Thursday, January 7, 2021

Deuteronomy 4:1-40 comments: Moses charges Israel to follow the commands he has given them from God

 

Deuteronomy 4:1 ¶  Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. 2  Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. 3  Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you. 4  But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day. 5  Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. 6  Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7  For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? 8  And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? 9  Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; 10  Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. 11  And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. 12  And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. 13  And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. 14  And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. 15  Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: 16  Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17  The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, 18  The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: 19  And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. 20  But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. 21  Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance: 22  But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land. 23  Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee. 24  For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. 25  When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger: 26  I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. 27  And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you. 28  And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29  But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 30  When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 31  (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them. 32  For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? 33  Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? 34  Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35  Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him. 36  Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire. 37  And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt; 38  To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day. 39  Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else. 40  Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever.

 

To start with verse 2 in chapter 4 of Deuteronomy here says;

 

2  Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

 

Keep in mind these verses;

 

Deuteronomy 12:32  What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

 

Proverbs 30:5  Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. 6  Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

 

Clearly, God’s people are not to make it up as they go along. We are to obey God not create our own set of commandments to add to His because we don’t feel He goes far enough or to take away from His word because it is too much to bear with our desire to sin.

 

The context of this command is in the doing of what God has commanded. It has been used to represent other contexts like the Bible version issue but it is only applicable to that metaphorically, not literally.

 

In verse 3, the matter of Baalpeor was a source of great destruction spiritually for the Israelites.

 

“Numbers 25:1 ¶  And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. 2  And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. 3  And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. 4  And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel. 5  And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.

 

The Israelites begin consorting with Moabite women. This also included the worship of their gods.

 

Here is what Balaam was able to accomplish against Israel. He would not curse them. He could not. But he could lay a stumblingblock in their path to service to God, a sexual stumblingblock as we have already learned about the sexual content of ancient religion. First, the point at from where this began would be when Balaam was with Balak who was demanding a curse but getting a blessing.

 

Numbers 23:28  And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.

 

Numbers 31:16  Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.

 

Revelation 2:14  But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

 

Baalpeor  means obviously ‘god of Peor’ or ‘lord of Peor’, a physical location we have seen in the text. The context indicates the sexual nature of the worship of this local god which, unfortunately, like all of the hypersexualized worship of the Canaanites we’ve already looked at was a stumblingblock to this race of former slaves of Egypt. This is not a case of, “oh, them local girls sure are pretty,” considering what you and I have learned about religious customs in Canaan so far. God orders Moses to execute every one who fell to this very sensual worship of this local Canaanite god.

 

Once the Israelites began enjoying physical relations with the Canaanite women spiritual decline was inevitable.

 

1Kings 11:1  But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;

 

Nehemiah 13:26  Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.

 

Put it in a modern perspective. You tried to raise your son or daughter right. You permitted them to go away to school. They announce to you at some point that they have fallen in love with a local girl or boy where they are. Marriage follows and then children, hopefully in that order. But you notice that the children seem to be raised with a different standard than the one you set for your child. Your grandchildren act very differently than your child did growing up, usually with less impulse-control and perhaps even acting a bit disrespectfully. You realize that if your child’s spouse was raised in a more liberal environment with less order than your child this will be reflected in your grandchildren’s behavior. We cannot underestimate the power of a child raised with a lower standard has on even a young person who you think is firm and solid in their beliefs and standards. It can be very disheartening. While you raised your child to be respectful of other’s property and a good guest in someone else’s home your grandchild acts like a Vandal sacking Rome when they visit. Maybe you notice that the family does not attend church faithfully or even, in some cases, bear any resemblance to a Christian family.

 

Numbers 25:6 ¶  And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 7  And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; 8  And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. 9  And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. 10  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 11  Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. 12  Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: 13  And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel. 14  Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites. 15  And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.

 

After the command given by Moses, Phinehas, Aaron’s grandson, obeyed and killed both an Israelite and the daughter of a Midianite prince who were engaged in sexual relations.

