The Lord is God
Comments for Study 4
Deuteronomy 4:1-49
Memory Verse: 35
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I. Follow Them as Long as You Live (1-14)
>1. What two promises did the Israelites receive if they followed the decrees and laws? (1-2)
* Deuteronomy 4:1 "Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you."
* "so that you may live"
* "take possession of the land"
* "the Lord, the God of your fathers"
* "is giving you"
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>Was anyone able to keep all the laws? (Rom. 3:10-12; 3:23; 2:17-24)
* Romans 3:10-12 "As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.'"
* Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
* Romans 2:17-24 "Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth-- you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."
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>How then are we justified and how does this clarify the purpose of the law? (Rom. 3:21-22; 7:7; 13:9)
* Romans 3:21-22 "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference"
* Romans 7:7 "What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, 'Do not covet.'"
* Romans 13:9 "The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
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>2. What does it mean to add and subtract from the law? (2)
* Deuteronomy 4:2 "Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you."
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>How did the religious leaders do this in Jesus' day? (Mark 7:9; Luke 11:38-39; 12:1)
* Mark 7:9 "And he said to them: 'You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!'"
* Luke 11:38-39 "But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised. Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness."
* Luke 12:1 "Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: 'Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.'"
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>3. What is to be learned by what happened at Baal Peor? (3-4; Num. 25:1-3)
* Deuteronomy 4:3-4 "You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal Peor. The Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, but all of you who held fast to the Lord your God are still alive today."
* Numbers 25:1-3 "While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the Lord's anger burned against them."
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>What will happen when we follow the Lord's commands? (5-6)
* Deuteronomy 4:5-6 "See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'"
* "this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations"
* "who will hear about all these decrees and say"
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>Did or will this ever happen? (Mark 16:15; Acts 28:28-31)
* Mark 16:15 "He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."
* Acts 28:28-31 "'Therefore I want you to know that God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!' For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ."
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>4. How do verses 7-8 apply to us? (John 14:23)
* Deuteronomy 4:7-8 "What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?"
* John 14:23 "Jesus replied, 'If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.'"
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>What are we who have God in us suppose to do with our children? (9-10)
* Deuteronomy 4:9-10 "Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, "Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children."
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>5. How did God confirm his covenant, the Ten Commandments with Israel? (11-14)
* Deuteronomy 4:11-14 "You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. And the Lord directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess."
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>How did Jesus confirm the new covenant with us? (Jer. 31:31-32; Luke 22:20; and 2 Cor. 3:6; Heb. 8:13, 9:15)
* Jeremiah 31:31-32 "'The time is coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,' declares the Lord."
* Luke 22:20 "In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.'"
* 2 Corinthians 3:6 "He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."
* Hebrews 8:13 "By calling this covenant 'new,' he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear."
* Hebrews 9:15 'For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant."
II. The Lord Your God is a Consuming Fire (15-31)
>6. What is the nature of an idol? (15-18)
* Deuteronomy 4:15-18 "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, 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, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below."
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>What does it mean to bow down to created things in our day? (19)
* Deuteronomy 4:19 "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."
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>How is Egypt's slavery like the slavery to the sinful nature? (20; Rom. 6:6, 22)
* Deuteronomy 4:20 "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."
* Romans 6:6 "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin"
* Romans 6:22 "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life."
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>7. How is God described in verses 21-24? (Consider Num. 20:9-12.)
* Deuteronomy 4:21-24 "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. 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. 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. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."
* Numbers 20:9-12 "So Moses took the staff from the Lord's presence, just as he commanded him. He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them."
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* "the Lord your God is a consuming fire"
* "a jealous God"
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>What will happen if they broke the covenant? (25-28)
* Deuteronomy 4:25-28 "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, 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. 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. There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell."
* "you will quickly perish from the land "
* "You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed."
* "The Lord will scatter you among the peoples"
* "only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you."
* "There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone"
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>What hope is there for a nation that repents?
* Deuteronomy 4:29 "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."
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>How is the heart of God revealed in verses 30-31?
* Deuteronomy 4:30-31 "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."
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III. The Lord is God (32-40)
>8. How did God's dealing with Israel show his love for them and commitment to the promises made to Abraham? (32-34; Gen. 15:13-16)
* Deuteronomy 4:32-34 "Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?"
* Genesis 15:13-16 "Then the Lord said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."
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>Why did God show such a fearful display in Egypt and Mt. Sinai? (35-26)
* Deuteronomy 4:35-36 "You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other. From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire."
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>What was God's Presence to Israel and is to us? (37-38; Ex. 13:21-22; John 14:16-17)
* Deuteronomy 4:37-38 "Because he loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today."
* Exodus 13:21-22 "By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people."
* John 14:16-17 "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.'
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>9. With many enemies before them and battles to be waged, who should we remember is in control?
* Deuteronomy 4:39 "Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other."
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>How is following God's ways good?
* Deuteronomy 4:40 "Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time."
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IV. Cities of Refuge (41-49)
>10. What did the provision of cities of refuge tell us about God's knowledge of man's sinful nature? (41-43)
* Deuteronomy 4:41-43 "Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan, to which anyone who had killed a person could flee if he had unintentionally killed his neighbor without malice aforethought. He could flee into one of these cities and save his life. The cities were these: Bezer in the desert plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites."
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>What can be learned from verses 44-49?
* Deuteronomy 4:44-49 "This is the law Moses set before the Israelites.
45 These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt
46 and were in the valley near Beth Peor east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites as they came out of Egypt.
47 They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan.
48 This land extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Siyon (that is, Hermon),
49 and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah."
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