Isaac Dagneau | Deuteronomy 4:32-40 | THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES (A SERIES THROUGH DEUTERONOMY 1-11)
Unfortunately only half the message was recorded. For your convenience, please see the sermon manuscript below. We apologize for the error! Thank you!
So That You Might Know That Yahweh is God (Deuteronomy 4:32-40)
by Isaac Dagneau
Sermon preached on Sunday morning, November 24th, 2019 at North Valley Baptist Church in Mission, BC.
You can turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 4. Deuteronomy 4. I’ll be preaching Deuteronomy 4:32-40. Deuteronomy 4:32-40. These nine verses complete Moses’ first sermon to the 2nd generation of Israelites on the border of the Promised Land that our book, Deuteronomy, records.
Remember that the physical nation of Israel were God’s chosen people. Yahweh, who is God, freely decided to demonstrate great grace and mercy to the rebellious world, by attaching himself to this insignificant nation in a covenant relationship—that is, a special intimate relationship where Yahweh himself promised undeserved blessings for them, primarily conditioned upon their full devotion to him. This covenant relationship was one of God’s great steps towards showing great grace and mercy to the entire world—not just Israel. But, it started with just Israel. Now, when we consider the covenant that Yahweh, the perfect Creator, made with Israel, a group of imperfect creatures, we have to see that it was gracious. Yahweh did not have to bind himself to this rebellious nation. They deserved judgment, like everyone else! But he graciously brought them to himself in this special relationship and promised undeserved blessings upon the condition of their fully devoted love towards him. One of those undeserved promises was that of a physical land that would allow Israel to joyfully flourish as God’s people. We call this land the Promised Land.
Now, there came a point in Israel’s history where they found themselves having become enslaved to Egypt. But Yahweh heard their cries. And in one of the most outrageously gracious and powerful events in history, Yahweh dramatically delivered Israel out of Egypt, led by an Israelite named Moses. We call this event the Exodus. It was a massively miraculous event that glorified God by showing Pharaoh and Israel and the world how powerful God is. Over and over again will Yahweh remind Israel of his gracious deliverance of them at the Exodus as time goes on.
Now, Israel’s first main stop after the Exodus was at Horeb. At Horeb, Yahweh laid out specifically their covenant obligations to himself. Remember, their covenant relationship meant that God would fulfill his promises as they fully devoted themselves to him in love. Now, “love,” in the Hebrew understanding, is a covenant commitment demonstrated in action in the interest of the other person. So, for Israel to love Yahweh accurately, he gave them his commandments—and he did this at Horeb. Like the Exodus, it was a powerful and gracious event that Yahweh gave to Israel. Because of the laws given from God at Horeb, Israel could know how to love God fully and therefore flourish in the fruitful Promised Land. So, both the Exodus and Horeb were gracious and powerful events given to Israel.
Now, to speed up a bit—after about two years at Horeb, God led Israel by Moses up to the border of the Promised Land. Tragically, Israel failed to enter because of their unbelief in Yahweh which led to them breaking covenant with him. The punishment for this was that all those adults who denied God would not be able to enter the Promised Land. So, God led them by Moses back into the wilderness where they roamed around for 38 years as they died off. Then, at the time when most of them had died, God, by Moses, led them back to the Promised Land at a different border—this was round two. Would the 2nd generation of Israelites believe God and thus keep the covenant and enter the Promised Land? Through many other events that we’ve looked at in the past months, Moses ended up at the border of the Promised Land with this group of 2nd generation Israelites. And while he himself was denied access to the land because of his own rebellion, he wanted nothing more than to see Israel obtain it. So, he did what he believed to be the most powerful thing to motivate and influence the people towards believing in God, and then acting upon that belief in obedience: and that was, preaching. The book of Deuteronomy is multiple sermons given by 120-year-old Moses, right before the 2nd generation of Israel entered the Promised Land. And as I noted at the beginning, our passage today in Deuteronomy 4:32-40, marks the end of the first sermon. This first sermon was primarily historical, as Moses recounted the failure of their parents, and their own success (mostly). And then, once we hit chapter four, Moses began calling Israel to devotion to Yahweh, reminding them of their privileged state as God’s covenant people and of God’s gracious voice to them at Horeb, but also warning them of neglecting God’s voice, and being influenced by surrounding nations to make idols and worship them. Moses also reminded the Israelites that because of Yahweh’s strong covenant love towards them, he is both Consuming Fire in regard to his jealousy and passion towards his people, yet also a God of mercy. Unfortunately, it’s not a matter of ifIsrael but when Israel rebels against Yahweh in later days, and they turn to seek Yahweh with all their heart and soul, God will mercifully respond to them and not forget his covenant with them. It’s God’s great mercy, even in the midst of great rebellion, that is the last thing Moses hits on before he concludes his first sermon.
