Deuteronomy 4: Be Careful to Observe the Commandments of God
1 “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh God of your fathers is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what Yahweh did at Baal Peor; for Yahweh your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor. 4 But you who held fast to Yahweh your God are alive today, every one of you. 5 Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess.
“With this Moses passes from referring to what God had done for Israel to admonish Israel as to what they had to do as the subjects of God and the recipients of his favor.” (The Pulpit Commentaries)
“‘And now, O Israel, harken to the statutes,’ the laws which concerned the worship and service of God— ‘and the judgments,’ the laws concerning their duty to men. So these two comprehend both tables, and the whole law of God.” (Joseph Benson) — “For this doctrine stands not in bare knowledge, but in practice of life.” (Geneva Study Bible)—“‘that you may live, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh God of your fathers is giving you.’ The promises vouchsafed to them had reference to temporal things. These could only be secured by obedience.” (H. J. Hastings, M. A.) “The bones of the disobedient were strewn through the wilderness, but the obedient, who did cleave unto the LORD, did live. Not only did they live, but they went in to possess the land. God gives His best in life and in possessions to those who faithfully follow Him and wholly obey Him.” (Wells of Living Water) “This brings to mind Paul's address to the elders of Ephesus in Acts 20:1-38, where he tells them, ‘I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God’ (v.27). This was in his last message to them, as well.” (L. M. Grant) Do it and live.
Do not make new commandments of their own, and join them to that of God [add], "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…” (John Gill), as “rationalistic Christendom” (Arno Gaebelein) does. Neither diminish or change the laws of God. “This would be to debase revelation, and treat the divine law as a defective production of man, that needed additions and retrenchments.” (Joseph Sutcliffe) “Not in practice; so some: Ye shall not add, by committing the evil which the law forbids; nor diminish, by omitting the good which the law requires.” (The Biblical Illustrator)— “that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you.’ There is no way to keep a any law, much less a moral code that is tainted. It must first be pure… and then studied and learned before it can be kept.
The penalty of disobedience entails judgment of God. This was no natural cause. “’Your eyes have seen what Yahweh did at Baal Peor for Yahweh your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor. But you who held fast to Yahweh your God are alive today, every one of you.’ The promises granted to us in the gospel relate both to time and to eternity, for ‘godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.’” (H. J. Hastings, M. A.) Sinner, rejoice, if you were baptized into Christ and your soul be united to Him, “must not all spiritual life be derived from this union? Oh! the inexpressible preciousness of those words of Jesus: ‘because I live, ye shall live also.’ John 14:19.” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)
6 “Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7 For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as Yahweh our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him? 8 And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day.”
Your obedience is your wisdom and understanding "in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’" "Not only did the wisdom of a Solomon astonish the queen of Sheba, 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.” (Keil & Delitzsch)
“The Spaniards are said to seem wise and are fools; the French to seem fools and are wise; the Portuguese neither to be wise, nor so much as to seem so; the Italians both to seem wise and to be so. But may not that of the prophet be fitly applied to them all, ‘Behold, they have rejected the Word of the LORD, and what wisdom is in them?’ [Jeremiah 8:9] ’For what nation [is there so] great, who [hath] God [so] nigh unto them, as the LORD our God [is] in all [things that] we call upon him [for]?’ [This speaks not of modern Israel but of that of their fathers— the patriarchs.] Yea, this was it that made them so great a nation, who otherwise were but methe mispar, few in number. This made Moses so passionately cry out, ‘Happy art thou, O Israel! who is like unto thee, O people, saved by the LORD!’ — ’And what nation [is there so] great, that hath statutes and judgments [so] righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?’” (Trapp) “It is an Old Testament form of the New Testament injunction that believers should let their light shine before men, Mat_5:16, These facts cause Moses to exclaim in a fervent, ecstatic appeal.” (Kretzmann)
Morning Repost: Deuteronomy 4: The Preeminence of Torah
9 Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren, 10 especially concerning the day you stood before Yahweh your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’ 11 Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. 12 And Yahweh spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice. 13 So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 And Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.
