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chapter four, Deuteronomy chapter 
four. It's a long chapter, but we are 
going to try and cover it all tonight. It's the last section 
in the first exhortation of Moses. Remember that the children of 
Israel are on the east side of the River Jordan, getting ready 
to go into the promised land. And from that particular position, 
Moses is going to die in the not too distant future. So he 
wants to exhort the second generation on faithfulness, so that when 
they enter into the land, they aren't subject to the same wrath 
and judgment that that first generation saw. So the historical 
review is in chapter 1 to chapter 4, and then there's an exhortation 
to pursue covenant loyalty. That's the bulk of the book, 
from chapter 5 all the way to chapter 28. and then summary 
and conclusion in chapters 29 and 30, followed by the succession 
of Joshua in chapter 31, and then the death of Moses in 32 
to 34. And here, specifically in chapter 
4, we have history, but we have exhortation as well. As Klein 
says, the historical prologue closes with exhortation. This 
is transitional to the following section on the obligations of 
the covenant relationship. So it's a good segue into that 
next section where they are exhorted to maintain fidelity to God in 
terms of the laws given by God. And as well, when we read through 
this, it's not just a history book that Moses composed in a 
classroom, but it's an impassioned speech by Moses who lived this, 
who went through this, and who knew the lessons that the second 
generation desperately needed to know and desperately needed 
to internalize for their own well-being. in their covenant 
relationship with God. So I'll read beginning in verse 
1 of chapter 4. "'You shall not add to the word 
which I command you, "'nor take from it, that you may keep the 
commandments "'of the Lord your God, which I command you. "'Your 
eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, "'for the Lord 
your God has destroyed from among you "'all the men who followed 
Baal of Peor.' But you who held fast to the Lord your God are 
alive today, every one of you. Surely I have taught you statutes 
and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you 
should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. 
Therefore be careful to observe them, for this is your wisdom 
and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will 
hear all these statutes and say, surely this great nation is a 
wise and understanding people. For what great nation is there 
that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for 
whatever reason we may call upon Him? And what great nation is 
there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are 
in all this law which I set before you this day? Only take heed 
to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the 
things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart 
all the days of your life. And teach them to your children 
and your grandchildren, especially concerning the day you stood 
before the Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, gather 
the people to me, and I will let them hear my words, that 
they may learn to fear me all the days they live on the earth, 
and that they may teach their children. Then you came and stood 
near at the foot of the mountain and the mountain burned with 
fire to the midst of heaven with darkness, cloud and thick darkness. 
And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You 
heard the sound of the words, but saw no form. You only heard 
a voice. So he declared to you his covenant, 
which he commanded you to perform the 10 commandments. And he wrote 
them on two tablets of stone. And the Lord commanded me at 
that time to teach you statutes and judgments that you might 
observe them in the land, which you cross over to possess. Take 
careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord 
spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire. Lest you 
act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of 
any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any 
animal that is on the earth, or the likeness of any winged 
bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps 
on the ground, or the likeness of any fish that is in the water 
beneath the earth. and take heed lest you lift your 
eyes to heaven. And when you see the sun, the 
moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven 
to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given 
to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage. But 
the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, 
out of Egypt, to be his people and inheritance as you are this 
day. Furthermore, the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, 
and swore that I would not cross over the Jordan, and that I would 
not enter the good land which the Lord your God is giving you 
as an inheritance. But I must die in this land. 
I must not cross over the Jordan, but you shall cross over and 
possess that good land. Take heed to yourselves, lest 
you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made 
with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of 
anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you. For the 
Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. When you 
beget children and grandchildren, and have grown old in the land, 
and act corruptly, and make a carved image in the form of anything, 
and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke him 
to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, 
that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross 
over the Jordan to possess. You will not prolong your days 
in it, but will be utterly destroyed. and 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, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither 
see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek 
the Lord your God, and you will find him if you seek him with 
all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress 
and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when 
you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice, for the Lord 
your God is a merciful God, He will not forsake you, nor destroy 
you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore 
to them. For ask now concerning the days that are past, which 
were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, 
and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great 
thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been 
heard. Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out 
of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? Or 
did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the 
midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, 
by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according 
to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your 
eyes? To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord 
Himself is God. There is none other besides Him. 
Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct 
you. On earth He showed you His great 
fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. 
