nations under the whole heaven.” The thought

is not, “God has given the heathen the sun, moon, and stars for service, i.e., to serve them with

their light,” as Onkelos, the Rabbins, Jerome, and others, suppose, but He has allotted them to

them for worship, i.e., permitted them to choose them as the objects of their worship, which is the

view adopted by Justin Martyr, Clemens Alex., and others. According to the scriptural view, even

the idolatry of the heathen existed by divine permission and arrangement. God gave up the

heathen to idolatry and shameful lusts, because, although they knew Him from His works, they

did not praise Him as God (Rom_1:21, Rom_1:24, Rom_1:26).

4. Clarke, “When thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars - The worship of the heavenly

bodies was the oldest species of idolatry. Those who had not the knowledge of the true God were

led to consider the sun, moon, planets, and stars, as not only self-existing, but the authors of all

the blessings possessed by mankind. The knowledge of a rational system of astronomy served to

destroy this superstition; and very little of it remains now in the world, except among a few

Christian and Mohammedan astrologers; those miserable sinners who endeavor, as much as

possible, to revive the old idolatry, while vainly professing to believe in the true God! Nor is it to

be doubted that God will proceed with them as he has done of old with the worshippers of the

host of heaven. Sound philosophy is next in importance to sound divinity; and next to the study of

the work of grace is that of the operations of God in nature; for these visible things make known

his eternal power and Godhead.”

20 But as for you, the LORD took you and brought youout of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the

people of his inheritance, as you now are.

1. Gill, “But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace,.... The

allusion is to the trying and melting of metals, and fleeing them from dross, by putting them into

furnaces strongly heated, some of which are of earth, others of iron; the word, as the Jewish

writers (g) observe, signifies such an one in which gold and silver and other things are melted; see

Psa_12:6 even "out of Egypt"; which is here compared to an iron furnace, because of the cruelty

with which the Israelites were used in it, the hardships they were put under, and the misery and

bondage they were kept in; but out of all the Lord brought them, as he does all his people sooner

or later out of their afflictions, sometimes called the furnace of affliction, Isa_48:10 where their

graces are tried, and they are purged, purified, and refined from their dross and tin. This the

Lord did to Israel, he brought them out of their distressed state and condition:

to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day: to be the Lord's inheritance, as they

now were, Deu_32:9 as well as they were quickly to inherit the land of Canaan, for which they

were brought out of the land of Egypt; and indeed they were already, even that day, entered on

their inheritance, the kingdom of the Amorites being delivered into their hands.

2. F. B. Meyer

Our Daily Homily

THE Apostle' prays that we may know the riches of the glory of God's inheritance in His saints.

God is our inheritance, and we are His. We are called to possess Him; He desires to possess us.

His nature will yield crops of holy helpfulness to those who diligently seek Him; and He demands

crops of holy love and devotion from ours.

What Sovereign Grace is here!--There was nothing in us to distinguish us from others. We were

but part of the great moorland waste, when He fenced us in, and placed us under His tillage and

husbandry. It is by the grace of God that we are what we are. "To the praise of the glory of His

grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved: in whom we have redemption through

His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."

What responsibility!--Three times over in this chapter we are bidden to take heed to ourselves. It

is no small thing to have been the subjects of God's special workmanship; because He is a jealous

God, very quick to mark the least symptom of declension, and very searching in His dealing and

discipline. As we learn here, our God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

What Hope!--We cannot derive much from ourselves, however we toil and strive. Self cannot

discipline self to any advantage. The field is worked out. The Divine Husbandman must put into

us what He would take out of us; He needs therefore to have almost infinite resources. But these

are God's, and if we yield ourselves to Him, He can make all grace abound toward us, that we,

always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound unto every good work.

3. Henry, “He urges God's gracious appearances for them, in bringing them out of Egypt, from

the iron furnace, where they laboured in the fire, forming them into a people, and then taking

them to be his own people, a people of inheritance (Deu_4:20); this he mentions again, Deu_4:34,

Deu_4:37, Deu_4:38. Never did God do such a thing for any people; the rise of this nation was

quite different from that of all other nations. [1.] They were thus dignified and distinguished, not

for any thing in them that was deserving or inviting, but because God had a kindness for their

fathers: he chose them. See the reasons of free grace; we are not beloved for our own sakes, but

for his sake who is the great trustee of the covenant. [2.] They were delivered out of Egypt by

miracles and signs, in mercy to them and in judgment upon the Egyptians, against whom God

stretched out his arm, which was signified by Moses's stretching out his hand in summoning the

plagues. [3.] They were designed for a happy settlement in Canaan, Deu_4:38. Nations must be

driven out from before them, to make room for them, to show how much dearer they were to God

than any other people were. Egyptians and Canaanites must both be sacrificed to Israel's honour

and interest. Those that stand in Israel's light, in Israel's way, shall find it is at their peril.

4. K&D, “The Israelites were not to imitate the heathen in this respect, because Jehovah, who

brought them out of the iron furnace of Egypt, had taken them ( לקח) to Himself, i.e., had drawn

them out or separated them from the rest of the nations, to be a people of inheritance. They were

therefore not to seek God and pray to Him in any kind of creature, but to worship Him without

image and form, in a manner corresponding to His own nature, which had been manifested in no

form, and therefore could not be imitated. ּכּור ּברזל , an iron furnace, or furnace for smelting iron,

is a significant figure descriptive of the terrible sufferings endured by Israel in Egypt. עם נחלה (a

people of inheritance) is synonymous with עם סגּלה (a special people, Deu_7:6 : see at Exo_19:5, “a

peculiar treasure”). “This day:” as in Deu_2:30.

5. Jamison, “But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace — that

is, furnace for smelting iron. A furnace of this kind is round, sometimes thirty feet deep, and

requiring the highest intensity of heat. Such is the tremendous image chosen to represent the

bondage and affliction of the Israelites [Rosenmuller].

to be unto him a people of inheritance — His peculiar possession from age to age; and therefore

for you to abandon His worship for that of idols, especially the gross and debasing system of

idolatry that prevails among the Egyptians, would be the greatest folly - the blackest ingratitude.

6. Clarke, “Out of the iron furnace - From this mention of the word iron furnace there can be

little doubt that the Israelites were employed in Egypt in the most laborious works of metallurgy.

Digging, smelting, and forging of iron in so hot a climate must have been oppressive work indeed.

21 The LORD was angry with me because of you, and hesolemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and

enter the good land the LORD your God is giving you as

your inheritance.

1. Gill, “Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes,.... See Deu_3:26,

and sware that I should not go over Jordan; this circumstance of swearing is nowhere else

expressed:

and that I should not go in unto that good land; the land of Canaan; he might see it, as he did

from Pisgah, but not enter into it:

which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance; to them and to their children after them.

2. K&D, “Deu 4:21-24 -

The bringing of Israel out of Egypt reminds Moses of the end, viz., Canaan, and leads him to

mention again how the Lord had refused him permission to enter into this good land; and to this

he adds the renewed warning not to forget the covenant or make any image of God, since

Jehovah, as a jealous God, would never tolerate this. The swearing attributed to God in Deu_4:21

is neither mentioned in Num 20 nor at the announcement of Moses' death in Num_27:12.; but it

is not to be called in question on that account, as Knobel supposes. It is perfectly obvious from

Deu_3:23. that all the details are not given in the historical account of the event referred to. ּכלּפסל ּתמּונת , “image of a form of all that Jehovah has commanded,” sc., not to be made (Deu_4:16-

18). “A consuming fire” (Deu_4:24): this epithet is applied to God with special reference to the

manifestation of His glory in burning fire (Exo_24:17). On the symbolical meaning of this mode

of revelation, see at Exo_3:2. “A jealous God:” see at Exo_20:5.

22 I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan; butyou are about to cross over and take possession of that

good land.

1. Gill, “But I must die in this land,.... The land of Moab, in a mountain in it he died, and in a

valley there he was buried, Deu_32:50,

I must not go over Jordan; this he repeats, as lying near his heart; he had earnestly solicited to go

over, but was denied it:

but ye shall go over, and possess that good land; this he firmly believed and assures them of,

relying on the promise and faithfulness of God.

23 Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD yourGod that he made with you; do not make for yourselves

an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has

forbidden.

