Chapter 4

 

LITV

Deu 4:1  And now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the judgments which I am teaching you to do, so that you may live and go in, and possess the land which Jehovah the God of your fathers is giving to you. 

Deu 4:2  You shall not add to the Word which I command you, nor take from it, to keep the commandments of Jehovah your God which I command you. 

Deu 4:3  Your eyes have seen that which Jehovah has done in Baal-peor. For Jehovah your God has destroyed them from among you, the men that followed Baal-peor. 

Deu 4:4  And you who held fast to Jehovah your God are alive today, all of you. 

Deu 4:5  Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, as Jehovah my God has commanded me, to do them, in the midst of the land where you are going in, to possess it, 

Deu 4:6  and you shall keep and do them, for it shall be your wisdom and your understanding before the eyes of the peoples who hear all these statutes. And they shall say, This great nation is a people wise and understanding. 

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

Deu 4:8  And who is a great nation whose statutes and judgments are as righteous as all this Law which I set before you today? 

Deu 4:9  Only, be on guard for yourself and keep your soul carefully, that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen; and that they not depart from your heart all the days of your life. And you shall make them known to your sons, and to your sons' sons. 

Deu 4:10  The day that you stood before Jehovah your God in Horeb, when Jehovah said to me, Gather the people to Me, and I will make them hear My Words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they live on the earth; and that they may teach their sons. 

Deu 4:11  And you drew near and stood below the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of the heavens, darkness, cloud and thick gloom. 

Deu 4:12  And Jehovah spoke to you out of the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you did not see a form, only a voice. 

Deu 4:13  And He declared His covenant to you which He has commanded you to do, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 

Deu 4:14  And Jehovah commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, for you to do them in the land which you shall pass over to possess it. 

Deu 4:15  Therefore you shall carefully watch over your souls, for you have not seen any likeness in the day Jehovah spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 

Deu 4:16  that you not deal corruptly, and make for yourselves a graven image, a likeness of any figure, the form of a male or female, 

Deu 4:17  the form of any animal in the earth; the form of any winged bird that flies in the heavens; 

Deu 4:18  the form of any creeping thing on the ground; the form of any fish in the waters under the earth; 

Deu 4:19  and that you not lift up your eyes towards the heavens and shall see the sun, and the heavens, and you be drawn away and worship them, and serve them; which Jehovah your God has allotted to all the peoples under all the heavens. 

Deu 4:20  And Jehovah has taken you, and has brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people to Him, an inheritance, as it is this day. 

Deu 4:21  And Jehovah was angry with me because of your words, and swore I would not

 

pass over the Jordan, and that I might not go into the good land which Jehovah your God is

giving to you as an inheritance. 

Deu 4:22  For I will not be in this land; I shall not pass over the Jordan. But you shall pass over, and shall possess this good land. 

Deu 4:23  Be on guard for yourselves, that you not forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which He has made with you, and make to yourselves a graven image, a likeness of anything which Jehovah your God has forbidden you. 

Deu 4:24  For Jehovah your God is a consuming fire; He is a jealous God. 

Deu 4:25  When you father sons and son's sons, and you have been long in the land, and have dealt corruptly, and have made a graven image, a likeness of anything, and have done evil in the sight of Jehovah your God, to provoke Him to anger; 

Deu 4:26  I call the heavens and the earth to witness against you today that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land to which you go over the Jordan to possess it; you shall not prolong your days on it, but shall utterly be destroyed. 

Deu 4:27  And Jehovah shall scatter you among the peoples, and you shall be left few in number among the nations to which Jehovah shall lead you away. 

Deu 4:28  And there you shall serve other gods, the work of man's hands, wood and stone, which cannot see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 

Deu 4:29  And if you shall seek Jehovah your God from there, then you shall find Him, if you seek Him with your whole heart, and with all your soul, 

Deu 4:30  in your distress, when all these things have found you, in the latter days, then you shall return to Jehovah your God, and shall listen to His voice. 

Deu 4:31  For Jehovah your God is a merciful God. He will not forsake you, nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. 

Deu 4:32  For ask now of the days past which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the heavens to the other end of the heavens, whether there has been a thing as great as this, or has anything like it been heard. 

Deu 4:33  Has a people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and lived? 

Deu 4:34  Or has God gone forth to take to Himself a nation from the midst of a nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Jehovah your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 

Deu 4:35  To you it was revealed, so that you might know that Jehovah is God, and no one else besides Him. 

Deu 4:36  He made you hear His voice out of the heavens, that He might discipline you; and He made you to see His great fire on earth; and you heard His Word from the midst of the fire. 

Deu 4:37  And because He loved your fathers, and chose their seed after them, and brought you out with His presence, with His great power, out of Egypt, 

Deu 4:38  in order to drive out nations greater and mightier than you from before you, to bring you in, to give their land for an inheritance, as it is this day; 

Deu 4:39  know today, and turn back your heart to it, that Jehovah, He is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. 

