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 the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.

1. DEUTERONOMY 4 COMMENTARY
Written and edited by Glenn Pease
PREFACE
This verse by verse commentary quotes the great old commentaries as well as some
contemporary authors. All of this information is available to anyone, but I have brought it
together in one place to save the Bible student time in research. If anyone I quote does not want
their wisdom shared in this way, they can let me know and I will remove it. My e-mail is
glenn_p86@yahoo.com
Obedience Commanded
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 the LORD, the God of
your ancestors, is giving you.
1. Gill, “Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments,.... The laws
of God, moral, ceremonial, and judicial, which they are exhorted to attend to and obey, in
consideration of the great and good things the Lord had done for them, ever since they came
from Horeb, where they were given them; such as providing for them, and feeding them in the
wilderness, preserving them from every hurtful thing, and delivering their enemies into their
hands, the two kings of the Amorites, which they are put in mind of in the preceding chapters;
hence this begins with "therefore hearken"; for nothing is a greater incentive to obedience than
the kindness and goodness of God:
which I teach you for to do that ye may live; the law was taught by Moses, but the Gospel of
grace and truth by Jesus Christ; and it was taught by him, as well as it was to be hearkened to by
them, in order to yield obedience to it; for not bare hearing, but doing the law, is the principal
thing of any avail; and which was to be done, that they might live; not a spiritual and eternal life,
which are not by the works of the law, but are had only from Christ, through his grace and
righteousness; but a corporeal life, and a comfortable enjoyment of the blessings of it, and
particularly that that might be continued to them:
and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you; the land of
Canaan, which the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had promised to give to their

2. posterity, and which they were to hold by their obedience to his laws.
2. Henry, “This most lively and excellent discourse is so entire, and the particulars of it are so
often repeated, that we must take it altogether in the exposition of it, and endeavour to digest it
into proper heads, for we cannot divide it into paragraphs.
I. In general, it is the use and application of the foregoing history; it comes in by way of
inference from it: Now therefore harken, O Israel, Deu_4:1. This use we should make of the
review of God's providences concerning us, we should by them be quickened and engaged to duty
and obedience. The histories of the years of ancient times should in like manner be improved by
us.
II. The scope and drift of his discourse is to persuade them to keep close to God and to his
service, and not to forsake him for any other god, nor in any instance to decline from their duty
to him. Now observe what he says to them, with a great deal of divine rhetoric, both by way of
exhortation and direction, and also by way of motive and argument to enforce his exhortations.
1. See here how he charges and commands them, and shows them what is good, and what the
Lord requires of them.
(1.) He demands their diligent attention to the word of God, and to the statutes and judgments
that were taught them: Hearken, O Israel. He means, not only that they must now give him the
hearing, but that whenever the book of the law was read to them, or read by them, they should be
attentive to it. “Hearken to the statutes, as containing the great commands of God and the great
concerns of your own souls, and therefore challenging your utmost attention.”
3. K&D, “The Israelites were to hearken to the laws and rights which Moses taught to do (that
they were to do), that they might live and attain to the possession of the land which the Lord
would give them. “Hearkening” involves laying to heart and observing. The words “statutes and
judgments” (as in Lev_19:37) denote the whole of the law of the covenant in its two leading
features. , statutes, includes the moral commandments and statutory covenant laws, for
which and are mostly used in the earlier books; that is to say, all that the people were
bound to observe;
, rights, all that was due to them, whether in relation to God or to their
fellow-men (cf. Deu_26:17). Sometimes

3. , the commandment, is connected with it, either
placed first in the singular, as a general comprehensive notion (Deu_5:28; Deu_6:1; Deu_7:11), or
in the plural (Deu_8:11; Deu_11:1; Deu_30:16); or , the testimonies, the commandments as a
manifestation of the will of God (Deu_4:45, Deu_6:17, Deu_6:20). - Life itself depended upon the
fulfilment or long life in the promised land (Exo_20:12), as Moses repeatedly impressed upon
them (cf. Deu_4:40; Deu_5:30; Deu_6:2; Deu_8:1; Deu_11:21; Deu_16:20; Deu_25:15; Deu_30:6,
Deu_30:15., Deu_32:47). , for (as in Deu_4:22, Jos_1:16; cf. Ges. §44, 2, Anm. 2).
4. Mackintosh. “This is a universal and abiding principle. It was true for Israel, and it is true for
us. The pathway of life and the true secret of possession is simple obedience to the holy
commandments of God. We see this all through the inspired volume, from cover to cover. God
has given us His Word, not to speculate upon it or discuss it, but that we may obey it. And it is as
we, through grace, yield a hearty and happy obedience to our Father’s statutes and judgments,
that we tread the bright pathway of life, and enter into the reality of all that God has treasured
up for us in Christ. “He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth
Me; and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest
Myself to him.”
How precious is this! Indeed, it is unspeakable. It is something quite peculiar. It would be a very

4. serious mistake to suppose that the privilege here spoken of is enjoyed by all believers. It is not. It
is only enjoyed by such as yield a loving obedience to the commandments of our Lord Jesus
Christ. It lies within the reach of all, but all do not enjoy it, because all are not obedient. It is one
thing to be a child, and quite another to be an obedient child; it is one thing to be saved, and quite
another thing to love the Savior, and delight in all His most precious precepts. We may see this
continually illustrated in our family circles. There, for example, are two sons, and one of them
only thinks of pleasing himself, doing his will, gratifying his own desires. He takes no pleasure in
his father’s society, does not take any pains to carry out his father’s wishes, knows hardly
anything of his mind, and what he does know he utterly neglects or despises. He is ready enough
to avail himself of all the benefits which accrue to him from the relationship in which he stands to
his father – ready enough to accept clothes, books, money – all, in short, that the father gives; but
he never seeks to gratify the father’s heart by a loving attention to his will, even in the smallest
matters.
The other son is the direct opposite to all this. He delights in being with his father; he loves his
society, loves his ways, loves his words; he is constantly taking occasion to carry out his father’s
wishes, to get him something that he knows will be agreeable to him. He loves his father, not for
his gifts, but for himself; and he finds his richest enjoyment in being in his father’s company and
in doing his will. Now, can we have any difficulty in seeing how very differently the father will
feel towards those two sons? True, they are both his sons, and he loves them both, with a love
grounded upon the relationship in which they stand to him; but beside the love of relationship
common to both, there is the love of complacency peculiar to the obedient child. It is impossible
that a father can find pleasure in the society of a willful, self-indulgent, careless son. Such a son
may occupy much of his thoughts, he may spend many a sleepless night thinking about him and
praying for him, he would gladly spend and be spent for him; but he is not agreeable to him, does
not possess his confidence, cannot be the depositary of his thoughts. All this demands the serious
consideration of those who really desire to be acceptable or agreeable to the heart of our heavenly
Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
We may rest assured of this, that obedience is grateful to God; and “His commandments are
not grievous” – nay, they are the sweet and precious expression of His love, and the fruit and
evidence of the relationship in which He stands to us. And not only so, but He graciously
rewards our obedience by a fuller manifestation of Himself to our souls, and His dwelling with
us. This comes out in great fullness and beauty in our Lord’s reply to Judas, not Iscariot, for
whose question we may be thankful – “Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us,
and not unto the world? ‘ Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘If a man love Me, he will keep
My words; and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode
with him’” (I John 15).”
5. Ron Ritchie, “Let's look at the overall context for a moment. In 1401 B.C. the Lord led his
children to the eastern bank of the Jordan River. The forty years of wandering in the wilderness
were over for the second generation of Israelites, some two million strong, as they arrived under
the leadership of Moses and Joshua. As they stood on the plains of Moab and looked westward,
they could see the land that God had promised Abraham 685 years earlier (see Genesis 17). They
could also see the mighty Canaanite city of Jericho seven miles away in the foothills.
Then on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses, the great shepherd, prophet, and mediator,
called together all the people and reviewed the Law of God given to him on Mount Sinai. This
review became known as Deuteronomy, which in Hebrew means These are the Words (of the

5. Law of God). (The Septuagint translates it, The Second Law.) This review was designed to
show this new generation the holy and loving character of the one and only living God as well as
the just demands of his holy Law. Israel would never be able to keep God's holy Law in their own
strength. But their hearts would be greatly encouraged when Moses told them the good news that
when they reached out to God in faith, he in turn would circumcise their hearts so that they
would desire to keep his Law out of love and appreciation (see Deuteronomy 30:1-10).”
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.
1. Gill, “Ye shall not add to the word which I command you, nether shall you diminish ought
from it,.... Neither make new laws of their own, and join them to the law of God, 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; nor abrogate nor detract from the law of God, nor make void any part of it:
or else the sense is, neither do that which is forbidden, nor neglect that which is commanded;
neither be guilty of sins of omission nor commission, nor in any way break the law of God, and
teach men so to do by word or by example; not a jot or tittle is either to be put to it, or taken from
it, Pro_30:5.
that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you; in his name;
or which he delivered unto them as his commandments, and which were to be kept just as they
were delivered, without adding to them, or taking from them.
2. Our Daily Bread, “Imagine the frustration of a mother as she tries to gather her family for
supper. Her 8-year-old son comes through the door smuggling a dead bird behind his back. Call
Ann for dinner, says his mother. Then wash your hands and come to the table.
A minute later the 4-year-old daughter comes running into the kitchen, sobbing uncontrollably.
Her brother had just waved the stiff bird under her nose and told her that if she wasn't at the
table in 17 seconds, Mom wouldn't let her go out and play for a whole week.
This story about a misquoted mother doesn't begin to capture the confusion that follows when we
misquote the heavenly Father. Often we become preoccupied with our own ideas of how things
should be, like Job's friends, who didn't speak rightly about the Lord (Job 42:7). The result is
that we say more, or less, than God actually said in His Word (Deuteronomy 4:2). We need to
make sure we know exactly where His words stop and our opinions begin. If we don't, we may
misrepresent Him, and Proverbs 30:6 warns that we are then in danger of being found liars
before God.
Let's take care that we don't express our opinions as if they were God's words. —Mart De Haan