And because ye loved your fathers, therefore he chose their descendants 
after them. And he brought you out of Egypt 
with his presence, with his mighty power, driving out from before 
you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to 
give you their land as an inheritance as it is this day. Therefore, 
know this day and consider it in your heart that the Lord himself 
is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no 
other. You shall therefore 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 which the Lord your 
God has given you for all time. Then Moses set apart three cities 
on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun, that the 
manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unintentionally, 
without having hated him in time past, and that by fleeing to 
one of these cities he might live. Bazar in the wilderness 
on the plateau of the Reubenites, Ramoth and Gilead for the Gadites, 
and Golan and Bashan for the Manassites. Now this is the law 
which Moses set before the children of Israel. These are the testimonies, 
the statutes, and the judgments which Moses spoke to the children 
of Israel after they came out of Egypt on this side of the 
Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon, 
king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshpon, whom Moses and the 
children of Israel defeated after they came out of Egypt. And they 
took possession of his land, and the land of Og King Abation, 
two kings of the Amorites, who were on this side of the Jordan, 
toward the rising of the sun, from Eror, which is on the bank 
of the river Arnon, even to Mount Sion, that is Hermon, and all 
the plain on the east side of the Jordan, as far as the sea 
of the Erebah, below the slopes of Pisgah. Amen. Well, a lot 
of material there. We won't look in detail at the 
last section. We've already seen that recently, 
and probably that's why these cities of refuge are here in 
verses 41 to 43. One, they're on the east side 
of the River Jordan, and so these are the particular cities that 
would function as cities of refuge for those Transjordanian tribes. But as well, in Numbers 35, they 
were given instruction concerning the cities of refuge So this 
is an evidence or a demonstration of their obedience to the law 
of God. The legislation will be reiterated in Deuteronomy 
chapter 19, 1 to 13. And then verses 44 to 49 just 
function as a transition. Again, that God spoke the word 
to Moses, that what Moses is reporting isn't Moses' word, 
it's not innovative to him, but rather it is the word of God. 
And then it just rehearses the fact that they had come out of 
the land of bondage, They had defeated Sihon and Og, and they 
were where they're at, getting ready to go into the Promised 
Land. So in terms of the bulk of the chapter, essentially what 
you have is the necessity of obedience in verses 1 to 8, and 
then the dangers of idolatry in verses 9 to 31, and then the 
uniqueness of Israel's God in verses 32 to 40, or the incomparability 
of God. So, necessity of obedience, the 
dangers of idolatry, and the uniqueness of Israel's God. So, 
Moses definitely weaves in their own history, but it does have 
the overture of exhortation with reference to this second generation 
on how they're to function when they go into the Promised Land. 
So, let's look first at the necessity of obedience in verses 1 to 8. 
You have first a command in verse 1, very simple, Now, O Israel, 
listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to 
observe, that you may live and go in and possess the land which 
the Lord God of your fathers is giving you. So you've got 
the command to obey God, and then you've got the incentive 
that you may indeed live and go in and possess the land which 
the Lord God of your fathers is giving you. So this land was 
not Theirs by right or entitlement, this land was not earned, this 
land was not purchased, but rather it was given to them by God who 
had promised it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So the graciousness 
of God is all over the place with reference to the plains 
of Moab. The children of Israel are not where they're at because 
of their military superiority or their ability to best enemies 
on the field of battle. They are there because God had 
promised to give them that land and God would see them from point 
A to point B. Then, notice there is a warning, 
and it comes with reference to the Word of God. So the emphasis 
in verse 1, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach 
you to observe. So verse 2 warns them with reference 
to their handling of the Word of God. They're not supposed 
to add to it, and they're not supposed to subtract from it. 
So notice in verse 2, you shall not add to the word which I command 
you, nor take from it. And I think oftentimes we see 
people who take from the Word of God. They subtract things 
that perhaps they don't like, perhaps things that they don't 
think that perhaps should be there, but adding to the Word 
of God is equally condemned by God. We're not supposed to be 
rival lawmakers to the Lord our God. And this prohibition against 
addition is also seen in Deuteronomy 12 and verse 32. It's seen in 
Proverbs chapter 30 and verse 6, and then again in Revelation 
22 and verse 18. Now, doctrinally, the implication 
is clear. If we add to the Word, it is 
ultimately a rejection of the sufficiency of Scripture. Now, 
on the plains of Moab, there would be additional revelation. 
In fact, in the book of Deuteronomy, in chapter 18, we see the prophetic 
ministry underscored or highlighted. So it's not saying that everything 
up to this point is it. God certainly adds to God's word. And he does it through prophet. 
He does it through apostle. He does it through those means 
that he has ordained. The obvious implication here 
is that man on his own is not supposed to add to the word of 
the living God. So, addition to Scripture is 
a rejection of the sufficiency of Scripture. So, when the Book 
of Mormon comes along, for instance, and says this is another testimony 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that is to question the sufficiency 
of Scripture. When the Koran comes along and 
says this is more prophetic information from God, that is a rejection 
of the sufficiency of Scripture. In terms of the practical implications, 
there's obviously proud arrogance involved in anybody who would 
set themselves as a rival lawmaker alongside of God. Somebody who 
says that they're able to speak with that kind of an authority 
and command the allegiance of people under their charge. Matthew 
Henry makes the observation, this forbids the advancing of 
anything, not only in contradiction to the Word of God, but in competition 
with it, though it be under the plausible pretense of explaining 
it. Yet, if it pretend to be of equal 
authority with it, it is adding to his words, which is not only 
a reproach to them as insufficient, but opens a door to all manner 
of errors and corruptions. It's an obvious implication, 
but one that needs to be seen. So you are not supposed to add 
to the Word of God. So it's proud arrogance, but 
as well, it's a wretched distraction. At the end of verse 2, notice, 
after the prohibition against adding and subtracting from it, 
note at the end of verse 2 that you may keep the commandments 
of the Lord your God, which I command you. So this would be a distraction 
if rival lawmakers come along and say, well, and you have to 
obey this, and you have to obey this. Well, no, we're supposed 
to obey the Word of God. That's supposed to be the focus 
in terms of the orientation of the people of God. Now, unfortunately, 
there's persistent examples of this that have continued throughout 
the centuries in terms of attempts to add to the Word of God. you've 
got unbelieving Jews. The Oral Law and Traditions of 
the Elders. Remember, Jesus makes this statement 
in Matthew 15, 3. Why do you also transgress the 
commandment of God? Because of your tradition. They 
had had a tradition that money given could be set aside, or 
money that was supposed to be donated for the parents' relief 
was actually better suited having been given to the temple. Jesus 
says that invalidates the law of God. It's an addition that 
you guys have created to serve as a backdoor to get that money 
into your own pocket. Instead of it going to your parents, 
where it is rightfully supposed to go, it is ultimately ending 
up in your pockets. Now, in terms of the Jewish tradition, 
you've got what's called the Talmud. And the Talmud is a collection 
of Jewish law and tradition consisting of the Mishnah and the Gemara. 