1. Gill, “Take heed unto yourselves,.... Since he should not be long with them, to advise, instruct,

and caution them:

lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you; what that required of

them, and what was promised unto them on the performance of it, and what they must expect

should they break it, and particularly be so forgetful of it, and the first articles in it, as follows:

and make you a graven image, or the likeness of anything which the Lord thy God hath

forbidden thee; a graven image in the likeness of men or women, of any beast on the earth, or

fowl in heaven, or fish in the sea.

2. Henry, “He charges them never to forget their duty: Take heed lest you forget the covenant of

the Lord your God, Deu_4:23. Though God is ever mindful of the covenant, we are apt to forget it;

and this is at the bottom of all our departures from God. We have need therefore to watch against

all those things which would put the covenant out of our minds, and to watch over our own

hearts, lest at any time we let it slip; and so we must take heed lest at any time we forget our

religion, lest we lose it or leave it off. Care and caution, and holy watchfulness, are the best helps

against a bad memory. These are the directions and commands he gives them.

2. Let us see now what are the motives or arguments with which he backs these exhortations.

How does he order the cause before them, and fill his mouth with arguments! He has a great deal

to say on God's behalf. Some of his topics are indeed peculiar to that people, yet applicable to us.

But, upon the whole, it is evident that religion has reason on its side, the powerful charms of

which all that are irreligious willfully stop their ears against.

24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealousGod.

1. Gill, “For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire,.... To his enemies; his wrath is like fire to burn

up and destroy all that oppose him and break his commands, and especially idolaters; whose sin

of all others is the most provoking to him, since it strikes at his being, his honour and glory;

wherefore it follows:

even a jealous God; who is jealous of his honour in matters of worship, and will not suffer his

glory to be given to another, nor his praise to graven images, without resenting it or punishing for

it.

2. Chuck Smith, “And people say, "Oh, there we go. The Old Testament concept of God; a

consuming fire, a jealous God". Look at Hebrews in the New Testament, declares, "For our God

is a consuming fire"(Hebrews 12:29).

It is interesting that fire is used as a figure for God. Because what can you say about fire? It's

everywhere. The scientists have a word, Eremacausis, which refers to the slow burning fire of

nature and it's everywhere. It's in all of the material universe. There is that slow burning fire

which is gradually destroying everything. We no long—we no sooner put this building up, before

we got the last nail in, the slow-burning fire had begun to deteriorate it. Before we could cover

the roof with the roofing materials, some of the nail heads began to oxidize. What was it? Slow

burning fire of nature; it's everywhere.

Isaiah records how that at one time the Assyrians had invaded the land and the people called

upon the Lord and an angel of the Lord went through the camp of the Assyrians and in one night

destroyed a hundred and eighty-five thousand front line fighting troops. And when the children

of Israel woke up in the morning and looked out upon the camp of the Assyrians there were

nothing but corpses and it said, "And fear gripped the hearts of the sinners in Zion"(Isaiah

33:14).

Terror took hold on the hypocrites and they said, "Who among us could dwell in the devouring

fire?" (Isaiah 33:14). They saw the fire of God and its effect upon their enemies and a fear

gripped their hearts, and they said, "Who amongst us" and the word dwell can also be translated

approach or flee "from the devouring fire". And in reality there is no place that you can flee from

the presence of God. "If I ascend into heaven thou art there. If I descend into hell thou art

there". And the same fire of God that burns in heaven is the same fire of God that burns in hell.

It isn't who can escape, but who can flee from it. In reality you are in the fire of God. You can't

escape it. The question is what is it doing to you? And that all depends on what you are. For you

see, fire can, in the case of steel, transmit into permanency as it is forged in the fire, tempered by

the fire, transmitting it into permanency. But that same fire can absolutely destroy and consume

a piece of wood. The Bible says that our works are one day gonna be tried by fire. And some of

our works like wood, hay and stubble are just gonna go up in smoke. Those that can endure,

those that are last through the fire, you'll be rewarded for. "Our God is a consuming fire, our

God is a jealous God." A very interesting figure that is used of God.

3. “The Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. - Deuteronomy 4:24

TODAY IN THE WORD

Have you ever looked at the stuff in your attic or basement and sighed at your collection? It's

amazing how easily most of us seem to accumulate things we once intended to use, or at some

point thought too valuable to discard. However good our original purpose, though, most of what

we store in our attics, basements, and garages will not be looked at again until the next yard sale

or moving day.

The tendency to let once-useful things accumulate seems to be born into most people. It's easier

to let the stuff pile up when it's out of sight and therefore, out of mind. If we carry this attitude

over into our spiritual lives, however, it can be very dangerous.

When this happens, we find a believer who once devoured God's Word now treats it like a

discard from the attic. Or spiritual disciplines that were once part of this person's daily walk with

the Lord are now laid aside and forgotten.

It may seem as if Moses was belaboring his warning to the Israelites. 'Watch yourselves very

carefully,' he warned (Dt 4:15). 'Be careful not to forget,' he cautioned (Dt 4:23).

Why was Moses so concerned that the people not allow God's commands to be shoved back into

the attics of their minds and hearts? Because he knew human nature. Moses had forty years'

worth of scars on his soul from the complaints and threats of Israelites who couldn't seem to

remember God's goodness from one watering hole to the next.

Now the people were entering a land of idolaters who worshiped creatures on earth and the lights

in the sky. Again Moses referred to the fact that he would not be allowed to accompany Israel into

Canaan. So these messages contained in Deuteronomy were his last chance to warn the people

against spiritual failure.

One way God's people could keep from slipping was to remember the day God gave them His

commandments. They saw no form representing God, so they were not to make anything to

represent Him. Obedience to a 'consuming fire' kind of God is the only path of blessing for His

people.

TODAY ALONG THE WAY

Is there anything in your spiritual attic that needs to be brought out, dusted off, and put to use or

maybe discarded?

One way to find out is to look back to the early days of your Christian life. Was there a spiritual

discipline you used to follow with enthusiasm that has since fallen by the wayside? Maybe it's

your prayer life, your desire to tell others about Christ, or a habit you've acquired that you used

to have a strong conviction against. This might be a good day to do a little personal attic-cleaning,

remembering why it's so important not to put anything between yourself and God.

4. Henry, “ That he is a consuming fire, a jealous God, Deu_4:24. Take heed of offending him, for,

First, He has a jealous eye to discern an affront; he must have your entire affection and

adoration, and will by no means endure a rival. God's jealousy over us is a good reason for our

godly jealousy over ourselves. Secondly, He has a heavy hand to punish an affront, especially in

his worship, for therein he is in a special manner jealous. He is a consuming fire; his wrath

against sinners is so; it is dreadful and destroying, it is a fiery indignation which will devour the

adversaries, Heb_10:27. Fire consumes that only which is fuel for it, so the wrath of God fastens

upon those only who, by their own sin, have fitted themselves for destruction, 1Co_3:13;

Isa_27:4. Even in the New Testament we find the same argument urged upon us as a reason why

we should serve God with reverence (Heb_12:28, Heb_12:29), because though he is our God, and a

rejoicing light to those that serve him faithfully, yet he is a consuming fire to those that trifle with

him. Thirdly, That yet he is a merciful God, Deu_4:31. It comes in here as an encouragement to

repentance, but might serve as an inducement to obedience, and a consideration proper to

prevent their apostasy. Shall we forsake a merciful God, who will never forsake us, as it follows

here, if we be faithful unto him? Whither can we go to better ourselves? Shall we forget the

covenant of our God, who will not forget the covenant of our fathers? Let us be held to our duty

by the bonds of love, and prevailed with by the mercies of God to cleave to him.

(2.) He urges their relation to this God, his authority over them and their obligations to him.

“The commandments you are to keep and do are not mine,” says Moses, “not my inventions, not

my injunctions, but they are the commandments of the Lord, framed by infinite wisdom, enacted

by sovereign power. He is the Lord God of your fathers (Deu_4:1), so that you are his by

inheritance: your fathers were his, and you were born in his house. He is the Lord your God

(Deu_4:2), so that you are his by your own consent. He is the Lord my God (Deu_4:5), so that I

treat with you as his agent and ambassador;” and in his name Moses delivered unto them all that,

and that only, which he had received from the Lord.”

