Deuteronomy 4 - What Is Past is Prologue

Sovereign grace secures your salvation; covenant obedience shapes your story.

"What's past is prologue; what to come, In yours and my discharge..." - Antonio in Shakespeare's play The Tempest. In other words, understanding your history is the key to your future.

SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF... The Israelites have been sentenced to wander in the wilderness until all of the rebellious generation that left Egypt have died off. The LORD is faithful to the new generation, preserving them and giving them victory. Moses uses the first four chapters of Deuteronomy to recount the history of Israel's unbelief and God's unwavering faithfulness.

Deuteronomy 4 

Moses continues...

4 Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. ² Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.

³ You saw with your own eyes what the LORD did at Baal Peor. The LORD your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, ⁴ but all of you who held fast to the Lord your God are still alive today.

⁵ See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. ⁶ Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” ⁷ What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? ⁸ And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

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²¹ The LORD was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the LORD your God is giving you as your inheritance. ²² I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land. ²³ Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden. ²⁴ For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

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³² Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? ³³ Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? ³⁴ Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

³⁵ You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other...

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³⁹ Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. ⁴⁰ Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time.

Belgic Confession

Article 7

We believe

that this Holy Scripture contains

the will of God completely

and that everything one must believe

to be saved

is sufficiently taught in it.

For since the entire manner of service

which God requires of us

is described in it at great length,

no one—

even an apostle

or an angel from heaven,

as Paul says—

ought to teach other than

what the Holy Scriptures have

already taught us.

For since it is forbidden

to add to or subtract from the Word of God,

this plainly demonstrates

that the teaching is perfect

and complete in all respects.

Summary

The book of Deuteronomy, although written in Hebrew, has a Greek name that simply means 'Second Law' (deutero = second, nomy = law). It's comprised of three farewell speeches from Moses, which recap the history of God's people in the wilderness and emphasize the need for the people to faithfully follow God's Law as they enter the Promised Land without Moses.

As we skim through this book this week, we're going to come away understanding two key theological principles that are key to interpreting the rest of the Bible. First of all, Moses' speeches in Deuteronomy make clear that God sovereignly chooses His people.

Today's passage shows how exclusive of a relationship Israel enjoyed with the God who chose them. Moses rhetorically asks, What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? Even the righteous decrees and laws God gives to His people are an indication of His unique love for them.

These people had seen with their own eyes what the LORD did for them, things that had never been done for any other people from the day God created man on the earth. They heard the voice of God speaking out of fire. Again, Moses rhetorically asks them, has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the LORD your God did for you? In everything that the LORD did in choosing and saving these people, He did so that they might know that the LORD is God and that besides him there is no other.

As you look back upon how it is that God made His choice of you evident, how have you both seen and heard what the LORD did for you? How did you experience His providence, the Spirit making His Word come alive, and even His great and awesome deeds? Briefly share how in the comment box below!

  Dig Deeper  

So as we read Deuteronomy, we'll certainly see how it is that God sovereignly chooses His people, but secondly we'll see the requirement that God's people must evidence their divine election by faithfully obeying God's covenant law.

Moses makes it clear that the Israelite's won't just coast into the Promised Land because God had sovereignly ordained it. Rather, the must hear and follow God's decrees and laws so that they may live and may go in and take possession of the land. They needed to keep the LORD's commands without subtracting from them. Their covenant obedience was key to the witnessing God expected of them. They were to show their wisdom and understanding to the nations.

Moses could personally attest to the importance of faithfully doing all that God commanded exactly the way He commanded it. He would die in the wilderness without crossing the Jordan because he angrily struck a rock that God had instructed him to speak to in order to provide water for the people. Moses makes clear what we don't hear enough about God - that the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

These Israelites from long ago were saved in exactly the same way you and I are: by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. Our salvation is completely the work of the sovereign LORD God Almighty. But your grateful obedience to Him matters... Keep his decrees and commands so that it may go well with you and your children after you.

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the LORD God; besides him there is no other;

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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