These are the testimonies, statutes, and ordinances that Moses proclaimed to them after they had come out of Egypt, These are the testimoniesThe word "testimonies" in Hebrew is "עֵדוּת" (edut), which refers to the divine laws given as a witness to God's covenant with Israel. In the context of Deuteronomy, these testimonies serve as a reminder of God's faithfulness and the people's obligation to uphold His commandments. Historically, testimonies were often inscribed on tablets or scrolls, serving as a perpetual witness to the covenant relationship between God and His people. This phrase emphasizes the importance of remembering and adhering to the divine instructions as a testament to their identity as God's chosen people. statutes
The Hebrew word for "statutes" is "חֻקִּים" (chukim), which refers to decrees or laws that are established by God. These are often seen as divine ordinances that may not always be understood by human reasoning but are to be followed out of obedience and reverence for God. Statutes are foundational to the community's life, shaping their moral and ethical conduct. In the historical context, these statutes distinguished Israel from surrounding nations, setting them apart as a holy people dedicated to the Lord. and ordinances
"Ordinances" in Hebrew is "מִשְׁפָּטִים" (mishpatim), which refers to judgments or legal decisions. These are the practical applications of God's law, often dealing with civil and social matters. Ordinances provided a framework for justice and equity within the community, ensuring that the rights of individuals were protected and that disputes were resolved fairly. In the scriptural context, these ordinances reflect God's character as a just and righteous judge, calling His people to mirror His justice in their interactions with one another. that Moses proclaimed
The act of proclamation by Moses underscores his role as a mediator between God and the Israelites. The Hebrew root "קָרָא" (qara) means to call out or announce, indicating that Moses was faithfully delivering God's message to the people. This proclamation was not merely a recitation of laws but a reaffirmation of the covenant relationship and a call to obedience. Moses' leadership and prophetic voice were instrumental in guiding the Israelites and ensuring that they understood the significance of the laws they were to follow. to them
The phrase "to them" refers specifically to the Israelites, the recipients of God's law. This highlights the personal and communal nature of the covenant, as it was given directly to the people of Israel. The laws were not abstract principles but were intended to govern the daily lives of the community, shaping their identity and relationship with God. This personal address underscores the intimate nature of God's covenant, inviting the people into a deeper relationship with Him. after they had come out of Egypt
This phrase situates the giving of the law within the historical context of the Exodus. The deliverance from Egypt was a pivotal event in Israel's history, marking their transition from slavery to freedom and establishing them as a nation under God's rule. The laws given after this event were meant to guide them in their new identity as a free people, living under God's sovereignty. This historical context serves as a reminder of God's saving power and faithfulness, calling the people to respond with gratitude and obedience. The Exodus narrative is foundational to understanding the covenant relationship, as it demonstrates God's commitment to His people and His desire for them to live in accordance with His will. Persons / Places / Events 1. MosesThe central figure in this passage, Moses is the leader and prophet who delivered God's laws to the Israelites. He is a mediator between God and His people. 2. IsraelitesThe recipients of the laws, testimonies, and ordinances. They are God's chosen people, delivered from slavery in Egypt and journeying to the Promised Land. 3. EgyptThe land from which the Israelites were delivered. It symbolizes bondage and oppression, from which God rescued His people. 4. Testimonies, Statutes, and OrdinancesThese are the laws and commands given by God through Moses. They are meant to guide the Israelites in their covenant relationship with God. 5. The Wilderness JourneyThe context in which these laws were given, representing a time of testing, learning, and preparation for entering the Promised Land. Teaching Points The Importance of God's LawThe testimonies, statutes, and ordinances are not just historical documents but are vital for understanding God's will and character. They guide us in living a life that pleases God. Obedience as a Response to DeliveranceJust as the Israelites were called to obey God's laws after being delivered from Egypt, Christians are called to live according to God's Word in response to the salvation we have received through Christ. The Role of a MediatorMoses as a mediator points to the ultimate mediator, Jesus Christ, who intercedes for us and fulfills the law on our behalf. Living in Covenant RelationshipThe laws were given to maintain a covenant relationship with God. As believers, we are called to live in a way that reflects our covenant relationship with Him. Learning from the PastThe history of Israel's deliverance and journey serves as a reminder of God's faithfulness and the importance of adhering to His commands. Bible Study Questions 1. How does understanding the role of Moses as a mediator help us appreciate the work of Jesus Christ in the New Testament? 2. In what ways can the testimonies, statutes, and ordinances given to the Israelites be applied to our lives today? 3. How does the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt parallel the salvation we receive through Jesus Christ? 4. What can we learn from the Israelites' journey in the wilderness about trusting and obeying God in our own life journeys? 5. How do the laws given in Deuteronomy 4:45 connect with Jesus' teachings in the New Testament, and how should this influence our daily walk with God? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 20The giving of the Ten Commandments, which are part of the statutes and ordinances mentioned in Deuteronomy 4:45. Leviticus 18-20These chapters expand on the statutes and ordinances, providing detailed laws for holy living. Psalm 119This psalm celebrates the law of the Lord, emphasizing the importance of God's statutes and ordinances in the life of a believer. Matthew 5:17-20Jesus speaks about the fulfillment of the law, showing the continuity and importance of God's commandments. 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 Decisions, Declared, Decrees, Egypt, Forth, Judgments, Laws, Ordinances, Rules, Sons, Spake, Spoke, Spoken, Statutes, TestimoniesDictionary of Bible Themes Deuteronomy 4:44-45 5376 law, purpose of 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 4:45 NIVDeuteronomy 4:45 NLTDeuteronomy 4:45 ESVDeuteronomy 4:45 NASBDeuteronomy 4:45 KJV
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