The giving of Torah on Sinai “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 [that of spiritual Israel] and all heathen religions.” (Keil & Delitzsch)
"For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children." (Romans 9:6b-7a)
“'Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen,' the miracles and the many evidences of God's presence during the years of the wilderness journey, 'and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your son,’ thy children, ‘and thy sons' sons,’ thy grandchildren, ‘especially concerning the day you stood before Yahweh your God in Horeb,’ when the Law was given from Mount Sinai.” (Paul E. Kretzmann)
It was Yahweh’s intention that the torch of faith was to be passed along within the home by true Israelites. And Isaac had the first charge as head of the household. Their duty was “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.” (Jameison-Faussett-Brown) “Great ideas don’t live on just because they are great or because they are true. They live on when they are enshrined in the hearts of the young. Our most treasured religious ideals are always only one generation from extinction.” (Dr. Youngberg)
In the giving of the Ten Commandments, Yahweh Himself had summoned the children of Israel and let them hear His audible voice in speaking them for the end “that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.” They heard His Words but saw no form. “Human beings did not invent Israel’s Law. A holy God had revealed it. It was special revelation [not just for their sakes but for ours]… In Deuteronomy Moses often reminded the parents that they, not the priests or other religious leaders, bore the primary responsibility for educating their children spiritually.” (Dr. Thomas Constable)
“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.” (Matthew Henry) —> “So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.” (13)
And Yahweh gave the statutes and judgments [the ceremonial and the judicial laws] directly to Moses... which allowed the priests and the elders to enforce both tablets—the ones which concerned worship and services to God and those that concerned their duty to men, respectively. He had charged Moses, at that time, to teach them to the children of Israel that they might “observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.” And afterwards, their parents as their federal heads, said, “We will do everything that Yahweh has spoken.” It was ratified with blood, which meant death- the penalty for sin for those who fail to perform it.
It may be argued that this was just for Israel, but they were supposed to share it with the world making spiritual sons and daughters, as a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation." (Exodus 19:6) But when they would not the Father set His King on His holy hill of Zion and declared the decree: "Yahweh has said to Me, You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession." (Psalms 2:6-8)— to whosoever will come according to Torah.
Deuteronomy 4: Mose’s Sermon on Fourth Commandment
15 “Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when Yahweh spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16 lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the m form of any figure: the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. 19 And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which Yahweh your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage. 20 But Yahweh has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day. 21 Furthermore Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I would not cross over the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22 But I must die in this land, I must not cross over the Jordan; but you shall cross over and possess that good land. 23 Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which Yahweh your God has forbidden you. 24 For Yahweh your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
“‘Take careful heed to yourselves,’ as to keep all the laws given them, so particularly to avoid idolatry: ‘for you saw no form when Yahweh spoke to you at 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.” (John Gill)— “‘lest you corrupt yourself,’ that is, your minds with mean [and false] thoughts of God.” (Joseph Benson) It is very easy with images or pictures and scenes of movies to be unable to distinguish between true and false. Bad theology likewise paints false images in the mind's eye. If it is false and affects the alleged character of God, it is an idol.
“Moses lays great stress upon the prohibition to similitudes: not only condemning all improper resemblances, but all resemblances. ‘To what will ye liken me?’ saith the LORD. Isaiah 40:18. How sweet is pure gospel worship.” (Hawker's Poor Man's Comm.) We have a proneness to this evil above others. "This appeareth somewhat in children so delighted with pictures, and in that idolomania of those, of the eastern churches, and of the synagogue of Rome.” (John Trapp) "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth." (John 4:23-24)
When receiving the Ten Commandments “all they had seen was glorious, unearthly fire; ethereal, mysterious, indescribable, untouchable, here, there, and everywhere on the mountain. To try to represent Him in any earthly form or art would be to misrepresent Him and to degrade Him. Thus they were to beware that they made no attempt to make any image of Him, of whatever likeness, however symbolic, not of anything in heaven, or on earth, or under the earth, or in the sea. To do so would be to commit a crime so heinous that it was deserving of instant death (Deuteronomy 27:15; compare Deuteronomy 13:6-11; Deuteronomy 5:8-9; Deuteronomy 12:2-4; Leviticus 26:30). Let them then remember that when they saw Yahweh they saw no manner of form.
