Deuteronomy 4:32

In the following verses the Lord is telling the nation of Israel about the great privilege that He has given to them that they should be called the people of God. God is also telling them the uniqueness of their nation based upon their origin. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 4:32-39, “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.”

The very first thing that God says to them to remind them of the great blessing and benefit that He gave is found in verse 33: God “spoke to them.” They actually heard God speak words from heaven. Not many have heard that voice. Of course, we have something very similar: the written Word of God. It does require the enlightenment of the Spirit to understand the Word, and it is also a great blessing to have that understanding. In verse 34 God reminds them of all that He did in order to take them out of the nation of Egypt to make a nation out of the. God made “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.” There was the raising up of a leader for them named Moses. There were the plagues, including the miracle of the first Passover. There was the parting of the sea. There was the victory over the Egyptian army. There was divine intervention over and over again. Up to that point it had never happened before that such a nation would be created in such a way. In the modern world there are some similarities to the birth of Israel and the birth of the United States of America. Let’s pray to God that America does not have the same fate as Israel did when it turned away from the Lord.

One of the blessings that God did for the children of Israel was to show them as it says in verse 35, “the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.” “The LORD” means Jehovah, the eternally existent One. That great attribute of the one true God was revealed to the children of Israel. He is life. Life emanates from Him. Become attached to Him, and you become attached to eternal life. In the New Testament His name is Jesus. To gain eternal life through faith in Christ is a great blessing, and it is only possible if God reveals it to you. It cannot be said too often how blessed is someone to whom the truth has been revealed. “Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift.”

In verse 37 God tells the Israelites why He blessed them so much. Was it because of them? No, it was because of someone else. God said, “And because he loved thy fathers.” Because of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God blessed the nation of Israel. How much God loved Abraham simply because Abraham believed God. Not many people believe God and then act faithfully upon that belief. Abraham did. “Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.” God promised Abraham that out of Abraham God would make a great nation. God kept that promise. God always keeps His promises. This symbolizes the salvation that Jesus gives. When a person trusts in Jesus and is given eternal life, it is not because of that person, but it is because of Jesus. Jesus pleased the Father. Jesus kept the law. Jesus paid the price for sin. Eternal life is based upon a promise that is just like the promise God made to Abraham. Believe in Christ and you will be given an eternal kingdom.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 4:40, “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.” Why did God give commandments? One reason was so that human beings could have a better life. Jesus Himself said, “I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.” It is strange that unsaved people try to give the exact opposite message. They try to say that if you keep the commandments that you will be restricting your life and limiting your life in a way that is not desirable. How unwise they are. There are two benefits from obeying God’s commandments as given here in verse 40. The first benefit is: “that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee.” There are good consequences to good actions, and bad consequences to bad actions. There are several sources of suffering. We all have some sufferings because that is just a part of life. Life is temporary and dangerous. Some sufferings come from evil. There is evil and good in the world, and evil hates good. Christians will have some sufferings and persecutions because of following Christ. As Jesus said, “the servant is not greater than his Lord.” But there are also some sufferings that are a result of your own bad deeds and failure to follow God’s Word. Whenever you suffer something, you want to ask yourself why this happened. Are you suffering because of some sin on your part? If so, then you want to quickly confess your sin to the Lord. Talking about the consequences of sin, it says in First Corinthians 11:30, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” It also says in James 5:14-15, “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:[15] And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” Some believers are sick because of sin. How do you live a healthy life? One of the important ingredients is to do the right thing. When you do the wrong thing, you will suffer, and your health will suffer too.

One of the benefits of doing the right thing is that you will “prolong thy days upon the earth.” God is saying that it is a good thing to have a long life, and you will want your life to be as long as possible. That is because life is a great opportunity. It is a chance to run the race and to face the battle, and to see what you can do with it. In eternity you will not have such a challenge as this one. As a matter of fact after you are saved, your eternity will be decided to a great degree by what you accomplish in this life. The longer you live, the more you can accomplish. This truth about the preciousness of life is also a strong argument against abortion. God is the author of life, and so He knows how precious it is. Do you?

The following verses are an example of something that was done in the Old Testament to preserve life, and to reduce the amount of killing that takes place even when loss of life has occurred. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 4:41-43, “Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;[42] That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:[43] Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.” There were cities of refuge where someone could flee who had accidently killed another, so that the relatives and friends could not take vengeance of the one who caused the death. If every life is precious, and one life is lost, the loss would be only greater should another life be lost also. Celebrate life. Seek to prolong life for everyone whenever and wherever you can.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 4:44-49, “And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:[45] These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt,[46] On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt:[47] And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;[48] From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon,[49] And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.” One truth to notice about the book of Deuteronomy is that the law was made up of more than the ten commandments. It was made up of all the “testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel.” There are actually over four hundred commandments. To break any of the commandments is to break the law. And to break the law is to be guilty as a transgressor. And it gets worse. The New Testament explains the problem that the law brings to the human race when it says in Galatians 3:10, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” The answer to this terrible problem is to have a Savior. And so it says in Galatians 3:13, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 5:1-5, “And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.[2] The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.[3] The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.[4] The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,[5] (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the work of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,” The children of Israel were told how privileged they were because they had the law of Moses. Yes, that certainly was a great blessing. To be given truth when you do not have any is one of the greatest blessings of all. Think how great is the blessing and benefit given to us who live in this day and age. We not only have the writings given by God to Moses, but all of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament writings. I wonder how many realize what a fantastic benefit and blessing this is? It says in Deuteronomy 5:4, “The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire.” The fact that the Lord talked to the Israelites demonstrates that God does like to communicate with human beings. Jesus is the great Communication that came from God. Jesus is God the Son, and the God-head is made up of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One of the roles that Jesus fulfills is that of the Light and the Word, in other words, the communication. To know God and to hear from God in the age in which we live, you must know Jesus and hear from Jesus. One more thing: to hear from Jesus, you must be willing to listen. “Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart.” Turn to Jesus and call upon His name while there is time.

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