Deuteronomy 4:10

4:1-23 The power and love of God to Israel are here made the ground and reason of a number of cautions and serious warnings; and although there is much reference to their national covenant, yet all may be applied to those who live under the gospel. What are laws made for but to be observed and obeyed? Our obedience as individuals cannot merit salvation; but it is the only evidence that we are partakers of the gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ, Considering how many temptations we are compassed with, and what corrupt desires we have in our bosoms, we have great need to keep our hearts with all diligence. Those cannot walk aright, who walk carelessly. Moses charges particularly to take heed of the sin of idolatry. He shows how weak the temptation would be to those who thought aright; for these pretended gods, the sun, moon, and stars, were only blessings which the Lord their God had imparted to all nations. It is absurd to worship them; shall we serve those that were made to serve us? Take heed lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God. We must take heed lest at any time we forget our religion. Care, caution, and watchfulness, are helps against a bad memory.

Above all things Moses would have them take care not to forget the day the law was given from Mount Sinai, which was so awful and solemn, when they saw the fire, the smoke, the lightning, and heard the thunder and the sound of the trumpet; all which were very shocking and terrifying: and though the men of this generation were but young then, being under twenty years of age, yet many of them were old enough to observe these things, and which one would think should never wear out of their minds: when the Lord said unto me, gather me the people together; not the elders of the people only, but the whole body of the people, as he did, and brought them to the foot of Mount Sinai, Exodus 19:17, and I will make them hear my words; the ten commands which were spoken by the Lord himself aloud, with an articulate voice, in the hearing of all the people; and was such a terrible voice of words, that they that heard it entreated it might be spoken to them no more, Hebrews 12:19. that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth; to reverence him the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy; to fear to offend him by breaking his laws, so holy, just, and good, and delivered in such an awful and solemn manner: and that they may teach their children; the words they had heard, teach them obedience to them, and to be careful not to act contrary to them; since that would bring down judgments upon them, and deprive them of the favour they enjoyed, of which they ha

(10) The day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb. —The Church of Israel dated from Sinai, as the Church of Christ does from Pentecost. It is noticeable that the giving of the Law appears to have taken place about fifty days after the Passover in Egypt. Jewish writers associate the Feast of Pentecost with the memory of the event. A similar association, and a contrast between the first and last Pentecost, appears to have been present to St. Paul’s mind in 2 Corinthians 3. The law given at Sinai is the “ministration of death,” and is contrasted with the “ministration of the Spirit”—the letter that killeth with the Spirit that giveth life. (Comp. also Galatians 4:24-26 , and Hebrews 12:18-24 .) The word “specially” is not in the Hebrew of this verse. The day . . . in Horeb is not only to be regarded as a special subject of instruction; it is the root of the whole matter. Gather me the people together.—The Greek here is εκκλησίασον, which might be paraphrased according to New Testament language, “Form a Church of this people,” The “day of the assembly” alluded to in this and other passages (as Deuteronomy 10:4) may be similarly paraphrased as “the day of the Church.” It seems to be the source of the expression used by St. Stephen, “the Church in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38). Thus the analogy between Israel’s receiving the letter of the law at Sinai, and the gift of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem is still further brought out.

Verse 10. - Specially the day . The word "specially," introduced by the translators into the Authorized Version, is a needless interpolation. With this verse begins a new sentence, which is continued in ver. 11 on to the end of ver. 13. Render, On the day [i.e. at the time, the יום , is an adverbial accusative] when ye stood before Jehovah your God in Horeb ... when ye came near and stood ,... then Jehovah spake to you , etc. Deuteronomy 4:10

Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

Some of them stood in Horeb in their own persons, though then they were but young; the rest stood then in the loins of their parents, in whom they may well be said to stand there, because they are said to have entered into covenant with God, because their parents did so in their name and for their use.

A full stop should end Deuteronomy 4:9 ; and Deuteronomy 4:10 begin, At the time that thou stoodest, etc. Deuteronomy 4:11 then ye came near, etc. Moses, exhorting to heedful observance of the Law, strives to renew the impressions of that tremendous scene which attended its promulgation at Sinai.

10. the day that thou stoodest before the Lord … in Horeb—The delivery of the law from Sinai was an era never to be forgotten in the history of Israel. Some of those whom Moses was addressing had been present, though very young; while the rest were federally represented by their parents, who in their name and for their interest entered into the national covenant.

10 . the day ] Governed by lest thou forget in Deuteronomy 4:9 ; or an acc. of time. thou stoodest before … thy God ] So Sam., the nation being still regarded as an individual; LXX ye stood . Assemble me the people ] See below on Deuteronomy 4:22 . may learn to fear ] The frequent commands to fear , or learn to fear , God, Deuteronomy 5:29 , Deuteronomy 6:24 , Deuteronomy 8:6 , Deuteronomy 10:12 , Deuteronomy 14:23 , Deuteronomy 17:19 , Deuteronomy 28:58 , Deuteronomy 31:13 , associate that temper with hearing, reading , or doing God’s law, or walking in His ways . It is thus no inarticulate, brutish awe before the unknown, which we call superstition, but the vigilant, scrupulous temper of a servant to whom his lord’s will has been fully declared—cp. Lat. ‘religio’ and our general use of ‘religious’ and ‘religiously’—an earnest, anxious obedience; never a mere feeling, but the intelligent and loyal practice of a trust. See also on Deuteronomy 14:23 .

In the words, "The day (היּום, adverbial accusative) "that thou stoodest before Jehovah thy God at Horeb," etc., Moses reminds the people of the leading features of those grand events: first of all of the fact that God directed him to gather the people together, that He might make known His words to them ( Exodus 19:9 .), that they were to learn to fear Him all their life long, and to teach their children also (יראה, inf., like שׂנאה, Deuteronomy 1:27 ); and secondly ( Deuteronomy 4:11 ), that they came near to the mountain which burned in fire (cf. Exodus 19:17 .). The expression, burning in fire "even to the heart of heaven," i.e., quite into the sky, is a rhetorical description of the awful majesty of the pillar of fire, in which the glory of the Lord appeared upon Sinai, intended to impress deeply upon the minds of the people the remembrance of this manifestation of God. And the expression, "darkness, clouds, and thick darkness," which is equivalent to the smoking of the great mountain ( Exodus 19:18 ), is employed with the same object.