But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. But if from thereThis phrase sets the stage for a conditional promise. The context here is crucial; Moses is addressing the Israelites, warning them of the consequences of idolatry and disobedience. "From there" refers to a place of exile or distress, a situation resulting from turning away from God. Historically, this reflects the cyclical pattern of Israel's relationship with God—obedience leading to blessing, disobedience leading to exile. The Hebrew word for "there" (שָׁם, sham) emphasizes a specific location or state, often one of separation from God's intended blessings. you will seek
The Hebrew root for "seek" is בָּקַשׁ (baqash), which implies a diligent search or quest. This is not a casual or half-hearted endeavor but a purposeful and determined pursuit. In the biblical context, seeking God involves prayer, repentance, and a return to His commandments. It is an active process, requiring effort and intention, reflecting a deep desire to restore a broken relationship. the LORD your God
The use of "the LORD" (יהוה, Yahweh) is significant, as it is the covenant name of God, emphasizing His personal and relational nature. "Your God" indicates a personal relationship, reminding the Israelites of their unique covenant with Yahweh. This phrase underscores the importance of recognizing God not just as a deity, but as their God, who has chosen them and desires a personal relationship with them. you will find Him
This promise is both comforting and assuring. The Hebrew verb מָצָא (matsa) means to find or encounter, suggesting that God is not hiding but is accessible to those who earnestly seek Him. The certainty of finding God is a recurring theme in Scripture, emphasizing His faithfulness and readiness to reveal Himself to those who turn to Him. if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul
The phrase "with all your heart and with all your soul" is a call to total commitment. The heart (לֵבָב, levav) in Hebrew thought is the center of one's inner life, including mind, will, and emotions. The soul (נֶפֶשׁ, nephesh) represents the entire being or life force. Together, they signify complete devotion and sincerity in seeking God. This echoes the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:5), a central declaration of faith in Judaism, highlighting the necessity of loving and seeking God with one's entire being. Historically, this call to wholehearted devotion was a radical departure from the divided loyalties often seen in the polytheistic cultures surrounding Israel. It is a timeless reminder of the depth of commitment God desires from His people. Persons / Places / Events 1. MosesThe speaker of this verse, Moses is addressing the Israelites, reminding them of the importance of seeking God wholeheartedly. 2. IsraelitesThe audience of Moses' message, they are on the brink of entering the Promised Land and are being warned about the consequences of turning away from God. 3. The Promised LandThe land of Canaan, which the Israelites are about to enter, serves as the backdrop for Moses' exhortation. 4. God (Yahweh)The central figure whom the Israelites are encouraged to seek with all their heart and soul. 5. ExileThe context of the warning implies a future time when the Israelites might be scattered due to disobedience, yet they are promised restoration if they seek God sincerely. Teaching Points Wholehearted SeekingThe verse emphasizes the importance of seeking God with all your heart and soul. This means prioritizing God above all else in life. Promise of FindingThere is a divine promise that those who genuinely seek God will find Him. This assurance should motivate believers to pursue a deeper relationship with God. Repentance and RestorationThe context suggests that even in times of failure or exile, turning back to God with sincerity leads to restoration. Personal DevotionEncourage personal reflection on what it means to seek God wholeheartedly in daily life, including prayer, study, and obedience. Community EncouragementAs a community, believers should support one another in the journey of seeking God, fostering environments that encourage spiritual growth. Bible Study Questions 1. What does it mean to seek God with "all your heart and with all your soul," and how can this be practically applied in your daily life? 2. How does the promise of finding God when we seek Him relate to the concept of faith as described in Hebrews 11:6? 3. In what ways can the community of believers support each other in seeking God wholeheartedly? 4. Reflect on a time when you felt distant from God. How can the promise in Deuteronomy 4:29 encourage you to seek Him again? 