The Mishnah is oral interpretation of scripture, and the Gemara 
is commentary on the Mishnah. So there's a lot of addition 
with reference to the Old Testament. Now the Jews say they subscribe 
to Torah, they hold the Old Testament law of God, but this Talmud and 
this Gemara and this Mishnah is all sort of in competition 
with it at various points. So the adding to the Word of 
God is prohibited. As well, you've got the Papists. 
Garden-variety Roman Catholics with their papal pronouncements 
and their tradition that they elevate to the level of the Word 
of God. That is adding to Scripture, that is adding to the Word of 
God. You've got Charismatics with the revelatory gifts of 
tongues and prophesying, suggesting that what they have received 
is on par with Scripture because they got the Word of the Lord. 
John Gill calls these enthusiasts. He says, and all, as all enthusiasts 
do, who set up their pretended dreams, visions, revelations, 
and prophecies upon a foot with the word of God or as superior 
to it. Our confession in chapter one 
and two places talks about no longer is there continuing revelation. And so the modern charismatic 
and Pentecostal movement with the revelatory gifts are suggesting 
additions to the already revealed mind of God. So scripture prohibits 
that. That's not allowable. And then 
the other particular application or implication of this is the 
well-meaning believer. Very often, the people of God, 
with well intentions, will take their preferences and elevate 
them to the Word of God, which, in essence, is an addition to 
that Word of God. We're not supposed to try and 
command people anything outside of Scripture. Charles Hodge, 
in his Systematics Theology, says, it is a common saying that 
every man has a pope in his own bosom. That is, the disposition 
to lord it over God's heritage is almost universal. men wish 
to have their opinions on moral questions made into laws to bind 
the consciences of their brethren. As our Confession rightfully 
says, God alone is Lord of the conscience and He has left it 
free from the commandments of men. So when men come and command 
something that is outside of Scripture and they demand religious 
obedience with reference to that, they're adding to the Word of 
God and they're invoking the very wrath and fury of God Most 
High. So additions are warned against, 
but so are subtractions. Notice in verse 2, you shall 
not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it. And again, 
Deuteronomy 12, 32, Proverbs 30, verse 5, and Revelation 22, 
19. That tells us we're not supposed 
to take from scripture. We're not supposed to be like 
a comedian in the past who said, I believe in seven of the Ten 
Commandments. No, we believe all ten commandments. We believe every word that proceeds 
from the mouth of God. Christopher Wright says, the 
warning against tampering with the law by adding or removing 
anything expresses a concern for the integrity of God's revelation. It was not to be treated like 