These verses reflect a knowledge of the traditions behind Genesis 1, and are a reminder thereby that all these things of which men make images are but God’s creations, and thus not worthy of worship. To represent God in an image is thus to debase Him and limit Him to what is earthly, reducing His transcendence.” (Peter Pett)
“They were to serve only Jehovah for He had brought them forth out of the iron furnace,' [wherein the bricks were made in their Egyptian slavery] to be unto Him a people of inheritance. He had delivered them and made them His own people, therefore, they were to obey Him.” (Arno Gaebelein) “’Furthermore Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes," says Moses again, "and swore that I would not cross over the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance.’ So that you have a privilege above me [the earthly Canaan]; only beware how you provoke him, as I did, through unbelief [and be devoured, losing the heavenly].” (John Trapp)
“‘Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God which He made with you, [that is the Ten Commandments] and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which Yahweh your God has forbidden you for the Lord, thy God, is a consuming 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.” (John Gill)
“When God spoke to Israel at Sinai, His glory appeared ‘like devouring fire on the top of the mount’ (Exodus 24:17); and in allusion to this Moses here calls God ‘a consuming fire.’ He is so to all His enemies, and to all who disobey Him; by severe inflictions He will punish, and, if they persist in their hostility and rebellion, will ultimately destroy them (cp. Deuteronomy 9:3; Isaiah 10:16-18; Amos 5:6; Zephaniah 1:18; Hebrews 12:29).” (The Pulpit Commentary) — “‘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.” (John Gill) “Who, being espoused to you, will be highly incensed against you if you follow after other lovers, or commit whoredom with idols, and will bear no rival or partner.” (Joseph Benson)
Describing the Lord as a consuming fire speaks of His coming Judgement of us and the execution of the penalty attached to His law- death. "In the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die." “For the wages of sin is death.” After the deluge, He promised never to destroy the world again by water. But at the end of time, He will do it by means of fire.
Excerpt from “OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE” by Alonzo T. Jones
The Lord is coming. He is coming with power and great glory. And “our God is a consuming fire.” "Of the times and seasons, you have no need that I should speak; for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape." And though it is true that of the times and seasons you need not that I should speak, there is that connected with His coming, of which it is altogether essential to speak, and to think upon, all the time; and that is, the effect of His coming; for He comes “in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." And all these will be “punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.” 2 Thess. 1:8,9. Again, it is written: “And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.” 2 Thess. 2:8. So when He comes in His glory, it is a consuming glory, burning up all the wicked, and all that have any wickedness about them. Yet again it is written: “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, today the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. . . . And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity.” Isa. 13:9, 11. And “who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth?” Mal. 3:2. That is the question. As He is a consuming fire: and as, when He comes, we shall see Him as He is, we shall have to meet Him as that consuming fire that He is, and there is no escaping it.
When He comes, He is no more of a respecter of persons than before He comes. “There is no respect of persons with God.” Just as certainly as He is as He is; as certainly as He comes as He will; and as certainly as we shall see Him as He is, so certainly will we all— each one of us— be dealt with as we are. There is no change of character, there is no room for change in us in that day.”
Evening Repost: Deuteronomy 4: Idolatry In the Latter Days
25 “When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of Yahweh your God to provoke Him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where Yahweh will drive you. 28 And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. 29 But from there you will seek Yahweh your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to Yahweh your God and obey His voice 31 for Yahweh 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.
