Deuteronomy  4:15-31 Click here for Bible Verses

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 4:15-31.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 4:15-19 (NIV)
15  You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,
16  so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman,
17  or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,
18  or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below.
19  And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars–all the heavenly array–do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

On verses 15-19:  As silly as bowing down in worship to a statue might sound to some of us, the fact is that we all have this tendency, if we’re not careful, to worship created things instead of the Creator.  Whether it’s money, fame, sex, food, another person, ourselves, we are all prone to taking something good that God gave us and turning into something we throw ourselves at as if it’s our reason for being.   But in so doing, we end up worshiping something that is far less than the One who is truly worthy of our worship.  Not only do we cheat Him of our worship, but we cheat ourselves as well, because you’ll never be truly satisfied or at peace worshiping anything other than God.

Deuteronomy 4:20-22 (NIV)
20  But as for you, the LORD took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.
21  The LORD was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the LORD your God is giving you as your inheritance.
22  I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land.

On verses 20-22:  What did Moses do that was so horrible that God would be angry and refuse Moses entrance into the promised land?  For more on this, check out my GAME sharing on Numbers 20:1-13, where I discuss what Moses did: https://bit.ly/2FKhwqY  The fact that God did not allow someone as great as Moses to enter shows that God’s standards and our standards are not the same.  God’s standards are absolutely perfect, such that no one deserves to enter His land.  Similarly, it is only through the shed blood of the only perfect One, Jesus Christ, that we can enter heaven.  If we get to enter the land God has for us, that has everything to do with God’s mercy and grace (undeserved kindness), and nothing to do with what we earn or deserve. 

Deuteronomy 4:23-24 (NIV)
23  Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden.
24  For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

On verses 23-24:  Wait! How can God be jealous?  Isn’t jealousy (i.e. being angry because someone is giving more attention to a third party than to you) a sin?  Jealousy is not a sin when the person’s jealousy is because the attention that they legitimately deserve is being given to someone else.  In this way, the Bible says that God is a jealous God, and yet He is without sin.

Deuteronomy 4:25-31 (NIV)
25  After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time–if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God and provoking him to anger,
26  I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed.
27  The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
28  There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.
29  But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
30  When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him.
31  For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.

On verses 25-31:  After walking with God for years, Moses could testify that God is both holy (v25) and merciful (v31).  That is why Moses warns the Israelites that if they get to the promised land and persistently disobey God, God will drive them out of the land (v26-28).  That is God’s holiness.  But if, Moses says, after being driven out the Israelites turn back to God, God will accept them once again (v30-31).

Also, in verse 29 when Moses says, “you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul”, it shows that you won’t find God by searching for him half-heartedly.  If you want to find God, seek Him wholeheartedly.

God, amazingly, mysteriously, You are both holy and merciful.  Because of Your holiness, we don’t deserve to step foot in Your territory.  Yet because of Your mercy expressed through Jesus on a cross, thank You that somehow You let us in anyway.  May I give You the worship You deserve.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!