5. How do the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 7:7-8 reinforce the message of Deuteronomy 4:29, and what practical steps can you take to apply this in your life? Connections to Other Scriptures Jeremiah 29:13This verse echoes the promise that those who seek God with all their heart will find Him, reinforcing the theme of wholehearted devotion. Matthew 7:7-8Jesus' teaching on asking, seeking, and knocking parallels the promise of finding God when sought earnestly. Psalm 119:2Highlights the blessing of seeking God with a whole heart, aligning with the call in Deuteronomy 4:29. Hebrews 11:6Emphasizes that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him, connecting faith with the act of seeking. James 4:8Encourages believers to draw near to God, promising that He will draw near in return, similar to the promise in Deuteronomy. People Amorites, Baalpeor, Bezer, Gadites, Israelites, Manasseh, Manassites, Moses, Og, Reubenites, SihonPlaces Arabah, Aroer, Bashan, Beth-baal-peor, Bezer, Egypt, Gilead, Golan, Hermon, Heshbon, Horeb, Jordan River, Mount Sion, Peor, Pisgah, Ramoth, Sea of the Arabah, Valley of the ArnonTopics Hast, Heart, Lands, Search, Searchest, Searching, Seek, Seekest, Sought, Soul, ThenceDictionary of Bible Themes Deuteronomy 4:29 5017 heart, renewal
6650 finding
8151 revival, corporate
8330 receptiveness
8617 prayer, effective Deuteronomy 4:25-31 7520 dispersion, the Deuteronomy 4:27-31 8160 seeking God Deuteronomy 4:29-31 2425 gospel, requirements Library February the Sixteenth Crowding Out God
"Lest thou forget." --DEUTERONOMY iv. 5-13. That is surely the worst affront we can put upon anybody. We may oppose a man and hinder him in his work, or we may directly injure him, or we may ignore him, and treat him as nothing. Or we may forget him! Opposition, injury, contempt, neglect, forgetfulness! Surely this is a descending scale, and the last is the worst. And yet we can forget the Lord God. We can forget all His benefits. We can easily put Him out of mind. We can live as though He were …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling YearDeuteronomy
(Third Sunday after Easter.) Deut. iv. 39, 40. 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. Thou shall 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. Learned men have argued much of late as to who wrote …
Charles Kingsley—The Gospel of the Pentateuch Political and Religious Life of the Jewish Dispersion in the West - their Union in the Great Hope of the Coming Deliverer.
It was not only in the capital of the Empire that the Jews enjoyed the rights of Roman citizenship. Many in Asia Minor could boast of the same privilege. [327] The Seleucidic rulers of Syria had previously bestowed kindred privileges on the Jews in many places. Thus, they possessed in some cities twofold rights: the status of Roman and the privileges of Asiatic, citizenship. Those who enjoyed the former were entitled to a civil government of their own, under archons of their choosing, quite independent …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Of the Cities of Refuge.
Hebron, the most eminent among them, excites us to remember the rest. "The Rabbins deliver this; Moses separated three cities of refuge beyond Jordan, [Deut 4:41-43;] and, against them, Joshua separated three cities in the land of Canaan, [Josh 20:7,8]. And these were placed by one another, just as two ranks of vines are in a vineyard: Hebron in Judea against Bezer in the wilderness: Shechem in mount Ephraim against Ramoth in Gilead: Kedesh in mount Napthali against Golan in Basan. And these three …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica That the Devout Soul Ought with the Whole Heart to Yearn after Union with Christ in the Sacrament
The Voice of the Disciple Who shall grant unto me, O Lord, that I may find Thee alone, and open all my heart unto Thee, and enjoy Thee as much as my soul desireth; and that no man may henceforth look upon me, nor any creature move me or have respect unto me, but Thou alone speak unto me and I unto Thee, even as beloved is wont to speak unto beloved, and friend to feast with friend? For this do I pray, this do I long for, that I may be wholly united unto Thee, and may withdraw my heart from all created …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ The First Covenant
"Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice, and keep My covenant, ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me."--EX. xix. 5. "He declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even ten commandments."--DEUT. iv. 13.i "If ye keep these judgments, the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant,"--DEUT. vii. 12. "I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, which My covenant they brake."--JER. xxxi. 31, 32. WE have …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants The Unity of God
Q-5: ARE THERE MORE GODS THAN ONE? A: There is but one only, the living and true God. That there is a God has been proved; and those that will not believe the verity of his essence, shall feel the severity of his wrath. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.' Deut 6:6. He is the only God.' Deut 4:49. Know therefore this day, and consider it in thy heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath, there is none else.' A just God and a Saviour; there is none beside …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity The Northern Coasts of Galilee. Amanah. The Mountain of Snow.
