1 The covenant in Horeb. 6 The ten commandments.
2 At the people’s request Moses receiveth the law from God.
Deu 5:1 Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them.
ecrees and laws.
The same Hebrew words as given in ch. 4:1.
Deu 5:2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.
Made a covenant. See Ex. 19:5–8; 24:3–8.
Deu 5:3 It was not with our ancestors that the LORD made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.
Ancestors. That is, our forefathers, referring to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the 12 patriarchs.
The agreements between God and the “fathers” were personal in nature. At Sinai, for the first time in history, God entered into an agreement with an entire nation. He was to be their King, and they His people.
Deu 5:4 The LORD spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.
4. Face to face. They were in His immediate presence, yet “saw no similitude” (Deut. 4:12; see also Ex. 20:22).
Deu 5:5 (At that time I stood between the LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:
5. Between the Lord and you. Moses was the mediator between God and Israel (Ex. 19:10-12, 17, 21; Gal. 3:19).
Deu 5:6 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Deu 5:7 “You shall have no other gods before me.
Deu 5:8 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
Human conceptions of form cannot be applied to God. It belittles God to represent Him by any outward form (John 4:24). Material representations of God can give only a distorted and imperfect concept of His majesty and infinite character, and therefore depreciate God. The only earthly image that can even remotely resemble God is the human character transformed into the divine likeness (Gen. 1:26, 27; John 3:3; Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18; Col. 3:10).
Deu 5:9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
Deu 5:10 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Them that love me. Only those that 6love God can possibly obey Him. Obedience that does not come from the heart is nothing more than a legalistic attempt at self righteousness, by which a man seeks to commend himself to God.
In the sight of heaven such is not obedience at all. Without the spirit of obedience, the letter, the outward form, is worthless. But he who loves God supremely will find his greatest delight in cooperating with Him.
Deu 5:11 “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
Misuse. Literally, “to vanity,” meaning falsely, hypocritically, or in a thoughtless, common manner. Man’s attitude toward God is to be marked with reverence, and this is to be reflected in words and deeds.
Deu 5:12 “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. See on Ex. 20:8–11. The fourth commandment has a natural basis reaching back to creation (Gen. 2:1–3); it also has a moral basis in the Creator creature relationship
The primary purpose of the Sabbath as an institution is to safeguard that relationship. As physical health calls for a day of rest each week, so spiritual health requires the Sabbath for exercising the mind and heart in quest of God, that we may “feel after him, and find him” (Acts 17:27).
Deu 5:15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
You were slaves. Every act of God on our behalf constitutes a reason why we should “remember,” that is, to reflect upon, acknowledge, and appreciate this love and beneficent care.
It is God’s purpose that on the Sabbath day whatever interferes with the direct and personal fellowship between the creature and his Creator should be laid aside. The Sabbath is a day on which it is our happy privilege to become better acquainted with our Father in heaven, whom to know is life eternal (John 17:3).
To know God is to love Him (see 1 John 4:8), to honor Him, and to appreciate the evidences of His paternal goodness (Rom. 1:21). Their deliverance from Egypt constituted an additional reason why the Israelites should reverence the Sabbath, yet the very words of the fourth commandment itself point back to the origin of the Sabbath at creation (Ex. 20:8–11) as the reason for the command here to “keep the sabbath day to sanctify it.”
It should be remembered that the form in which God spoke the Ten Commandments upon Sinai is that given in Ex. 20, not in Deut. 5. As its name implies, the book of Deuteronomy is a recapitulation of the various laws transmitted to Israel at Sinai, with additional explanations given by Moses to impress the people with the importance of observing faithfully all that they had been commanded to do.
If mention of the deliverance from Egypt in connection with the fourth commandment be taken as limiting its observance, in principle, to those who were thus delivered—literal Israelites—then the principles of the Ten Commandments as a whole belong to the Jews only, for both here (Deut. 5:6) and in Ex. 20:2 God presented His law as based on the fact that He had brought them forth from the land of Egypt.
As literal Israel was delivered from the bondage of Egypt, so God’s people today have been set free from the bondage of sin (Rom. 6:16–18). The Sabbath thus becomes for the Christian a memorial not only of creation but of the re-creation of the image of God in his own heart and mind (see on Deut. 5:8). The Sabbath is thus a “sign” of sanctification (Eze. 20:12)—of redemption as well as of creation.
Deu 5:16 “Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
16. Honour. Compare the instruction of the apostle Paul in Eph. 6:1–3 (see also Ex. 20:12). Only the child who learns to honor and respect the authority of his parents will learn to honor and reverence God.
Deu 5:17 “You shall not murder.
Deu 5:18 “You shall not commit adultery.
Deu 5:19 “You shall not steal.
Deu 5:20 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
Deu 5:21 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Deu 5:22 These are the commandments the LORD proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.
Assembly. The word thus translated refers to the gathering together of people or of their chosen representatives. It is often translated “congregation” (Lev. 4:14, 21), and “company” (Eze. 23:46, 47).
Two tables of stone.
Also referred to as the “tables of the covenant” (ch. 9:9, 11, 15) and the “two tables of testimony” (Ex. 31:18; 32:15; 34:29).
Deu 5:23 When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leaders of your tribes and your elders came to me.
Deu 5:24 And you said, “The LORD our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them.
Deu 5:25 But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer.
Why should we die? The people had been duly impressed by the majesty of God, and realized that, as sinners, they could not even live in His presence.
Consciousness of sin made them fear for their lives. The wicked will eventually choose to die rather than to live in the presence of God (Rev. 6:15–17).
Deu 5:26 For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived?
Deu 5:27 Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then tell us whatever the LORD our God tells you. We will listen and obey.”
Deu 5:28 The LORD heard you when you spoke to me, and the LORD said to me, “I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good.
Their profound awe at the manifestation of divine power and glory was the very attitude of mind and heart God desired to produce in them. It is only when a man becomes humble in God’s sight, when he realizes his utter sinfulness and helplessness in contrast to God’s righteousness and omnipotence, that God can work in him and with him.
Deu 5:29 Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!
Hearts would be inclines. Or, “such a frame of mind.” The life is but a projection of the thoughts of the “heart,” or mind; as a man thinks, so is he (Prov. 23:7).
God is not so much concerned with the outward acts as He is with the motives that prompt the acts. If a man purposes in his “heart” to cooperate with God—“if there be first a willing mind” (2 Cor. 8:12)—the life will be transformed accordingly (Rom. 12:2). Heart obedience is the only true obedience; it alone is acceptable to God.
Deu 5:30 “Go, tell them to return to their tents.
A command given in recognition of their request to be released from the presence of God. Moses was henceforth to be the go-between (v. 5). 32. Not turn aside.
Those who enter the covenant relationship are expected to serve Him with an undivided heart, and not to “turn aside” to follow their own inclinations (see chs. 17:11, 20; 28:14).
Deu 5:33 Walk in obedience to all that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.
Prolong your days. The blessing of God is conditional upon obedience to His precepts, not by His arbitrary decree, but because cooperation with eternal principles naturally tends to “prolong” life.
Furthermore, occupation of the Promised Land was conditional upon their continued loyalty. Their right to Canaan was based exclusively on the provisions of the covenant. Should they violate its requirements, they would forfeit their right to that land.