The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
The Lord made His covenant with Israel, His people, at Horeb. That covenant is the Ten Commandments, requiring exclusive loyalty to God, no idolatry or misuse of His name, keeping the seventh-day Sabbath holy, honoring parents, and refusing to kill, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, or covet. It was made not with their fathers alone but with them, even all alive that day, as Moses called the new generation together on the borders of Canaan to hear, learn, keep, and do the statutes and judgments. By it Israel pledged to govern words and actions by God's law and was set apart as His holy people. That covenant still requires perfect obedience and sanctification of mind, soul, and body from every person today, and it is to be studied and practiced now because the time of final investigation and judgment is near.
Covenant Setting and Content
The Lord made His covenant with His people Israel in Horeb, and that place identifies where the covenant bond of their identity was formed. The covenant at Horeb was God's covenant with Israel, to whom He spoke His precepts from the midst of the fiery cloud on the mountain, from the fire on the mountain. It stands as the basis for why they are distinguished as His people and calls attention to the reasons they are His people.
Moses called all Israel together to hear the statutes and judgments, to learn them and keep and do them, recalling that Horeb covenant to those gathered before him. He repeated it to Israel at the Jordan when the time to possess Canaan had come, with Israel about to cross over and take the promised land. The covenant was made not with their fathers alone but with them, even all alive that day, emphasizing that it was made with those then alive. It belonged to a new generation preparing to enter Canaan, many of whom had been children at Horeb or had been born in the wilderness and did not remember its giving. They included those too young to remember the event and those born in the wilderness, many of whom had been children or were born in the wilderness and did not remember the law being given at Horeb.
The Lord talked with them face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire, speaking from the fiery cloud on the mountain. Few of the present generation had been old enough to grasp the solemnity when it was first given. God therefore directed Moses to rehearse the deliverance from Egypt and the wilderness journey and to recapitulate the law spoken from Sinai, setting the claims of His law before them again.
The Horeb covenant is the Ten Commandments. It requires exclusive loyalty to the God who brought them out of Egypt, prohibition of images and idolatry, prohibition of taking God's name in vain, keeping the seventh-day Sabbath, honoring father and mother for long life and well-being in the land given them, and prohibitions of killing, adultery, stealing, false witness, and coveting anything belonging to a neighbor. Moses repeated the Ten Commandments and the circumstances of their giving, with the other laws and judgments given to him, so the new generation would understand the need to obey them. He recapitulated the commandments and the laws and judgments God had given, reviewing them to teach the need to obey the commandments and the other laws given to Moses.
The Sabbath command required the seventh day to be kept holy, with rest extending to household, servants, cattle, and the stranger within, and to servants, animals, and resident strangers. It was to be kept in remembrance of slavery in Egypt and God's mighty deliverance, and Israel was to remember its slavery in Egypt and God's mighty deliverance as a reason for keeping it. This reaffirms that God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh, blessing and sanctifying that particular day. The six days are literal twenty-four-hour days, not indefinite periods. The Sabbath is the sign of obedience and of God as Creator and Sanctifier.
Covenant Meaning for Today
The covenant at Horeb pledged Israel to govern words and actions by God's law, and by that covenant they were set apart as His holy people. The covenant is the basis for the people's identity and explains why they are distinguished as God's people. After Israel failed to keep the agreement, God in mercy gave them another opportunity and Moses repeated the decalogue to them. Its requirements and cautions remain to be studied and put into practice in principle, including the command to honor the Sabbath.
The instruction in Deuteronomy 4-8 sets out what God required of ancient Israel in order to be a holy people unto Himself. The instruction of Deuteronomy 5 teaches that God required His people to be sanctified in mind, soul, and body. That covenant still requires obedience to the Ten Commandments. Keeping them is the condition for expecting God to cooperate with and bless His people, and obedience was set before Israel at the Jordan as the condition of prosperity in taking the promised land, while disobedience forfeits His blessing. Failure to keep them comes from unbelief and lack of reverence for God, and many who profess to serve God refuse to obey the precepts of His law. No excuse is accepted for disobeying His commandments, since He requires the same sanctification and perfect obedience to His will from every person today.
That covenant instruction is to be studied now because the world is nearing the day of God's great final review when all must stand before the Judge of all the earth to answer for deeds, for the present is the time of investigation when every character will have been investigated and every case decided for eternity. The chapter holds important things specified in God's Word that are not to be neglected, giving a charge to be read carefully and regarded. It calls for full surrender and continuing simplicity of obedience to all the Lord's commandments according to His special directions, with special interest in doing them. Every soul is required to search the Scriptures for himself, to make the Word the study book, and to be sanctified daily according to the Word so the Lord is glorified and rebellion is avoided.
Its surrounding chapters contain instruction for those carrying responsibilities in sanitarium work, and the Lord's directions are to be carefully observed, from the greatest to what may seem least. The book's teaching, especially in chapters 4 and 5, is sacred history and instruction in the Scriptures for children. The following chapter presents the commandments as instructions to keep and teach faithfully across generations. Parents are therefore directed to read Deuteronomy 5-7 as instruction for faithfully teaching God's commands to their children.