Israel would cross over but, in a subsequent generation, they would give way to idolatry and perish from the land. “We know that this was not only a warning, but a prophecy of what actually happen...” (L. M. Grant)... when 'you shall have remained long in the land,’ so that thou thinkest there is no removing thee, thou art so rooted and riveted.” (Trapp)— You “‘shall corrupt [yourselves],’ etc. by superstition and corruption of the true service of God. ’And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations,’ so that His curse will make His former blessings ineffectual, ‘and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.’” (Geneva Study Bible) )— “‘And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.’ The compulsory measures of their tyrannical conquerors would force them into idolatry, so that their choice would become their punishment.” (Jamieson, Faussett, Brown) “Justly are they then sent to the gods whom they have served, Judges 10:14.“ (Matthew Henry)
Moses calls heaven and earth the whole created universe of which they made their idols-- to witness against them. These are "witnesses for God, and when evil comes on those who transgress his Law, they declare His righteousness (Psalms 50:4, 50:6), in that what has befallen the sinner is only what was announced beforehand as the penalty of transgression.” (The Pulpit Commentary)—“that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess,” “‘You shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed’ as Israel— the northern kingdom. “Moses in speaking these words had the first prophetic glimpse of their coming history of idolatry, followed by national ruin.” (Gaebelein) They would 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.” (John Gill) Both the northern and the southern kingdoms— Israel and Judah (the Jews)— would be carried off, respectively— but the remnant of the southern kingdom of Judah would return. as it is written—> “When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to Yahweh your God and obey His voice for Yahweh 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.”
So there is "mercy as well as judgement; and our God, blessed for ever be His holy Name, is something more than ‘a consuming fire and a jealous God.’ True, He is a consuming fire, because He is holy. He is intolerant of evil, and must consume our dross. Moreover, He is jealous because He cannot suffer any rival to have a place in the hearts of those He loves. He must have the whole heart, because He alone is worthy of it, as He alone can fill and satisfy it for ever. And if His people turn away from Him, and go after idols of their own making, they must be left to reap the bitter fruit of their own doings, and to prove, by sad and terrible experience, the truth of these words, ‘their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another.’ But mark how touchingly Moses presents to the people the bright side of things — a brightness springing from the eternal stability of the grace of God, and the perfect provision which that grace has made for all His people's need, from first to last’. ‘But,’ he says — and oh! how lovely are some of the ‘buts’ of holy scripture! — ‘if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul’— exquisite grace! — ‘when thou art in tribulation’— that is the time to find what our God is — ‘and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice.’ — What then? ‘A consuming fire?’ Nay; but ‘the Lord thy God is a merciful God, he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers, which he sware unto them.' (v. 31).” (C. H. Mackintosh Notes)
Yet a greater day came when the Deliverer rose out of Zion, "to turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Compare Isaiah 59:20 with Romans 11:26…. [and soon came the destruction of Jerusalem with it's temple.] Sweet and sour make the best sauce. Promises and menaces mixed, soonest operate upon the heart. The Sun of Righteousness loves not to set in a cloud; nor the God of consolation to leave his children comfortless.” (John Trapp)
Some believe that idolatry is not a threat in the protestant church. Surely “We”— all— “believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of light, true God of true God, begotten not made, Being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things came into being.” Yet there is image-making when people make Jesus into a mere human prophet. “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things." (Rom 1:1-32) “If from thence thou shalt seek Yahweh thy God. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee even in the latter days. The time in which the Lord bids you seek Him, O you unforgiven ones, is, first of all, ‘from thence’—that is, from the condition into which you have fallen, or the position which you now occupy.” (C. H. Spurgeon) There will always be always a remnant of His people who return to Yahweh with their whole hearts. Jesus says today, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” (Rev 3:20)
Deuteronomy 4: To you It Was Shown - Therefore
32 “For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard. 33 Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? 34 Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown, that you might know that Yahweh Himself is God; there is none other besides Him. 36 Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power, 38 driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. 39 Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that Yahweh Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. 40 You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which Yahweh your God is giving you for all time.”
