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Revelation

Daily Reader for Day 58: Deuteronomy 4 - 5


by Dave Moore

The Greek and English name for Deuteronomy reflects its nature: it is the deutero nomos – second law.  You’ve seen much of this material in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, but besides offering some new exposition, there are two significant traits that distinguish this book. 

First, Moses’ speeches are presented in the first person; it’s as though someone is recording Moses’ words or he is writing them himself.  That’s what makes this book feel so personal.  

Second, Deuteronomy plays out as a cohesive covenant, complete with a historical prologue, lists of general and specific commands, promise of blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience, and calls for witnesses and acceptance.  I touched on this in Exodus when the LORD offered His covenant on Sinai.  There is no negotiation here; Israel can choose to obey or disobey, but not to walk away. 

At Sinai, the LORD began his covenant with historical prologue: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt…” Yesterday, we heard a much more elaborate prologue in chapters 1 through 3.  Chapter 4 pivots from their history with the LORD to Israel’s righteous response: “And now…listen to the statutes that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live…” 

As you listen to chapter 4, keep in mind the question asked in verses 32 through 35: “Ask now of the days that are past, …and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened…  Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?  Or has any god attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation… To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him.” 

In chapter 5, Moses begins his long second speech by recounting the Sinai Covenant.  Listen carefully to how he makes the covenant alive and present: “Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us alive today.”  What follows is the familiar ground of the Ten Commandments, and a reminder of this generation’s commitment to obedience. 

Our verses for this week are Matthew 22:37-38: “And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.”

Deuteronomy 4 and 5.  Now let’s read it!

Deuteronomy 4 - 5

Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances which I teach you, to do them, that you may live and go in and possess the land which Jehovah, the God of your fathers, gives you. You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Jehovah your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what Jehovah did because of Baal Peor; for Jehovah your God has destroyed all the men who followed Baal Peor from among you. But you who were faithful to Jehovah your God are all alive today. Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Jehovah my God commanded me, that you should do so in the middle of the land where you go in to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who shall hear all these statutes and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." For what great nation is there that has a god so near to them as Jehovah our God is whenever we call on him? What great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you today? Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children's children-- the day that you stood before Jehovah your God in Horeb, when Jehovah said to me, "Assemble the people to me, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children." You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. Jehovah spoke to you out of the middle of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice. He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments. He wrote them on two stone tablets. Jehovah commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it. Be very careful, for you saw no kind of form on the day that Jehovah spoke to you in Horeb out of the middle of the fire, lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself a carved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth; and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Jehovah your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky. But Jehovah has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as it is today. Furthermore Jehovah was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land which Jehovah your God gives you for an inheritance; but I must die in this land. I must not go over the Jordan, but you shall go over and possess that good land. Be careful, lest you forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which Jehovah your God has forbidden you. For Jehovah your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God. When you father children and children's children, and you have been long in the land, and then corrupt yourselves, and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in Jehovah your God's sight to provoke him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong your days on it, but will utterly be destroyed. Jehovah will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where Jehovah will lead you away. There you will serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But from there you shall seek Jehovah your God, and you will find him when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you shall return to Jehovah your God and listen to his voice. For Jehovah your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them. For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been anything as great as this thing is, or has been heard like it? Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as you have heard, and live? Or has God tried to go and take a nation for himself from among another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Jehovah your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? It was shown to you so that you might know that Jehovah is God. There is no one else besides him. Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you. On earth he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the middle of the fire. Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their offspring after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt; to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today. Know therefore today, and take it to heart, that Jehovah himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no one else. You shall keep his statutes and his commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which Jehovah your God gives you for all time. Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, that the man slayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unintentionally and didn't hate him in time past, and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live: Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites. This is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel. These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances which Moses spoke to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt, beyond the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel struck when they came out of Egypt. They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise; from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even to Mount Siyon (also called Hermon), and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah. Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, "Hear, Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears today, that you may learn them, and observe to do them." Jehovah our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Jehovah didn't make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive today. Jehovah spoke with you face to face on the mountain out of the middle of the fire, (I stood between Jehovah and you at that time, to show you Jehovah's word; for you were afraid because of the fire, and didn't go up onto the mountain) saying, "I am Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. "You shall have no other gods before me. "You shall not make a carved image for yourself--any likeness of what is in heaven above, or what is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Jehovah your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. "You shall not misuse the name of Jehovah your God; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name. "Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Jehovah your God commanded you. You shall labor six days, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Jehovah your God, in which you shall not do any work--neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore Jehovah your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. "Honor your father and your mother, as Jehovah your God commanded you, that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land which Jehovah your God gives you. "You shall not murder. "You shall not commit adultery. "You shall not steal. "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's." Jehovah spoke these words to all your assembly on the mountain out of the middle of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice. He added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets, and gave them to me. When you heard the voice out of the middle of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; and you said, "Behold, Jehovah our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the middle of the fire. We have seen today that God does speak with man, and he lives. Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear Jehovah our God's voice any more, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as we have, and lived? Go near, and hear all that Jehovah our God shall say, and tell us all that Jehovah our God tells you; and we will hear it, and do it." Jehovah heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me; and Jehovah said to me, "I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have well said all that they have spoken. Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their children forever! "Go tell them, 'Return to your tents.' But as for you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the commandments, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess." You shall observe to do therefore as Jehovah your God has commanded you. You shall not turn away to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way which Jehovah your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.

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