a menu from which one could select what suited one's taste, nor 
as a mere foundation for personal inventiveness. God's word must 
be taken whole in its overall meaning and thrust. It is not 
to be trifled or tampered with. He's right. And that's the prohibition 
here on the plains of Moab with reference to the children of 
Israel. When they go into the promised land, they're going 
to be surrounded by various religions. They're going to be surrounded 
by soothsayers. They're going to be surrounded 
by necromancers. They're going to be surrounded by those who 
claim to have direct revelation from God. And so what might the 
unwitting Israelite might fall into? He might begin to think 
that the soothsayer or the necromancer or the witch or the other wretches 
that are in the land of Canaan, you know what they're saying 
actually makes sense. And the temptation then is to 
add to God's word or take from it, especially the prohibitions 
against seeking counsel from soothsayers, from witches or 
from necromancers. And then notice the emphasis 
again on God's Word at the end of verse 2, that you may keep 
the commandments of the Lord, not human additions. And the 
emphasis highlights that the law of God basically functioned 
as a covenantal constitution for the theocratic nation of 
Israel. This was their constitution. This is what defined them. This 
is what described them. This is what they were held subject 
to. So we see the internal logic in the book. Moses moves from 
this particular exhortation in a preparatory way to get to the 
longer exhortation in chapters 5 to 26, where he expounds in 
detail all of that law. He is giving them their constitution 
to serve them as they enter into the promised land. It defines 
the boundaries, it defines the particular sanctions, it defines 
the things that they're supposed to do under God as those who 
had sworn to do all that Yahweh had commanded. So then notice, 
he moves from this, command, verse 1, warning, verse 2, to 
a reminder in verses 3 and 4. And he basically points back 
to the first generation and then underscores the place of the 
second generation. So in verse 3, he says, your 
eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor. That was Numbers 
chapter 25. Numbers chapter 25. They played the harlot with the 
daughters of Moab. And that's that instance where 
that Israelite man brought back that Midianite woman into his 
tent before all the children of Israel while they were weeping 
over the plague of God. And that's when Phinehas drives 
that javelin through those two particular wretches. So Baal 
Peor was a great illustration of the failure of the first generation 
in terms of the command that Moses reiterates in Deuteronomy 
4.1. You're supposed to obey the word. 
You're not supposed to add to it. You're not supposed to subtract 
to it. You're not supposed to sort of tailor it to fit your 
desires. So he invokes that first generation 
at Baal Peor, and then he says, for the Lord your God has destroyed 
from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor. And then 
he moves his attention to the second generation. He says in 
verse 4, What's the implication? You're here because of God's 
grace, but you're here because you didn't play the harlot with 
the daughters of Moab. So, when you go into the land 
of promise, what do you think is a very good lesson that you 
take as we cross that river Jordan? That you take heed to all that 
God has commanded. You've seen the sanction of Yahweh 
upon the sinning rebels of the first generation. He had no problem 
killing them. He had no problem sending fire 
out of heaven to consume them. He had no problem opening the 
earth to swallow them. he commends Phinehas for taking 
that javelin and driving it through those two people. So God is serious 
about the sanctions involved with reference to Covenant. And 
then notice, he then gives them encouragement in verses 5 to 
8. Again, verse 5, Surely I have 
taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded 
me, that you should act according to them in the land which you 
go to possess. Second generation, don't be like the first generation. 
Second generation, take seriously the word of God. Second generation, 
don't add to it. Second generation, don't take 
from it. But rather, you need to act according 
to these laws in the land which you go to possess. And then he 
gives the specific reasons here for obedience. Notice in verse 
6, he gives this exhortation, therefore be careful to observe 
them. For this is your wisdom and your 
understanding in the sight of the peoples, who will hear all 
these statutes and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and 
understanding people." So with reference to Old Covenant Israel, 
be careful to observe them, for this is your wisdom and your 
understanding. The law of God as it's revealed 
here in the Old Testament isn't a bad thing. It isn't barbarism. It isn't something that is capricious. It is something that is right. 
It reflects the will and mind of God with reference to His 
people. It reflects what orders a decent society. And so with 
reference to the old covenant Israelites as they obey that 
law, that's the display, that's the demonstration of their wisdom 
and their understanding. But as well, notice that they 
have something of a mediatorial role among the nations that they 
are around. Notice in verse 6, about the 
middle. this is your wisdom and your 
understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all 
these statutes and say, surely this great nation is a wise and 
understanding people. If you think back in Exodus 19, 
specifically at verses five and six, since you love that, yeah, 
okay, I'll think right back to that. I already know it because 
it's in my notes. But Exodus 19, five, six, five 
and six, indicates God's purpose for the nation of Israel, there 
to be a kingdom of priests. which intriguingly is cited by 
Peter in 1 Peter chapter 2 and applied to the church, the Israel 
of God. But with reference to Exodus 
19, 5 and 6, they are a kingdom of priests. What's a priest do? 
He mediates blessing. What does Jesus do? He mediates 
blessing. What was old covenant Israel supposed to do? They were 
to shine as a light to the nations around them so that the nations 
around them would ask the questions that we see here specifically 
in verses 7 to 8. For what great nation is there 
that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for 
whatever reason we may call upon Him? And what great nation is 
there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are 
in all this law which I set before you this day? had they functioned 
in the manner that God had purposed, they would have mediated blessings 
from Yahweh to the nations around them. If they would have shone 
as that light or that city set on a hill, and if they would 
have functioned in the capacity that they were supposed to, it 
would have radiated to the peoples around them, such that the peoples 
around them would have said, boy, we want to know something 
of this God that has given this body a politic, these laws, because 
it's wisdom and it's understanding. But of course they don't do that. 
It waits for the true Israel of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who mediates the blessings of Yahweh to the nations of the 
world through the covenant of grace. Certainly all of this 
typifies that. But in this old covenant setting, 
that's the specific emphasis. They had a missionary sort of 
an enterprise. The nations would observe that 
wisdom. The nations would learn of the nearness of God. The nations 
would learn of the blessedness of God's law. When they saw how 
their societies were wretched and cursed and full of treachery 
and treason and all manner of evil, they might be drawn to 
such a thing. But of course, Israel doesn't do that, and that's 
the flow of the book subsequent to the book of Deuteronomy. Joshua's 
positive, but from Judges on, it's very negative. And what 
happens is that the children of Israel go into the land, they 
don't dispossess the land fully, but rather they assimilate to 
the land. They begin to assimilate to the worship of the land. They 
assimilate the gods of the land, and they end up just like the 
Canaanites. And then they're dispossessed in 722 BC by the 
Assyrians, and then 586 BC by the Babylonians. So God's law 
is not capricious. His sanctions are not only for 
one group. When the Canaanites act like 
Canaanites, they're dispossessed from the land. When the Jews 
act like Canaanites, they're going to be dispossessed from 
the land. And Jesus threatens something very similar to the 
church in Laodicea, because you're neither hot nor cold, therefore 
I will vomit you out of my mouth. That's the language of the Old 
Covenant when God says that the land is going to vomit out its 
inhabitants. That means you're not going to 
possess it, you're going to be dispossessed from it. So the 
children of Israel were to take heed. The children of Israel 
were to take heed to themselves. That brings us to the next section. 
