Deuteronomy 4:1

THE PEOPLE EXHORTED TO FAITHFULLY OBSERVE THE LAW, Deuteronomy 4:1-40. After the preceding historical review Moses passes to a forcible exhortation to keep the law of Jehovah. He commences by urging the people to keep the requirements of Jehovah without adding to them or taking from them. He warns them of the perils of disobedience by recalling to their minds the fate of those who joined in the idolatrous and licentious rites of Baal-peor. He reminds them that they who kept Jehovah’s commandments are alive. He tells them that their greatness as a nation and their position in the estimation of other nations would depend upon their observance of these statutes and requirements. He warns them not to forget what they have seen in their past experience. By the sublime scenes of Horeb, when Jehovah spake unto them out of the midst of the fire, they are warned against idolatry. The discourse passes to a threatening of their dispersion among the nations as the punishment for their turning away from God, but with a promise of their restoration if they shall again seek Jehovah. Again, Moses appeals to the wonders of their past history. He tells them God loved their fathers. He brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand. He is to drive out great and mighty nations so as to give them an inheritance. This first discourse closes with promises of prosperity if they will keep the commandments and statutes of Jehovah.

1. The statutes and… judgments That is, the whole law. Compare the same expression in Leviticus 19:37, and in this book, Deuteronomy 26:16.