Deuteronomy 4 – Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Ch.4 – 7   Calls to Holiness – frequent exhortations to follow the laws given by God, to enable them to be God’s people in the Land

Passage: Deut 4:1-14

1 Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 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.

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, 4 but all of you who held fast to the Lord your God are still alive today.

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. 6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? 8 And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you 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. 10 Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God 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 teach them to their children.’ 11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. 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. 13 He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. 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.

A. Find Out:    

1. Why were they to obey Moses’ laws? v.1
2. What were they not to do with them? v.2
3. Of what were they reminded? v.3,4
4. What result will following them have? v.6
5. What were they to realize? v.7,8
6. How were they to hold onto them? v.9-14

B. Think:

1. How many encouragements are there from the Lord here?
2. How was pasty history to affect the present?

C. Comment:

     Moving on from reminding Israel how they had come to their present position, Moses now starts to prepare them for the future, a life based on the Law of God. He gives them a number of encouragements in these verses.

     First, keeping these laws will provide life and the blessing of the Lord, to enable them to go in and take the Land (v.1).

     Second, a warning, to remember that idolaters had been put to death by the Lord. Keeping the Law brings life (implied v.3,4).

     Third, they will provide a testimony to surrounding nations and be exalted by them (v.6).

    Fourth, they are to realize that they are a unique nation, with a unique relationship with the Lord (v.7,8).

    Fifth, they are to pass the laws on to their children (v.9) and in this way reinforce and preserve them.

    Sixth, they are to remember how God gave these laws at Sinai (v.10-14) with all the amazing accompanying signs.

    In all of these ways, Moses reinforces the people’s determination, or commitment, to the laws of God for the years to come. He was doing all he could to ensure that they understood the seriousness of following the Lord and making sure it happened. He is establishing a strong foundation for them for when he is gone.

D. Application:

1. God’s laws are to protect us and to bless us. Do we realise that?
2. We aren’t under the Law, but the Law is still there to protect us.

Passage: Deut 4:15-24

15 You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, 16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, 17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, 18 or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. 19 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars – all the heavenly array – do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshipping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. 20 But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.

21 The Lord was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance. 22 I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land. 23 Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

A. Find Out:

1. What had they NOT seen at Sinai? v.15
2. So what temptation must they overcome? v.16-18
3. What further temptation must they overcome? v.19
4. What must they remember? v.20
5. What is going to happen to Moses and why? v.21,22
6. So what are they to avoid and why? v.23,24

B. Think:

1. Why do you think it was necessary to give these warnings?
2. What antidote to image making was given here?
3. Why do you think the Lord is so insistent about this?

C. Comment:

      OUR temptation may be to think that these verses are dated and unworthy of our study. Nothing could be further from the truth! The warnings against idolatry are vital to understand.

      When Israel had encountered the Lord at Sinai they had seen no visible sign of Him. Therefore, they were not to try to produce representations of Him. Why? Because any such representation will not be able to capture His power and glory, and any lesser figure will make the Israelites feel they can ‘handle’ this God. Any representation of any creature to worship demeans the worshippers and is pure folly because it in no way represents the Lord. He is too big to be so represented.

      Similarly, worshipping created objects, whether sun, moon, or stars, is pure folly. They are impersonal, inactive. No, Israel were to remember their origins, miraculously delivered by the Lord from Egypt. This is the One they should worship. Look, says Moses, I’m not being allowed into the Promised Land because I demeaned the name of the Lord, so don’t you go doing it! Anything or anyone who competes with the Lord in your thinking, is lesser and not worthy of your worship, so don’t give it! The Lord is jealous for your worship because worship to any other is pure deception. Avoid it!

D. Application:

1. Avoid the temptation of trying to make the Lord visible.
2. Avoid the temptation of trying to ‘handle’ the Lord. Worship Him!

Passage: Deut 4:25-31

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 eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, 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. 27 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 There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. 29 But if from there you 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 obey him. 31 For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.

A. Find Out:

1. What does he now warn against? v.25
2. What does he say would happen? v.26,27
3. What would happen there? v.28
4. Yet what hope would there still be? v.29
5. How does he reiterate that? v.30
6. Why can they have that hope? v.31

B. Think:

1. What is the clear warning given in these verses?
2. Yet what is the clear hope given?
3. What does all this reveal about God’s character?

C. Comment:

      Having just spoken about the temptation to turn to idols and given a warning not to forget what he is saying, Moses now wraps it up with a warning and a hope.

      First the warning: IF future generations do turn away from the Lord and turn to idols, they must know that the judgement of God WILL fall on them. There WILL be consequences for their apostasy! The extent of that judgment will mean that Israel are taken out of the land and will be dispersed among the nations. Once they are there, they will seek to rely upon the idols of those nations. They will be in a sorry plight, for Israel will effectively be brought to an end!