Notice the dangers of idolatry in verses 9 to 31. Basically, 
you have a prohibition, verses 9 to 24, and then consequences 
in verses 25 to 31. But note the command in verse 
9. Only take heed to yourself. It's 
the thing that we ought to be impressed about with reference 
to God's law. It first and foremost addresses 
self-government. Family government, church government, 
and civil government is only good insofar as there is a measure 
of self-government. Parents and pastors and certainly 
not government officials, they can't control the heart. And 
so the onus is always on the individual. The onus, obviously, 
is an individual in a family. He's in a church. He's in a society. 
He's in a governmental structure, part of it, to some degree. But 
if he does not have restraint, if he does not keep his own heart 
with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life, 
if he can't engage in self-management, He is going to be unmanageable 
ultimately. You've got the corrigible son 
or incorrigible son in Deuteronomy 21. His parents had given him 
discipline. His parents had exercised pressure 
on him. His parents had worked with him. 
But it got to the point where they had to deliver him up to 
the elders of the city to be stoned to death. So again, I'm 
all for family, good diligence. In fact, you see that theme throughout. 
Teach your children, teach your children, teach your children. 
Certainly, family needs to function the way God intended it. Church 
needs to function the way God intended it. Government should 
function the way God intends it. But without an only take 
heed to yourself, we get a society much like what we're seeing today. 
Nobody can take care of themselves. Nobody looks after themselves. 
They expect everybody else to do it. I don't know where you 
get that from scripture. You get the emphasis here, only 
take heed to yourself. And again, that's the constant 
refrain throughout. A civil government is only as 
good as the individuals in it. A family government is only as 
good as the individuals in it. And so this emphasis, only take 
heed to yourself. Obviously it's collective in 
the sense that all Israelites were supposed to do this, and 
this does not minimize or mitigate, you know, brother admonishing 
brother and encouraging brother. But again, Solomon's words in 
Proverbs 4 are absolutely crucial. Keep your heart with all diligence, 
for out of it spring the issues of life. So many of our problems 
are from that fundamental cause. We're not keeping our own hearts 
with all diligent. We're not recognizing that from 
it spring the issues of life. So the emphasis is on self-discipline. Notice then he gives them this 
emphasis on remembrance. Verse 9, only take heed to yourself 
and diligently keep yourself lest you forget the things your 
eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the 
days of your life. We need to remember. And that's 
why Deuteronomy 1-4 is history. That's why Deuteronomy 1-4 is 
filled with remember and review and rehearsal and going through 
the same sorts of pieces of data over and over again. Why? So 
that the people of God remember these things. Davis, in a commentary 
on Joshua, says, The greatest enemy of faith may be forgetfulness. The greatest enemy of faith may 
be forgetfulness. So why do pastors and parents 
and friends and neighbors and the Christian church throughout 
its many, many years on earth encourage people to read the 
scripture? To check off your list? I satisfied the requirement 
that my calendar was telling me to do? No, it's so that you 
don't forget. It's so that you don't have that 
great enemy of faith, which is forgetfulness with reference 
to the Word of God. And then notice the need for 
propagation. So self-discipline, remembrance, 
and then propagation. Notice at the end of verse 9. 
And teach them to your children and your grandchildren. Propagate 
these things to the succeeding generations. This isn't a one-off 
in this particular chapter. Again, you see it throughout 
this chapter, but throughout the book of Deuteronomy. 6-7, 
6-20, 11-19, 31-13, 32-46. The Proverbs of Solomon, the 
scriptures are filled with these admonitions to parents and grandparents 
to pass these things on and to teach them to the subsequent 
generations. Craigie says forgetfulness opened 
the door to failure. And so it was vital that the 
people of God not only remember their experience of God's mighty 
hand, but also that they pass on the memory and thus the experience 
to their children. We need to pass that on. Paul, 
in Ephesians 6, says, Fathers, do not provoke your children 
to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of 
the Lord. This is an imperative for the people of God. In the 
Old Covenant, it's an imperative for the people of God. In the 
New Covenant, family religion is foundational alongside of 
self-government. If we have self-government, we 
have decent family structure, we've got a decent church life, 
we can hopefully pray for, and to some degree expect, decent 
outcomes. And that's the emphasis for the 
body politic when they're going to enter into the promised land. And then the need to review, 
review the history. So he's already said, lest you 
forget, verse 9. And then he gives them a specific 
body of data that they're supposed to remember. And probably the 
specific body of data they're supposed to always pass on to 
their children, and to their grandchildren, and to their great-grandchildren. It's what happened at Sinai. 