“This thought in Deuteronomy 4:32 is connected by כּי (for) with the leading idea in Deuteronomy 4:31. ‘Jehovah -[Yahweh] 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.” (Keil & Delitzsch) He revealed Himself to and made a nation of Israel to proselytize the nations.
“For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard?’ Historiae suntfidae monitrices; great good use is to be made of history, - this holy history especially, whereof every Word is pure, precious, and profitable.” (John Trapp)
“‘Did any people ever hear the voice of God’—... in a distinct, articulate manner [as a whole]— ‘speaking out of the midst of the fire’ etc.?,.. Notwithstanding God appeared so terrible, yet no person was destroyed, for He came, not to destroy, but to save... ‘Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, ’ etc.? — This was a most extraordinary thing, that a whole people, consisting of upwards of 600,000 effective men, besides women and children, should, without striking a blow, be brought out of the midst of a very powerful nation, to the political welfare of which their services were so essential; that they should be brought out in so open and public a manner; that the sea itself should be supernaturally divided to afford this mighty host a passage; and that, in a desert utterly unfriendly to human life, they should be sustained for forty years. These were such instances of the almighty power and goodness of God as never could be forgotten.—
"'by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?’ 1. Temptations, מסת massoth, from נשה nasah, to try or prove; the miracles which God wrought to try the faith and prove the obedience of the children of Israel. 2. Signs, אתת othoth, from אתה athah, to come near; such signs as God gave them of His continual presence and especial providence, particularly the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire, keeping near to them night and day, and always directing their journeys, showing them when and where to pitch their tents, etc., etc. 3. Wonders, מופתים mophethim, from יפת yaphath, to persuade; persuasive facts and events, says Parkhurst, whether strictly miraculous, and exceeding the powers of nature, as Exodus 7:9; Exodus 11:9, Exodus 11:10; or not, as Isaiah 20:3; Ezekiel 12:6, Ezekiel 12:11.... 4. War, מלחמה milchamah, hostile engagements; such as those with the Amalekites, the Amorites, and the Bashanites, in which the hand of God was seen rather than the hand of man. 5. A Mighty Hand, חזקה יד yad chazakah ; one that is strong to deal its blows, irresistible in its operations, and grasps its enemies hard, so that they cannot escape, and protects its friends so powerfully that they cannot be injured. Neither stratagem nor policy was used in this business, but the openly displayed power of God. 6. A Stretched-Out Arm, ,mrA נטויה זרוע zeroa netuyah ; a series of almighty operations, following each other in quick astonishing succession.... The arm of God, the Divine omnipotence manifested in the most stupendous miracles. The arm of God stretched out, this same omnipotence exerted in a continuation of stupendous miracles, both in the way of judgment and mercy... [ in search of repent sinners] 7. Great Terrors, גדלים מוראים moraim gedolim ; such terror, dismay, and consternation as were produced by the ten plagues, to which probably the inspired penman here alludes...” (Adam Clarke)
“‘Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that Yahweh Himself is God in heaven above and on 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.—>
‘You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which i commanded you this day’— al His laws, moral, ceremonial, and judicial— ‘that it may go well with you and with your children after you’; 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 you may prolong your days in the land which Yahweh your God is giving you for all time’; that is, that they and theirs might live long in the land of Canaan, which the Lord gave for an inheritance forever, provided they kept His law, and were obedient to His commands;… 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 [at His coming], and shall never more be dispossessed of it.” (John Gill)
Deuteronomy 4: Biblical Cities of Refuge- East of Jordan
41 Then Moses set apart three cities on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun, 42 that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without having hated him in time past, and that by fleeing to one of these cities he might live: 43 Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.