      Yet despite this, that will not necessarily be the end of Israel for if, while they are in exile, they turn back to the Lord and seek Him whole heartedly, they WILL find Him. Having found Him, they will obey Him, and the relationship will be restored. Why? Because the Lord is a God of mercy.

      What does this tell us about the Lord? That He first of all holds His people accountable and WILL deal with them if they stray. He will NOT turn a blind eye to their misdoings. But more than that, He is also a God of mercy and so, although He doesn’t HAVE to, He will receive His people back if they repent – wherever they are.

D. Application:

1. God does hold us accountable and will punish wilful sin.
2. Yet there will always be a way back – through repentance.

Passage: Deut 4:32-40

32 Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from 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? 33 Has any other people heard the voice of God[i] speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? 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 by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

35 You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other. 36 From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire. 37 Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, 38 to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.

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. 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 land the Lord your God gives you for all time.

A. Find Out:

1. What does Moses now tell them to do, & what does he ask? v.32
2. What 2 specific questions does he then ask? v.33,34
3. Why were they shown these things? v.35
4. What happened from heaven and on earth? v.36
5. Why had the Lord done what? v.37,38
6. What 2 commands did Moses then give, for what outcome? v.39,40

B. Think:

1. What point is Moses making in the first half of this passage?
2. What is his purpose in saying these things?

C. Comment:

      In one sense Moses moves on from talking about idols, but in another sense all he now says simply reinforces what he has previously said. He simply asks them to think back through what they know of history and see if they can think of any instances where these things have happened to other nations. Has anyone else heard God speaking out loud like they have? Has any other nation been called by God with such accompanying signs and wonders, as has happened to them? The obvious answer is no, they are unique!

      What was the point of the Lord doing all this? So that they might know that He is the One, true God and there is no other like Him. That is the ultimate purpose of God’s activity with Israel – to reveal Himself to them (and so that they might reveal Him to others). He had spoken audibly to them, He had chosen them and called them and then led them out of Egypt so that He could lead them into the land of His choosing for them, driving out all the inhabitants before them.

      So what is the end of this? It is a call to acknowledge what they know – that the Lord is God and there is no other like Him. Therefore they are to follow His guidance, keep His laws, obey Him in all things, and when they do this, then all will be well with them and with their descendants in the Land.

D. Application:

1. The Lord knows best because He has designed us and knows how we work best. We are wise when we obey Him.
2. Are we as clear about the Lord as Moses was?

Passage: Deut 4:41 – 5:5

41 Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan, 42 to which anyone who had killed a person could flee if they had unintentionally killed a neighbour without malice aforethought. They could flee into one of these cities and save their life. 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.

44 This is the law Moses set before the Israelites. 45 These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt 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 the Israelites as 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. 48 This land extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Sirion (that is, Hermon), 49 and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Dead Sea, below the slopes of Pisgah.

1 Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, Israel, the decrees and the laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 It was not with our ancestors that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today. 4 The Lord spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain. 5 (At that time I stood between the Lord and you to declare to you the word of the Lord, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.)

A. Find Out:

1. What did Moses do, where? v.41,43
2. What were they for? v.42
3. What now follows? v.44,45
4. Where were they when this was given? v.46-49
5. What did Moses tell the people to do? v.1
6. Why? v.2-5

B. Think:

1. How do verses 41-43 differ from what has gone before?
2. How does what follows differ even more?
3. How is Isaiah’s appeal in Isa 8:20 seen here?

C. Comment:

      In verses 41 to 43 we get a little glimpse of some of Moses’ administrative activity before he leaves them. He sets up three cities in the land they have just taken east of the Jordan, to become cities of refuge for those who would be dwelling in that part of the land (there will later be 3 more in the mainland). The purpose of these cities was for them to become places of safety where those who had accidentally killed someone could flee from the anger and desires for revenge of loved ones of the killed person. It was part of the Law’s provision for safety, protection and good order. In that everything before these verses had been Moses addressing the people, these verses are quite different.

       From verse 44 on, we now turn to the Law that Moses passed on to the people from the Lord. The remaining verses of chapter 4 simply make the statement that what follows is the Law given by God to Moses after they left Egypt (at Sinai implied) and which Moses put again before the people before they crossed the Jordan and entered the main part of the Promised Land. At the beginning of chapter 5 Moses speaks and reminds Israel that these laws were given to them by the Lord at Sinai, and therefore they should hear them, learn them and obey them. They are foundation stones for the future life of the nation, and it is imperative that they hold on to them.

D. Application:

1. Refuge cities remind us to not be hasty in judgment.
2. The Law reminds us that God has a design for our lives.