Deuteronomy 4:10
Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
At Horeb, also called Sinai, God had the people gathered together beneath the mountain to stand before Him and hear His own words spoken from the cloud and fire, hearing His voice but seeing no form.
What they heard was His covenant, the Ten Commandments declared and written on two tables of stone together with righteous statutes and judgments to guide their lives.
The purpose was that they would learn to fear Him with reverence all the days they live on the earth, with careful attention, full surrender and simple obedience rather than mere belief.
That day and what was witnessed there were never to be forgotten but to be kept in the heart and carefully taught to children and grandchildren from generation to generation.
Parents carry this duty in the home by precept and example, and faithful obedience would fulfill the condition of God's promises, display the wisdom and righteousness of His law before other nations, and keep Israel in the promised inheritance.
Horeb Setting and Words
At Horeb Israel stood before God when He commanded the people to be gathered together to hear His words directly, so that they would learn to fear Him with reverence all the days they live upon the earth and would teach their children. The gathering was to hear Him for themselves, that reverent fear learned there would last through life and be passed on in the family.
Horeb is also called Sinai, and the gathering took place at the mountain where the people stood beneath it while it was covered with a cloud and burned with fire. The infinite God spoke through the cloud and from the fire with a voice that made the people tremble every time they heard it, and they heard His voice but saw no form or visible likeness. God gave no visible likeness so the people would not copy it to make an image. He set Israel apart from other nations at that place.
The people came to associate the sacred mountain with His presence and the display of His glory, and the scene made His presence and will known to them. The words heard at Horeb were God's covenant, the Ten Commandments which He declared and wrote on two tablets of stone, together with righteous statutes and judgments that showed how near He was to Israel and were given to guide their lives. That covenant included the Sabbath commandment proclaimed at Sinai, and the instruction was never to be erased or changed.
The day at Horeb and what was witnessed there were not to be forgotten but to be remembered, kept in the heart, and carefully passed down through the generations to children and grandchildren. That remembrance included an explanation of why the law was given at Sinai and what Israel was to do and become in the promised land.
Law, Obedience and Witness
Deuteronomy 4:10 belongs to a chapter that calls God's covenant people to careful attention to His law and to what He required of ancient Israel in order to be holy to Him. Studying those instructions helps people understand God's requirements. The charge in the chapter must be carefully regarded, with full surrender and simple obedience in which none of the important things specified in God's Word are neglected. That careful study includes the law proclaimed at Sinai, including the Sabbath God gave to be kept holy, which marks those who obey as His people.
The directions in the chapter express God's mind and remain binding, teaching enduring principles for religious service and for conduct toward God and toward one another. Those principles are part of His law to be put into practice, including justice, love, compassion, tenderness, liberality, and courtesy. Disregarding them misrepresents His character. The claim that a person once in grace is always in grace while disregarding the law turns souls away from a plain Thus saith the Lord.
Obedience to the law of God is the only condition on which His promises to Israel would be fulfilled. The law given at Sinai, including the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, applies to God's people as surely as it applied to ancient Israel. Its lessons apply in the present as they did to Israel. This instruction at Horeb to hear His words, learn reverence throughout life, and teach children is among the reasons God's people are identified as His people and is to be repeatedly presented.
The record stands as instruction for God's commandment-keeping people today, warning and guiding God's people in every age. Those seeking to enter the heavenly Canaan must heed the lessons of the wilderness experience. Hearing God's words means learning to fear Him all the days of life upon the earth and teaching children, expressed not in merely theoretical belief but in combined faith and works. That is shown in walking in the light shining in strong steady rays across the pathway, setting a right example, receiving the Spirit and favor of God, and educating others to do service for the Lord, including medical missionary service.
Faithful obedience in remembering what was seen and keeping God's commands would display the wisdom and righteousness of God's law to other nations and give Israel an ennobling influence among them. Keeping God's commandments brings well-being and long life, while disobedience brings judgment. Remembering God's words and obeying His law were essential to retaining the promised inheritance, for Israel would perish from the land if they did evil. Israel's wilderness history confirms that God's word is fulfilled, in that only two adults who left Egypt entered Canaan.
Teaching Children at Home
The charge at Horeb lays on parents the duty to teach God's requirements, the Scriptures, and the way of the Lord to sons and daughters through sacred, repeated instruction. That teaching is to bring the commandments prominently before the people so they can teach heaven's requirements, explaining why the law was given at Sinai and what Israel was to do and become in the promised land. It supports giving children instruction in Scripture from childhood to respect the law, to fear God, and to keep His commandments.
Parents must first obey God themselves and take time to pray and train their children by precept and example, without harsh or discouraging speech. They are to watch over them and guide them with patience, kindness, and watchfulness, encouraging their hearts with God's words. Genuine humility and reality in the Christian life make the impression on others, and God Himself makes the impression on children's hearts so that they follow the heavenly Father in obedience. Such faithful teaching brings grace and blessing both to parents and to youth.
True education is parents teaching their children to fear God all the days they live upon the earth and to teach their own children in turn, passing the charge from father to son for generations. It includes strict training in observance of the very day observed today. Each person must take heed to himself, beginning with himself, and must not neglect the duty by giving all attention to business, for such teaching serves the highest interest of the soul. Those who honor God by remembering His instruction, keeping His commandments, and teaching them to children are called holy and sanctified.
The beginning of work for the church is in the home, where every house is to be as a church even if only father, mother, and children are present. There children are to be brought up in nurture and admonition to keep the way of the Lord and to walk humbly before Him. Children are God's redeemed property, to be taught His lessons so they may be His missionaries in the church and in the world. The same duty of careful, sincere work extends to youth in institutions and to work in the home and in assemblies, with the aim to honor God and communicate the truth clearly.
Parents are accountable for this training, for disobedience of children follows disobedience of parents. Letting children grow up in ignorance and disobedience of the words God spoke leaves parents to answer, and those who disregard the Word will be cut off to be punished. Childhood training in obedience to respect the law of God, to fear God and keep His commandments, would keep people from becoming robbers and filling up wickedness. Cleansing from iniquity and healing of backsliding and forgetfulness are needed to fulfill the charge. The Israelite camp makes this a lesson for parents at camp meetings to teach children consistently to honor the sacred gathering, keep it orderly, and take part in useful work, and the responsibility to give these lessons and to follow on to know the Lord remains just as binding now as at Horeb until Christ comes in the clouds of heaven.