Deuteronomy 4:19
And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
Moses warns not to lift the eyes to the sun, moon, stars and all the host of heaven and be driven to worship and serve them. Those lights are created things allotted by God to all nations under heaven, bearing witness to their Creator and remaining under His control rather than ruling nature or bestowing its blessings themselves. The warning rests on what Israel learned at Horeb where no form of God was seen so no image was to be made, and on their deliverance from Egypt to belong to Him alone in worship separate from the sun-worshiping and idolatrous nations around them. The whole fourth chapter of Deuteronomy is to be diligently studied by God's covenant-keeping people in the last days, for its specifications are enduring principles of His law to be cherished, preached, and lived out in justice, mercy, and brotherly love so His character is rightly represented. That ancient charge still calls for wholehearted return to faithfulness and submission to God's Word, refusing to make human beings or anything on earth an object of devotion, with God's image to be formed instead in mind, words, and character.
Meaning In Its Setting
The verse is a warning not to lift the eyes toward heaven and, upon seeing the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, be driven to worship them and serve them. However grand and wonderful those bodies appear, they are not to receive the confidence and service of heart and life that belong to the Lord alone. The warning stands against turning from God to the worship and service of the heavenly bodies or any other created thing.
The sun, moon, and stars are created beings, divided by the Lord to all nations under the whole heaven, not gods to be worshiped. They testify to their Creator and must not be given His worship, for they remain under God's control rather than ruling nature or granting its blessings. His people are instead to respect His law and keep His commandments.
The charge rests on what occurred at Horeb, where Israel heard God speak but saw no visible form of Him, so no image of Him was to be made and the people were not to be drawn into idolatry. Israel had been brought out of Egypt to belong to God as His own people, to worship Him alone and remain separate from the surrounding nations. That call to resist future temptation belongs to Moses' warning to Israel.
The verse belongs to Moses' instruction to Israel in connection with the law given at Sinai, with the Lord's promises for keeping His commandments. It is part of a clear warning against the idolatrous worship practiced among the neighboring nations. That idolatry was seen in Egypt, which worshiped the sun, moon, and stars together with beasts and images made by human hands. Egypt was then prosperous, wealthy, and powerful over Israel, while the worshipers of the God of heaven were treated as slaves and oppressed at will, with their male children hunted and slain and their own lives made a burden. The contrast tempted some Hebrews to doubt that the Lord was above all gods, thinking He would not leave His own people as slaves to an idolatrous nation if He were greater. Such astral emblems, as on the heathen company's black banner, mark an idolatry opposed to purity and holiness, from which those who keep the white banner raised remain separate even under persecution.
Study And Present Duty
The whole fourth chapter of Deuteronomy is to be studied carefully and diligently by those who would be counted as God's covenant-keeping people and who have heard truth for the last days. It is to be studied for the sacredness of God's law and the keeping of His statutes and commandments, and its instruction is to be shared so that truth may triumph and deception be resisted. The word spoken to Israel there was verified when, through disobedience, only two of the adults who left Egypt entered Canaan while the rest died in the wilderness, and that word will still be vindicated today if leaders depart from God's commandments.
The chapter belongs to the law proclaimed at Sinai to be observed by those who identify with God's people, calling for faithfulness in keeping God's true Sabbath amid efforts to enforce Sunday observance. Its specifications are principles of God's law and expressions of the infinite mind that never lose their force, and every word is to be cherished and preached. They are to be acted out in principle in all religious service toward God and toward one another, in doing no injustice, in loving as brethren, and in always showing liberality, tenderness, compassion, courtesy, and brotherly love, so that God's character is rightly represented and not misrepresented by departure from His word in action.
Obeying its instruction means walking in the light given and joining faith with works in practical service for God, such as medical missionary work, rather than carelessly neglecting the light. The charge given to ancient Israel applies to God's people today to return to the true platform of faithfulness, resist future temptation and unsanctified desire and deception, remain separate from surrounding nations, and serve the Lord wholly according to His Word in submission to His will and way. The heavenly bodies are created things that testify to God and are not God, and they are not to be worshiped or served, nor is any other created thing.
The warning against worshiping and serving created things extends to making human beings or anything on earth an object of devotion. Multiplying photographs and admitting picture-taking and magazines into the home can become a species of idolatry that diverts the mind from God. Money spent on nonessential pictures should instead support missionary work, and instead of producing images of people, God's image is to be formed in mind, words, and character.