It was the formation of the covenant community properly. Remember 
in chapter 19, they gather before Sinai. When you see Horeb in 
this Deuteronomy, it's Sinai. I think there's one place in 
Deuteronomy where Sinai is used, but Horeb pretty consistently 
is used in Deuteronomy. It's Sinai. It's Mount Sinai 
in Exodus 19. They gather there at the base 
of the mountain. They're threatened about touching the mountain. 
chapter 20, the giving of the Ten Commandments, chapters 21 
to 23 is the judicial law, the application of those Ten Commandments 
to civil society, and then the ratification of the covenant 
in Exodus chapter 24. So Moses says to the children 
of Israel on the plains of Moab, second generation, you need to 
remember that event, and you need to pass that event along 
to your children. Why? Because it was an absolutely 
crucial and significant event in the life of Israel. Now certainly 
as parents in a new covenant setting, we certainly want to 
point them to Exodus 19, but there's another place we need 
to make sure that we're pointing them to as well, and that's the 
cross at Calvary. It's the reality of the death 
and resurrection, or life, death, and resurrection of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, that great redemptive event. So Exodus 19 to 24 capped 
off the great redemptive event of the Exodus from bondage in 
Egypt, God's deliverance and brought them to that mountain 
where he demands from them a certain type of conduct. Well we celebrate 
and we rehearse and we review and we tell our children and 
grandchildren the great glory of Jesus Christ and his death 
on the cross for sinners. So with reference to Sinai, notice 
in verse 10, especially concerning the day you stood before the 
Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, gather the 
people to me and I will let them hear my words that they may learn 
to fear me all the days they live on the earth and that they 
may teach their children. This is always God's purpose 
and plan. It wasn't raise pagans, it wasn't raise heathens, it 
wasn't send them over to the worshipers of Moloch and let 
them have a kick at the can in terms of teaching them religion. 
not turn them over to the Philistines and, you know, see what lessons 
they can learn there. That was never the intention by God. We 
are to bring up our children in the training and admonition 
of the Lord. We are to point them to the great redemptive 
events in Scripture, primarily the great redemptive event of 
Jesus Christ and his gospel. So notice then, verse 11, So 
this would promote, verses 10 and 11, the fear of God, right? 
That scene at Sinai in Exodus 19, would have invoked or provoked 
fear on the part of the people, a reverence for this God, an 
esteem for the glory of this God. But as well, it was the 
manifestation of His glory, according to verse 11. You came near and 
stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with 
fire, to the midst of heaven with darkness, cloud, and thick 
darkness." Again, this was not just some, you know, meteorological 
show. It was rather the manifestation 
of the glory of God who had come down to Mount Sinai, not by motion, 
but in terms of His special presence there at Sinai. And then there 
it was they received the Word of God. It was the revelation 
of the Word of God. Verse 12, the Lord spoke to you 
out of the midst of the fire. later in the chapter, and it 
occurs to me we're not gonna get through this chapter tonight. 
So if you're worried, let me just put your mind at ease, we 
are not gonna get through it. So let's not fear, we're gonna 
be here till midnight. But note the emphasis there on 
the revelation of God. Verse 12, the Lord spoke to you 
out of the midst of the fire. Later on in the chapter, that's 
what we see there, that emphasis on the word spoken by God. Now note the next section, you 
heard the sound of the words but saw no form, you only heard 
a voice. Now this is the rationale for 
the second commandment, or at least connected to the second 
commandment. Israel's was a word-based religion. It wasn't an experience-based 
religion like the Canaanites. It wasn't an emotional religion 
like the Canaanites. It wasn't a visually stimulated 
religion like the Canaanites. See, the Canaanites, when they 
worshipped their gods, they had images of those gods. But if 
you see the emphasis here, it's on the word. It's on the revelatory 
word. It's what you heard. It's not 
the form that you saw. So again, in terms of a prohibition 
against idolatry, this is one of the large pieces of it. Why 
aren't I supposed to make a little image and call it Yahweh? Because 
Yahweh doesn't have an image. God is spirit. He doesn't have 
a body like man. because God is glorious, He is 
incomparable, and anything you do to try to image Him is necessarily 
going to come up short. So it is going to be false, it's 
going to be a lie, it's going to be something that is not what 
you claim for it to be. So the rationale for the second 
commandment, at least again by implication, is that ours is 
a word-based religion and not a visually-based religion, not 
an experience-based religion. Again, I'm not suggesting there 
isn't experience. You're reading your Bible, you're 
hearing a sermon, you're communing with God. That feels good and 
can feel good and should feel good. But if it doesn't feel 
good, that doesn't necessarily mean you're doing it wrong. Is 
it the feelings we're looking for, or is it we want to know 
the presence and the power of God? Whether I get the feelings 
or not. We can't be feeling seekers. We've got to be diligent and 
earnest in maintaining, as God commands, communion the way that 
he specifies. Sometimes he shines great lights 
upon us, and other times it does sort of feel like it's not the 
case. But Jesus says, and when you 
pray, go into your closet and your father who sees in secret 
will reward you openly. I love that. He doesn't say, 
and if you feel the Father's presence in the closet, then 
he will reward you openly. There's nothing about feelings. 
