No Other God

Not then, not now, not ever. Deuteronomy 4.32-40

Hearing God’s Word: Deuteronomy 3, 4  (5)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 136.1-4
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
Oh, give thanks to the God of gods!
For His mercy endures forever.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!
For His mercy endures forever:
To Him who alone does great wonders,
For His mercy endures forever…

Psalm 136.1-4
(Plainfield: Nothing but the Blood of Jesus)
Thank the God of gods and kings –
for His love endures forever!
Let us our thanksgiving bring –
for His love endures forever!
Wonders from Him abound; none other can be found
for whom our praise will sound –
For His love endures forever!

Preparation
1. What had God done for His people?

2. Why did God do this?

Meditation
You can hear the pleading in Moses’ voice.

An entire generation of Israelites perished in the wilderness because they lost sight of God, of His greatness, and of His mercy, kindness, and love toward them. Moses exhorts this new generation to consider how utterly unique has been their experience of the one true God. No other nation has a god like this God (vv. 32-34). God spoke to His people in an audible voice (v. 33). He wrested them from the chains of slavery in Egypt (v. 34). He made Himself known to His people as God, the only God, the one true God (v. 35). He spoke to them and instructed them; He revealed His glory to them by fire and voice (v. 36).

All this God did out of love for His people (v. 37). Israel was His chosen people. God brought them out of Egypt with His own Presence and power (v. 37), and He defeated mighty kings before them, nations much stronger and more powerful than His people (v. 38). Nothing like this had ever happened before. Moses thus outlined the great goodness of God to His chosen and beloved people, and urged them to consider and remember all these things.

He called them never to lose sight of this (vv. 39-42). He urged them not only to remember these things but to consider them in their hearts, that both their thoughts and affections might be bound up in these words. God alone is Lord “in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other” (v. 39). Israel’s duty before this God was to keep His commandments and statutes, for by doing so, they would know His goodness and blessing all the days of their lives and of their children’s lives (vv. 40-42).

And right there is the tragedy, because this people – so blessed and cared for, on the very brink of obtaining the promises of God – would prove God’s judgment of them, that they had no heart for Him (Deut. 5.29).

And what about us?

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
We can hear Jesus lamenting the same thing about us! “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! Your house is left to you desolate…” (Matt. 23.37, 38). But God in His mercy said, “To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD Himself is God…” (Deut. 4.35). And then Jesus says to us, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the one true God, and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent” (Jn. 17.3). Truly, His mercy endures forever!

Reflection
1. Why was Moses so emphatic about the uniqueness of God?

2. Why must we love God with both our mind and our heart?

3. How does Moses’ message in these verses apply to us today?

He again inculcates what we have lately spoken of, that the glory of the one true God was proved by the miracles, but he does so by way of exhortation. For he desires them carefully and attentively to consider what God had shewn them, because in so plain a matter there would be no excuse for error or ignorance. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Deuteronomy 4.39

Closing Prayer: Psalm 136.10-22
Praise God for His great work of salvation, in sending Jesus to deliver us from captivity to sin. Praise Him for defeating our enemy, for giving us great and precious promises, and for His Spirit to teach and transform us day by day.

Psalm 136.10-22
(Plainfield: Nothing but the Blood of Jesus)
Our redemption He has wrought –
for His love endures forever –
by our Jesus’ suff’ring bought –
for His love endures forever!
Down went our spirits’ foes, crushed by the Savior’s blows.
See! He before us goes –
for His love endures forever!

When we languished in our sin –
for His love endures forever!
He redeemed and took us in –
for His love endures forever!
Rise we above our foe; blessings we daily know;
grace He will e’er bestow:
for His love endures forever!

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All quotations from Church Fathers from Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy: Ancient Christian Commentary Series III, Joseph T. Lienhard, S. J. ed. in collaboration with Ronnie J. Rombs, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2001). All quotations from John Calvin from John Calvin, Commentaries on The Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Order of A Harmony, Rev. Charles William Bingham M. A., tr. and ed. (Edinburgh: The Calvin Translation Society, 1863. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).