Deuteronomy 4:15-24 – Worshipping and Serving God alone

The second commandment God gave to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai recorded in Exodus 20:4-6 reads, “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

Here in Deuteronomy 4:15-24, Moses reiterated and expressed in detail what that commandment meant. They must not make the invisible God into the form of any earthly image. Emphasizing that at the foot of  Mount Sinai, one thing they had experienced was they heard the voice of God, but they did not see Him appearing in any form. Here is Moses’ point. Therefore do not act corruptly by making the formless God into all kinds of images, be they land, air, ground, or sea creatures. Nothing in creation can ever properly represent God. So no one should try and make Him into the likeness of any of His creations.  

Furthermore, Moses also warned them about worshipping the sun, moon, and stars. He told them that whenever they lifted their eyes and looked at these elements in the sky, they must not equate them to God and bow down and worship any of them. These heavenly bodies were made for the purpose of providing light, for marking day and night, and to divide time and seasons of the year. They must not be worshipped.

Why God so unambiguously defined all these is clear.  He was, is, and will always be the only one worthy of our worship. Nothing in His creation must be made to take His place. This was particularly so for the people of Israel. For He had delivered them from Egypt and marked them out as a people for His own possession. They were His covenant people. Being God’s covenant people meant that their loyalty and allegiance must be with Him. None of them should emulate the people of the land they were entering and behave like them and worship gods of all kinds. Knowing that he would not be with them in the promised land, Moses assertively warned them not to deflect from worshipping and serving God. They must never follow the idolatrous people of Canaan. For God, the consuming fire would call them into account and discipline their waywardness.

The crux of this passage is this: the true God is not one we want to trifle with. He is watching over His word to perform it. We must give Him our total allegiance, and never pander to a wayward life. The price to pay for one’s waywardness is too costly, so don’t toy with God’s love nor try His patience. We can ill afford it. Instead, let us offer our lives to Him in sweet abandonment and total surrender.