There's nothing about experience. We bring all that to scripture, 
but scripture doesn't say thou must have eight feelings per 
month or else you're not genuinely saved. You must have had eight 
experiences in your life or you're not really saved. What happened 
to the normal, ordinary garden variety, do what you're supposed 
to do, Enjoy the means that God's ordained. Seek to get something 
from your Bible. Seek to go to church faithfully. 
Seek to bring your children up in the training and admonition 
of the Lord. It's like we become feeling seekers and emotional 
seekers and experience seekers. And again, Somebody's going to 
go and say, well, he doesn't think there's ever... I do. I 
think there's experience. I think there's times where it 
seems like God is just, you know, communing with you in a way that's 
glorious. But I don't conclude from that 
that when I don't have that, it mustn't be the case. It's 
a non-sequitur, that means it doesn't follow. And then in terms 
of what we see in verse 13, so he declared to you his covenant, 
which he commanded you to perform the Ten Commandments, and he 
wrote them on two tablets of stone. This is intriguing because 
he wrote them on two tablets of stone. It's only said about 
the Ten Commandments. Now the argument is not that 
God didn't author the judicial law and the ceremonial law. So 
in Exodus 21 to 23, when Moses speaks to the body politic and 
says, this is how you're supposed to function in the land. This 
is the concrete application of those 10 laws that were given 
in Exodus chapter 20. It is not suggesting that Moses 
came up with that. He just thought, hey, this is 
a good way to apply those. No, God. God, through Moses, 
gave the judicial law. Same with the ceremonial law 
from chapters 25 in Exodus to chapter 40. It's not that Moses 
came up with the tabernacle. It's not that Moses figured out 
how many cubits each thing needed to be or what kind of material 
was to be used on the bed. No, that was all of God. But 
perhaps this indicator that God writes the Ten Commandments with 
his finger indicates that though ceremonial law is fulfilled by 
Jesus and no longer binding upon us, and though judicial law expired 
with the Commonwealth of Israel, though general equity and wisdom 
that does prevail from that is still useful to us in this new 
covenant community, the fact that God writes the Ten Commandments 
with his own finger indicates something about its permanence 
and its abiding validity and its trans-covenantal application, 
so that whether you're in the Old or the New Covenant, you're 
still subject to those Ten Commandments. Again, in New Covenant theology, 
we're not subject to that Decalogue as a covenant of works, we have 
to obey it in order to be saved. But nevertheless, in terms of 
the normative use of the law, that Ten Commandments in the 
ministry of the Holy Spirit working in us to comply with what God 
has revealed and has written with His own finger. This is 
not the only place we see the emphasis on the tablets written 
in stone by the finger of God. It's Exodus 24-12, Exodus 31-18, 
Exodus 34-28, Deuteronomy 5.22, Deuteronomy 
9.10, and Deuteronomy 10.4. So there is something unique 
about the Ten Commandments. Again, not saying that God was 
not responsible for the ceremonial and judicial law, But trans-covenantal 
application is not with ceremonial and judicial. It is with moral, 
and it is with the Ten Commandments specifically. So Moses says, 
this is the kind of stuff that you need to remind your children 
and your grandchildren about, specifically this manifestation 
of God's glory at Sinai, the fact that he spoke to you, and 
the fact that he has revealed his Decalogue, or his Ten Commandments. Notice in verse 14, and the Lord 
commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments 
that you might observe them in the land which you cross over 
to possess. So that's the recurring emphasis 
with reference to this second generation. And when it says 
the two tablets of stone, it's probably not the first four were 
on one side and the last six were on the other side. They're 
duplicate copies. They're kept in the Ark of the 
Covenant. They're parties to a covenant. One is God's copy, 
and one is Israel's copy. We do something similar today. 
When we enter into a contract with people, they get a copy, 
we get a copy. Well, that's probably what's 
going on. Same law, both tablets, one for God, one for them. It 
is a visual, symbolic representation of what God and Israel have together 
in terms of their covenant together. And then notice, he warns them 
in verses 15 to 19. He warns them, verse 15, take 
careful heed to yourselves. Again, it's hard to miss the 
self-government. It's hard to miss the emphasis 
here on, yes, a collective society called Israel, but it's made 
up of individuals. And if the individuals aren't 
carefully taking heed of themselves, they're going to be in big trouble. 
So notice then in verse 15, So in the larger context, which 
is a prohibition against idolatry, which is especially suited for 
a trip across the River Jordan into a land filled with idols, This is the particular sin they're 
going to be subject to. This is going to be the particular 
temptation. They're going to settle down. 
They're going to have Canaanite neighbors because they're not 
going to obey God and dispossess the land of all the Canaanites. 
They're going to watch their Canaanite neighbors go out, pray 
to Baal, and then it rained. and they're gonna say, hey, that's 
pretty amazing. I prayed to Yahweh one time and 
it didn't rain. My neighbor prays to Baal and it rains. I'm gonna 
try Baal. I'm gonna give Baal a try here. 