This coast is described by Moses, Numbers 34:7: "From the Great Sea to mount Hor: from mount Hor to the entrance of Hamath," &c. Mount Hor, in the Jewish writers, is Amanah; mention of which occurs, Canticles 4:8, where R. Solomon thus: "Amanah is a mount in the northern coast of the land of Israel, which in the Talmudical language is called, The mountainous plain of Amanon; the same with mount Hor." In the Jerusalem Targum, for mount 'Hor' is the mount Manus: but the Targum of Jonathan renders it …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Ninth Sunday after Trinity Carnal Security and Its vices.
Text: 1 Corinthians 10, 6-13. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of them made trial, and perished by the serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, as …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III Epistle cxxvii. From S. Columbanus to Pope Gregory .
From S. Columbanus to Pope Gregory [89] . To the holy lord, and father in Christ, the Roman [pope], most fair ornament of the Church, a certain most august flower, as it were, of the whole of withering Europe, distinguished speculator, as enjoying a divine contemplation of purity (?) [90] . I, Bargoma [91] , poor dove in Christ, send greeting. Grace to thee and peace from God the Father [and] our [Lord] Jesus Christ. I am pleased to think, O holy pope, that it will seem to thee nothing extravagant …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great The Second Commandment
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am o jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of then that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.' Exod 20: 4-6. I. Thou shalt not …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments "They have Corrupted Themselves; their Spot is not the Spot of his Children; they are a Perverse and Crooked Generation. "
Deut. xxxii. 5.--"They have corrupted themselves; their spot is not the spot of his children; they are a perverse and crooked generation." We doubt this people would take well with such a description of themselves as Moses gives. It might seem strange to us, that God should have chosen such a people out of all the nations of the earth, and they to be so rebellious and perverse, if our own experience did not teach us how free his choice is, and how long-suffering he is, and constant in his choice. …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning A Reformer's Schooling
'The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, 2. That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3. And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Second visit to Nazareth - the Mission of the Twelve.
It almost seems, as if the departure of Jesus from Capernaum marked a crisis in the history of that town. From henceforth it ceases to be the center of His activity, and is only occasionally, and in passing, visited. Indeed, the concentration and growing power of Pharisaic opposition, and the proximity of Herod's residence at Tiberias [3013] would have rendered a permanent stay there impossible at this stage in our Lord's history. Henceforth, His Life is, indeed, not purely missionary, but He has …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Covenant Duties.
It is here proposed to show, that every incumbent duty ought, in suitable circumstances, to be engaged to in the exercise of Covenanting. The law and covenant of God are co-extensive; and what is enjoined in the one is confirmed in the other. The proposals of that Covenant include its promises and its duties. The former are made and fulfilled by its glorious Originator; the latter are enjoined and obligatory on man. The duties of that Covenant are God's law; and the demands of the law are all made …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting Subjects of Study. Home Education in Israel; Female Education. Elementary Schools, Schoolmasters, and School Arrangements.
If a faithful picture of society in ancient Greece or Rome were to be presented to view, it is not easy to believe that even they who now most oppose the Bible could wish their aims success. For this, at any rate, may be asserted, without fear of gainsaying, that no other religion than that of the Bible has proved competent to control an advanced, or even an advancing, state of civilisation. Every other bound has been successively passed and submerged by the rising tide; how deep only the student …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life Wisdom and Revelation.
"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness …
W. H. Griffith Thomas—The Prayers of St. Paul Links Deuteronomy 4:29 NIVDeuteronomy 4:29 NLTDeuteronomy 4:29 ESVDeuteronomy 4:29 NASBDeuteronomy 4:29 KJV
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