6. Lord, grant us wisdom to discern
The truth that You've made known,
And may we never teach one word
Beyond what You have shown. —D. De Haan
We must adjust our lives to the Bible—never the Bible to our lives.
Deuteronomy 4:15-31
3. Mackintosh, “Thus in the second verse we have a sentence or two which should be deeply
engraved on the tablets of every Christian’s heart – “Ye shall not add unto the word which I
command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it.” These words involve two grand facts with
regard to the Word of God. It is not to be added to, for the simplest of all reasons, because there
is nothing lacking; it is not to be diminished, because there is nothing superfluous. Every thing we
want is there, and nothing that is there can be done without. “Add thou not unto His words, lest
He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”
To suppose that aught can be added to God’s Word is, upon the very face of it, to deny that it is
God’s Word; and, on the other hand, if we admit that it is the Word of God, then it follows of
necessity (blessed necessity!) that we could not afford to do without a single sentence of it. There
would be a blank in the volume which no human hand could fill up, if a single clause were
dropped from its place in the canon. We have all we want, and hence we must not add: we want
it all, and hence we must not diminish. How deeply important is all this, in this day of human
tampering with the Word of God! How blessed to know that we have in our possession a book so
divinely perfect that not a sentence, not a clause, not a word, can be added to it.
We speak not, of course, of translations or versions, but of the Scriptures as given of God – His
own perfect revelation. To this, not a touch can be given. As well might a human finger have
dared to touch the creation of God, on the morning when all the sons of God sang together, as to
add a jot or a tittle to the inspired Word of God. And on the other hand, to take away a jot or a
tittle from it, is to say that the Holy Ghost has penned what was unnecessary. Thus the holy
volume is divinely guarded at both ends. It is securely fenced round about, so that no rude band
should touch its sacred contents.
4. Henry, “He charges them to preserve the divine law pure and entire among them, Deu_4:2.
Keep it pure, and do not add to it; keep it entire, and do not diminish from it. Not in practice, so
some: “You shall not add by committing the evil which the law forbids, nor diminish by omitting
the good which the law requires.” Not in opinion, so others: “You shall not add your own
inventions, as if the divine institutions were defective, nor introduce, much less impose, any rites
of religious worship other than what God has appointed; nor shall you diminish, or set aside, any
thing that is appointed, as needless or superfluous.” God's work is perfect, nothing can be put to
it, nor taken from it, without making it the worse. See Ecc_3:14. The Jews understand it as
prohibiting the alteration of the text or letter of the law, even in the least jot or tittle; and to their
great care and exactness herein we are very much indebted, under God, for the purity and
integrity of the Hebrew code. We find a fence like this made about the New Testament in the close
of it, Rev_22:18, Rev_22:19.
(3.) He charges them to keep God's commandments (Deu_4:2), to do them (Deu_4:5, Deu_4:14),
to keep and do them (Deu_4:6), to perform the covenant, Deu_4:13. Hearing must be in order to
doing, knowledge in order to practice. God's commandments were the way they must keep in, the

7. rule they must keep to; they must govern themselves by the moral precepts, perform their
devotion according to the divine ritual, and administer justice according to the judicial law. He
concludes his discourse (Deu_4:40) with this repeated charge: Thou shalt keep his statutes and his
commandments which I command thee. What are laws made for but to be observed and obeyed?
5. KD, “The observance of the law, however, required that it should be kept as it was given, that
nothing should be added to it or taken from it, but that men should submit to it as to the
inviolable word of God. Not by omissions only, but by additions also, was the commandment
weakened, and the word of God turned into ordinances of men, as Pharisaism sufficiently
proved. This precept is repeated in Deu_13:1; it is then revived by the prophets (Jer_26:2;
Pro_30:6), and enforced again at the close of the whole revelation (Rev_22:18-19). In the same
sense Christ also said that He had not come to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfil
(Mat_5:17); and the old covenant was not abrogated, but only glorified and perfected, by the
new.
6. Jamison, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you — by the introduction of any
heathen superstition or forms of worship different from those which I have appointed
(Deu_12:32; Num_15:39; Mat_15:9). neither shall ye diminish aught from it — by the neglect or
omission of any of the observances, however trivial or irksome, which I have prescribed. The
character and provisions of the ancient dispensation were adapted with divine wisdom to the
instruction of that infant state of the church. But it was only a temporary economy; and although
God here authorizes Moses to command that all its institutions should be honored with unfailing
observance, this did not prevent Him from commissioning other prophets to alter or abrogate
them when the end of that dispensation was attained.
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,
1. Gill, “Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baalpeor,.... Because of the idolatry
the people of Israel fell into by worshipping that idol, being drawn into it by the daughters of
Moab and Midian, through the counsel of Balaam, with whom they committed fornication; which
led them to the other sin, and both highly provoking to God. The Targums of Onkelos and
Jonathan are,what the Word of the Lord has done to the worshippers of the idol Peor;
for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you;
24,000 persons died on that account; which being a recent thing, fresh in memory, and what they
were eyewitnesses of, was a caution to them to avoid the same sins, as it is to us on whom the ends
of the world are come, Num_23:9.
2. Henry, “He urges God's righteous appearance against them sometimes for their sins. He
specifies particularly the matter of Peor, Deu_4:3, Deu_4:4. This had happened very lately: their

8. eyes had seen but the other day the sudden destruction of those that joined themselves to Baal-peor
and the preservation of those that clave to the Lord, from which they might easily infer the
danger of apostasy from God and the benefit of adherence to him. He also takes notice again of
God's displeasure against himself: The Lord was angry with me for your sakes, Deu_4:21,
Deu_4:22. He mentions this to try their ingenuousness, whether they would really be troubled for
the great prejudice which they had occasioned to their faithful friend and leader. Others'
sufferings for our sakes should grieve us more than our own.
(8.) He urges the certain advantage of obedience. This argument he begins with (Deu_4:1):
That you may live, and go in and possess the land; and this he concludes with (Deu_4:40): That it
may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee. He reminds them that they were upon their
good behaviour, that their prosperity would depend upon their piety. If they kept God's precepts,
he would undoubtedly fulfil his promises.
3. Jamison,”Deu 4:3-4 - “Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor ... the Lord
thy God hath destroyed them from among you — It appears that the pestilence and the sword of
justice overtook only the guilty in that affair (Num_25:1-9) while the rest of the people were
spared. The allusion to that recent and appalling judgment was seasonably made as a powerful
dissuasive against idolatry, and the fact mentioned was calculated to make a deep impression on
people who knew and felt the truth of it.”
4. KD, “The Israelites had just experienced how a faithful observance of the law gave life, in
what the Lord had done on account of Baal-peor, when He destroyed those who worshipped this
idol (Num_25:3, Num_25:9), whereas the faithful followers of the Lord still remained alive. ,
to cleave to any one, to hold fast to him. This example was adduced by Moses, because the
congregation had passed through all this only a very short time before; and the results of
faithfulness towards the Lord on the one hand, and of the unfaithfulness of apostasy from Him
on the other, had been made thoroughly apparent to it. “Your eyes the seeing,” as in Deu_3:21.
4 but all of you who held fast to the LORD your God are
still alive today.
1. The people of Israel had some powerful examples of what disobedience led to. Those who chose
to follow another God were wiped out for their folly. God is a jealous God, and if those he loves
chose to love another, he is just like a husband who sees his wife in the arms of another man. He
will be filled with jealous anger and seek revenge. If you don't cheat on your mate, don't cheat on
God either, for it is even more dangerous in the consequences. A mate may never know, but God
always does, and there will not be a happy ending to the story. The story with these people is only
happy, and they are alive, because they did not follow the foolish people who went after Baal.
2. Gill, “ But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God,.... To the worship of the Lord your God,
as the Targum of Jonathan; attended the service of the sanctuary, were observant of the laws of
God, and walked in his statutes and judgments; did not apostatize from him by idolatry or
otherwise, but kept close unto him, and followed him fully:

9. are alive everyone of you this day; which is very remarkable, that in such a vast number of
people not one should die in such a space of time, it being several months since that affair
happened; and besides, in that time there was a war with the Midianites, and yet not one person
died in that war, nor as it seems by this account by any disease or disaster whatever; see
Num_31:49.
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.
1. Gill, “Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded
me,.... He had faithfully delivered them, without adding them, or diminishing from them, and had
diligently instructed the Israelites in them, had taken pains to lead them into a thorough
knowledge and understanding them:
that ye should do so in the land whither ye go possess it; do in like manner as the commandments
the Lord direct to; or that which is right (e); proper and fitting to be done, by doing which they
continue in the land they were about to possess, therefore when in it were to be careful to them;
some of them could not be done till they came into it, and all were to be done in it.
2. KD, “But the laws which Moses taught were commandments of the Lord. Keeping and doing
them were to be the wisdom and understanding of Israel in the eyes of the nations, who, when
they heard all these laws, would say, “Certainly (, only, no other than) a wise and understanding
people is this great nation.” History has confirmed this. Not only did the wisdom of a Solomon
astonish the queen of Sheba (1Ki_10:4.), 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.
3. Jamison, “Deu 4:5-6 -
this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all
these statutes — Moses predicted that the faithful observance of the laws given them would raise
their national character for intelligence and wisdom. In point of fact it did do so; for although the
heathen world generally ridiculed the Hebrews for what they considered a foolish and absurd
exclusiveness, some of the most eminent philosophers expressed the highest admiration of the
fundamental principle in the Jewish religion - the unity of God; and their legislators borrowed
some laws from the constitution of the Hebrews.

