Deuteronomy 4:32-40

Deuteronomy 4:32-40

[32] For ask  now of the days  that are past,  which were  before  thee, since the day  that God  created  man  upon the earth,  and ask from the one side  of heaven  unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great  thing  is, or hath been heard  [33] Did ever people  hear  the voice  of God  speaking out  of the midst  of the fire,  as thou hast heard,  and live?  [34] Or hath God  assayed  to go  and take  him a nation  from the midst  of another nation,  by temptations,  by signs,  and by wonders,  and by war,  and by a mighty  hand,  and by a stretched out  arm,  and by great  terrors,  according to all that the LORD  your God  did  for you in Egypt  before your eyes?  [35] Unto thee it was shewed,  that thou mightest know  that the LORD  he is God;  there is none else  beside him.  [36] Out of heaven  he made thee to hear  his voice,  that he might instruct  thee: and upon earth  he shewed  thee his great  fire;  and thou heardest  his words  out of the midst  of the fire.  [37] And because he loved  thy fathers,  therefore he chose  their seed  after  them, and brought thee out  in his sight  with his mighty  power  out of Egypt;  [38] To drive out  nations  from before  thee greater  and mightier  than thou art, to bring  thee in, to give  thee their land  for an inheritance,  as it is this day.  [39] Know  therefore this day,  and consider  it in thine heart,  that the LORD  he is God  in heaven  above,  and upon the earth  [40] Thou shalt 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.

What does Deuteronomy 4:32-40 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

"The passage at hand is without comparison as a discourse on the doctrine of God." [1]
Moses" three rhetorical questions ( Deuteronomy 4:32-34) clearly point out the uniqueness of Yahweh.
"In addition to His self-disclosure in event, in history, Yahweh revealed Himself as sovereign in theophany. In this manner the glorious splendor of the King contributes to His aura of majesty and power and is thereby persuasive of His dignity and authority. Almost without exception the theophanic revelation was in the form of fire and its opposite, darkness ( Deuteronomy 1:33; Deuteronomy 4:11-12; Deuteronomy 4:33; Deuteronomy 4:36; Deuteronomy 5:4; Deuteronomy 5:22-26; Deuteronomy 9:10; Deuteronomy 9:15; Deuteronomy 10:4; Deuteronomy 33:2; cf. Psalm 50:2; Psalm 80:2 [2]; Psalm 94:1).... The darkness speaks of His transcendence, His mysterium, His inaccessibility. On the other hand, the fire represented His immanence, the possibility of His being known even if in only a limited way (cf. Ezekiel 1:4; Ezekiel 1:27-28; Daniel 7:9; Revelation 1:14). [3]
Israel was not to miss the point ( Deuteronomy 4:35). The articulation of God"s motivation in His great redemptive and saving acts for Israel as being His love for them ( Deuteronomy 4:37) brings this mounting crescendo of argument to its climax. [3]5
"What is important to note here is that the exodus deliverance was predicated on Israel"s prior election by the Lord. It was precisely because of his love and choice that he acted to redeem.... The exodus and even the ensuing covenant did not make Israel the people of the Lord. Rather, it was because they were his people by virtue of having been descended from the patriarchs, the objects of his love and choice, that he was moved to save them and enter into covenant with them." [5]
"From a literary point of view, these verses are among the most beautiful in Deuteronomy. They are prosaic in form, but poetic in their evocation of the marvelous acts of God." [6]
The earliest reference to Israel"s election in Deuteronomy is in Deuteronomy 4:37 (cf. Deuteronomy 7:6-8; Deuteronomy 10:15-16; Deuteronomy 14:2; Deuteronomy 26:18-19; Exodus 19:5-6).
"National election does not guarantee the salvation of every individual within the nation since only individual election can do that. Nor does national election guarantee the physical salvation of every member of the nation. What national election does guarantee is that God"s purpose(s) for choosing the nation will be accomplished and that the elect nation will always survive as a distinct entity. It guarantees the physical salvation of the nation and, in the case of Israel, even a national salvation. It is the national election of Israel that is the basis of Israel"s status as the Chosen People." [7]
This whole address by Moses ( Deuteronomy 1:6 to Deuteronomy 4:40), and especially the exhortation to observe the Law faithfully ( Deuteronomy 4:1-40), is one of the greatest revelations of God"s character in the Old Testament. The address builds to a climax, as every great sermon does. The total impression God and Moses intended must have been awe and humble gratitude in the hearts of the Israelites.
"One of the principal means by which God has revealed Himself is in historical event, that Isaiah , by acts the community of faith could recognize as divine. [3]2 To Israel on the plains of Moab, these acts made up the constellation of mighty deeds Yahweh had displayed before them and on their behalf from the days of the patriarchs to their present hour. It was on the basis of such historical interventions, in fact, that Yahweh"s claim as Sovereign could be made.
"Elsewhere in the Old Testament the foundational act of God is creation itself, but here the matter is less cosmic; the focus of Deuteronomy is not on God"s universal concerns but on His special purposes for His people." [3]0
The best way to motivate people to obey God is to expound His character and conduct, as Moses did here. Note too that Moses appealed to the self-interest of the Israelites: "... that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land ..." ( Deuteronomy 4:40; cf. Deuteronomy 5:16; Deuteronomy 6:3; Deuteronomy 6:18; Deuteronomy 12:25; Deuteronomy 12:28; Deuteronomy 19:13; Deuteronomy 22:7; Proverbs 3:1-2; Proverbs 3:16; Proverbs 10:27).