25 After you have had children and grandchildren and

have lived in the land a long time—if you then become

corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyesof the LORD your God and arousing his anger,

1. Gill, “When thou shall beget children, and children's children,.... Children and grandchildren,

and several ages and generations have passed:

and shalt have remained long in the land; many years and even ages, or have grown old (h) in it:

now they were in their infancy, and as such they were about to enter into it; during the times of

the judges, they were in their childhood, or youth; in the times of David and Solomon, they were

in their manhood; after that, in their decline; and in the times of Jeconiah and his brethren in

their old age, when for their sins they were carried captive:

and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of anything; See Gill on

Deu_25:16.

and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger; that sin of idolatry,

that God provoking sin, is chiefly intended.

2. Deuteronomy 4:25-28

You shall have no other gods before me. - Exodus 20:3

TODAY IN THE WORD

During his first term as president, Franklin Roosevelt teased a patriotic group about its obsession

with the pedigree of its members. 'Remember, remember always,' Roosevelt said, 'that all of us,

and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.'

Moses made a similar plea to Israel. 'Remember where you came from, and to whom you belong,'

was his message in Deuteronomy. For God's people of that day, the first step to disobedience

seemed to be forgetfulness.

The passages we will study today and tomorrow are brief but remarkable. Here Moses speaks not

only as lawgiver but as prophet, looking far into Israel's future to predict the nation's

unfaithfulness and eventual expulsion from the land.

We can imagine the passion and pain in Moses' voice as he spoke of a future day when Israel

might forget God and their obligation to worship Him alone. Forgetting God would make the

people susceptible to the corruption of idolatry a sin Moses had just warned them against

committing. Idolatry was the ultimate insult to God and an abomination in His sight.

Moses called heaven and earth as witnesses because they were fixed and permanent, in contrast

to the fickle nature of the people's hearts. If, as Moses said, Israel insisted on flirting with idols,

God would permit the nation to consummate the unholy union. He would, in fact, send His people

into captivity in nations where they would have their fill of idolatry.

The danger Moses warned about in these verses changed the focus from the immediate to the

more distant future. Up to this point, his concern had been that the Israelites not fail to obey God

and possess Canaan.

But there was also the opposite danger that after the immediate challenge was met, the curse of

complacency could set in and cause a massive case of spiritual amnesia.

Once again, Moses tied the issue to the need for each generation to learn about God for itself. If

the current generation failed to pass along vibrant faith in God, their grandchildren would be left

with only a musty memory of long-ago blessings and warnings from a God they didn't know very

well.

TODAY ALONG THE WAY

Most people don't become excited about hand-me-downs, whether it's clothes, furniture, or faith.

We said earlier that the Christian life can't be lived second-hand. Faith must be a personal

possession. But let's turn today's warning around and remember that if our faith is a bright fire,

those within our influence will be drawn to the flame. Is your Christian life the kind others would

want to imitate? It can be, because if we turn to Him God is ready to do more than we could ask

or think.

3. Henry, “He urges the fatal consequences of their apostasy from God, that it would undoubtedly

be the ruin of their nation. This he enlarges upon, Deu_4:25-31. Here, [1.] He foresees their revolt

from God to idols, that in process of time, when they had remained long in the land and were

settled upon their lees, they would corrupt themselves, and make a graven image; this was the sin

that would most easily beset them, Deu_4:25. [2.] He foretels the judgments of God upon them for

this: You shall utterly be destroyed (Deu_4:26), scattered among the nations, Deu_4:27. And their

sin should be made their punishment (Deu_4:28): “There shall you serve gods, the work of men's

hands, be compelled to serve them, whether you will or no, or, through your own sottishness and

stupidity, you will find no better succours to apply yourselves in your captivity.” Those that cast

off the duties of religion in their prosperity cannot expect the comforts of it when they come to be

in distress. Justly are they then sent to the gods whom they have served, Jdg_10:14. [3.] Yet he

encourages them to hope that God would reserve mercy for them in the latter days, that he would

by his judgments upon them bring them to repentance, and take them again into covenant with

himself, Deu_4:29-31. Here observe, First, That whatever place we are in we may thence seek the

Lord our God, though ever so remote from our own land or from his holy temple. There is no part

of this earth that has a gulf fixed between it and heaven. Secondly, Those, and those only, shall

find God to their comfort, who seek him with all their heart, that is, who are entirely devoted to

him, earnestly desirous of his favour and solicitous to obtain it. Thirdly, Afflictions are sent to

engage and quicken us to see God, and, by the grace of God working with them, many are thus

reduced to their right mind, “When these things shall come upon thee, it is to be hoped that thou

wilt turn to the Lord they God, for thou seest what comes of turning from him;” see Dan_9:11,

Dan_9:12. Fourthly, God's faithfulness to his covenant encourages us to hope that he will not

reject us, though we be driven to him by affliction. If we at length remember the covenant, we

shall find that he has not forgotten it.

Now let all these arguments be laid together, and then say whether religion has not reason on

its side. None cast off the government of their God but those that have first abandoned the

understanding of a man.

4. K&D, “Deu_4:25-26 “If the Israelites should beget children and children's children, and grow

old in the land, and then should make images of God, and do that which was displeasing to God

to provoke Him; in that case Moses called upon heaven and earth as witnesses against them, that

they should be quickly destroyed out of the land. “Growing old in the land” involved forgetfulness

of the former manifestations of grace on the part of the Lord, but not necessarily becoming

voluptuous through the enjoyment of the riches of the land, although this might also lead to

forgetfulness of God and the manifestations of His grace (cf. Deu_6:10., Deu_32:15). The

apodosis commences with Deu_4:26. העיד, with ּב and the accusative, to take or summon as a

witness against a person. Heaven and earth do not stand here for the rational beings dwelling in

them, but are personified, represented as living, and capable of sensation and speech, and

mentioned as witnesses who would raise up against Israel, not to proclaim its guilt, but to bear

witness that God, the Lord of heaven and earth, had warned the people, and, as it is described in

the parallel passage in Deu_30:19, had set before them the choice of life and death, and therefore

was just in punishing them for their unfaithfulness (cf. Psa_50:6; Psa_51:6). “Prolong days,” as in

Exo_20:12.

26 I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against

you this day that you will quickly perish from the land

that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not

live there long but will certainly be destroyed.

1. Gill, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day,.... Should they be guilty of such a

sin, since they were so strongly and publicly cautioned against it; and even the heaven and the

earth were called upon as witnesses of the law being set before them, which so expressly forbids

it, Deu_30:19.

that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto you go over Jordan to possess it;

though they were now about to go over Jordan and inherit the land of Canaan, yet they would

not enjoy it long, but be taken and carried captive out of it; as the ten tribes were by Shalmaneser

king of Assyria, and the two tribes by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and both for their

idolatry and other crimes.

2. Jamison, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you — This solemn form of adjuration has

been common in special circumstances among all people. It is used here figuratively, or as in

other parts of Scripture where inanimate objects are called up as witnesses (Deu_32:1; Isa_1:2).

3. Clarke, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you - A most solemn method of adjuration,

in use among all nations in the world. So Virgil, Aen., lib. xii., ver. 176, etc.

Tum pius Aeneas stricto sic ense precatur:

Esto nunc Sol testis et haec mihi terra vocanti -

Fontesque fluviosque voco, quaeque aetheris alti

Relllgio, et quae caeruleo sunt numina ponto, etc.

“Then the great Trojan prince unsheathed his sword,

And thus, with lifted hands, the gods adored:

Thou land for which I wage this war, and thou

Great source of day, be witness to my vow! -

Almighty king of heaven and queen of air,

Propitious now and reconciled by prayer, -

Ye springs, ye floods, ye various powers who lie

Beneath the deep, or tread the golden sky, -

Hear and Attest!”

Pitt.

God and man being called upon to bear testimony to the truth of what was spoken, that if there

was any flaw or insincerity, it might be detected; and if any crime, it might not go unpunished.

Such appeals to God, for such purposes, show at once both the origin and use of oaths. See the

note on Deu_6:13.

27 The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and

only a few of you will survive among the nations to whichthe LORD will drive you.

