Deuteronomychapter 4

A.What nation has statutes like these?vv. 1-8

1 Hear now, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live and may enter and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 You must not add to or subtract from what I command you, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all who followed Baal of Peor. 4 But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive to this day, every one of you. 5 See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the LORD my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land that you are about to enter and possess. 6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, who will hear of all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” 7 For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him? 8 And what nation is great enough to have righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

B.You saw no form, you only heard a voicevv. 9-14

9 Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren. 10 The day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, “Gather the people before Me to hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach them to their children.” 11 You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire to the heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. 12 And the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. 13 He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to follow—the Ten Commandments that He wrote on two tablets of stone. 14 At that time the LORD commanded me to teach you the statutes and ordinances you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

C.Our God is a consuming firevv. 15-24

15 So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful 16 that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female, 17 of any beast that is on the earth or bird that flies in the air, 18 or of any creature that crawls on the ground or fish that is in the waters below. 19 When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. 20 Yet the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today. 21 The LORD, however, was angry with me on account of you, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan to enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22 For I will not be crossing the Jordan, because I must die in this land. But you shall cross over and take possession of that good land. 23 Be careful that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden you. 24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

D.Scattered, and yet found againvv. 25-31

25 After you have children and grandchildren and you have been in the land a long time, if you then act corruptly and make an idol of any form—doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and provoking Him to anger— 26 I call heaven and 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 long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. 28 And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. 29 But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, 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 have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. 31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers, which He swore to them by oath.

E.Ask from the day God created manvv. 32-40

32 Indeed, ask now from one end of the heavens to the other about the days that long preceded you, from the day that God created man on earth: Has anything as great as this ever happened or been reported? 33 Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire, as you have, and lived? 34 Or has any god tried to take as his own a nation out of another nation—by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors—as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, before your eyes? 35 You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him. 36 He let you hear His voice from heaven to discipline you, and on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the fire. 37 Because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by His presence and great power, 38 to drive out before you nations greater and mightier than you, and to bring you into their land and give it to you for your inheritance, as it is this day. 39 Know therefore this day and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. 40 Keep His statutes and commandments, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.

F.Three cities of refuge east of Jordanvv. 41-49

41 Then Moses set aside three cities across the Jordan to the east 42 to which a manslayer could flee after killing his neighbor unintentionally without prior malice. To save one’s own life, he could flee to one of these cities: 43 Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau belonging to the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the Gadites, or Golan in Bashan belonging to the Manassites. 44 This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites. 45 These are the testimonies, statutes, and ordinances that Moses proclaimed to them after they had come out of Egypt, 46 while they were in the valley across the Jordan facing Beth-peor in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites after they had come out of Egypt. 47 They took possession of the land belonging to Sihon and to Og king of Bashan—the two Amorite kings across the Jordan to the east— 48 extending from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Siyon (that is, Hermon), 49 including all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan and as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.

Commentary on this chapter: read the Exposition

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Chapter summary

The exhortation.

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The exhortation. ‘Hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments … ye shall not add unto the word which I command you’. The LORD spoke out of the midst of the fire; no form was seen. Therefore no graven image, no bowing to the host of heaven. Scattering and restoration foretold for Israel. ‘Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?’ Three cities of refuge east of Jordan appointed by Moses. Bezer, Ramoth, Golan. The chapter closes the first sermon with a double warning and a double grace. Remember what you have seen; the LORD is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

Law · Moses — Deuteronomy overview

A. 1–8 What nation has statutes like these?
B. 9–14 You saw no form, you only heard a voice
C. 15–24 Our God is a consuming fire
D. 25–31 Scattered, and yet found again
E. 32–40 Ask from the day God created man
F. 41–49 Three cities of refuge east of Jordan

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Deuteronomy 47 verses
- Deuteronomy 4:9Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.
- Deuteronomy 4:12And the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.
- Deuteronomy 4:15So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful
- Deuteronomy 4:16that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female,
- Deuteronomy 4:23Be careful that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden you.
- Deuteronomy 4:33Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire, as you have, and lived?
- Read Deuteronomy 4: 1 more there →
Deuteronomy 56 verses
- Deuteronomy 5:4The LORD spoke with you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.
- Deuteronomy 5:15Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
- Deuteronomy 5:16Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
- Deuteronomy 5:22The LORD spoke these commandments in a loud voice to your whole assembly out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
- Deuteronomy 5:23And when you heard the voice out of the darkness while the mountain was blazing with fire, all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me,
- Deuteronomy 5:24and you said, “Behold, the LORD our God has shown us His glory and greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live even if God speaks with him.
- Read Deuteronomy 5 →
Deuteronomy 35 verses
- Deuteronomy 3:9which the Sidonians call Sirion but the Amorites call Senir—
- Deuteronomy 3:17The Jordan River in the Arabah bordered it from Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) with the slopes of Pisgah to the east.
- Deuteronomy 3:25Please let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that pleasant hill country as well as Lebanon!”
- Deuteronomy 3:27Go to the top of Pisgah and look to the west and north and south and east. See the land with your own eyes, for you will not cross this Jordan.
- Deuteronomy 3:29So we stayed in the valley opposite Beth-peor.
- Read Deuteronomy 3 →
Hebrews 123 verses
- Hebrews 12:6For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.”
- Hebrews 12:18For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom, and storm;
- Hebrews 12:29“For our God is a consuming fire.”
- Read Hebrews 12 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Romans 13 verses
- Romans 1:22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,
- Romans 1:23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
- Romans 1:25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen.
- Read Romans 1 →
Deuteronomy 283 verses
- Deuteronomy 28:36The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.
- Deuteronomy 28:62You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left few in number, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.
- Deuteronomy 28:64Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
- Read Deuteronomy 28 →
Exodus 192 verses
- Exodus 19:9The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and they will always put their trust in you.” And Moses relayed to the LORD what the people had said.
- Exodus 19:19And as the sound of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder.
- Read Exodus 19 →
Psalms 1062 verses
- Psalms 106:28They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.
- Psalms 106:32At the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them.
- Read Psalms 106 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.