Deuteronomy 4
In today’s reading, Moses presses on to exhort the Israelites to remain faithful to God’s commandments as they enter Canaan. You assuredly have your own takeaways from this chapter, but I’d love you to also consider the following practical truths that we can apply from Moses’s monologue:
· “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you” (v. 1). God’s promised blessings and rewards await those who obey what He says.
· “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you” (v. 2). What God says is sufficient to pierce hearts and bring about conviction. Present people with His truth, and let the Holy Spirit do His work.
· “Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor” (v. 3). Discipline awaits those who live in willful, direct defiance of the Word of God.
· “Keep [these statutes and rules] and do them, for that will be 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’” (v. 6). Faithfulness to Scripture makes you recognizably distinct and esteemed among others.
· “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life” (v. 9). It takes intentionality to live according to God’s design, so we would be wise to renew our minds daily with His words from the Bible to keep our hearts properly aligned with His.
· Then “the LORD said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth…’” (v. 10; emphasis added). In the original Hebrew language, this word for fear means to revere, esteem, honor, and be in awe of another. As our knowledge of God grows, the more this holy, healthy fear of the Lord should resound in our hearts.
· “And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven” (v. 19). It is still our tendency in the present to worship the creation instead of the magnificent Creator.
· Warning the Israelites not to create an idol for worship, Moses states that, if they did so, “the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell” (vv. 27-28). Remember this prophetic word for when we get to 2 Kings in our reading plan.
· “But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul” (v. 29). I wonder how much of God’s presence we miss because we seek Him halfheartedly.
· “When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice. For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them” (vv. 30-31). Aren’t you glad that, under the New Covenant in Christ Jesus, we can be reconciled to God and that, with the Holy Spirit now residing in us, we can obey His voice?
· “Therefore 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 that the LORD your God is giving you for all time” (v. 40). Yes, God’s favor await those who are obedient to God, but fidelity to His Word also postures future generations to inherit blessings well after your days in this world are done.
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Journal responses to the following prompts:
· How have you been tempted to add to God’s words when trying to help someone realize the error of their ways?
· Do you have a healthy, holy fear of the Lord? Do you find yourself in awe of Him as you pray or open His Scriptures?