1. Gill, “And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations,.... As they were by both captivities; the ten

tribes were dispersed among the cities of the Medes, and the two tribes throughout the empire of Babylon:

and ye shall be left few in number among the Heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you; or be "men ofnumber" (i), so few that they might be easily numbered; which intimates that it should be other wise withthem than when in Egypt; there they were multiplied and increased the more they were afflicted, but in

these captivities they should be greatly diminished.

2. K&D, “Jehovah would scatter them among the nations, where they would perish through want andsuffering, and only a few ( מתי מסּפר , Gen_34:30) would be left. “Whither” refers to the nations whose land

is thought of (cf. Deu_12:29; Deu_30:3). For the thing intended, see Lev_26:33, Lev_26:36, Lev_26:38-39,and Deu_28:64., from which it is evident that the author had not “the fate of the nation in the time of the

Assyrians in his mind” (Knobel), but rather all the dispersions which would come upon the rebelliousnation in future times, even down to the dispersion under the Romans, which continues still; so that Moses

contemplated the punishment in its fullest extent.

28 There you will worship man-made gods of wood and

stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.

1. Gill, “ And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone,.... Idols made

by men, cut out of wood and stone; these they should be enticed into the service of, or compelled

to serve; which was still more brutish and stupid than to worship the sun, moon, and stars, which

were not the works of men's hand, but the glorious works of the eternal God. But since in their

captivities they were not subject to idolatry, but were cured of it thereby, another sense of the

words is given by some, as by Onkelos and Jonathan, who paraphrase the words of serving the

people, that serve idols; but what follows confirms the first sense:

which neither see, nor hear, nor taste, nor smell; senseless things, which have none of the senses of

seeing, hearing, and smelling, nor the faculty of eating, which they need not to support life, of

which they are destitute; and therefore it must be monstrous stupidity to worship such lifeless,

senseless, objects; see Psa_115:4.

2. TODAY IN THE WORD

Earlier this year, tens of thousands of people thronged the streets of Taipei, Taiwan, to get a

glimpse of one of Buddhism’s most famous relics. The relic, which belongs to a temple in Xian,

China, was kept in a jewelled casket under tight security. What was it? A finger, it is believed, of

the Buddha himself, the religious leader who died more than two thousand years ago. During the

festivities, this finger bone was taken to a stadium and placed on a platform strewn with orchids.

Thousands of the faithful chanted, waved flags, and came to venerate the finger.

How sad. Thousands went to worship a long-dead finger bone, without any knowledge of the God

whose finger wrote the Ten Commandments (Dt 5:22; cf. Ex. 31:18).

3. K&D, “There among the heathen they would be obliged to serve gods that were the work of

men's hands, gods of wood and stone, that could neither hear, nor eat, nor smell, i.e., possessed no

senses, showed no sign of life. What Moses threatens here, follows from the eternal laws of the

divine government. The more refined idolatry of image-worship leads to coarser and coarser

forms, in which the whole nature of idol-worship is manifested in all its pitiableness. “When once

the God of revelation is forsaken, the God of reason and imagination must also soon be given up

and make way for still lower powers, that perfectly accord with the I exalted upon the throne,

and in the time of pretended 'illumination' to atheism and materialism also” (Schultz).

4. Clarke, “There ye shall serve gods - wood and stone - This was also true of the Israelites, not

only in their captivities, but also in their own land. And it may now be literally the case with the

ten tribes who were carried away captive by the Assyrians, and of whose residence no man at

present knows any thing with certainty. That they still exist there can be no doubt; but they are

now, most probably, so completely incorporated with the idolaters among whom they dwell, as to

be no longer distinguish able: yet God can gather them.

29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God, youwill find him if you seek him with all your heart and with

all your soul.

1. Gill, “ But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God,.... By prayer and supplication,

acknowledging and confessing sin, and desiring that God would be gracious and forgive it, and

bring them out of their miserable condition; even if out of those depths of affliction and distress,

and though scattered about in the world, and in the uttermost parts of it:

thou shalt find him; to be a God hearing and answering prayer, gracious and merciful, ready to

help and deliver:

if they seek him with all their heart and with all their soul; sincerely and affectionately.

2. K&D, “From thence Israel would come to itself again in the time of deepest misery, like the

prodigal son in the gospel (Luk_15:17), would seek the Lord its God, and would also find Him if

it sought with all its heart and soul (cf. Deu_6:5; Deu_10:12).

3. Deuteronomy 4:29-31

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. - Jeremiah 29:13

TODAY IN THE WORD

One of the horrors of modern-day persecution against Christians is the practice of child slavery

in the north African nation of Sudan. The radical Muslim dictatorship that seized power in 1989

has been sponsoring raids against Christian villages in the south. Thousands of children and

other young people have been kidnapped in these attacks and taken north to be sold to Muslim

masters. One young man who was recently rescued said that after seven years in bondage, he had

almost forgotten his family. Thankfully, his family never forgot him or abandoned their efforts to

bring him home.

What a picture of the tragedy that befell Israel hundreds of years after Moses! The people were

not innocent victims like the child slaves in Sudan. But their land was attacked and devastated,

and they were carried off into bondage in faraway countries all because they allowed themselves

to forget God.

On the edge of Canaan, in his final message to God's people, Moses looked far ahead and saw the

coming danger. The same spirit of rebellion and disobedience that plagued Israel from the

Exodus to the conquest of Canaan manifested itself many years later.

Seven hundred years after Moses, the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by the

Assyrians. More than a century later, Judah would fall to the Babylonians. But even in their exile,

the people of God were never far from His heart and mind.

What was this cord of faithfulness that connected God to His people which would give them hope,

even in captivity? It was His covenant promise made to Abraham, an oath that was still in force

because God is a gracious Father who never forgets His promises or reneges on His Word.

These verses may have seemed like a distant issue to the people listening to Moses. But by

proclaiming them, and then later writing them down, Moses planted a seed of hope that would

one day come to fruition.

That day was centuries later, when God's people called to Him from foreign places and He heard

their pleas. It took defeat and slavery to rid Israel of its love for idols, and it took a gracious God

to forgive and restore His chosen ones.

TODAY ALONG THE WAY

Although we may not bear the marks of physical slavery under foreign masters, we were once

slaves too. We were slaves to sin. Jesus said so Himself (John 8:34). We were servants in the

'dominion of darkness' (Col. 1:13-note), under the control of Satan. But even while we were

oblivious to God, He did not forget us. In grace He rescued us from our helpless spiritual

condition and transferred us to the kingdom of Christ. Do you need a bright spot in your week?

Consider where you were and where Christ has brought you!”

30 When you are in distress and all these things havehappened to you, then in later days you will return to the

LORD your God and obey him.

1. Gill, “When thou art in tribulation,.... In a strange land, in the power of a foreign enemy, and

used ill:

and all these things are come upon thee; captivity, thraldom, hard labour, and want of the

necessaries of life:

even in the latter days: in their present captivity for the rejection of the Messiah:

if thou turn to the Lord thy God; as the Jews will when they are converted and brought to a sense

of their sin, and of their need of Christ, and seek to him as their Saviour, as they will do in the

latter day, Hos_3:5.

and shall be obedient unto his voice; not of the law only, but of the Gospel also, proclaiming

peace, pardon, righteousness, and salvation by him whom they have pierced.

2. K&D, “Deu_4:30-31

“In tribulation to thee (in thy trouble), all these things (the threatened punishments and

sufferings) will befall thee; at the end of the days (see at Gen_49:1) thou wilt turn to Jehovah thy

God, and hearken to His voice.” With this comprehensive thought Moses brings his picture of the

future to a close. (On the subject-matter, vid., Lev_26:39-40.) Returning to the Lord and

hearkening to His voice presuppose that the Lord will be found by those who earnestly seek Him;

“for (Deu_4:31) He is a merciful God, who does not let His people go, nor destroy them, and who

does not forget the covenant with the fathers” (cf. Lev_26:42 and Lev_26:45). הרּפה, to let loose, to

withdraw the hand from a person (Jos_10:6).

3. Jamison, “in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God — either towards the destined

close of their captivities, when they evinced a returning spirit of repentance and faith, or in the

age of Messiah, which is commonly called “the latter days,” and when the scattered tribes of

Israel shall be converted to the Gospel of Christ. The occurrence of this auspicious event will be

the most illustrious proof of the truth of the promise made in Deu_4:31.