The Lord made His covenant with Israel, His people, at Horeb. That covenant is the Ten Commandments, requiring exclusive loyalty to God, no idolatry or misuse of His name, keeping the seventh-day Sabbath holy, honoring parents, and refusing to kill, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, or covet. It was made not with their fathers alone but with them, even all alive that day, as Moses called the new generation together on the borders of Canaan to hear, learn, keep, and do the statutes and judgments. By it Israel pledged to govern words and actions by God's law and was set apart as His holy people. That covenant still requires perfect obedience and sanctification of mind, soul, and body from every person today, and it is to be studied and practiced now because the time of final investigation and judgment is near.
Covenant Setting and Content
The Lord made His covenant with His people Israel in Horeb, and that place identifies where the covenant bond of their identity was formed. The covenant at Horeb was God's covenant with Israel, to whom He spoke His precepts from the midst of the fiery cloud on the mountain, from the fire on the mountain. It stands as the basis for why they are distinguished as His people and calls attention to the reasons they are His people.
Moses called all Israel together to hear the statutes and judgments, to learn them and keep and do them, recalling that Horeb covenant to those gathered before him. He repeated it to Israel at the Jordan when the time to possess Canaan had come, with Israel about to cross over and take the promised land. The covenant was made not with their fathers alone but with them, even all alive that day, emphasizing that it was made with those then alive. It belonged to a new generation preparing to enter Canaan, many of whom had been children at Horeb or had been born in the wilderness and did not remember its giving. They included those too young to remember the event and those born in the wilderness, many of whom had been children or were born in the wilderness and did not remember the law being given at Horeb.
The Lord talked with them face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire, speaking from the fiery cloud on the mountain. Few of the present generation had been old enough to grasp the solemnity when it was first given. God therefore directed Moses to rehearse the deliverance from Egypt and the wilderness journey and to recapitulate the law spoken from Sinai, setting the claims of His law before them again.
The Horeb covenant is the Ten Commandments. It requires exclusive loyalty to the God who brought them out of Egypt, prohibition of images and idolatry, prohibition of taking God's name in vain, keeping the seventh-day Sabbath, honoring father and mother for long life and well-being in the land given them, and prohibitions of killing, adultery, stealing, false witness, and coveting anything belonging to a neighbor. Moses repeated the Ten Commandments and the circumstances of their giving, with the other laws and judgments given to him, so the new generation would understand the need to obey them. He recapitulated the commandments and the laws and judgments God had given, reviewing them to teach the need to obey the commandments and the other laws given to Moses.
The Sabbath command required the seventh day to be kept holy, with rest extending to household, servants, cattle, and the stranger within, and to servants, animals, and resident strangers. It was to be kept in remembrance of slavery in Egypt and God's mighty deliverance, and Israel was to remember its slavery in Egypt and God's mighty deliverance as a reason for keeping it. This reaffirms that God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh, blessing and sanctifying that particular day. The six days are literal twenty-four-hour days, not indefinite periods. The Sabbath is the sign of obedience and of God as Creator and Sanctifier.
Covenant Meaning for Today
The covenant at Horeb pledged Israel to govern words and actions by God's law, and by that covenant they were set apart as His holy people. The covenant is the basis for the people's identity and explains why they are distinguished as God's people. After Israel failed to keep the agreement, God in mercy gave them another opportunity and Moses repeated the decalogue to them. Its requirements and cautions remain to be studied and put into practice in principle, including the command to honor the Sabbath.
The instruction in Deuteronomy 4-8 sets out what God required of ancient Israel in order to be a holy people unto Himself. The instruction of Deuteronomy 5 teaches that God required His people to be sanctified in mind, soul, and body. That covenant still requires obedience to the Ten Commandments. Keeping them is the condition for expecting God to cooperate with and bless His people, and obedience was set before Israel at the Jordan as the condition of prosperity in taking the promised land, while disobedience forfeits His blessing. Failure to keep them comes from unbelief and lack of reverence for God, and many who profess to serve God refuse to obey the precepts of His law. No excuse is accepted for disobeying His commandments, since He requires the same sanctification and perfect obedience to His will from every person today.
That covenant instruction is to be studied now because the world is nearing the day of God's great final review when all must stand before the Judge of all the earth to answer for deeds, for the present is the time of investigation when every character will have been investigated and every case decided for eternity. The chapter holds important things specified in God's Word that are not to be neglected, giving a charge to be read carefully and regarded. It calls for full surrender and continuing simplicity of obedience to all the Lord's commandments according to His special directions, with special interest in doing them. Every soul is required to search the Scriptures for himself, to make the Word the study book, and to be sanctified daily according to the Word so the Lord is glorified and rebellion is avoided.
Its surrounding chapters contain instruction for those carrying responsibilities in sanitarium work, and the Lord's directions are to be carefully observed, from the greatest to what may seem least. The book's teaching, especially in chapters 4 and 5, is sacred history and instruction in the Scriptures for children. The following chapter presents the commandments as instructions to keep and teach faithfully across generations. Parents are therefore directed to read Deuteronomy 5-7 as instruction for faithfully teaching God's commands to their children.