 

Regarding verse 9 notice this curious verse in Paul’s letters to the Corinthians.

 

1Corinthians 10:8  Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

 

Bibles typically say 1Corinthians 10:8 is referring to this passage in Numbers 25. The Modernist heresy in modern Christians then says, “those numbers aren’t the same! They should be exactly alike!” But, Paul is not wrong. The number he mentions is contained in the number given in Numbers. Paul is writing a letter and we have seen approximations before, conversational illustrations referring or alluding to the Old Testament writings. He does not have to be reading from the Scriptures when he writes this from memory as part of his argument. However, some commentators get around this by saying that 1Corinthians 10:8 is referring to a different event. That is fine as long as you don’t need a long, convoluted argument juggling numbers from different passages to get where you want to be.

 

Numbers 25:16 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 17  Vex the Midianites, and smite them: 18  For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor’s sake.

 

To underscore that there was something religious in Zimri and Cozbi’s sexual dalliance notice what is written. This incident relates to the worship of the local god or lord of Peor which clearly is a reflection and confirmation of the sexual nature of Canaanite religion and the dangers, the very spiritual dangers that the Israelites faced.”

 

Back to Deuteronomy, chapter 4, verses 6,7, & 8 show how the nation of Israel was to be unique, a light in the darkness.

 

6  Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7  For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? 8  And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

 

Numbers 23:9  For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations…21  He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.

 

2Samuel 7:23  And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?

 

Exodus 19:4  Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. 5  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:

6  And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

 

Verse 9 was not followed. It says;

 

9  Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;

 

But notice later it is said.

 

Judges 2:8  And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. 9  And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. 10  And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.

 

This was Israel’s curse on themselves to not pass on their knowledge of God to their children and grandchildren.

 

What follows is a remarkably powerful message and verse 24 contains a sentiment that is repeated;

 

Hebrews 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29  For our God is a consuming fire.

 

Notice verse 35 and then this as a cross-reference.

 

Isaiah 44:6  Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

 

There are several verses in Isaiah 44 and 45 that make this claim from God.

 

Notice that this passage in Deuteronomy 4 is similar to the religious history of man Paul writes about in Romans, chapter 1. This is the path to decay of the religious impulse from worshipping an invisible God to visible representations of creatures and the objects in the sky as being God or gods.

 

Romans 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

 

    19 ¶  Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and

fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26  For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27  And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

 

Look at verse 19 in this passage in Deuteronomy and the consequences of idolatry in the first chapter of Romans.

 

24  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26  For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

 

And from Isaiah;

 

Isaiah 66:4  I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

 

Notice Paul’s prediction of the end of human history;

 

2Thessalonians 2:3 ¶  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

 

So, man chooses his rebellion but has no control over how far it will go or what he will eventually believe as God chooses that to prove man’s depravity. Yes, sin will take you further than you want to go, make you stay longer than you want to stay, and make you pay more than you want to pay and I would add will also lead you into paths you never imagined.

 

Verse 19 in Deuteronomy shows us that God has divided worship of the hosts of heaven among all of the nations of mankind as man is in a total state of rebellion.

 

Egypt is called the iron furnace in verse 20.

 

1Kings 8: 51  For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:

 

Jeremiah 11:4  Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God:

 

Looking at verses 26 and 27 in Deuteronomy 4 there were multiple diasporas, dispersions, of the Jews. In fact, Jews can be found all over the world, many in places you might find amazing. Karen Primack’s 1998 book Jews in Places You Never Thought is an interesting read. There are many books written about various Jewish dispersals in history.

 

31  (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

 

Verse 31 here in chapter 4 of Deuteronomy is a promise to the Jewish people showing that unlike many Christian groups’ statements against the Jews, He will never, ever abandon them. It is much like the promise made to us by Christ through Paul in Hebrews 13:5.

 

I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

 

From 32 on God through Moses expresses the uniqueness of the Jewish people, a people God created for Himself. While they had signs and wonders in their birth, we, in our second birth have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in us, making us unique among all mankind, and separate from them.

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