4. Clarke, “When thou art in tribulation in the latter days - Are not these the times spoken of?

And is there not still hope for Israel? Could we see them become zealous for their own law and

religious observances - could we see them humble themselves before the God of Jacob - could we

see them conduct their public worship with any tolerable decency and decorum - could we see

them zealous to avoid every moral evil, inquiring the road to Zion, with their faces thitherward;

then might we hope that the redemption of Israel was at hand: but alas! there is not the most

distant evidence of any thing of the kind, except in a very few solitary instances. They are,

perhaps, in the present day, more lost to every sacred principle of their own institutions than they

have ever been since their return from the Babylonish captivity. By whom shall Jacob arise? for

in this sense he is small - deeply fallen, and greatly degraded.

31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will notabandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your

ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.

The LORD Is God

1. Gill, “ For the Lord thy God is a merciful God,.... In Christ, in whom he has proclaimed his

name as such, of which Moses had a comfortable view, Exo_34:6 and therefore could attest it

from his own knowledge and experience:

he will not forsake thee; though in a strange country, but bring them from thence into their own

land again, and favour them with his gracious presence in his house and ordinances:

neither destroy thee; from being a people; and in a very wonderful manner are they preserved

among the nations of the earth to this day:

nor forget the covenant of thy fathers, which he sware unto them; that a Saviour should come

and turn away ungodliness from them, and take away their sins; see Rom_11:26.

32 Ask now about the former days, long before your time,

from the day God created human beings on the earth; askfrom one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so

great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever

been heard of?

1. Gill, “For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee,.... Inquire into and consult

the annals of former times, of ages past:

since the day that God created man upon the earth; trace them quite up to the creation of the

world, and men in it:

and ask from the one side of heaven to the other; traverse the whole globe, and examine the

records of every nation in it in both hemispheres:

whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? whether

they can give any account of anything seen, heard, or done like what follows; suggesting that they

cannot furnish out an instance to be mentioned with it.

2. K&D, “Deu 4:32-34 -

But in order to accomplish something more than merely preserving the people from apostasy

by the threat of punishment, namely, to secure a more faithful attachment and continued

obedience to His commands by awakening the feeling of cordial love, Moses reminds them again

of the glorious miracles of divine grace performed in connection with the election and deliverance

of Israel, such as had never been heard of from the beginning of the world; and with this strong

practical proof of the love of the true God, he brings his first address to a close. This closing

thought in Deu_4:32 is connected by ּכי (for) with the leading idea in Deu_4:31. “Jehovah thy God

is a merciful God,” to show that the sole ground for the election and redemption of Israel was the

compassion of God towards the human race. “For ask now of the days that are past, from the day

that God created man upon the earth, and from one end of the heaven unto the other, whether so

great a thing has ever happened, or anything of the kind has been heard of:” i.e., the history of all

times since the creation of man, and of all places under the whole heaven, can relate no such

events as those which have happened to Israel, viz., at Sinai (Deu_4:33; cf. Deu_4:12). From this

awfully glorious manifestation of God, Moses goes back in Deu_4:34 to the miracles with which

God effected the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. “Or has a god attempted (made the attempt) to

come and take to himself people from people (i.e., to fetch the people of Israel out of the midst of

the Egyptian nation), with temptations (the events in Egypt by which Pharaoh's relation to the

Lord was put to the test; cf. Deu_6:22 and Deu_7:18-19), with signs and wonders (the Egyptian

plagues, see Exo_7:3), and with conflict (at the Red Sea: Exo_14:14; Exo_15:3), and with a strong

hand and outstretched arm (see Exo_6:6), and with great terrors?” In the three points mentioned

last, all the acts of God in Egypt are comprehended, according to both cause and effect. They

were revelations of the omnipotence of the Lord, and produced great terrors (cf. Exo_12:30-36).

33 Has any other people heard the voice of God speakingout of fire, as you have, and lived?

1. Gill, “Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of fire,.... None ever

heard the voice of God as they did, much less speaking such words as they heard, and still less out

of the midst of fire, which was their case, Deu_4:12.

as thou hast heard, and live? which was stranger still, when they might have expected they

should, and doubtless feared they would be, as it was wonderful they were not, consumed by it.

2. Clarke, “Did ever people hear the voice of God - It seems to have been a general belief that if

God appeared to men, it was for the purpose of destroying them; and indeed most of the

extraordinary manifestations of God were in the way of judgment; but here it was different; God

did appear in a sovereign and extraordinary manner; but it was for the deliverance and support

of the people.

1. They heard his voice speaking with them in a distinct, articulate manner.

2. They saw the fire, the symbol of his presence, the appearances of which demonstrated it to

be supernatural.

3. Notwithstanding God appeared so terrible, yet no person was destroyed, for he came, not to

destroy, but to save.

34 Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation

out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders,

by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or bygreat and awesome deeds, like all the things the LORD

your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

1. Gill, “Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation,.... As

he now had done, namely, the nation of Israel out of the nation of the Egyptians; this he not only

had assayed to do, but had actually done it; whereas no such instance like it could be produced,

and especially as done in the manner this was:

by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war; the word "temptations" may be

considered as a general word, as Aben Ezra thinks, and may signify the temptations by signs, &c.

or the various essays and trials, ways, means, and methods taken by the Lord to bring about the

event; by "signs" may be meant those which were required of Moses, and done by him before the

people of Israel, and before Pharaoh, as proofs of his mission from the Lord, Exo_4:1 and by

"wonders", the ten plagues of Egypt, which were done by a supernatural and miraculous

operation, and were amazing things; see Psa_78:11; and by "war", either the slaying of the

firstborn, with the destruction of the judges and gods of Egypt, as Aben Ezra; or the Lord's

fighting for Israel at the Red sea, as Jarchi; he saved them and destroyed the Egyptians, and

showed himself to be a man of war, Exo_14:14.

and by a mighty hand and stretched out arm; phrases frequently used when this affair is spoken

of, and are expressive of the mighty power of God in the above instances, and in the issue of

them, bringing Israel out of Egypt; though Aben Ezra interprets it of the pillar of fire and cloud

in which the Lord went before them:

and by great terrors; which the same writer interprets of the drowning of Pharaoh and his host in

the sea, and dividing it for Israel; but may be understood not only of the terrors which possessed

him and his people then, but at other times, especially at the time of the thunder and lightning,

and when they sat in thick darkness, and particularly when all their firstborn were slain; see

Deu_26:8,

according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes; among the men of

Egypt, as the above writer, Pharaoh and his courtiers: the above things were done as before them

for their terror, so before Israel for their encouragement.

35 You were shown these things so that you might know

that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other.

1. Gill, “Unto thee it was showed,.... What the Lord did in Egypt:

that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God, there is none else besides him; that he is the one

only living and true God, and there is no other: this phrase is often used by the Prophet Isaiah, to

express the same great article of faith.

2. You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God. - Deuteronomy 4:35

TODAY IN THE WORD

Fanny Crosby was the great American hymn writer who lived in blindness throughout her long

life. Dwight Moody once asked this amazing woman what she would ask for if God granted her

one request. She replied that she would ask God to allow her to stay blind, so the first thing her

eyes saw would be the face of Jesus.

Fanny Crosby was a unique person who 'saw' God in a way that no sighted person could

duplicate. In the same way, Israel was a unique people group that had the opportunity to see God

as no other nation could. Out of all the nations on earth, only Israel saw God do such amazing

works with their own eyes.

The claims Moses made in today's reading were not the gloatings of a human ruler. And they

were not limited to a few recent events or a few years of history. All the way from creation itself to

the giving of the Law at Sinai, nothing this great had ever happened to anyone but Israel.

With these words Moses turned from Israel's future to her past. Each question Moses asked

demanded the same answer: No, this had never happened before. No other nation had seen God's

wonders and signs and mighty power the way Israel had seen them. No other people could point

to a divine birth for their nation. Israel alone was the apple of God's eye.

Why did Moses want the Israelites to consider their miraculous origin? So that they might

understand the greatness and uniqueness of their God that He alone is God among all the so-

called gods of this world.