10. 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.”
1. Having laws that regulate life and behavior is a sign of a wise people. It protects the innocent
and bring about justice for those who are hurt by disobedience to the laws. The pagan world will
see the wisdom of Israel because of the way their lives are kept ordered and balanced, and they
will be impressed. Obedience to God's laws was a key way that his people could be a witness to
the world that they were under a truly wise God.
2. Gill, “Keep therefore and do them,..... Observe them, take notice of what is expressed by them,
and perform them, both as to matter and manner, as they require:
for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations; that is, their wisdom
and understanding would appear to other nations by their observance of the commands of God:
which hear all these statutes; which they had a report, got knowledge of by some of the
philosophers who travelled into those parts, and by the translation of the Bible into the Greek
language:
and say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people; that had such a body of
laws, in which they were instructed, and according to which they were governed, and in which
they walked; that were so agreeable to reason, truth, justice, and equity; insomuch that so far as
they became known they were admired and copied after, both by Greeks and Romans; and hence
it was that the oracle (f) declared, that only the Chaldeans and Hebrews were a wise people; the
Hebrews came from Chaldea, as Abraham the father of them.
3. “Observe [God's laws] carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the
nations. - Deuteronomy 4:6
TODAY IN THE WORD
In Worldwide Challenge magazine, Dan LaGue describes a dramatic moment in Chinese
missions: 'On a warm, summer night in 1904, a small hunting party . . . showed up at the door of
Methodist missionary Samuel Pollard. Pollard . . . recognized the hunters as Miaoa people from
the nearby Yunnan mountains who worshiped gods of wood and stone. The Miao wanted to learn
to read. They had a burning desire to know the God of the Christians, too, although [Pollard]
didn't know it. But he soon understood, for the following Friday five more Miao appeared at his
gate, and within a month, nearly 100 tribesmen had visited him.'
Somehow the Miao people had learned about the true God, and they saw enough of His reality in
the lives of Christians that they wanted what the Christians had. Samuel Pollard devoted the next
eleven years to learning the Miao language, reaching those people for Christ and establishing a

11. thriving church in their villages.
What a blessing it is when the witness of God's people draws unbelievers to Him! Israel had a
definite responsibility to its idol-worshiping neighbors. The people's obedience to God was
designed to distinguish Israel from the other nations and to be a powerful witness to God's
greatness and righteousness.
Moses made God's intent clear in the opening verses of Deuteronomy 4, which marks a new point
in his sermon. To this point, Israel's lawgiver had been reviewing the nation's history. Now he
turned to an exhortation based on what the people had heard.
Today's reading divides neatly into two points two motivations for the people to obey God's law.
First, obedience to God produces blessing, the theme of this month's studies (Deut 4:1, 2, 3, 4).
The Israelites who 'held fast to the Lord' were the ones who had survived the desert wanderings
and were ready to take possession of the Promised Land. If the people needed a reminder of the
disaster of disobedience, they needed only to recall God's judgment at Baal Peor (Nu. 25:1-9),
where 24,000 sinning Israelites died in a plague.
Obedience had a second benefit a witness to the nations (Deut 4:5, 6, 7, 8). When God's people
are faithful to Him, they radiate blessing to those around them wherever they go.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
We usually think of our witness as something we do or sometimes as what we fail to do. But the
Bible indicates that our witness is primarily a matter of what we are. Both Paul (Phil. 1:27-note)
and Peter (1Pe 2:12-note) urge us to live exemplary Christian lives. One reason for this is that
those outside the faith will see our testimony and glorify God. Since that's the case, this weekend
would be a good time for us to review the quality of our witness in recent days.
4. Jordan, “ Israel's wisdom is in loyalty to the Law which apparently
restricts its freedom but in reality guides and elevates its life;
the national prosperity and greatness resulting from this obedi-ence
shall lead other nations to recognize its real cause.
5. Henry, “He urges the wisdom of being religious: For this is your wisdom in the sight of the
nations, Deu_4:6. In keeping God's commandments, [1.] They would act wisely for themselves;
This is your wisdom. It is not only agreeable to right reason, but highly conducive to our true
interest; this is one of the first and most ancient maxims of divine revelation. The fear of the Lord,
that is wisdom, Job_28:28. [2.] They would answer the expectations of their neighbours, who,
upon reading or hearing the precepts of the law that was given them, would conclude that
certainly the people that were governed by this law were a wise and understanding people. Great
things may justly be looked for from those who are guided by divine revelation, and unto whom
are committed the oracles of God. They must needs be wiser and better than other people; and so
they are if they are ruled by the rules that are given them; and if they are not, though reproach
may for their sakes be cast upon the religion they profess, yet it will in the end certainly return
upon themselves to their eternal confusion. Those that enjoy the benefit of divine light and laws
ought to conduct themselves so as to support their own reputation for wisdom and honour (see
Ecc_10:1), that God may be glorified thereby.

12. 6. Clarke, “Keep - and do them; for this is your wisdom - There was no mode of worship at this
time on the face or the earth that was not wicked, obscene, puerile, foolish, or ridiculous, except
that established by God himself among the Israelites. And every part of this, taken in its
connection and reference, may be truly called a wise and reasonable service.
The nations - and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people - Almost all the
nations in the earth showed that they had formed this opinion of the Jews, by borrowing from
them the principal part of their civil code. Take away what Asia and Europe, whether ancient or
modern, have borrowed from the Mosaic laws, and you leave little behind that can be called
excellent.”
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?
1. God's presence among the people was unique in the world of religions. Other people had their
gods, but they could never experience the nearness of their presence like Israel, for they had a
God who really existed and cared about them as revealed in the laws he gave to guide their lives.
2. Gill, “Not so much for their number, for they were the fewest of all people; nor for the
largeness of their territories, for the land they were going to possess was but a small country; nor
for their wealth and riches, and warlike exploits, though they were not contemptible in either;
but for their happy constitution in church and state, being directed and governed in both by laws
which came immediately from God himself; for their knowledge of divine things, and for
spiritual blessings and privileges they were favoured with, of which a special instance is given:
who hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is, in all things that we call upon him for?
God was nigh unto them in respect of relation, being their covenant God and Father, and they his
sons and daughters, to whom the adoption belonged; and with respect to place and presence, his
tabernacle being in the midst of them, the seat of his Shechinah, or divine Majesty, being in the
most holy place, between the cherubim over the mercy seat; and he going before them in the
pillar of cloud by day, and in the pillar of fire by night, and who might be applied unto at all
times for whatsoever they stood in need of; and who was always near unto them, to give them
advice and counsel, help and assistance; to hear their prayers, and communicate unto them
things temporal and spiritual they stood in need of: and so the Lord is nigh to all that call upon
him in faith, with fervency, and in sincerity and truth; and herein the glory and greatness of a
people, as of Israel, lies, in being nearly related to God, a people near unto him, both as to union
and communion; and in having a communication of good things from him. God is both a God at
hand and afar off, Jer_23:23.
3. Octavius Winslow, “Are you not ready to exclaim, What a glorious privilege is prayer? Ah,
yes! And you may add, What mighty power, too, it possesses! The power of a holy wrestler with

