Deuteronomy 4:24-34

24 For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

25 And when thou shalt have begotten sons, and shalt have sons' sons, and ye shall have dwelt a long time on the land, and shall have transgressed, and made a graven image of any thing, and shall have done wickedly before the Lord your God to provoke him;

26 I call heaven and earth this day to witness against you, that ye shall surely perish from off the land, into which ye go across Jordan to inherit it there; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall be utterly cut off.

27 And the Lord shall scatter you among all nations, and ye shall be left few in number among all the nations, among which the Lord shall bring you.

28 And ye shall there serve other gods, the works of the hands of men, wood and stones, which cannot see, nor can they hear, nor eat, nor smell.

29 And there ye shall seek the Lord your God, and ye shall find him whenever ye shall seek him with all your heart, and with all your soul in your affliction.

30 And all these things shall come upon thee in the last days, and thou shalt turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt hearken to his voice.

31 Because the Lord thy God a God of pity: he will not forsake thee, nor destroy thee; he will not forget the covenant of thy fathers, which the Lord sware to them.

32 Ask of the former days which were before thee, from the day when God created man upon the earth, and at the end of heaven to the other end of heaven, if there has happened any thing like to this great event, if such a thing has been heard:

33 if a nation have heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard and hast lived;

34 if God has assayed to go and take to himself a nation out of the midst of nation with trial, and with signs, and with wonders, and with war, and with a mighty hand, and with a high arm, and with great sights, according to all the things which the Lord our God did in Egypt in thy sight.

Deuteronomy 4:24-34 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 4

This chapter contains an exhortation to Israel to keep the commands, statutes, and judgments of God, urged from the superior excellency of them to those of all other nations, De 4:1-8, from the manner in which they were delivered, out of the midst of fire, by a voice of words, but no similitude seen, De 4:9-15, and particularly the Israelites are cautioned against idolatry, from the consideration of the goodness of God to them, in bringing them out of Egypt, De 4:16-20, and the rather Moses is urgent upon them to be diligent in their obedience to the laws of God, because he should quickly be removed from them, De 4:21-24, and should they be disobedient to them, it would provoke the Lord to destroy them, or to carry them captive into other lands, De 4:25-28 though even then, if they repented and sought the Lord, and became obedient, he would be merciful to them, and not forsake them, De 4:29-31 and they are put in mind again of the amazing things God had done for them, in speaking to them out of fire, and they alive; in bringing them out of another nation, and driving out other nations to make room for them; all which he improves, as so many arguments to move them to obedience to the divine commands, De 4:32-40 and then notice is taken of the three cities of refuge, separated on this side Jordan, De 4:41-43, and the chapter is concluded with observing, that this is the law, and these the testimonies, Moses declared and repeated to the children of Israel in the country of Sihon and Og, who were delivered into their hands, and their lands possessed by them, which laid them under fresh obligations to yield obedience to God, De 4:44-49.

Footnotes

• [a]. shall not see, etc.
• [b]. thy.
• [c]. all these words shall find you.
• [d]. before thee seeing.