The knowledge Moses wanted to impart was not merely intellectual, though. This was much more

than a history lesson or an attempt to fire up the people for conquest. Moses rehearsed God's

greatness toward Israel so that the people would love and fear Him and desire to keep His

commandments.

God loved Israel's forefathers and promised by a covenant to love their descendants after them.

The Israelites were not the recipients of God's covenant love because they were better or stronger

or smarter than anyone else. It was because they had a gracious God who chose to set His love

upon them.

TODAY ALONG THE WAY

Fanny Crosby's fruitful life reflected her deep commitment to Christ.

Can we say the same of ourselves? For example, take a look at your schedule for the month of

August. Does it reflect your commitment to serve and to obey Christ, or are your days consumed

with 'just getting by?' Obeying Christ means that everything we do should be done in His name

(Col. 3:23-note) and for His glory. Renewing your commitment to this priority would be a great

way for you to end the summer.

3. Ron Ritchie, “It was Monday, June 26, l995. Anne Marie and I were having breakfast in one of

our favorite restaurants in Half Moon Bay. I picked up the front page of the San Francisco

Chronicle and saw this headline: "Religions of World Celebrate with Prayers to Dozen Deities."

This celebration took place in San Francisco in honor of the fiftieth birthday of the United

Nations, which had its beginnings in this city. The article began, "Political and spiritual leaders

filled Grace Cathedral yesterday...to challenge the religions of the world to end violence and

oppression in the name of God. Bright sunlight illuminated the magnificent stained-glass

windows of the cool, cavernous cathedral on San Francisco's Nob Hill as prayers, chants and

incantations were offered to a dozen deities."

Reporter Don Lattin went on to say that the room was filled with Anglicans, Sikhs, Buddhists,

Hindus, Mormons, Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Costumed children from around the world

participated in the interfaith worship service by bringing flowers to the altar and co-mingling

holy water from the Ganges, the Amazon, the Red Sea, the Jordan River, and other sacred

streams, and pouring them into a "bowl of unity," according to a parallel article in the San Jose

Mercury News. The whole worship service was directed toward bringing peace to the world by

reversing the use of religion to justify war, hate, violence, aggression, and intolerance. We can see

in this celebration well-intended but deceived religious leaders and followers hungering for a

variety of gods and goddesses to become active in the affairs of mankind as they offered up their

prayers, chants, and incantations.

However, in the midst of this united religious celebration, the worshipers were challenged by a

small group of Christians who stood across the street holding up a sign that read in part, "...No

king but Jesus." In a world that hungers for one world religion and that is open to joining

together in worshiping dozens of deities, the followers of Jesus Christ are challenged to proclaim

more clearly than ever to all who are willing to listen: There is only one living God in this world,

and his names are Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace-King

Jesus. He is the only one who is powerful enough to lovingly deliver us from the kingdom of

darkness; place us into the kingdom of light; wash away our sin and guilt; and then give us the

gifts of eternal life, the Holy Spirit, and the wholesomeness, peace, and joy we have been looking

for all our lives.”

36 From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline

you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heardhis words from out of the fire.

1. Gill, “Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee,.... Thunder is

the voice of God, and by which he instructs men in the greatness of his power, Job_26:14, &c.

unless his voice in giving the law, which was for the instruction of Israel, is meant; for that was

heard on earth, on Mount Sinai, to which the following refers:

and upon earth he showed thee his great fire; on Mount Sinai, which burned with it:

and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire; the ten commands, and therefore may

well be called, a fiery law; see Deu_4:12.

2. K&D, “But the Lord had spoken to Israel chiefly down from heaven (cf. Exo_20:19 [22]), and

that out of the great fire, in which He had come down upon Sinai, to chastise it. יּסר does not mean

“to instruct the people with regard to His truth and sovereignty,” as Schultz thinks, but “to take

them under holy discipline” (Knobel), to inspire them with a salutary fear of the holiness of His

ways and of His judgments by the awful phenomena which accompanied His descent, and

shadowed forth the sublime and holy majesty of His nature.

37 Because he loved your ancestors and chose their

descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt byhis Presence and his great strength,

1. Gill, “And because he loved thy fathers,.... Not their immediate fathers, whose carcasses fell in

the wilderness, and entered not into the good land because of their unbelief, but their more

remote fathers or ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who had some singular testimonies of

the love of God to them, Abraham is called their friend of God, and Isaac was the son of promise

in whom the seed was called; and Jacob is particularly said to be loved by God, when Esau was

hated:

therefore he chose their seed after them; not to eternal life and salvation, but to the enjoyment of

external blessings and privileges, to be called by his name, and to set up his name and worship

among them, and to be a special people to him above all people on the earth, as to outward

favours, both civil and ecclesiastical:

and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt; which was done not only in

the sight of the Egyptians openly, they not daring to hinder them, as the wonders wrought to

oblige them to let them go out, done in the sight of the Israelites as before observed, but in the

sight of God, he going before them in the pillar of cloud and fire, smiling upon them the

Israelites, and looking with a frown upon the host of the Egyptians, and conducting the people by

the angel of his presence.

2. K&D, “Deu 4:37-38 -

All this He did from love to the fathers of Israel (the patriarchs): “and indeed because He loved

thy fathers, He chose his seed (the seed of Abraham, the first of the patriarchs) after him, and

brought thee (Israel) out of Egypt by His face with great power, to drive out...and to bring thee, to

give thee their land...so that thou mightest know and take to heart...and keep His laws,” etc. With

regard to the construction of these verses, the clause ותחת ּכי (and because) in Deu_4:37 is not to

be regarded as dependent upon what precedes, as Schultz supposes; nor are Deu_4:37 and

Deu_4:38 to be taken as the protasis, and Deu_4:39, Deu_4:40 as the apodosis (as Knobel

maintains). Both forms of construction are forced and unnatural. The verses form an

independent thought; and the most important point, which was to bind Israel to faithfulness

towards Jehovah, is given as the sum and substance of the whole address, and placed as a

protasis at the head of the period. The only thing that admits of dispute, is whether the apodosis

commences with וּיבחר (“He chose,” Deu_4:37), or only with וּיוצאך (“brought thee out”). Either is

possible; and it makes no difference, so far as the main thought is concerned, whether we regard

the choice of Israel, or simply the deliverance from Egypt, in which that choice was carried into

practical effect, as the consequence of the love of Jehovah to the patriarchs. - The copula ו before

is specially emphatic, “and truly,” and indicates that the sum and substance of the whole תהת

discourse is about to follow, or the one thought in which the whole appeal culminates. It was the

love of God to the fathers, not the righteousness of Israel (Deu_9:5), which lay at the foundation

of the election of their posterity to be the nation of Jehovah's possession, and also of all the

miracles of grace which were performed in connection with their deliverance out of Egypt. Moses

returns to this thought again at Deu_10:15, for the purpose of impressing it upon the minds of the

people as the one motive which laid them under the strongest obligation to circumcise the

foreskin of their heart, and walk in the fear and love of the Lord their God (Deu_10:12.). - The

singular suffixes in זרעו (his seed) and אחריו after him) refer to Abraham, whom Moses had

especially in his mind when speaking of “thy fathers,” because he was pre-eminently the lover of

God (Isa_41:8; 2Ch_20:7), and also the beloved or friend of God (Jam_2:23; cf. Gen_18:17.). “By

His face” points back to Exo_33:14. The face of Jehovah was Jehovah in His personal presence,

in His won person, who brought Israel out of Egypt, to root out great and mighty nations before

it, and give it their land for an inheritance. “As this day” (clearly shows), viz., by the destruction

of Sihon and Og, which gave to the Israelites a practical pledge that the Canaanites in like

manner would be rooted out before them. The expression “as this day” does not imply, therefore,

that the Canaanites were already rooted out from their land.

38 to drive out before you nations greater and strongerthan you and to bring you into their land to give it to you

for your inheritance, as it is today.

1. Gill, “To drive out nations from before thee, greater and mightier than thou art,.... The seven

nations of the land of Canaan, which were more in number and mightier in power and strength

than they, and particularly the Amorites, who were already driven out and dispossessed of their

country, even the kingdoms and nations of Sihon and Og:

to bring thee in to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day; referring, as Aben Ezra

observes, to the inheritance of the land of the two kings of the Amorites, which the tribes of

Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, were put into the possession of already.