So, let me read Deuteronomy 4:32-40 (read). Let’s pray (pray). This passage teaches us that Yahweh graciously and powerfully revealed himself to Israel so that they might know that he is God alone, which means they must obey him alone. I’ll say that again: Yahweh graciously and powerfully revealed himself to Israel so that they might know that he is God alone, which means they must obey him alone. Let’s look more closely at how he does this.
In vv. 32-34, Moses (in a rhetorical style) challenges Israel to ask questions about the greatness of Yahweh—specifically in regard to his great grace and power revealed at the Exodus and Horeb. In v. 32 he challenges them to search the past—all of history—from the beginning of time, to see if anything great like the Exodus or Horeb has ever happened or was ever even heard of. The response Moses hoped for was: nothing! But we also see Moses challenging them to search the world, “from one end of heaven to the other,” to see if they can find anything that displays a similar greatness than that of what God has done for them. Again, the answer: nothing! Moses challenges readers to search through all time and all space, to see if anything or anyone could match the greatness of Yahweh. But Moses heartily knows that their search would be an utter failure. Nothing in all of time and all of space can match the greatness of what God has done for Israel.
Moses then gets more specific. In v. 33 he challenges Israel to search for any people group that have heard a god speaking out of a midst of a fire—as they did at Horeb—and live. The reality is that no other people group have experienced this, but Israel. They heard the voice of God at Horeb—look back to v. 12 (read v. 12a). And this was a dramatic event! Listen to these words from Exodus 20:18-19, regarding this same event at Horeb, “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and mountain smoking (these were all powerful displays of God at Horeb), the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.’” Israel could only handle God speaking directly to them the Ten Commandments—that’s it. Everything else was mediated through Moses. Therefore, Moses challenges them to see if they can find any other nation who’s not only heard the voice of a god like their God, but has also lived to share it. Result? No other nation. And then in v. 34, Moses shifts from specifically referring to Horeb, to the Exodus. He challenges them to search high and low to see if any god ever attempted such a great act of lovingly taking one nation out of another by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror. Again, the result? There is no other god who’s done this. But at the end of v. 34, Moses explicitly says that all of what they were challenged to seek for in another god, Yahweh did for them in the Exodus—when he delivered them out of slavery before their very eyes.
I love the confidence Moses had to proudly offer these challenges to them about the greatness of Yahweh. “Go!” Moses is saying, “Go see if there is anyone great like our God! Go, search in all of the history books and go search every square inch of this planet, and the entire universe! You will find nothing of any comparison to the greatness of our God!” Church, we desperately need this confidence today. We need to stand up, not only for the existence of God, but for the unsurpassed greatness of our powerful and gracious God.
Moses then, in v. 35, tells them that God has shown all of this to them, so that they might know that Yahweh is God—and that there is no one besides him. Get this: Moses says that Yahweh’s revelation of himself to Israel—specifically during the Exodus and at Horeb—were for a purpose, and that purpose was so that they might know that God is the only God. He is God alone. And in the midst of a world—the Ancient Near Eastern world—where every nation had their gods, this was profound. Moses is teaching Israel about monotheism—the belief in one God. So, as for the church today, us, we are proud monotheists. We believe in one God. He has always been and will always be the only God. So, Yahweh’s revelation to Israel was for Israel’s recognition of Yahweh—that he is the one and only God.
Then, in vv. 36-38 we see Moses giving more proof of Yahweh’s specific works of grace and power to Israel. In v. 36, he, first, reminds Israel that, “Out of heaven [Yahweh] let [them] hear his voice, that he might discipline [them].” In Deuteronomy 8:5 we read that, “as a man disciplines his son, [Yahweh] your God disciplines you.” So, this is not a cold-hearted discipline, but a loving discipline. Yahweh graciously let Israel hear his voice from heaven, so that he might lovingly discipline them into a full love towards himself. He goes on to say that Yahweh graciously let them see his great fire, as they heard his words out of the midst of the fire. This great dramatic fire that was literally on the mountain in Horeb was like a physical manifestation of his presence. So, here Moses is blatantly saying that they, Israel, have experienced God’s revelation towards them in Horeb—a revelation that was powerful, but gracious towards them.
