Deuteronomy 4:36

36 From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, while you heard his words coming out of the fire.

Deuteronomy 4:36 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 4:36

Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might
instruct thee
Thunder is the voice of God, and by which he instructs men in the greatness of his power, ( Job 26:14 ) ( 40:9 ) ( Psalms 29:3 ) , &c. unless his voice in giving the law, which was for the instruction of Israel, is meant; for that was heard on earth, on Mount Sinai, to which the following refers:

and upon earth he showed thee his great fire;
on Mount Sinai, which burned with it:

and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire;
the ten commands, and therefore may well be called, a fiery law; see ( Deuteronomy 4:12 Deuteronomy 4:15 Deuteronomy 4:33 ) .

Deuteronomy 4:36 In-Context

34 Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by terrifying displays of power, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
35 To you it was shown so that you would acknowledge that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him.
36 From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, while you heard his words coming out of the fire.
37 And because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants after them. He brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power,
38 driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, giving you their land for a possession, as it is still today.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.