These cities of refuge were to support the justice of God. Avengers of blood were relatives with the God-given authority to defend the deaths of their relatives to ensure that justice was done, but human nature caused them to be sort of lynch mob that served as judge and executioner, without a fair trial. Such is God's government in the hands of sinful man.
But the grace herein considered is that towards the Transjordan settlers. God's government is in place in the hearts of His people, Israel. “Here we have a lovely display of the grace of God rising, as it ever does, above human weakness and failure. The two tribes and a half, in choosing their inheritance on this side Jordan, were manifestly stopping short of the proper portion of the Israel of God which lay on the other side of the river of death. But, notwithstanding this failure, God, in His abounding grace, would not leave the poor slayer without a refuge, in the day of his distress. If man cannot come up to the height of God's thoughts, God can come down to the depths of man's need; and so blessedly does He do so, in this case, that the two tribes and a half were to have as many cities of refuge, on this side Jordan, as the nine tribes and a half had in the land of Canaan.” (C. H. Mackintosh) After all, Moses "had represented their conquest of the territory of Sihon and Og as an earnest of their ultimate possession of the whole land of the Amorites.” (The Pulpit Commentaries)
As a similar type, the horns of the altar in the tabernacle in the wilderness had been a place of safety for the innocent. There is no refuge for idolators— transgressors of the first tablet. But by the command of Yahweh before they even crossed the river Jordan and entered the land of Canaan, cities of refuge were established for seemingly apparent violators of of the second tablet. “‘Then Moses set apart [severed] three cities on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun,’ in the territory of the two and one half tribes, ‘that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unintentionally,’ without premeditation, ‘without having hated him in time past,’ and that, fleeing unto one of these cities, he might live, Num_35:9-34– namely, ‘Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.” (Paul E. Kretzmannn)
“Bezer, Ramoth and Golan— BEZER means ‘fortification,’ a place enclosed and safe from outside attack. This speaks of Christ, the only true safety for one who had before been linked with those who crucified Him, but has no attitude of hatred toward Him. Such an one is welcome if he flees to the Lord Jesus, but if he hated him he would not flee to Him. RAMOTH means ‘height,’ speaking of the place of exaltation to which every believer is brought through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, raised up and seated in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). What a contrast to the place of lowest shame and humiliation that was ours because being guilty of the death of Christ! God provides such a refuge for all who have judged themselves in view if the cross of Christ. GOLAN means ‘joy or exultation,’ for when the Lord receives one into the refuge if His presence, then we find more than protection, more than a high position, but ‘joy inexpressible and full of glory’ (1 Peter 1:8). It would be a joy for a manslayer to reach the protection of the city, but for a believer today our joy is not only in our safety, but we ‘rejoice in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 3:3) who is personally the refuge of our souls. This is an exulting joy that lifts us high above the level of our circumstances.” (L. M. Grant)
Praise God! Refuge is available for all sins today. The cites “were then so well chosen, with such attention to the design proposed, that no part of the country was more than half a day’s journey from some one of them.— Behold in these cities of refuge an emblem of the redemption provided in the Gospel. See in the fugitive a fitting likeness of those who flee for refuge to the hope set before them in Christ Jesus. The ancient city of refuge stood on high, easy to be seen of all, holding out safety to those who needed it. Even so hath Jesus Christ been lifted up on the Cross, that the eye of faith may be turned to Him, and the hope of salvation arise in the heart of the penitent believer. The road that led to the cities of refuge was broad, plain, and straight; there was nothing to hinder the feet of him who fled along it. And is the highway of God’s salvation less plain, less open, less direct? On the roads that led to the cities of refuge way marks were set up to guide the feet of the fugitive. Even so are the ministers of Jesus now commissioned to guide the ignorant, and warn the wandering, and to cry aloud to all, ‘This is the way, walk ye in it.’ The gates of the city of refuge stood open day and night. And so do the gates of the city of our God, the New Jerusalem. Christ ever stands ready to embrace in the arms of His mercy the soul that seeketh Him. The city of refuge was bound to support those who fled to it for protection [-if found innocent indeed or in our cases, pardoned]. And in the house of the living God there is bread enough and to spare. The city of refuge was for all, as well for the stranger as for one born in the land. And in Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female.—
The conditions on which he who fled to one of the cities of refuge was entitled to the privileges thereof. First, leaving all behind, be must flee for his life, nor ever stop till sheltered within the appointed walls. Again, when once received within the city, he must not leave it, no, not for a moment, lest the avenger of blood fall upon him, and he die. Have you fled to Christ? Abide, then, in Him: forsake not the safe shelter of His fold: go not from under the shadow of His wing.” (C. Blencowe, M. A.)