13. God approaches the nearest to an act of omnipotence of any display of finite might whatever.
Angelic mightiness must be weakness itself in comparison. What eloquence in that one word
'Father,' lisped in believing prayer! Demosthenes and Cicero, in the glory of their eloquence,
never surpassed, no, never equaled it. It is breathed-and heaven's door expands; it is uttered
again-and the heart of God flies open. With such a key in the hands of faith, which may at any
moment unlock the treasury of God, as prayer, why do we not oftener use it! Oh that the Spirit of
God might stir us up to more earnest prayer!-teaching us to enshrine everything, to pervade and
saturate everything, in the heart and with the spirit of humble, importunate, believing prayer.
What real and immense gainers should we be, did we in everything, by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving, let our requests be made known unto God. For what nation is there so
great, who has God so near unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him
for?
In a word, my Christian reader, have faith in God at all times, and in all things. This is the
utmost that He asks at your hands-no unreasonable or impossible requirement. Would Jesus have
limited you to this single duty, making your whole happiness for both worlds dependent upon it,
were it so? Never! Relinquishing your own wisdom, resting from your own toil, and ceasing from
man, God would have you now cast yourself upon Him in simple faith for all things. You have
had faith in the creature, and it has disappointed you; in earthly good, and it has faded away; in
your own heart, and it has deceived you. Now, have faith in God! Call upon Him in your trouble,
try Him in your trial, trust Him in your need, and see if He will not honor the faith that honors
Him. Have faith in God,-words of Jesus, oh how sweet! Spoken to allure your chafed and
weary spirit to its Divine and blessed rest. Press the kind message to your grateful heart,
responding, in a strain of blended praise and prayer, Lord, I believe; help You my unbelief.
By this grace you may be assimilated with the Divine will, may be transformed into the Divine
image, may be trained for active toil or for passive endurance. Limit not a Divine blessing so
inexhaustible in its resources, and so free in its bestowment; but out of the Savior's fullness
receive grace for grace, that in all things the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,
and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4. Henry, “He urges the singular advantages which they enjoyed by virtue of the happy
establishment they were under, Deu_4:7, Deu_4:8. Our communion with God (which is the
highest honour and happiness we are capable of in this world) is kept up by the word and prayer;
in both these Israel were happy above any people under heaven. [1.] Never were any people so
privileged in speaking to God, Deu_4:7. He was nigh unto them in all that they called upon him
for, ready to answer their enquiries and resolve them by his oracle, ready to answer their requests
and to grant them by a particular providence. When they had cried unto God for bread, for
water, for healing, they had found him near them, to succour and relieve them, a very present
help, and in the midst of them (Psa_46:1, Psa_46:5), his ear open to their prayers. Observe, First,
It is the character of God's Israel that on all occasions they call upon him, in every thing they
make their requests known to God. They do nothing but what they consult him in, they desire
nothing but what they come to him for. Secondly, Those that call upon God shall certainly find
him within call, and ready to give an answer of peace to every prayer of faith; see Isa_58:9,
“Thou shalt cry, as the child for a nurse, and he shall say, Here I am, what does my dear child cry
for?” Thirdly, This is a privilege which makes the Israel of God truly great and honourable. What
can go further than this to magnify a people or a person? Is any name more illustrious than that
of Israel, a prince with God? What nation is there so great? Other nations might boast of greater
numbers, larger territories, and more ancient incorporations; but none could boast of such an

14. interest in heaven as Israel had. They had their gods, but not so nigh to them as Israel's God was;
they could not help them in a time of need, as 1Ki_18:27. [2.] Never were any people so privileged
in hearing from God, by the statutes and judgments which were set before them, Deu_4:8. This
also was the grandeur of Israel above any people. What nation is there so great, that hath statutes
and judgments so righteous? Observe, First, That all these statutes and judgments of the divine
law are infinitely just and righteous, above the statutes and judgments of any of the nations. The
law of God is far more excellent that the law of nations. No law so consonant to natural equity
and the unprejudiced dictates of right reason, so consistent with itself in all the parts of it, and so
conducive to the welfare and interest of mankind, as the scripture-law is, Psa_119:128. Secondly,
The having of these statutes and judgments set before them is the true and transcendent
greatness of any nation or people. See Psa_147:19, Psa_147:20. It is an honour to us that we have
the Bible in reputation and power among us. It is an evidence of a people's being high in the
favour of God, and a means of making them high among the nations. Those that magnify the law
shall be magnified by it.
5. KD, “This mighty and attractive force of the wisdom of Israel consisted in the fact, that in
Jehovah they possessed a God who was at hand with His help when they called upon Him (cf.
Deu_33:29; Psa_34:19; Psa_145:18; 1Ki_2:7), as none of the gods of the other nations had ever
been; and that in the law of God they possessed such statutes and rights as the heathen never
had. True right has its roots in God; and with the obscuration of the knowledge of God, law and
right, with their divinely established foundations, are also shaken and obscured (cf. Rom_1:26-
32).
6. Jamison, “Deu 4:7-9 - “what nation is there so great — Here he represents their privileges and
their duty in such significant and comprehensive terms, as were peculiarly calculated to arrest
their attention and engage their interest. The former, their national advantages, are described
(Deu_4:7, Deu_4:8), and they were twofold: 1. God’s readiness to hear and aid them at all times;
and 2. the excellence of that religion in which they were instructed, set forth in the “statutes and
judgments so righteous” which the law of Moses contained. Their duty corresponding to these
pre-eminent advantages as a people, was also 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.”
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?
1. Other nations had their laws, but Moses is saying they could not match the laws they had from
God in terms of their righteousness, meaning that they were truly fair and just to all the people,
and not showing any favoritism to any group in the society. They had an ideal body of laws that
could not be matched by any other nation.

15. 2. Gill, “And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous,....
Founded in justice and equity, and so agreeable to right reason, and so well calculated and
adapted to lead persons in the ways of righteousness and truth, and keep them from doing any
injury to each other's persons and properties, and to maintain good order, peace, and concord
among them:
as all this law which I set before you this day? which he then repeated, afresh declared, explained
and instructed them in; for otherwise it had been delivered to them near forty years ago. Now
there was not any nation then in being, nor any since, to be compared with the nation of the Jews,
for the wise and wholesome laws given unto them; no, not the more cultivated and civilized
nations, as the Grecians and Romans, who had the advantage of such wise lawgivers as they were
accounted, as Solon, Lycurgus, Numa, and others; and indeed the best laws that they had seem to
be borrowed from the Jews.
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.
1. Forgetfulness is one of the great weaknesses of human beings, and we see its results in Israel so
often. They forgot their heritage and departed from their roots. They forgot the laws of God and
did things their way rather than the way God instructed them, and it led to judgment. We cannot
imagine how any people could forget the wonders and miracles they experienced, but they did,
and chose to go after pagan gods. They stopped teaching their children their history, and in
ignorance their children went after other gods.
2. Gill, “Only take heed to thyself,.... To walk according to this law, and not swerve from it:
and keep thy soul diligently; from the transgressions and breaches of it:
lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen; either the statutes and judgments set
before them, and the circumstances of the delivery of them; or the punishment inflicted on the
breakers of them; or the favours bestowed on those that observed them:
and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; out of thy mind and memory, and have
no place in thy affections, through a neglect and disuse of them:
but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; their children and grandchildren, that they may be
trained up in them in their youth, and so not depart from them when grown up, and in years; see
Deu_6:7.

16. 3. Henry, “He charges them to be very strict and careful in their observance of the law (Deu_4:9):
Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently; and (Deu_4:15), Take you therefore good
heed unto yourselves; and again (Deu_4:23), Take heed to yourselves. Those that would be
religious must be very cautious, and walk circumspectly. Considering how many temptations we
are compassed about with, and what corrupt inclinations we have in our own bosoms, we have
great need to look about us and to keep our hearts with all diligence. Those cannot walk aright
that walk carelessly and at all adventures.
4.“Watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them
slip from your heart. - Deuteronomy 4:9
TODAY IN THE WORD
The 18th-century actor Charles Macklin once boasted to fellow actor Samuel Foote that he could
repeat any speech after hearing it just once. So Foote challenged Macklin to repeat what he was
about to say and then launched into a very hard-to-remember series of nonsense sentences.
Macklin had to admit defeat.
It's hard to remember perfectly something we have heard only once. That's why God repeated
His commands through each generation of His spokesmen and then recorded them so that we
might obey Him and be blessed.
Moses knew how forgetful the Israelites were. He was well aware that they had trouble
remembering even the amazing miracles of God's grace they had witnessed in the desert. If the
generation standing before him was prone to forget, how in the world would their children ever
learn and remember the lessons of obedience?
The answer was to instill the decrees of God in each generation of children as if they were the
first people ever to receive them. Later on we'll review the great Shema, the confession of Israel's
one God, that God commanded the people to teach to their children (Deut 6:4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9).
Moses anticipated that command by cautioning the people not to forget the giving of the Ten
Commandments at Horeb, or Mount Sinai. It was such an awe-inspiring visitation of God that it
seems impossible that anyone who saw it could forget what happened.
Deuteronomy 4:9 helps us to understand that Moses was not worried about a simple memory
lapse on the people's part. He was concerned that God's holy commands would slip from their
hearts that is, that they would grow lackadaisical in their obedience. And if the parents became
careless in following God, where would their children end up?
The presence of God on Sinai was so terrifying that even Moses trembled with fear
(Deuteronomy 9:19). This business of remembering and obeying God's law was serious stuff.
Why? Because day-to-day blessing from God depends on obedience to Him even though we have
the ultimate blessing of redemption in Christ.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
The author of Hebrews cites Israel's experience at Sinai to illustrate the superior covenant we
have in Christ (Heb 12:18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24-note).