And then we get vv. 37-38, which is a kind of summarizing list of some of God’s works towards Israel that Moses uses as reasons to do something—which we’ll see in v. 39. So, in v. 37 Moses begins stating three realities of God’s works towards Israel: 1) Yahweh loved Israel’s fathers—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—2) Yahweh chose their offspring—the whole nation of Israel—and 3) Yahweh brought Israel out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power—this is the Exodus. So, it’s almost like Moses is showing a line of reasoning for Yahweh’s actions: he freely loved Abraham and Isaac and Jacob with a covenant love, so much so that he chose their offspring after them to be his people, which meant that when they were enslaved in Egypt, he brought them out with his presence and by his power. V. 38, then, gives a present and future reality of God’s works for Israel (read). We’ve already seen the 2nd generation of Israel have victory over two mighty Amorite Kings, and Yahweh has promised many more victories in the Promised Land once they go in. So, vv. 37-38 look to God’s works towards Israel in history, the present, and the future, to demonstrate Yahweh’s covenant love for Israel, his special choosing of Israel, and his powerful actions to Israel.
Now, as I said, he’s not merely recounting these facts—he’s going to use them as reasons for Israel to dosomething. So, “Because Yahweh has done and will do all of these things,” v. 39 (read). As some of you may notice, Moses restates basically the same command as v. 35 (read), but he dresses v. 39 up even more. He adds three things: firstly, Moses wants Israel to know that Yahweh is God today. This is urgent. The correct knowledge of God is an every-moment-urgent-matter to Israel. Why? Because sin never takes a break. How will they continually believe Yahweh and so continually trust in his promises and so continually act obediently? When they start knowing today that Yahweh is God. If they wait until tomorrow, then today is open for unbelief, distrust, and rebellion. Church, this directly applies to us as well. Can I call us all to know today that our God is the only God? If you’re here and you’re not willing to acknowledge today that Yahweh is God alone, then you are greatly opening yourself up to idolatry—to the unfulfilling worship of the created, rather than the fulfilling worship of the Creator. Know today that Yahweh is God. The second thing Moses adds to his command in v. 39 is the phrase, “and lay it to your heart,” or, as another translation writes, “keep in mind.” The Hebrew word for heart, as one theologian writes, “relates to all that is internal—one’s desires, emotions, attitudes, perceptions, and thoughts.” So, by adding this phrase, Moses is making it very clear that he wants them to fully know, with all that is within them, that Yahweh is God. This is not just a head thing, nor is it just a “heart” thing, but a full-blown, “everything-that-makes-up-one’s-inner-person” kind of knowledge. So, this obviously implies actions for Israel to do. For example, if I just expect to fully know Brittney my wife by merely seeing her in the mornings and evenings, and once in a while engaging in a little chit-chat over a meal, then I am sorely mistaken. I need to engage her regularly, I need to take what she says to heart, I need to think about her and her words to me, I need to laugh with her, cry with her, think with her, and on and on. Same goes for Israel, and us, with Yahweh. “Know that Yahweh is God,” Moses says, “and lay it to heart—keep it in mind.” Thirdly, Moses adds a description of the extent of Yahweh’s Kingship—"[Yahweh] is God is in heaven above and on the earth beneath.” Yahweh isn’t only your God where you happen to be located. It’s not like Yahweh is the only God to Israel, and Baal is the only god to the Moabites, and Allah is the only god to the Muslims. No, Yahweh is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other! Do you believe this? Think about where we live and how our culture thinks: our streets are teeming with hundreds of worldviews and hundreds of “gods”—whether they’re called “gods” or not. Therefore, proclaiming the reality of only one God—the biblical God—as the supreme and only King over all, to the exclusion of all other gods, is seen as foolish at best, and intolerant and arrogant at worst. And yet, this what orthodox Christians have always believed (read v. 39b, “…the LORD is God…”). And Moses wants Israel to know and lay to heart this fact, based on Yahweh’s love for them, his choosing of them, and his actions towards them. Again, Yahweh’s revelation to Israel was for Israel’s recognition of Yahweh—that he is the one and only God.
Finally, we get to v. 40. Whereas vv. 35 and 39 are more commands of knowledge (know that Yahweh is God), v. 40 commands action (read). So, if it’s true that Yahweh has revealed and will continue to reveal his gracious and powerful acts towards Israel, which, therefore, leads to their knowledge of his oneness and incomparability to other “gods,” then Israel is commanded, therefore, to obey him in their lives. But, Moses doesn’t put a period after that. He then states another reason for their obedience to God’s covenant commandments, and that is, so that it may go well with them and their children and that they would live long in the land. Blessing! Moses is saying, “If you obey, you will be blessed!” These commandments, based on their covenant relationship with Yahweh, who’s always proving himself to be gracious and powerful towards them, are for their good. Eventually we’ll come to Deuteronomy 6:24, which says (read).