For after the Judgment, idolators, as well as hardened haters, shall at last be put to death, according to the first Promise in the Bible- Genesis 2:17.
Deuteronomy 4: Prelude to the First Bar Mitzvah
44 Now this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel. 45 These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which Moses spoke to the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt, 46 on this side of the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel defeated after they came out of Egypt. 47 And they took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, who were on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun, 48 from Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, even to Mount Sion (that is, Hermon), 49 and all the plain on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.
The last generation was dead. The next one had become sons of the commandments, individually and at different times as they came of age. This does mean they were all faithful, only that they were accountable. This accountability is referred to as bar mitz·vah defined in modern terms as “the religious initiation ceremony of a Jewish boy who has reached the age of 13 and is regarded as ready to observe religious precepts and eligible to take part in public worship.” But now is the call to duty.
Moses preached: ”‘Now this is the Torah which Moses set before the children of Israel; ‘ [your parents] and then, in Deuteronomy 4:45, Deuteronomy 4:46, a fuller description of the Torah according to its leading features, ‘testimonies, statutes, and rights’…” (Keil & Delitzsch) This include the Ten Commandments as rehearsed in chapter 5, as well as laws showing the ceremonial and judicial means of reconciliation with God and fellow man upon violations thereof. There must be a way of reparation and forgiveness in this perfect moral code of Yahweh.
These are given “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.,(4:46)…” (Keil & Delitzsch) Thus the address to the next generation was while they were entering the wilderness. So, our attention to the moral code must commence while we are still striving in the flesh to be sons of God. It causes us to flee to Christ for refuge, as the cities of refuge in the law of Moses. God wrote the Commandments with His own finger on stone tablets (Exodus 31:18) And they were placed in the Ark of the Covenant below the mercy seat.
A new generation of Israelites must resolve now to strive to keep the Ten Commandments rehearsed in the next chapter. Moses, as we shall discover, tailored that message to them. Paul, in a similar fashion, addresses the church with the message of the covenant of Israel. “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’” (Romans 7:7) What Paul says here is analogous to the relationship between criminal law and crime. Something is criminal only if a law depicts it as such. You might go to jail in one country for doing something that in another country is legal. The reason: one country has a law forbidding that action, the other doesn't. It is the same action but with two different consequences. What makes the difference- The law.
[The laws of Yahweh are higher than those of this world.] ‘Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.’ (Romans 7:12) A crucial point to remember, too, is that just because something is a law doesn't make it good. In early America, a law required people to return escaped slaves to their masters. It was the law; yet, it was hardly a just one. In the case of God's law, however, we know that it reflects His loving character. Thus Paul's words that the law is holy and good; what else could it be, considering who created it?” (Middletown NY SDA Church)
“The torah of Yahweh is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of Yahweh is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of Yahweh are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of Yahweh are true and righteous altogether.” (Ps 19:7-9) Concerning the moral code of Yahweh's government, “Read the Ten Commandments, pause at each one, and confess that you have broken it in either thought or word or deed. Remember that by a glance, we may commit adultery; by a thought, we may be guilty of murder; by a desire, we may steal. Sin is any want of conformity to perfect holiness, and that want of conformity is justly chargeable upon every one of us.” (C. H. Spurgeon)