I'm gonna let go that Baal. And so notice, the emphasis once 
and again is on you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at 
Horeb. Ours is a revelatory, audible 
religion. God speaks, not God shows himself 
God gives you his physical appearance, none of that. And then notice 
the prohibition against making idols in verses 16 to 19. And what it deals with specifically 
is making an idol of anything earthly, or making an idol of 
anything celestial. We could read the whole thing, 
but that's what it says. The prohibition against making 
carved images of earthly things in verses 16 to 18, and the prohibition 
against lifting their eyes up to celestial things in verse 
19a. And notice the logic in verse 
19. It says, And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven. 
And when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the 
hosts of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, 
which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the 
whole heaven as a heritage. Lord, God in general revelation 
and God in common grace gave the celestial bodies for the 
benefit of all men everywhere. They're useful. They're part 
of necessary life. They're not to be worshipped, 
God gave them, therefore God made them, so therefore there's 
something bigger than them. You don't worship the thing that 
God made, you worship the God who made it. And this is what 
happens with reference to idolatry. We get attached to the creature 
versus the creator. We get entrenched with something 
he made rather than the maker. Christopher Wright says, and 
I think this is a keen observation, in terms of the order that you 
see here, and if you parallel it with the Genesis account, 
he says, the list of possible shapes that idols might take 
in verses 16 to 19 is given in an order that precisely reverses 
the order of the creation narrative. human beings, land animals, birds, 
fish, the heavenly bodies. The point, probably being made 
deliberately through this literary feature, is that idolatry not 
only corrupts God's redemptive achievement for God's people, 
but perverts and turns upside down the whole created order. 
It's just an absolute inversion of God's purpose, this whole 
idea of idolatry. And never forget Paul's condemnation 
of idolatry in Romans 1-23, and they changed the glory of the 
incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and 
birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things. So this 
seems to be the proclivity or the tendency is for us to attach 
or fixate on a creature to the neglect of the creator, and that 
is being prohibited here, and that is being condemned. And 
so then we'll end here on the reminder in verses 20 to 24. Notice, but the Lord has taken 
you out of, the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the 
iron furnace. You don't worship man, you don't 
worship animals, you don't worship stars, you don't worship moons, 
you don't worship suns. Why? Because God redeemed you. God brought you out. God not 
only made these things, but God has delivered you from your bondage 
and from the trials that you have had. So redemption by God. He alone is worthy of worship, 
not idols. The judgment of God, verses 21 
and 22, Moses can speak to that experientially. I'm not going 
to enter into the promised land. We need to understand that this 
God is not to be trifled with. This God does execute sanctions 
attached to His covenant, and if we transgress, there's going 
to be punishment, there's going to be penalty. And so that brings 
a necessity to faithfulness before God. Verse 23, and again, take 
heed to yourselves. Lest you forget the covenant 
of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make for yourselves 
a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your 
God has forbidden you. And then notice the righteousness 
of God in verse 24, for the Lord your God is a consuming fire, 
a jealous God. that phrase or that statement, 
a jealous God, invokes the second commandment as well. If you look 
at Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse 8, this is the rationale for 
the prohibition against making idols. For I, the Lord your God, 
am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon 
the children to the third and fourth generations of those who 
hate me, but showing mercy to thousands to those who love me 
and keep my commandments. Intriguingly, the apostle in 
the book of Hebrews chapter 12, in a context that has to do with 
worship, says the same thing, which underscores this, that 
the regulative principle of worship is real. It was applicable in 
the Old Testament and it's applicable in the New Testament. The fact 
that he invokes this passage for the Lord your God is a consuming 
fire after having talked about acceptable worship in Hebrews 
chapter 12 indicates that the same principle underlying the 
same practice is still in play. While there has been a historical 
redemptive transition from Old to New Covenant and an emphasis 
more on simple worship in terms of what we do in the New Covenant 
versus tabernacle and temple and priesthood and sacrifice 
and incense, though those ceremonial aspects have changed, the moral 
principle hasn't. We worship God the way God commands, 
and if we don't, we need to remember that He's a consuming fire, He's 
a jealous God. Meaning, what Moses found out 
in his own life and experience, according to verses 21 and 22, 
that He does act with vengeance on those who transgress His covenant. So we'll stop there, and we'll 
pick it up, God willing, in two weeks. So next Wednesday, there's 
no Bible study. We have our kickoff. Can I say 
that? Kickoff for the conference. Actually, 
I'll be at the airport, or going to the airport on Wednesday. 
So no Bible study. Next Wednesday night, you'll 
probably get an email to remind you, and an announcement on Sunday. So God willing, we'll pick up 
the rest of this chapter in two weeks' time. we'll see the consequences 
of idolatry and the uniqueness of Israel's God. So I'll close 
in prayer. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
you for your word. We thank you for the book of 
Deuteronomy, for the Pentateuch as a whole, and for the entirety 
of scripture. And we pray that you would help 
us to take heed to what we see here in verse two, that we would 
not add to that word, that we would not take from that word, 
but by your grace and by the power and presence of your Holy 
Spirit, we would seek to obey that word. that we would do so 
not because we think we can be saved by it, but because we have 
been saved by your grace and for your glory. Jesus said, if 
you love me, you'll keep my commandments, and we delight in this and we 
desire this. We want to let our conduct be 
worthy of the gospel. So help us to make these applications 
as we move through these passages of Holy Scripture. And we pray 
that you'd go with us now, watch over the entirety of our church, 
all our brothers and our sisters.