Deuteronomy 4:27, commentary and pictures

The verse warns that if Israel broke the covenant by making idols and doing evil, God would remove them from the land and scatter them among the nations where they would be left few in number. In that exile they would perish from the land, be led into captivity, and serve lifeless and powerless idols. Yet even in tribulation in the latter days, if they returned and sought Him with all the heart in obedience, they would find Him, for He is merciful and will not forsake them nor forget His covenant with their fathers. The warning was verified when all but two adults who left Egypt died in the wilderness, and was fulfilled in the judges and more fully when Israel went to Assyria and Judah to Babylon with Jerusalem destroyed by fire, leaving only a small remnant who repented, renewed the covenant and returned to restore what disobedience had destroyed. The whole chapter speaks to the latter days and is to be studied and heeded now by those who have heard present truth, calling God's people back to keep His commandments on the true platform, for the scattering was permitted because they had failed to be His missionaries and built walls of division, so that the knowledge of His truth might be carried to the world.

Warning and Mercy

The warning is conditional upon covenant-breaking: if Israel corrupted itself by making idols and doing evil in God's sight, He would remove the people from the land and scatter them among other nations. Departure from His statutes and idol worship would provoke divine anger and bring exile, leaving them few in number among the heathen whither He led them. The scattering would be the Lord's own act, carrying them into other nations where He directed.

In that exile they would perish from off the land given them and be led into captivity. There they would be left to serve gods that are lifeless and powerless, unable to see or hear or help. That servitude to idols was itself part of the judgment upon turning from God to idolatry.

Yet the same context holds out mercy in tribulation, even in the latter days. If in exile they sought God with all their heart and returned to obedience, they would find Him. For He is merciful, and He would not forsake the penitent nor forget His covenant with their fathers.

The setting of this warning is God's giving of His law with promised blessing. The chapter calls Israel to keep His statutes and commandments, that it may go well with them and their days may be prolonged. That instruction set forth what God required in order that they might be a holy people unto Himself.

Fulfillment and Present Application

The certainty of the warning was proved already in the wilderness, when the people disobeyed and only two of the adults who came out of Egypt entered Canaan while the rest died there. That outcome vindicated the word that disobedience would bring scattering among the nations and leaving few in number. The scattering foretold was partly fulfilled in the time of the judges, and more fully in the captivity of Israel in Assyria and of Judah in Babylon. In that judgment Jerusalem was destroyed by fire, and the people were overcome by their enemies and carried into heathen lands.

The prophecy was literally fulfilled when Israel was scattered among heathen nations and only a small remnant was left. That remnant repented, renewed its covenant with God, and returned to restore what their fathers' disobedience had destroyed. If they were loyal and true and submissive, God would bring them again into their own land. The Lord permitted that scattering because they had failed to be His missionaries and had built walls of division between themselves and the people around them. By scattering them among the nations He caused the knowledge of His truth to be carried to the world.

The passage spanning the verse, Deuteronomy 4:27-30, speaks to the latter days. The whole fourth chapter is therefore to be studied, with its call to keep God's statutes and commandments so that it may go well and days may be prolonged. That instruction sets forth what God required that His people might be a holy people unto Himself, and it is to be studied with profit now. Those who have heard present truth are urged to heed its warnings, for truth is not to be taken up at will and set aside at will.

Its message calls God's people back to the true platform, warns them not to be misled by deceptions, upholds the sacredness of God's law, and assures that truth will triumph and win the victory. The same vindication of God's word seen in Israel's history will apply today if the leaders of His people depart from His commandments. This is urgent because the day of God's great final review is near, when the people of this world must stand before the Judge of all the earth to answer for their deeds. The present is the time of investigation, when every character will have been investigated and every case decided for eternity.