17. We can thank the Lord that we do not have to stand at the foot of Sinai but we can't afford to
forget that we serve the same holy, awe-inspiring God. He still demands that His people reverence
His holy name. Hebrews 12 ends with this reminder: 'Our God is a consuming fire' (He 12:29-
note). Ask God today to help you give Him the worship and reverence that is due Him.
5. KD, ““Only beware and take care of thyself.” To “keep the soul,” i.e., to take care of the soul
as the seat of life, to defend one's life from danger and injury (Pro_13:3; Pro_19:16). “That thou
do not forget (the facts described in Ex 19-24), and that they do not depart from thy heart
all the days of thy life,” i.e., are not forgotten as long as thou livest, “and thou makest them known
to thy children and thy children's children.” These acts of God 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 and all heathen
religions, whose founders, it is true, professed to derive their doctrines and statutes from divine
inspiration, but without giving any practical guarantee that their origin was truly divine.
6. Clarke, “Only take heed to thyself - Be circumspect and watchful.
Keep thy soul diligently - Be mindful of thy eternal interests. Whatever becomes of the body,
take care of the soul.
Lest thou forget - God does his work that they may be had in everlasting remembrance; and he
that forgets them, forgets his own mercies. Besides, if a man forget the work of God on his soul,
he loses that work.
Lest they depart from thy heart - It is not sufficient to lay up Divine things in the memory, they
must be laid up in the heart. Thy word have I hidden in my heart, says David, that I might not sin
against thee. The life of God in the soul of man can alone preserve the soul to life everlasting; and
this grace must be retained all the days of our life. When Adam fell, his condition was not
meliorated by the reflection that he had been once in paradise; nor does it avail Satan now that
he was once an angel of light. Those who let the grace of God depart from their hearts, lose that
grace; and those who lose the grace, fall from the grace; and as some have fallen and risen no
more, so may others; therefore, take heed to thyself, etc. Were it impossible for men finally to fall
from the grace of God, exhortations of this kind had never been given, because they would have
been unnecessary, and God never does an unnecessary thing.
But teach them thy sons - If a man know the worth of his own soul, he will feel the importance of
the salvation of the souls of his family. Those who neglect family religion, neglect personal
religion; if more attention were paid to the former, even among those called religious people, we
should soon have a better state of civil society. On family religion God lays much stress; and no
head of a family can neglect it without endangering the final salvation of his own soul. See the
note at the conclusion of Gen_18:32 (note), Gen_19:38 (note), and Deu_6:7 (note).
10 Remember the day you stood before the LORD your
God at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people

18. 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.”
1. Gill, “ Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord in Horeb,.... Above all things Moses
would have them take care not to forget the day the law was given from Mount Sinai, which was
so awful and solemn, when they saw the fire, the smoke, the lightning, and heard the thunder and
the sound of the trumpet; all which were very shocking and terrifying: and though the men of
this generation were but young then, being under twenty years of age, yet many of them were old
enough to observe these things, and which one would think should never wear out of their minds:
when the Lord said unto me, gather me the people together; not the elders of the people only, but
the whole body of the people, as he did, and brought them to the foot of Mount Sinai, Exo_19:17,
and I will make them hear my words; the ten commands which were spoken by the Lord himself
aloud, with an articulate voice, in the hearing of all the people; and was such a terrible voice of
words, that they that heard it entreated it might be spoken to them no more, Heb_12:19.
that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth; to reverence him
the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy; to fear to offend him by breaking his laws, so
holy, just, and good, and delivered in such an awful and solemn manner:
and that they may teach their children; the words they had heard, teach them obedience to them,
and to be careful not to act contrary to them; since that would bring down judgments upon them,
and deprive them of the favour they enjoyed, of which they had seen instances.
2. Henry, “He urges God's glorious appearances to them at Mount Sinai, when he gave them this
law. This he insists much upon. Take heed lest thou forget the day that thou stoodest before the
Lord thy God in Horeb, Deu_4:10. Some of them were now alive that could remember it, though
they were then under twenty years of age, and the rest of them might be said to stand there in the
loins of their fathers, who received the law and entered into covenant there, not for themselves
only, but for their children, to whom God had an eye particularly in giving the law, that they
might teach it to their children. Two things they must remember, and, one would think, they
could never forget them: - [1.] What they saw at Mount Sinai, Deu_4:11. They saw a strange
composition of fire and darkness, both dreadful and very awful; and they must needs be a
striking foil to each other; the darkness made the fire in the midst of it look the more dreadful.
Fires in the night are the most frightful, and the fire made the darkness that surrounded it look
the more awful; for it must needs be a strong darkness which such a fire did not disperse. In
allusion to this appearance upon Mount Sinai, God is said to show himself for his people, and
against his and their enemies, in fire and darkness together, Psa_18:8, Psa_18:9. He tells them
again (Deu_4:36) what they saw, for he would have them never forget it: He showed thee his great
fire. One flash of lightning, that fire from heaven, strikes an awe upon us; and some have
observed that most creatures naturally turn their faces towards the lightning, as ready to receive
the impressions of it; but how dreadful then must a constant fire from heaven be! It gave an

19. earnest of the day of judgment, in which the Lord Jesus shall be revealed in flaming fire. As he
reminds them of what they saw, so he tells them what they saw not; no manner of similitude,
from which they might form either an idea of God in their fancies or an image of God in their
high places. By what we see of God sufficient ground is given us to believe him to be a Being of
infinite power and perfection, but no occasion given us to suspect him to have a body such as we
have.
3. KD, “Deu_4:10-12
In the words, “The day (, adverbial accusative) “that thou stoodest before Jehovah thy God
at Horeb,” etc., Moses reminds the people of the leading features of those grand events: first of all
of the fact that God directed him to gather the people together, that He might make known His
words to them (Exo_19:9.), that they were to learn to fear Him all their life long, and to teach
their children also (, inf., like , Deu_1:27); and secondly (Deu_4:11), that they came near
to the mountain which burned in fire (cf. Exo_19:17.). The expression, burning in fire “even to
the heart of heaven,” i.e., quite into the sky, is a rhetorical description of the awful majesty of the
pillar of fire, in which the glory of the Lord appeared upon Sinai, intended to impress deeply
upon the minds of the people the remembrance of this manifestation of God. And the expression,
“darkness, clouds, and thick darkness,” which is equivalent to the smoking of the great mountain
(Exo_19:18), is employed with the same object. And lastly (Deu_4:12, Deu_4:13), he reminds
them that the Lord spoke out of the midst of the fire, and adds this important remark, to prepare
the way for what is to follow, “Ye heard the sound of the words, but ye did not see a shape,” which
not only agrees most fully with Ex 24, where it is stated that the sight of the glory of Jehovah
upon the mountain appeared to the people as they stood at the foot of the mountain “like
devouring fire” (Deu_4:17), and that even the elders who “saw God” upon the mountain at the
conclusion of the covenant saw no form of God (Deu_4:11), but also with Exo_33:20, Exo_33:23,
according to which no man can see the face ( ) of God. Even the similitude (Temunah) of
Jehovah, which Moses saw when the Lord spoke to him mouth to mouth (Num_12:8), was not the
form of the essential being of God which was visible to his bodily eyes, but simply a manifestation
of the glory of God answering to his own intuition and perceptive faculty, which is not to be
regarded as a form of God which was an adequate representation of the divine nature. The true
God has no such form which is visible to the human eye.
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.
1. Gill, “And ye came near and stood under the mountain,.... At the foot of it, in the lower part of
the mountain, as the Targum of Jonathan, and agrees with Exo_19:17.
and the mountain burnt with fire unto the midst of heaven; the flame and smoke went up into the
middle of the air: with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness; which thick darkness was
occasioned partly by the smoke, which went up like the smoke of a furnace, and partly by the

20. thick clouds, which were on the mount, and covered the face of the heavens, which were black
and tempestuous with them; the Septuagint renders it a tempest, Exo_19:18, which denotes the
obscurity of the law, and the terrors it works in the minds of men.
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.
1. Gill, “ And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire,.... For the Lord descended on
Mount Sinai in a cloud, in fire, and was in the thick darkness, from whence he delivered out the
ten commands:
ye heard the voice of the words; distinctly and plainly, not only the sound of them, but the words
themselves, and so as to understand what was meant by them:
but saw no similitude; not any likeness of the person speaking, by which they could form any idea
of him in their minds, which was purposely done to prevent idolatry:
only ye heard a voice; that was all.
2. Chuck Smith, “Now, he points out the fact that when they heard the voice of God they didn't
see any form at all, deliberately so. For God did not want them making any kind of a
representative likeness of God. Now in all of the nations around them they had all of their little
carvings, all of their little idols that were representing their gods. Some of them were female idols
with multi-breasts, some of them were male-type idols. Some of them were weird, wings. Some of
them looked like fish. Some of them looked monstrous, gargoyle kind. This is God. This is what
God looks like. He said, not so. God doesn't want you making any graven image. God doesn't
want you making any kind of a representative likeness of Him. It's not to be done.
3. Henry, “What they heard at Mount Sinai (Deu_4:12): “The Lord spoke unto you with an
intelligible voice, in your own language, and you heard it.” This he enlarges upon towards the
close of his discourse, Deu_4:32, Deu_4:33, Deu_4:36. First, They heard the voice of God, speaking
out of heaven. God manifests himself to all the world in the works of creation, without speech or
language, and yet their voice is heard (Psa_19:1-3); but to Israel he made himself known by
speech and language, condescending to the weakness of the church's infant state. Here was the
voice of one crying in the wilderness, to prepare the way of the Lord. Secondly, They heard it out of
the midst of the fire, which showed that it was God himself that spoke to them, for who else could
dwell with devouring fire? God spoke to Job out of the whirlwind, which was terrible; but to
Israel out of the fire, which was more terrible. We have reason to be thankful that he does not
thus speak to us, but by men like ourselves, whose terror shall not make us afraid, Job_33:6,
Job_33:7. Thirdly, They heard it and yet lived, Deu_4:33. It was a wonder of mercy that the fire