39 Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the

LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

There is no other.

1. Gill, “Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart,.... Own and acknowledge it now

with thy mouth, and lay it up and consider it in thine heart hereafter, as a truth of the greatest

importance to be professed and held fast, and to be thought of and meditated upon continually,

and never to be forgotten:

that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath; that he has made both, and

is the possessor and Lord of them, and does what he pleases with them; that the one is his throne,

his dwelling place, and the other his footstool; and that the inhabitants of both are his creatures,

and under his authority and command, and he can dispose of them as he pleases:

there is none else; no God in heaven or in earth beside him.

2. “Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the

earth below. There is no other. - Deuteronomy 4:39

TODAY IN THE WORD

n many jobs, it’s difficult to imagine life without a photocopier. So it might be hard for you to

believe that this vital piece of office equipment has been around less than fifty years. In 1959,

Xerox introduced its 914 copier machine, the first to make copies on plain paper. The 914 was a

quick success, and soon “Xerox” became a virtual synonym for “copy.”

When it comes to worship, however, nothing but the “real thing” will do! The great “I Am” is the

one true God, and all the idols of the nations are just cheap copies. As he concluded his first

sermon (in today’s reading), this was the key lesson Moses wanted Israel to learn from his

historical review.

God is not any created thing--He is the Creator. He is transcendent. At Sinai, the nation had seen

that they could not fashion anything into an image for worship, so they should not be deceived

and drawn into the Canaanite religions.

God is also personal, and He had put Himself on display, so to speak, in His actions toward

Israel. He rescued them from slavery. He made a personal covenant and was personally present

with them. He sovereignly chose them, provided for their needs, and gave them holy laws.

His uniqueness is the most important truth the people were to remember and obey. This truth is

spelled out in the verses just before the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:3, 4, 5, 6). The metaphor of a

furnace conveys that the period of slavery in Egypt was a time of purification, or preparation,

against the corruption of idolatry, to be the Lord’s special inheritance (Dt 4:20; cf. Dt 8:2, 3, 4, 5).

If they fail to do this--after all, that was the historical pattern--they’ll be punished, but when they

wholeheartedly repent and return to God, He’ll show mercy.

TODAY ALONG THE WAY

Who is like unto our Lord? He and He alone is God! Respond to this truth from today’s

devotional with heartfelt worship. Seek out hymns and choruses that exalt God’s greatness and

lift up His name. We might suggest such songs as “O Worship the King,” “Glorify Thy Name,”

“O Magnify the Lord,” and “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty.” Singing these could be part

of your personal worship time, or an experience you share with your family or small group.

3. Henry, “He urges the greatness, glory, and goodness, of God. Did we consider what a God he is

with whom we have to do, we should surely make conscience of our duty to him and not dare to

sin against him. He reminds them here, [1.] That the Lord Jehovah is the one and only living and

true God. This they must know and consider, Deu_4:39. There are many things which we know,

but are not the better for, because we do not consider them, we do not apply them to ourselves,

nor draw proper inferences from them. This is a truth so evident that it cannot but be known,

and so influential that, if it were duly considered, it would effectually reform the world, That the

Lord Jehovah he is God, an infinite and eternal Being, self-existent and self-sufficient, and the

fountain of all being, power, and motion - that he is God in heaven above, clothed with all the

glory and Lord of all the hosts of the upper world, and that he is God upon earth beneath, which,

though distant from the throne of his glory, is not out of the reach of his sight or power, and

though despicable and mean is not below his care and cognizance. And there is none else, no true

and living God but himself. All the deities of the heathen were counterfeits and usurpers; nor did

any of them so much as pretend to be universal monarchs in heaven and earth, but only local

deities. The Israelites, who worshipped no other than the supreme Numen - Divinity, were for ever

inexcusable if they either changed their God or neglected him.

40 Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving

you today, so that it may go well with you and your

children after you and that you may live long in the landthe LORD your God gives you for all time.

1. Gill, “Thou shall keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments,.... All his laws, moral,

ceremonial, and judicial, partly being under obligation to him for all the great and good things

done by him for them before enumerated, and partly and chiefly because he is the Lord God in

heaven and in earth, and has a right to command and ought to be obeyed:

which I command thee this day; in the name of the Lord, and which he repeated, opened, and

explained, and charged them afresh to observe; otherwise they were such that had been given

long ago:

that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee; that they and theirs might enjoy

temporal mercies, and continue in the land of Canaan, and partake of all the blessings in it, as

follows, and of the sanctuary of the Lord, and the privileges of it:

and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for

ever; that is, that they and theirs might live long in the land of Canaan, which the Lord gave for

an inheritance for ever, provided they kept his law, and were obedient to his commands; see

Deu_6:25, and though they have had several interruptions by their captivities, and especially by

their present very long one, yet when they shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David

their king, they shall have their land restored to them again, and shall never more be dispossessed

of it.

2. Keep his decrees and commands . . . so that it may go well with you and your children after

you. - Deuteronomy 4:40

TODAY IN THE WORD

Aspiring preachers have long been taught that even the best sermon falls short if the speaker fails

to call for a response to the truth that has been presented.

Moses made no such mistake in the first of his sermons to the assembled people of Israel. He

called on his hearers to 'take to heart' what they had heard and to 'keep [God's] decrees and

commands.' These are the final words in this first of several powerful messages of warning and

encouragement.

The exhortations of Dt 4:39, 40 grow out of the previous section in which Moses demonstrated

God's unique choice of Israel and His exclusive ability to perform His will. Moses' concern was

for Israel's obedience to God, both in their conduct while capturing Canaan and in their manner

of life once they had settled in the land.

Moses knew what it would take to keep God's people faithful to Him. They had to constantly

remember that there is no God beside the Lord; therefore, no one else could claim their love and

loyalty.

The uniqueness of Israel's God was certainly on Moses' mind. 'Besides Him there is no other'

(Deuteronomy 4:35). Then, to make sure the people got the point, Moses repeated this reminder

(Dt 4:39).

Moses was so fervent in his message because he knew something that few others realized. Israel's

future security and stability depended entirely on the nation's ability to remain true to her God.

Canaan would be full of temptations for the people to worship and serve other gods. And sadly,

God's chosen nation would eventually succumb to these enticements. Moses had a prophetic sense

that Israel was headed for ruin if the people ever took their eyes off the Lord and started

worshiping the gods around them.

There was a great deal at stake here. Obedience to God was, and is, the path to long life and

blessing from generation to generation. Fearing and obeying God alone was not just a theological

requirement for Israel. God had intertwined faithfulness to Him with blessing from Him in such

a way that the two rose or fell together.

TODAY ALONG THE WAY

Providing long-term financial security for one's family is a major industry in America. The Bible

encourages us to provide for tomorrow. But biblical stewardship goes beyond our finances. Have

you ever sat down to list the spiritual assets you want to leave to your children or other important

people in your life? We encourage you to try it and to be specific in your desires. It's an exercise

that will help you focus on what is truly valuable in light of Christ's eternal kingdom. Then turn

your list into a prayer list, asking God to help you lay up spiritual treasure.

Cities of Refuge41 Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan,

1. Gill, “ Then Moses severed three cities,.... To be cities of refuge, according to the command of

God, Num_35:14 this he did when he had conquered the two kingdoms of the Amorites, that God

had given them for an inheritance to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of

Manasseh, Deu_4:38 though Jarchi says, and so other Jewish writers, that persons were not

received into them until the three cities appointed in the land of Canaan were separated for the

like use; See Gill on Num_35:14 and these were:

on this side Jordan, toward the rising sun; on that side of the river on which the plains of Moab

lay, and the kingdoms of the Amorites, and to the east of Jordan: so Jarchi remarks,"on that side

which is on the east of Jordan;''see Jos_20:8.