So, this is the way Moses ended his first sermon to the 2nd generation of Israelites: by teaching that Yahweh graciously and powerfully revealed himself to Israel (in things like the Exodus and Horeb) so that they might know that he is God alone, which means they must obey him alone. And as we just read, their obedience towards him is for their good.
Now, I mentioned last week that we, as the church, don’t meet God in that terrifying way that Israel met with him at Horeb. We meet with him at Zion—at Jerusalem—where a greater revelation of God towards his people was given. And as we consider Jesus Christ in light of our passage today, we are only moved to reflect on this greater revelation even more.
So, God graciously and powerfully revealed himself to Israel in some incredible ways in the First Testament—ways that would’ve made your very bones shake with an awesome fear. Imagine being there in Egypt, enslaved to bitter and hard service, only to then experience Yahweh, through this man named Moses, bring about plague after plague upon the Egyptians that powerfully proved the greatness of Yahweh, and eventually caused Pharaoh to let you leave to a good and fertile land where you’d be free! That is powerful deliverance! Or, imagine being at Horeb with Israel, standing at the foot of Mt. Sinai while it burned with fire that reached the skies—wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom—to then hear audibly the very voice of God telling you how to be committed in a loving covenant relationship with him that would result in your good. That’s grace! Moses honed in on these two powerful and gracious events of God’s revelation to Israel as the finale of his sermon—using these revelations to encourage them to know that Yahweh alone is God over all, and therefore that they obey him alone.
Now, church, we do not look at the Exodus or Horeb as the primary events of God’s revelation in order to knowthat our God is God of all. Rather, we look to a greater revelation—the revelation of all revelations—and that is, the revelation of the power and grace of God given to us at the focal point of the gospel: the cross. The cross is the event in history when God, who had humbled himself down to a human—Jesus Christ—laid his own life down as an offering for the sins of the world. To do this, he literally had to bear our sins in his body on the cross, as the Apostle Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2:24. Why is this so important? Because God has told us in his Word that all people, no matter who they are, are under sin—that inherent power within us for evil; and that the wages or judgment of sin is death; and that this death is not just a physical death, but an everlasting punishment of God’s wrath; and that without the shedding of blood in a sacrifice, there is no forgiveness of sins. This is the dismal reality that the whole world faces. But, the cross of Christ tells us that he, Jesus, was the perfect sacrifice who shed his blood for our sins, receiving upon himself the wrath of his Father in judgment and death for the sins of the whole world. In other words, Jesus bailed you out of your eternal prison sentence, but not with a sum of money—with his own life. And when he bailed you out, he didn’t just swap places with you, he received upon himself your sin, and gave you his perfection—his righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake God made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Jesus we might become the righteousness of God.” But upon receiving that death, Jesus rose again in victory—reigning as King of kings and Lord of lords. Church, the gospel is the good news that God, through Jesus, has made a way for you, a sinner, to be saved from your eternal punishment for sin so that you can live forever with God! And you do not pay for this—it’s freely offered as a gift, a gracious gift that holds the power to save you from death and eternal punishment.
Friends, the revelation of God at the cross of Christ proves his incomparable power and grace towards us. Unlike the Exodus, the deliverance God gave us at the cross is spiritual and eternal. And unlike Horeb, the covenant God secured at the cross is new—that is, rather than merely giving us principles to teach us how to show our love to God and others, the cross brought about the ability to give us new hearts altogether!—hearts that can actually love God!
So, whereas in our passage today Yahweh graciously and powerfully revealed himself to Israel (in events like the Exodus and Horeb) so that they might know that he is God alone, which means they must obey him alone, we can confidently rephrase it to say that God has graciously and powerfully given us the gospel so that we might know that Jesus is God alone, which means we must obey him alone.
Look around you—search all time and all space—and try and find a god who reveals such power and grace as God did, in Jesus, at the cross. Try and find a god who dies for your forever salvation. You won’t find anything like it. But God has authored this good news for you—revealed it toyou—so that you might know that Jesus is God alone. And if he’s God alone, then wouldn’t you want to follow him? Wouldn’t you want to give everything for him? Wouldn’t you want to gladly lay down your own life for his sake? Friends, we’ve been given the greatest revelation of the power and grace of God the world has ever known—proving that our God, Jesus Christ, is exclusively God alone. And so, we follow him—knowing that in laying down our lives for him, he raises us up.