Deuteronomy 4:1-8

LESSON FOUR Deuteronomy 4:1-43

B. SIGNIFICANCE OF PAST EVENTS (Deuteronomy 4:1-40)

1. BLESSINGS PROMISED FOR THOSE WHO HEED GOD'S ALL-SUFFICIENT LAW (Deuteronomy 4:1-8)

a. PROSPERITY (Deuteronomy 4:1-4)

And now, O Israel, hearken unto the statutes and unto the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which Jehovah, the God of your fathers, giveth you. 2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of Jehovah your God which I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what Jehovah did because of Baal-peor; for all the men that follow Baal-peor, Jehovah thy God hath destroyed them from the midst of thee. 4 But ye that did cleave unto Jehovah your God are alive every one of you this day.

b. RESPECT OF THE NATIONS (Deuteronomy 4:5-8)

5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Jehovah my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the midst of the land whither ye go in to possess it. 6Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, that shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7 For what great nation is there, that hath a god so nigh unto them, as Jehovah our God is whensoever we call upon him? 8 And what great nation is there, that hath statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 4:1-8

66.

What relationship was there between the statutes of Jehovah and the possession of the land?

67.

Name two possible reasons (excuses) for adding to the word of God.

68.

Who was Baal-peor? What happened to him?

69.

How did Moses accomplish the monumental task of teaching the whole nation of Israel?

70.

What was the cause or reason for the respect from other nations? Name three nations thus affected.

71.

What one quality of Jehovah especially appealed to the other nations?

AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 4:1-8

Now listen and give heed, O Israel, to the statutes and ordinances which I teach you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, gives you.
2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

3 Your eyes still see what the Lord did because of Baal-peor; for all the men who followed the Baal of Peor the Lord your God has destroyed from among you; [Numbers 25:1-9.]

4 But you who clung fast to the Lord your God are alive, every one of you, this day.
5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land which you are entering to possess.
6 So keep them and do them; for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
7 For what great nation is there who has a god so near to them as the Lord our God is to us in all things for which we call upon Him?
8 And what large and important nation has statutes and ordinances so upright and just as all this law which I set before you today?

COMMENT 4:1-8

Prosperity and the respect of the nations round aboutwhat else could a nation desire for its faithfulness? It was all promisedand during those relatively few years in Israel's history when they did turn wholeheartedly to God, these blessings immediately followed. But how much more often was Israel rather in near poverty, and the laughing-stock of the nationsall because of his disobedience and faithlessness!

How our own nation needs to heed this lesson. Recently, many reports have come back to our country of the low esteem with which our country is held by other nations. A Russian leader, upon visiting Hollywood, said his atheistic country had higher morals than ours. American tourists and servicemen abroad are known, far too often, for their licentiousness and immorality rather than their devotion to the Christ of God. Can America any longer be called, even by stretching the imagination, a Christian nation? Obviously not. And yet, this is our hypocritical claim. There is only one possible end of such a nationthe curse of God and degradation in the eyes of other nations. May we, too, remember that Israel became a hiss and a byword of the nations round about. And why? Because God's law and works were forgotten!

HEARKEN. DO THEM: THAT YE MAY LIVE (Deuteronomy 4:1)A necessity for God's smile upon our lives, whether under the Old Testament or New. We must first give diligence to know and understand God's law; but after that we have a moral and spiritual responsibility of OBEDIENCE. Again and again is this responsibility enjoined in Deuteronomy. Moses-' words were more than those of a mere informative lecturehe was preaching a sermon!

YE SHALL NOT ADD UNTO THE WORD. NEITHER DIMINISH (Deuteronomy 4:2)Cf. Deuteronomy 12:32. This has been God's law in all ages: Proverbs 30:5-6, Revelation 22:18-19. His law is perfect and complete: Psalms 19:7; Psalms 119:160, 2 Timothy 3:16-17; James 1:25, supplying, through Christ, all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). To add to it is to mar its perfectionand to usurp the place of God, the giver of light and truth.

YOUR EYES HAVE SEEN WHAT JEHOVAH DID BECAUSE OF BAAL-PEOR (Deuteronomy 4:3)See Numbers 25:1-13. The memory of that recent event, with the plague that followed killing twenty-four thousand Israelites, must surely have been fresh in their minds.

Baal, the sun god, was worshipped in the Canaanite countries under two aspects, beneficent and destructive. On the one hand he gave light and warmth to his worshippers; on the other hand the fierce heats of summer destroyed the vegetation he had himself brought into being. Hence human victims were sacrificed to him in order to appease his anger in time of plague or other trouble, the victim being usually the firstborn of the sacrificer and being burnt alive (I.S.B.E.).

The names of Baal took on different forms in different localities, as also did his worship. Each locality had its own Baal or divine Lord who often took his name from the city or place to which he belonged. So here we have Baal-Peor, the god of the Moabite mountains, who took his name from mount Peor (Numbers 23:28). His worship, as often in the case of idolatry, was accompanied by sensual rites. As recorded in Numbers, Moab and Midian were in league against Israel at this time. The Midianitish women, through the counsel of Balaam, the backslidden prophet, had induced many men of Israel to sin. Thus Moses says, Have ye saved all the [Midianitish] women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit tresspass against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Jehovah* (Numbers 31:15-16).

KEEP THEREFORE AND DO THEM; FOR THIS IS YOUR WISDOM AND YOUR UNDERSTANDING IN THE SIGHT OF THE PEOPLES (Deuteronomy 4:6)Even nations that would themselves reject the law Israel espoused, would nevertheless respect the people who faithfully kept it. They would say, SURELY THIS GREAT NATION IS A WISE AND UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE (Deuteronomy 4:6)if they kept the law of God and served him with all their heart (Deuteronomy 6:5).