2. K&D, “Deu 4:41-43 -

Selection of Three Cities of Refuge for Unintentional Manslayers on the East of the Jordan. -

The account of this appointment of the cities of refuge in the conquered land on the east of the

Jordan is inserted between the first and second addresses of Moses, in all probability for no other

reason than because Moses set apart the cities at that time according to the command of God in

Num_35:6, Num_35:14, not only to give the land on that side its full consecration, and thoroughly

confirm the possession of the two Amoritish kingdoms on the other side of the Jordan, but also to

give the people in this punctual observance of the duty devolving upon it an example for their

imitation in the conscientious observance of the commandments of the Lord, which he was now

about to lay before the nation. The assertion that this section neither stood after Num, nor really

belongs there, has a little foundation as the statement that its contents are at variance with the

precepts in Deut 19. “Toward the sunrising” is introduced as a more precise definition; עבר הּירּדן ,

like מזרחה in Num_32:19 and Num_34:15. On the contents of Deu_4:42, comp. Num_35:15. The

three towns that were set apart were Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan. “Bezer in the steppe, (namely) in

the land of the level” (The Amoritish table-land: Deu_3:10). The situation of this Levitical town

and city of refuge, which is only mentioned again in Jos_20:8; Jos_21:36, and 1Ch_6:63, has not

yet been discovered. Bezer was probably the same as Bosor (1 Macc. 5:36), and is possibly to be

seen in the Berza mentioned by Robinson (Pal. App. p. 170). Ramoth in Gilead, i.e., Ramoth-

Mizpeh (comp. Jos_20:8 with Jos_13:26), was situated, according to the Onom., fifteen Roman

miles, or six hours, to the west of Philadelphia (Rabbath-Ammon); probably, therefore, on the site

of the modern Salt, which is six hours' journey from Ammân (cf. v. Raumer, Pal. pp. 265, 266). -

Golan, in Bashan, according to Eusebius (s. v. Gaulon or Golan), was still a very large village in

Batanaea even in his day, from which the district generally received the name of Gaulonitis or

Joan; but it has not yet been discovered again.

42 to which anyone who had killed a person could flee if

they had unintentionally killed a neighbor without maliceaforethought. They could flee into one of these cities and

save their life.

1. Gill, “That the slayer might flee thither,.... For refuge; the slayer of a man, but not any slayer,

but

which should kill his neighbour unawares; by accident to him, without any design and intention

to kill him; ignorantly, as the Septuagint version; and so Onkelos:

and hated him not in times past; it having never appeared that there had been a quarrel between

them, and that the slayer had shown any enmity to the man slain any time before the fact, or bore

a grudge against him, or spite unto him:

and that, fleeing unto one of these cities, he might live; in peace and safety unto his own death, or

unto the death of the high priest, when he was released from his confinement to the city of his

refuge, and might return to his tribe, house, family, and possessions.

43 The cities were these: Bezer in the wilderness plateau,for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites;

and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

1. Gill, “Bezer in the wilderness,.... In Jos_20:8, it is added "upon the plain"; this perhaps was

the wilderness of Moab, in the plains of it, the same with Bozrah, see Jer_48:24 and in the

Apocrypha:"Hereupon Judas and his host turned suddenly by the way of the wilderness unto

Bosora; and when he had won the city, he slew all the males with the edge of the sword, and took

all their spoils, and burned the city with fire,'' (1 Maccabees 5:28)it was in the

plain country of the Reubenites, or lay in that part of the country which was allotted to them, and

which they gave to the Levites, 1Ch_6:78,

and Ramoth in Gilead of the Gadites; it lay in that part of Mount Gilead, and among the cities of

it, which fell to the share of the tribe of Gad, and was by them given to the Levites, 1Ch_6:80, this

city is frequently in Scripture called Ramothgilead; see 1Ki_4:13.

and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites, or "Gaulon", as the Septuagint, and from hence the

country round about was called Gaulanitis; all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, was given to the half

tribe of Manasseh, and out of it this city was given by them to the Levites, 1Ch_6:71, and

appointed a city of refuge: now as these cities were typical of Christ, there may be something

observed in the names of them as agreeing with him. "Bezer" signifies "a fortified place"; Christ

is the fortress, mountain, and place of defence for his people, and strong hold to which the

prisoners of hope turn, the strong tower whither the righteous run and are safe. "Ramoth"

signifies "exaltations"; which may point both at the exaltation of Christ in human nature at the

right hand of God, and the exaltation of his people by him, who are raised by him from a low

estate to sit among princes, and to inherit the throne of glory, and by whom he is exalted in his

person, office, and grace. "Golan" signifies "revealed" or" manifested": so Christ has been

manifest in the flesh, and is revealed to sinners, when they are called by his grace; to whom they

flee for refuge, and lay hold on him, the hope set before them.

Introduction to the Law

44 This is the law Moses set before the Israelites.

1. Gill, “And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel. Not the law concerning

the cities of refuge, but the law of the ten commands repeated in the following chapter; so Jarchi

remarks,"this which he should set in order after this section;''as he does in the next chapter,

where he repeats in order the ten precepts, and makes observations on the manner of the delivery

of them, and urges obedience to them.

2. K&D, “Deu 4:44-49 -

Announcement of the Discourse upon the Law. - First of all, in Deu_4:44, we have the general

notice in the form of a heading: “This is the Thorah which Moses set before the children of Israel;”

and then, in Deu_4:45, Deu_4:46, a fuller description of the Thorah according to its leading

features, “testimonies, statutes, and rights” (see at Deu_4:1), together with a notice of the place

and time at which Moses delivered this address. “On their coming out of Egypt,” i.e., not “after

they had come out,” but during the march, before they had reached the goal of their journeyings,

viz., (Deu_4:46) when they were still on the other side of the Jordan. “In the valley,” as in

Deu_3:29. “In the land of Sihon,” and therefore already upon ground which the Lord had given

them for a possession. The importance of this possession as the first-fruit and pledge of the

fulfilment of the further promises of God, led Moses to mention again, though briefly, the defeat

of the two kings of the Amorites, together with the conquest of their land, just as he had done

before in Deu_2:32-36 and 3:1-17. On Deu_4:48, cf. Deu_3:9, Deu_3:12-17. Sion, for Hermon (see

at Deu_3:9).

45 These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gavethem when they came out of Egypt

1. Gill, “These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments,.... The laws, moral,

ceremonial, and judicial, delivered in the following chapters; which are renewed, repeated, and

explained: which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt; in

the third month after they came from thence these laws were delivered to him at Mount Sinai,

and he declared them to them; and now afresh, near forty years after, repeated them to them in

the plains of Moab.

46 and were in the valley near Beth Peor east of the

Jordan, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who

reigned in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and theIsraelites as they came out of Egypt.

1. Gill, “ On this side Jordan, in the valley, over against Bethpeor,.... Where the Israelites abode

some time; see Deu_3:29,

in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon; which was now conquered, and

in the hands of the Israelites:

whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they came out of Egypt; not as soon as, or

quickly after they came from thence; for it was but a few months ago since this conquest was

made, whereas it was near forty years since they came out of Egypt.

47 They took possession of his land and the land of Og

king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan.

1. Gill, “And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan,.... Seized upon them,

and took them as their own, and divided them for an inheritance among two of their tribes and

half another:

two kings of the Amorites; which is more than once observed, that it might be taken notice of that

these were of the nations of the Canaanites Israel were to root out, and possess their land:

which were on this side Jordan, toward the sun rising; which lands and kingdoms lay to the east

of Jordan, on that side of it on which were the plains of Moab, where Moses and Israel now were.

48 This land extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon

Gorge to Mount Sirion[b] (that is, Hermon),

1. Gill, “ From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon,.... A city of Moab, which was

situated on the bank of the river Arnon, that was on the border of Moab, Deu_2:36,

even unto Mount Sion, which is Hermon; the meaning is, that the lands of these two kings

conquered by Israel reached from the city Aroer on the river Arnon to Mount Hermon, the one

being the southern, the other the northern boundary of them. Here Hermon has another name

Sion, and is to be carefully distinguished from Mount Zion near Jerusalem; it lying in a different

country, and being written with a different letter in the Hebrew language. In the Septuagint

version it is called Seon, and by the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem the mount of snow; See

Gill on Deu_3:9.

49 and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far

as the Dead Sea,[c] below the slopes of Pisgah.

1. Gill, “ And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward,.... The plains of Moab, on that side of

Jordan to the east:

even unto the sea of the plain; the sea of Sodom, the salt sea:

under the springs of Pisgah; that rose from Mount Pisgah, the same with Ashdothpisgah,

Deu_3:17.