SCRIPTURE: DEUTERONOMY 4
IMPORTANT VERSES:
“But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29)
“For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.” (Deuteronomy 4:31)
“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.” (Deuteronomy 4:40)
OBEDIENCE COMMANDED (VS. 1-14)
Hear now, O Israel, 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 fathers, is giving you. 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.
You saw with your won eyes what the Lord did at Baal Peor. The Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, but all of you who held fast to the Lord your God are still alive today.
See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land your are entering to take possession of it. 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.” 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? 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?
Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. 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.” 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. 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. He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. 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.
IDOLARY FORBIDDEN (vs. 15-31)
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, 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, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. 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 worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. 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.
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. 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. 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. For the Lord you God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
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 provoking him to anger, 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 there long but will certainly be destroyed. 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. There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. 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. For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.
THE LORD IS GOD (vs. 32-40)
Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created man on the earth’s form 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? Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by miraculous 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?
You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God’ besides him there is no other. 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. Because he loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, to drive out before your 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.
Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. 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.
CITIES OF REFUGE (vs. 41-43)
Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan, to which anyone who had killed a person could flee if he had unintentionally killed his neighbor without malice aforethought. He could flee into one of these cities and save his life. The cities were theses: Bezer idn the desert plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.
INTRODUCTION TO THE LAW (vs. 44-49)
This is the law Moses set before the Israelites. These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt and were in the valley near Beth Peor east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon, king of the Ammo0nites, who reigned in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites as they came out of Egypt. They took possession of his land and the land of Og, king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. This land extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Siyon (that is, Hermon), and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.
THOUGHTS: (From Life Application Study Bible)
God is the ultimate authority. His words and laws are perfect and complete. No human being with limited wisdom and knowledge can edit God’s laws by adding or subtracting them. To add to the laws would increase a burden and to subtract from the laws would render it incomplete. The religious leaders at the time of Christ made changes in God’s laws so that Jesus rebuked them. Thus the laws were to remain unchanged. To make changes in God’s law is to assume a position of authority over God.
The Ten Commandments were given 3,000 years ago. It is still applicable today because they proclaim a life-style endorsed by God. God’s laws are designed to guide all people toward life-styles that are healthy, upright and devoted to God. They are the perfect expression of who God is and how he wants people to live.
In ancient times, animal sacrifice in worship is required. But Christians today do not practice it anymore. However, the principles behind the sacrifices – forgiveness for sin and thankfulness to God still apply. The sacrifices pointed to the ultimate sacrifice made for us by Jesus Christ. The New Testament says that with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Old Testament laws were fulfilled. This means that while the Old Testament laws help us recognize our sins and correct our wrongdoings, it is Jesus Christ who takes our sins away. Jesus is now our primary example to follow because he alone perfectly obeyed the law and modeled its true intent. Moses wanted to make sure that the people did not forget all they had seen that God had done, so he urged parents to teach their children about God’s great miracles. This helped parents remember God’s faithfulness and provided the means for passing on from one generation to the next the stories recounting God’s great acts. It is easy to forget the wonderful ways God has worked in the lives of his people. But you can remember God’s great acts of faithfulness by telling your children, friends, or associates what you have seen him do.
God is a devouring fire. Because He is morally perfect, He hates sin and cannot accept those who practice it. Moses’ sin kept him from entering the Promised Land, and no sacrifice could remove that judgment. Sin kept us from entering God’s presence, but Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sin and removed God’s judgment forever by his death. Trusting in Jesus Christ will save you from God’s anger and allow you to begin a personal relationship with him.
God is a jealous God because he is defending his word and his high honor. He makes a strong exclusive demand on us that we must only have Him has the only Lord and no one else in all the universe as God. Trust God and recognize his authority over every dimension of life.
God guaranteed the Israelites prosperity for obeying His laws. But this does not mean that no sickness, no sadness and no misunderstandings existed among them. Rather, it means that as a nation, they prospered and that individuals’ problems were handled as fairly as possible. Today, God assured believers prosperity – his constant presence, comfort and the resources to live as we should. However, we will still face trials but we will avoid the misery that directly results from intentional sin. And we will know that a great treasure awaits us in heaven.