Deuteronomy 4:47, commentary and pictures

The verse records that Israel took possession of the land of Sihon and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites on the east side of the Jordan toward the sunrise. It belongs to the fourth chapter of Deuteronomy, which is to be studied for its lessons. It is part of the fourth to the eighth chapters of Deuteronomy, which show what God required of His ancient people that they might be a holy people to Himself, and those chapters are to be studied and read with profit now 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. We are now in the time of investigation, when before that day every character will have been investigated and every case decided for eternity.

The chapter calls for special heed to knowing in the heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath and there is none else. It commands keeping His statutes and His commandments so that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee and days may be prolonged upon the earth the Lord gives forever, teaching that obedience brings good and long life while disobedience brings judgment, a lesson given as truly now as it was to Israel. Joined to this is the great importance of the eighth and eleventh chapters of Deuteronomy and the setting before men of blessing if they obey the commandments of the Lord and curse if they disobey and go after other gods.

The chapter shows God's spoken word verified, with Israel's wilderness experience given as a warning of judgment for disobedience. The verification is seen in that the people disobeyed and only two of the adults who left Egypt entered Canaan while the rest died in the wilderness. The Lord will today vindicate His word if the leaders of His people depart from His commandments. God will vindicate His word when His people depart from His commands.