introductory words of Chapter 4:1 where Moses urgently and passionately proclaims:
“And now, Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.” This urgent plea encapsulates the entire thesis of the sermon.
Jack Lundbom states, “This discourse in 4:1-40 is a hard-hitting and highly emotive sermon mandating single-minded worship of Yahweh and a rejection of idolatry.”67 The wording “And now” (ה ָ֣תַּע) demonstrates a dramatic shift in the sermon. Moses has moved from the inductive model of using an extended opening illustration of their history, which has been steadily and dramatically building to the climax. He pivots from the past
(chapters 1-3) and emphatically calls the entire assembly to listen and obey in the here and now (chapter 4). Eugene Merrill attests, “The connection between 4:1-40 and what
66Old, The Biblical Period, 37.
67Jack R. Lundbom, Deuteronomy: A Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2013), 231.
precedes it is clear from the introductory formula ‘and now’ (ה ָ֣תַּע), a use of the logical particle or adverb that builds the argument of the present passage on what has gone before.”68 Moses has switched from recounting the past to now pointedly addressing them personally as their leader. Wright says, “The whole chapter, therefore, as an extended sermonic amplification of the opening chords of the Decalogue, powerfully presents the very pillars of Israel’s nationhood in covenant with their God.”69
Moses also emphatically exhorts them to listen and obey the statues and rules that he is teaching them. Deuteronomy is the second giving of the Law, so Moses actually explains and applies the already written Word delivered from Sinai. This is not a new word from God, but an exposition and application of the written Word given a second time to a new generation on the brink of fulfilling their mission in the Promised Land.
Moses urges intentional listening and active obedience. He is not just giving factual information about their past as historical trivia. He is urging them to obedience as a matter of life and death as well as success in fulfilling their mission.
In the course of this first expository sermon (especially in chapter 4), Moses used this three-fold model that was introduced in Deuteronomy 1:5. First, he urges obedience to the whole counsel of God’s Word, evidenced in verse 2, which states, “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.” Wright comments,
The warning against tampering with the law by adding or removing anything
expresses a concern for the integrity of God’s revelation. It was not to be treated like a menu from which one could select what suited one’s taste, nor as a mere
foundation for personal inventiveness. God’s word must be taken whole in its overall meaning and thrust. It is not to be trifled or tampered with.”70
Just like Moses, expository preachers must submit to the authority of the entirety of
68Eugene H. Merrill, Deuteronomy, New American Commentary (Nashville: B & H Publishers, 1994), 114.
69Wright, Deuteronomy, 45.
70Ibid., 46.
God’s Word and preach it as a well-balanced diet for the health of their congregations.
Fernando says of an expository preacher in the same vein as Moses,
The true servant of God bows in submission to the Word, acknowledging his fallibility and approaching the Scriptures like a child hungry to be fed. This is not bibliolatry, as some claim; it is a humble recognition that the Bible is the Word of God. So, out of devotion to its author we carefully study its texts so as to get at its meaning and are careful to obey what it commands.71
Second, Moses reads the text, explains the text, and applies the text as will be evidenced below. Third, he does this with passionate urgency as a matter of life and death. In verse 1, Moses commands them to “listen” (עַ֤מְשׁ). This Hebrew word means more than just taking information into the ears, but instead connotes active listening with a determined intention to obey. In verses 2 and 6, he repeats the word “keep” (רמשׁ) in reference to God’s law. This term carries the idea of guarding carefully. In addition, Moses repeats this same word (רמשׁ) in verses 9, 15 and 23 in reference to the Israelites taking great pains to watch themselves and take care to obey with urgency. In verse 39, he concludes the sermon with a strong plea for them to “lay it to their hearts” (־לֶאָ֮תֹבֵשֲׁה ֒ךֶָבָבְל). Moses wants them to give more than just a casual assent to the facts of his sermon, and desires for them to respond with careful and passionate obedience. Moses’ repetition of these key phrases demonstrates the overall urgent and hortatory tone of this sermon.
McConville writes, “This is one of the most characteristic expressions of deuteronomic preaching, used to express the urgency of the present decision.”72 Old comments,
In fact, this hortatory style dominates the book of Deuteronomy in a remarkable and overpowering way. . . . The imperatives are phrased in so many artful ways like a patchwork quilt or colorful collage of bits and pieces of a great variety of sermons.
This hortatory style flavors Deuteronomy with its own special spice.73
Moses provides four key exhortations in this chapter, which serve as the heart of the
71Fernando, Deuteronomy, 117.
72McConville, Deuteronomy, 108.
73Old, The Biblical Period, 40.
sermon.
Deuteronomy 4:5-8. The first exhortation is found in verses 5-8 and relates to