21. did not devour them, or that they did not die for fear, when Moses himself trembled. Fourthly,
Never any people heard the like. He bids them enquire of former days and distant places, and
they would find this favour of God to Israel without precedent or parallel, Deu_4:32. This
singular honour done them called for singular obedience from them. It might justly be expected
that they should do more for God than other people, since God had done so much more for them.
13 He declared to you his covenant, the Ten
Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and
then wrote them on two stone tablets.
1. Gill, “And he declared unto you his covenant,.... So the law was called, because it contained, on
the part of God, things which he would have done or avoided, to which were annexed promises of
long life and happiness in the land he gave them; and they, on their part, agreed to hearken to it,
and obey it, Exo_24:3,
which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; which see at large in Exo_20:1,
and in this book afterwards repeated, Deu_5:6,
and he wrote them upon two tables of stone; to denote the durableness of them; the Targum of
Jonathan says on tables of sapphire; but it is most likely that they were written on tables of
marble, since there were great quantities of it in Mount Sinai; See Gill on Exo_31:18.
2. KD, “The Israelites, therefore, could not see a form of God, but could only hear the voice of
His words, when the Lord proclaimed His covenant to them, and gave utterance to the ten words,
which He afterwards gave to Moses written upon two tables of stone (Exo_20:1-14 [17], and
Exo_31:18, compared with Exo_24:12). On the “tables of stone,” see at Exo_34:1.
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.
1. Gill, “And the Lord commanded me at that time,.... When the ten commandments were
delivered on Mount Sinai, and Moses was ordered to come up to God in the mount:
to teach you statutes and judgments; laws ceremonial and judicial, besides the ten commands
given them:

22. that ye may do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it; the land of Canaan, which was
on the other side of Jordan, and over which they must go in order to possess it; and when they
came there, they were to hold the possession of it by attending to those laws which forbad the sins
for which the old inhabitants of it were expelled out of it; and besides these, there were also
several laws, both ceremonial and judicial, which were to be peculiarly observed in the land, as
well as others they were obliged to do while without it.
2. KD, “When the Lord Himself had made known to the people in the ten words the covenant
which He commanded them to do, He directed Moses to teach them laws and rights which they
were to observe in Canaan, viz., the rights and statutes of the Sinaitic legislation, from Ex 21
onwards.
Idolatry Forbidden
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,
1. Gill, “Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves,.... As to keep all the laws given them, so
particularly to avoid idolatry:
for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day the Lord spake unto you in 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.
2. Henry, “He charges them particularly to take heed of the sin of idolatry, that sin which of all
others they would be most tempted to by the customs of the nations, which they were most
addicted to by the corruption of their hearts, and which would be most provoking to God and of
the most pernicious consequences to themselves: Take good heed, lest in this matter you corrupt
yourselves, Deu_4:15, Deu_4:16. Two sorts of idolatry he cautions them against: - [1.] The
worship of images, however by them they might intend to worship the true God, as they had done
in the golden calf, so changing the truth of God into a lie and his glory into shame.
The second commandment is expressly directed against this, and is here enlarged upon,
Deu_4:15-18. “Take heed lest you corrupt yourselves,” that is, “lest you debauch yourselves;” for
those that think to make images of God form in their minds such notions of him as must needs be
an inlet to all impieties; and it is intimated that it is a spiritual adultery. “And take heed lest you
destroy yourselves. If any thing ruin you, this will be it. Whatever you do, make no similitude of
God, either in a human shape, male of female, or in the shape of any beast or fowl, serpent or
fish;” for the heathen worshipped their gods by images of all these kinds, being either not able to
form, or not willing to admit, that plain demonstration which we find, Hos_8:6 : The workman

23. made it, therefore it is not God. To represent an infinite Spirit by an image, and the great Creator
by the image of a creature, is the greatest affront we can put upon God and the greatest cheat we
can put upon ourselves. As an argument against their making images of God, he urges it very
much upon them that when God made himself known to them at Horeb he did it by a voice of
words which sounded in their ears, to teach them that faith comes by hearing, and God in the
word is nigh us; but no image was presented to their eye, for to see God as he is is reserved for
our happiness in the other world, and to see him as he is not will do us hurt and no good in this
world. You saw no similitude (Deu_4:12), no manner of similitude, Deu_4:15. Probably they
expected to have seen some similitude, for they were ready to break through unto the Lord to gaze,
Exo_19:21. But all they saw was light and fire, and nothing that they could make an image of,
God an infinite wisdom so ordering his manifestation of himself because of the peril of idolatry. It
is said indeed of Moses that he beheld the similitude of the Lord (Num_12:8), God allowing him
that favour because he was above the temptation of idolatry; but for the people who had lately
come from admiring the idols of Egypt, they must see no resemblance of God, lest they should
have pretended to copy it, and so should have received the second commandment in vain; “for”
(says bishop Patrick) “they would have thought that this forbade them only to make any
representation of God besides that wherein he showed himself to them, in which they would have
concluded it lawful to represent him.” Let this be a caution to us to take heed of making images
of God in our fancy and imagination when we are worshipping him, lest thereby we corrupt
ourselves. There may be idols in the heart, where there are none in the sanctuary. [2.] The
worship of the sun, moon, and stars, is another sort of idolatry which they were cautioned
against, Deu_4:19. This was the most ancient species of idolatry and the most plausible, drawing
the adoration to those creatures that not only are in a situation above us, but are most sensibly
glorious in themselves and most generally serviceable to the world. And the plausibleness of it
made it the more dangerous. It is intimated here, First, How strong the temptation is to sense; for
the caution is, Lest thou shouldest be driven to worship them by the strong impulse of a vain
imagination and the impetuous torrent of the customs of the nations. The heart is supposed to
walk after the eye, which, in our corrupt and degenerate state, it is very apt to do. “When thou
seest the sun, moon, and stars, thou wilt so admire their height and brightness, their regular
motion and powerful influence, that thou wilt be strongly tempted to give that glory to them
which is due to him that made them, and made them what they are to us - gave them their beings,
and made them blessings to the world.” It seems there was need of a great deal of resolution to
arm them against this temptation, so weak was their faith in an invisible God and an invisible
world. Secondly, Yet he shows how weak the temptation would be to those that would use their
reason; for these pretended deities, the sun, moon, and stars, were only blessings which the Lord
their God, whom they were obliged to worship, had imparted to all nations. It is absurd to
worship them, for they are man's servants, were made and ordained to give light on earth; and
shall we serve those that were made to serve us? The sun, in Hebrew is called shemesh, which
signifies a servant, for it is the minister-general of this visible world, and holds the candle to all
mankind; let it not then be worshipped as a lord. Moreover, they are God's gifts; he has imparted
them; whatever benefit we have by them, we owe it to him; it is therefore highly injurious to him
to give that honour and praise to them which is due to him only.
(6.) He charges them to teach their children to observe the laws of God: Teach them to thy sons,
and thy sons' sons (Deu_4:9), that they may teach their children, Deu_4:10. [1.] 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. [2.] Parents must, in order hereunto, particularly take care
to teach their own children the fear of God, and to train them up in an observance of all his
commandments.

24. 3. KD, “Deu 4:15-16 -
As the Israelites had seen no shape of God at Horeb, they were to beware for their souls' sake
(for their lives) of acting corruptly, and making to themselves any kind of image of Jehovah their
God, namely, as the context shows, to worship God in it. (On pesel, see at Exo_20:4.) The words
which follow, viz., “a form of any kind of sculpture,” and “a representation of male or female” (for
tabnith, see at Exo_25:9), are in apposition to “graven image,” and serve to explain and
emphasize the prohibition.
4. Jamison, “Deu 4:7-9 -
what nation is there so great — Here he represents their privileges and their duty in such
significant and comprehensive terms, as were peculiarly calculated to arrest their attention and
engage their interest. The former, their national advantages, are described (Deu_4:7, Deu_4:8),
and they were twofold: 1. God’s readiness to hear and aid them at all times; and 2. the excellence
of that religion in which they were instructed, set forth in the “statutes and judgments so
righteous” which the law of Moses contained. Their duty corresponding to these pre-eminent
advantages as a people, was also 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.
5. Don Robinson, Deuteronomy 4:15-16, “Definition: Any time I trust any person or anything
more than God or anytime I value any person or any thing before God that's called an idol. That
is a definition of idol. It's when I trust anything or anyone else more than God. The second
command of the Ten Commandments says Don't make any idols. Why is that? Another place
in the Bible, in the book of Deuteronomy, it says this For your own good don't sin by making an
idol in any form. For your own good -- circle that. It says, I want you to have a correct
understanding of what I'm like, have a correct image of me in your mind. It's really for your own
good.
Any time I expect other people to meet a need in my life that only God can meet, I'm going to be
disappointed. Any time you take anything -- and we can even make good things idols, you can
make your family an idol. There's nothing wrong with your family but anytime you look to any
single person or any single thing in life to meet all your needs, you're going to be let down. It's the
idea, of If I could just get married, then I'd be happy. If I could just find that right person,
my life would be totally fulfilled. That's creating an idol. Or, If I could just get this job or If
I could just make `X' amount of money, then I would feel significant. Then I would feel confident.
Then I would feel good about myself. Then life would be fantastic. You have just created an idol.
And you're going to be discouraged by it.”
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,