Deu 4:40  And you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am commanding

 

you today, so that it may be well with you, and with your sons after you, and so that you may prolong your days on the earth, which Jehovah our God is giving to you all the days. 

 

Deu 4:41  Then Moses separated three cities beyond the Jordan, toward the sunrising, 

Deu 4:42  that the manslayer might flee there, he who killed his neighbor unawares, and did not hate him in times before, and that he fleeing to one of these cities might live: 

Deu 4:43  Bezer in the wilderness, in the tableland, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites. 

Deu 4:44  And this is the Law which Moses set before the sons of Israel; 

Deu 4:45  these are the testimonies and the statutes and the ordinances which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel when they came out of Egypt; 

Deu 4:46  beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel struck when they came out of Egypt. 

Deu 4:47  And they took possession of his land, and the land of Og the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, toward the sunrising; 

Deu 4:48  from Aroer, which is on the edge of the river of Arnon, even to Mount Sion, which is Hermon; 

Deu 4:49  and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the Slopes of Pisgah. 

Main Point(s): After covering some history, Moses breaks into a simple lesson on faith. It’s foundation is manifested in obedience to a structured law, but is rooted in the subject’s ability to DESIRE it (thus the statements about the heart).

1.       What directions are given to the people? (1-2) They are told to LISTEN (Pay Heed) to the laws, commands, and testimonies. There is an implication that they need to be obeyed. This is a direct contingency for God granting them the land. They are not to change ANY of the statutes he dispenses.

 

2.       What does keeping God’s laws show (6)? Explain.  Verse six is preceded with an example of foolishness from Num.25 when some men of the camp decided to commit sexual sin with Moabite women. 24000 fell because of it. By keeping/doing God’s laws, the people will exhibit wisdom  (and be seen by other nations as such). Unlike the rebellious behavior, Israel will be more subdued, practicing self-control and justice. These things are not to be taken for granted. It speaks volumes concerning the peoples who inhabited the land.

3.       What two things make being God’s people special (7-8)? No God-governed people have ever had their god reveal himself as Jehovah did for Israel. The evidence was just too strong to refute among the surrounding nations. Jehovah God is a living active God! Jehovah’s justice has no cracks or weaknesses. Anyone under its care can expect equity. All other gods are simply man-made fallacies.

4.       Since the people have these blessings, what are they to do (9-10)? Do not forget them! Which is a command to instruct the children of how God dealt directly with them and how He sealed His covenant with laws and commands. The directive goes deeper than just remembering. “…that they not depart from your heart all the days of your life.” This requires an introspective consideration….this is faith. It requires a specific admittance to vulnerability …..I need God.

 

5.       What happened at Mt Sinai (Horeb) (11-14)? Why does Moses remind the people of this?  Ex 19/20 – God dispenses the 10 commandments. The overall trajectory is to leave Israel without excuse when it eventually falls away. There can be no occasion to accuse God. These people WITNESSED GOD and now Jehovah is delivering His promises….but these promises have contingencies.

6.       What were the people to learn about how God revealed Himself (15-19)? What warning is given? Moses iterates hat God spoke to them out of the fire, and did not appear as any living creature that can be made into an idol. Thus if/when Israel moves toward idolatry, God cannot be accused. More to the point, God makes His word the focus….that is where the power is….in His words.

7.       What were the people to know about God and about who they are (20-24)? Jehovah is their deliverer. He has made Israel an inheritance to Himself and prophetically to the world. They are: “to be a people to Him.” The implication here is “association.” They are to represent God to the world. These laws are not just about obedience, it about becoming MORE LIKE GOD.

8.       What will happen if the people disobey (25-31)? But then what will God do? They shall be “utterly destroyed, and scattered among other nations….their numbers will diminish.”
God will respond to them when they exhibit faith again and LISTEN. Notice again, the most important focus here is listening. It is God’s words that His children focus on. “you shall return to Jehovah your God” is manifested by “listening” to God again, which is manifested through actions (obedience).

9.       Why did God reveal Himself as He did in Egypt and in the wilderness (32-40)? 35 “so that you might know that Jehovah is God, and no one else besides Him. “ 36-“He made you hear His voice out of the heavens, that He might discipline you”  37- “because He loved your fathers, and chose their seed after them”  38-“to bring you in, to give their land for an inheritance” ----These are evidences of WHO is in charge. It is ultimately tied to “the fathers” in their minds, but from a messianic perspective, the mission is MUCH BIGGER. Being a representative of God is a mission of perpetuating the WORD of God. Nothing has changed in this regard even after the messiah!

 

Additional:
A word study of the words command, statutes, ordinances, law, judgments etc does not reveal anything unusual. The implication of these words is very clear, God wants His people to do, and not do specific things. What does that say about humans (when left to our own devices)?
Notice that this is very much a testimonial procedure meant to seal the covenant between God and His people. All power is attributed to God. Moses makes the case for the evidence of that power from what they have SEEN and HEARD. He leaves no room for excuse.