25. 1. Moses is making it clear that God is spirit, and must be worshiped in spirit and truth. He is
never to be made into an image and worshiped as an idol. That was the number one sin and folly
that led to the failure of God's people to remain under his blessing. Idolatry was the greatest
curse of Israel, and it has always been, and will always be for believers to the end of history.
2. Gill, “Lest ye corrupt yourselves,.... And not themselves only, but the word and worship of
God, by idolatry, than which nothing is more corrupting and defiling, nor more abominable to
God:
and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure; a graven image, in the likeness of any
figure, an idea of which they had formed in their minds:
the likeness of male or female; of a man or a woman; so some of the Heathen deities were in the
likeness of men, as Jupiter, Mars, Hercules, Apollo, c. and others in the likeness of women, as
Juno, Diana, Venus, c. Some think Osiris and Isis, Egyptian deities, the one male, the other
female, are respected; but it is not certain that these were worshipped by them so early.
3. Out Daily Bread, “Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious -- Thy great name we praise. - Smith
God made us in His image; don't try to make Him in yours.
4. Jamison, “Deu 4:16-19 -
Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image — The things are here specified of
which God prohibited any image or representation to be made for the purposes of worship; and,
from the variety of details entered into, an idea may be formed of the extensive prevalence of
idolatry in that age. In whatever way idolatry originated, whether from an intention to worship
the true God through those things which seemed to afford the strongest evidences of His power,
or whether a divine principle was supposed to reside in the things themselves, there was scarcely
an element or object of nature but was deified. This was particularly the case with the Canaanites
and Egyptians, against whose superstitious practices the caution, no doubt, was chiefly directed.
The former worshipped Baal and Astarte, the latter Osiris and Isis, under the figure of a male
and a female. It was in Egypt that animal-worship most prevailed, for the natives of that country
deified among beasts the ox, the heifer, the sheep, and the goat, the dog, the cat, and the ape;
among birds, the ibis, the hawk, and the crane; among reptiles, the crocodile, the frog, and the
beetle; among fishes, all the fish of the Nile; some of these, as Osiris and Isis, were worshipped
over all Egypt, the others only in particular provinces. In addition they embraced the Zabian
superstition, the adoration of the Egyptians, in common with that of many other people,
extending to the whole starry host. The very circumstantial details here given of the Canaanitish
and Egyptian idolatry were owing to the past and prospective familiarity of the Israelites with it
in all these forms.
5. Mackintosh, “We know that the Spirit of God does not warn us against things to which we are
not liable. He would not say to us, “Neither be ye idolaters,” if we were not capable of being such.

26. Idolatry takes various shapes. It is not, therefore, a question of the shape of the thing, but the
thing itself – not the outward form, but the root or principle of the thing. We read that
“covetousness is idolatry,” and that a covetous man is an idolater; that is, a man desiring to
posses is himself of more than God has given him is an idolater – is actually guilty of the sin of
Israel when they made the golden calf and worshiped it. Well might the blessed apostle say to the
Corinthians – say to us, “Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.” Why be warned to
flee from a thing to which we are not liable? Are there any idle words in the volume of God?
What mean those closing words of the first Epistle of John – “Little children, keep yourselves
from idols”? Do they not tell us that we are in danger of worshiping idols? Assuredly they do.
Our treacherous hearts are capable of departing from the living God, and setting up some other
object beside Him; and what is this but idolatry? Whatever commands the heart is the heart’s
idol, be it what it may-money, pleasure, power, or aught else,- so that we may well see the urgent
need for the many warnings given us by the Holy Ghost against the sin of idolatry.
But we have in the fourth chapter of Galatians a very remarkable passage, and one which speaks
in most impressive accents to the professing church.
The Galatians had, like all other Gentiles, worshiped idols; but, on the reception of the Gospel,
had turned from idols to serve the living and true God. The Judaizing teachers, however, had
come among them and taught them that unless they were circumcised and kept the law, they
could not be saved. Now this, the blessed apostle unhesitatingly pronounces to be idolatry – a
going back to the grossness and moral degradation of their former days, and all this after having
professed to
receive the glorious Gospel of Christ. Hence the moral force of the apostle’s inquiry, “Howbeit
then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now,
after that ye have known God, orrather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and
beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months,
and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain.”
This is peculiarly striking. The Galatians were not outwardly going back to the worship of idols.
It is not improbable that they would have indignantly repudiated any such idea. But, for all that,
the inspired apostle asks them, “How turn ye again?” What does this inquiry mean if they were
not going back to idolatry? And what are we now to learn from the whole passage? Simply this,
that circumcision, and getting under the law, and observing days, and months, and times, and
years – that all this, though apparently so different, was nothing more or less than going back to
their old idolatry. The observance of days and the worship of false gods were both a turning
away from the living and true God, from His Son Jesus Christ, from the Holy Ghost, from that
brilliant cluster of dignities and glories which belong to Christianity.
All this is peculiarly solemn for professing Christians. We question if the full import of Galatians
4:8-10 is really apprehended by the great majority of those who profess to believe the Bible. We
solemnly press this whole subject upon the attention of all whom it may concern. We pray God
to use it for the purpose of stirring up the hearts and consciences of His people every where to
consider their position, their habits, ways, and associations; and to inquire how far they are really
following the example of the assemblies of Galatia, in the observance of saints’ days and such
like, which can only lead away from Christ and His glorious salvation. There is a day coming
which will open the eyes of thousands to the reality of these things, and then they will see what
they now refuse to see, that the very darkest and grossest forms of paganism may be reproduced
under the name of Christianity, and in connection with the very highest truths that ever shone on

27. the human understanding.
17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the
air,
1. Gill, “The likeness of any beast that is on the earth,.... As there are scarce any but the likeness
of them has been made and worshipped, or the creatures themselves, as the ox by the Egyptians,
the sheep by the Thebans, the goat by the Mendesians, and others by different people:
the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air; as the hawk, and the bird called Ibis, and
another by the name of Cneph by the Egyptians, and the eagle by others.
2. Clarke, “The likeness of any beast, etc. - Such as the Egyptian god Apis, who was worshipped
under the form of a white bull; the ibis and hawk, among the fowls, had also Divine honors paid
to them; serpents and the crocodile among reptiles; besides monkeys, dogs, cats, the scarabaeus,
leeks, and onions! See this explained at large, Exo_20:4.
18 or like any creature that moves along the ground or
any fish in the waters below.
1. Gill, “The likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground,.... As serpents by many; and
indeed that creature is introduced into almost all the idolatries of the Heathens, which seems to
take its rise from the serpent Satan made use of to deceive our first parents:
the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth; as the crocodile and
hippopotamus, or river horse, by the Egyptians; and Dagon and Derceto, supposed to be figures
in the form of a fish, among the Phoenicians.
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 worshiping things
the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations
under heaven.

28. 1. Gill, “And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven,.... The starry heaven, which to do in itself is
not sinful; and may be lawfully and commendably done, to raise admiration at the wonderful
works of God in them, and lead to adore the author of them: but if not guarded against may be
ensnaring:
and when thou seest the sun and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven; those bright
luminaries, so glorious to behold, and so useful and beneficial to the earth, and the inhabitants of
it:
shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them; should have an impulse on their minds and
their hearts, be inclined and drawn to the worship of them, partly by considering their splendour,
glory, and usefulness, and partly by the example of others; for the worshipping of these seems to
be and is the first kind of idolatry men gave into, at least it was very ancient; see Job_31:26,
which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven; the sun and the
moon by their constant revolutions visit all the parts of the world, and stars are fixed in both
hemispheres, so that all nations of the earth receive the benefit and advantage of all these
heavenly bodies; but were never designed to be the objects of their worship, as might be learnt
from their being divided to them, sometimes one part of the earth enjoying them, and then
another, and not present with them all at one and the same time, which, if deities, would have
been necessary; see Psa_19:6.
2. Chuck Smith, “There is something within man that drives him to worship. You've gotta
worship something. It's like Bob Dylan said, You've gotta serve somebody and that's true.
You're driven to serve somebody. There's a driving, compelling force for you to serve somebody
and it is always tragic when men leave the worship and serving of the true and the living God, the
creator and the sustainer of the universe of all life and life forms. And they begin to make a
likeness of God like a man or like a woman or like an animal and they begin to bow down and
worship these little likenesses. They begin to offer their prayers before these likenesses. There's
something within man that compels him to worship but God doesn't want you worshiping before
any altar. When the woman of Samaria said unto Jesus, Our fathers say that we're to worship
God in this mountain. You say that we are to worship Him in Jerusalem. Where do we worship
God?(John 4:20). Jesus said, The day is coming and now is when they that worship God will
neither worship in this mountain nor in Jerusalem for God is a spirit and they that worship Him
must worship Him in spirit and in truth and God is seeking such to worship Him(John 4:23-24).
3. KD, “They were not to allow themselves to be torn away ( ) to worship the stars of heaven,
namely, by the seductive influence exerted upon the senses by the sight of the heavenly bodies as
they shone in their glorious splendour. The reason for this prohibition is given in the relative
clause, “which Jehovah thy God hath allotted to all nations under the whole heaven.” The thought
is not, “God has given the heathen the sun, moon, and stars for service, i.e., to serve them with
their light,” as Onkelos, the Rabbins, Jerome, and others, suppose, but He has allotted them to
them for worship, i.e., permitted them to choose them as the objects of their worship, which is the
view adopted by Justin Martyr, Clemens Alex., and others. According to the scriptural view, even
the idolatry of the heathen existed by divine permission and arrangement. God gave up the

29. heathen to idolatry and shameful lusts, because, although they knew Him from His works, they
did not praise Him as God (Rom_1:21, Rom_1:24, Rom_1:26).
4. Clarke, “When thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars - The worship of the heavenly
bodies was the oldest species of idolatry. Those who had not the knowledge of the true God were
led to consider the sun, moon, planets, and stars, as not only self-existing, but the authors of all
the blessings possessed by mankind. The knowledge of a rational system of astronomy served to
destroy this superstition; and very little of it remains now in the world, except among a few
Christian and Mohammedan astrologers; those miserable sinners who endeavor, as much as
possible, to revive the old idolatry, while vainly professing to believe in the true God! Nor is it to
be doubted that God will proceed with them as he has done of old with the worshippers of the
host of heaven. Sound philosophy is next in importance to sound divinity; and next to the study of
the work of grace is that of the operations of God in nature; for these visible things make known
his eternal power and Godhead.”
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.
1. Gill, “But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace,.... The
allusion is to the trying and melting of metals, and fleeing them from dross, by putting them into
furnaces strongly heated, some of which are of earth, others of iron; the word, as the Jewish
writers (g) observe, signifies such an one in which gold and silver and other things are melted; see
Psa_12:6 even out of Egypt; which is here compared to an iron furnace, because of the cruelty
with which the Israelites were used in it, the hardships they were put under, and the misery and
bondage they were kept in; but out of all the Lord brought them, as he does all his people sooner
or later out of their afflictions, sometimes called the furnace of affliction, Isa_48:10 where their
graces are tried, and they are purged, purified, and refined from their dross and tin. This the
Lord did to Israel, he brought them out of their distressed state and condition:
to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day: to be the Lord's inheritance, as they
now were, Deu_32:9 as well as they were quickly to inherit the land of Canaan, for which they
were brought out of the land of Egypt; and indeed they were already, even that day, entered on
their inheritance, the kingdom of the Amorites being delivered into their hands.
2. F. B. Meyer
Our Daily Homily
THE Apostle' prays that we may know the riches of the glory of God's inheritance in His saints.
God is our inheritance, and we are His. We are called to possess Him; He desires to possess us.
His nature will yield crops of holy helpfulness to those who diligently seek Him; and He demands
crops of holy love and devotion from ours.
What Sovereign Grace is here!--There was nothing in us to distinguish us from others. We were

30. but part of the great moorland waste, when He fenced us in, and placed us under His tillage and
husbandry. It is by the grace of God that we are what we are. To the praise of the glory of His
grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved: in whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.
What responsibility!--Three times over in this chapter we are bidden to take heed to ourselves. It
is no small thing to have been the subjects of God's special workmanship; because He is a jealous
God, very quick to mark the least symptom of declension, and very searching in His dealing and
discipline. As we learn here, our God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
What Hope!--We cannot derive much from ourselves, however we toil and strive. Self cannot
discipline self to any advantage. The field is worked out. The Divine Husbandman must put into
us what He would take out of us; He needs therefore to have almost infinite resources. But these
are God's, and if we yield ourselves to Him, He can make all grace abound toward us, that we,
always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound unto every good work.
3. Henry, “He urges God's gracious appearances for them, in bringing them out of Egypt, from
the iron furnace, where they laboured in the fire, forming them into a people, and then taking
them to be his own people, a people of inheritance (Deu_4:20); this he mentions again, Deu_4:34,
Deu_4:37, Deu_4:38. Never did God do such a thing for any people; the rise of this nation was
quite different from that of all other nations. [1.] They were thus dignified and distinguished, not
for any thing in them that was deserving or inviting, but because God had a kindness for their
fathers: he chose them. See the reasons of free grace; we are not beloved for our own sakes, but
for his sake who is the great trustee of the covenant. [2.] They were delivered out of Egypt by
miracles and signs, in mercy to them and in judgment upon the Egyptians, against whom God
stretched out his arm, which was signified by Moses's stretching out his hand in summoning the
plagues. [3.] They were designed for a happy settlement in Canaan, Deu_4:38. Nations must be
driven out from before them, to make room for them, to show how much dearer they were to God
than any other people were. Egyptians and Canaanites must both be sacrificed to Israel's honour
and interest. Those that stand in Israel's light, in Israel's way, shall find it is at their peril.
4. KD, “The Israelites were not to imitate the heathen in this respect, because Jehovah, who
brought them out of the iron furnace of Egypt, had taken them ( ) to Himself, i.e., had drawn
them out or separated them from the rest of the nations, to be a people of inheritance. They were
therefore not to seek God and pray to Him in any kind of creature, but to worship Him without
image and form, in a manner corresponding to His own nature, which had been manifested in no
form, and therefore could not be imitated. , an iron furnace, or furnace for smelting iron,
is a significant figure descriptive of the terrible sufferings endured by Israel in Egypt. (a
people of inheritance) is synonymous with ! (a special people, Deu_7:6 : see at Exo_19:5, “a
peculiar treasure”). “This day:” as in Deu_2:30.
5. Jamison, “But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace — that
is, furnace for smelting iron. A furnace of this kind is round, sometimes thirty feet deep, and
requiring the highest intensity of heat. Such is the tremendous image chosen to represent the
bondage and affliction of the Israelites [Rosenmuller].
to be unto him a people of inheritance — His peculiar possession from age to age; and therefore
for you to abandon His worship for that of idols, especially the gross and debasing system of
idolatry that prevails among the Egyptians, would be the greatest folly - the blackest ingratitude.

31. 6. Clarke, “Out of the iron furnace - From this mention of the word iron furnace there can be
little doubt that the Israelites were employed in Egypt in the most laborious works of metallurgy.
Digging, smelting, and forging of iron in so hot a climate must have been oppressive work indeed.
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.
1. Gill, “Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes,.... See Deu_3:26,
and sware that I should not go over Jordan; this circumstance of swearing is nowhere else
expressed:
and that I should not go in unto that good land; the land of Canaan; he might see it, as he did
from Pisgah, but not enter into it:
which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance; to them and to their children after them.
2. KD, “Deu 4:21-24 -
The bringing of Israel out of Egypt reminds Moses of the end, viz., Canaan, and leads him to
mention again how the Lord had refused him permission to enter into this good land; and to this
he adds the renewed warning not to forget the covenant or make any image of God, since
Jehovah, as a jealous God, would never tolerate this. The swearing attributed to God in Deu_4:21
is neither mentioned in Num 20 nor at the announcement of Moses' death in Num_27:12.; but it
is not to be called in question on that account, as Knobel supposes. It is perfectly obvious from
Deu_3:23. that all the details are not given in the historical account of the event referred to.
!
, “image of a form of all that Jehovah has commanded,” sc., not to be made (Deu_4:16-
18). “A consuming fire” (Deu_4:24): this epithet is applied to God with special reference to the
manifestation of His glory in burning fire (Exo_24:17). On the symbolical meaning of this mode
of revelation, see at Exo_3:2. “A jealous God:” see at Exo_20:5.
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.

32. 1. Gill, “But I must die in this land,.... The land of Moab, in a mountain in it he died, and in a
valley there he was buried, Deu_32:50,
I must not go over Jordan; this he repeats, as lying near his heart; he had earnestly solicited to go
over, but was denied it:
but ye shall go over, and possess that good land; this he firmly believed and assures them of,
relying on the promise and faithfulness of God.
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.
1. Gill, “Take heed unto yourselves,.... Since he should not be long with them, to advise, instruct,
and caution them:
lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you; what that required of
them, and what was promised unto them on the performance of it, and what they must expect
should they break it, and particularly be so forgetful of it, and the first articles in it, as follows:
and make you a graven image, or the likeness of anything which the Lord thy God hath
forbidden thee; a graven image in the likeness of men or women, of any beast on the earth, or
fowl in heaven, or fish in the sea.
2. Henry, “He charges them never to forget their duty: Take heed lest you forget the covenant of
the Lord your God, Deu_4:23. Though God is ever mindful of the covenant, we are apt to forget it;
and this is at the bottom of all our departures from God. We have need therefore to watch against
all those things which would put the covenant out of our minds, and to watch over our own
hearts, lest at any time we let it slip; and so we must take heed lest at any time we forget our
religion, lest we lose it or leave it off. Care and caution, and holy watchfulness, are the best helps
against a bad memory. These are the directions and commands he gives them.
2. Let us see now what are the motives or arguments with which he backs these exhortations.
How does he order the cause before them, and fill his mouth with arguments! He has a great deal
to say on God's behalf. Some of his topics are indeed peculiar to that people, yet applicable to us.
But, upon the whole, it is evident that religion has reason on its side, the powerful charms of
which all that are irreligious willfully stop their ears against.