Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 4:30
When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, [even] in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
30. all these things ] Implied in 26 f.
in the latter days ] The end or issue of the days; frequently in the prophets of what is beyond the period with which they are engaged.
and hearken unto his voice ] Found also in JE, this phrase much oftener occurs in D; no less than 17 times.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 30. When thou art in tribulation in the latter days] Are not these the times spoken of? And is there not still hope for Israel? Could we see them become zealous for their own law and religious observances – could we see them humble themselves before the God of Jacob – could we see them conduct their public worship with any tolerable decency and decorum – could we see them zealous to avoid every moral evil, inquiring the road to Zion, with their faces thitherward; then might we hope that the redemption of Israel was at hand: but alas! there is not the most distant evidence of any thing of the kind, except in a very few solitary instances. They are, perhaps, in the present day, more lost to every sacred principle of their own institutions than they have ever been since their return from the Babylonish captivity. By whom shall Jacob arise? for in this sense he is small – deeply fallen, and greatly degraded.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In the latter days; either in general, in succeeding ages and generations; or particularly, in the days of the Messias, which are commonly called in Scripture
the latter, or last days, as Isa 2:2; Hos 3:5; Mic 4:1; Dan 2:44; Heb 1:2 9:26. And so this may respect the conversion and redemption of the Jewish nation even in those times when their case seems most desperate, when they have forsaken their God and rejected their Messias for many ages, to wit, towards the end of the world.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
30. in the latter days, if thou turnto the Lord thy Godeither towards the destined close of theircaptivities, when they evinced a returning spirit of repentance andfaith, or in the age of Messiah, which is commonly called “thelatter days,” and when the scattered tribes of Israel shall beconverted to the Gospel of Christ. The occurrence of this auspiciousevent will be the most illustrious proof of the truth of the promisemade in De 4:31.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
When thou art in tribulation,…. In a strange land, in the power of a foreign enemy, and used ill:
and all these things are come upon thee; captivity, thraldom, hard labour, and want of the necessaries of life:
[even] in the latter days: in their present captivity for the rejection of the Messiah:
if thou turn to the Lord thy God; as the Jews will when they are converted and brought to a sense of their sin, and of their need of Christ, and seek to him as their Saviour, as they will do in the latter day, Ho 3:5
and shall be obedient unto his voice; not of the law only, but of the Gospel also, proclaiming peace, pardon, righteousness, and salvation by him whom they have pierced.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
30. When thou art in tribulation. He here shews the advantage of punishments, on the ground of their usefulness and profit; for what the Apostle says is confirmed by experience, that
“
no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby.” (Heb 12:11.)
Lest, therefore, they should be provoked to wrath by God’s stripes, he reminds them of their usefulness to them, because they would never turn to God unless aided by this remedy. He tells them that, after they shall have been afflicted by the curses of God, if they sought after Him, they should find Him: and further, he gives them grounds for hope both in God’s nature and in His covenant. He assures them that God will be willing to be appeased, because He is by nature merciful; but he adds another confirmation of this, which is more certain and familiar, viz., because God had adopted them by a perpetual covenant.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Their Return Is Certain Because Of The Graciousness and Uniqueness of Yahweh ( Deu 4:30-40 ).
When they find themselves in tribulation and these things come on them in the latter days, they will return to Yahweh their God and listen to His voice. Here Yahweh’s sovereign purpose for Israel comes out. They were to be God’s means of blessing to the world, therefore until they had been so He would not allow them finally to cease, but would ensure that they returned to Him.
And this is evidenced by the fact of the greatness and mercifulness of God as evidenced by what He has already done to them and for them. The result will be that they will keep His statutes and commandments in the land and will enjoy wellbeing and live long in His everlasting kingdom.
This passage may be analysed as follows:
a When they are in tribulation in the latter days and all these things have come on them, they will return to Yahweh their God and listen to His voice (Deu 4:30).
b For He is a merciful God and will not fail or destroy them or forget the covenant He has made with their fathers (Deu 4:31).
c For they may ask of ancient days whether since the day that God created man on the earth, or alternately they may ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any such thing as this great thing has been heard (Deu 4:32).
d That God spoke to men out of the midst of the fire and they lived? (Deu 4:33).
e Or has God delivered any other nation by signs and wonders and mighty power as He did them from Egypt? (Deu 4:34).
c It was shown to them so that they might know that Yahweh is God and there is none beside Him (Deu 4:35).
d From heaven He made them hear His voice, on earth He made them see His great fire, and they heard His words from the midst of the fire (Deu 4:36).
e For because He loved their fathers He chose their seed after them and brought them out of Egypt with great power, to drive out great nations from before them and bring them into the land of His inheritance as at this day (Deu 4:37-38).
b They are therefore to know Yahweh is God in both heaven and earth, there is no other (Deu 4:39).
a And they will keep statutes and His commandments that it may go well with them, so that they might prolong their days on the God-given land for ever (Deu 4:40).
We may note here that in ‘a’ their certain final return to God is promised, and in the parallel it is to lead on to them keeping His statutes and His commandments and having wellbeing and long life for ever in the land. In ‘b’ they are told that He is a merciful God and will not fail or destroy them or forget the covenant He has made with their fathers, and in the parallel they are therefore to know Yahweh is God in both heaven and earth, there is no other. In ‘c’, ‘d’ and ‘e’ we find what is really one continuous idea. They are to ask earth and heaven whether such a thing has been heard, that God spoke to men from the midst of fire and they lived, or that God delivered any other nation by signs and wonders and great power. And the parallel says that it was so that they might know that Yahweh is God and there is none beside Him, and that He did speak to them from the midst of fire and that He did remarkably deliver them from Egypt.
For such a threefold continuous series in the midst of a chiasmus compare Numbers 22-23 where such a situation occurs twice (see our commentary on Numbers).
Deu 4:30
‘ When you are in tribulation, and all these things are come on you, in the latter days you will return to Yahweh your God, and listen to his voice,’
For what would bring them to seek Yahweh would be the unbearable tribulation that they would face. ‘All these things’ refers to their perishing from the land and being scattered and resorting to the worship of gods who could not respond (Deu 4:27-28). Thus in ‘the latter days’, that is the final days of this period of chastisement, they would return to Yahweh their God and listen to His voice, as previously they had closed their ears to Him.
This return was necessary for the fulfilment of God’s purposes. For from the returned people He would raise up His chosen One and through Him and them bring blessing to the world.
Deu 4:31
‘ For Yahweh your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you, nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them.’
And all this would happen because ‘Yahweh your God is a merciful God’. It was because of His mercy that He would not fail in His activities towards them, nor would He destroy them utterly, nor would He forget the covenant He had sworn to with their fathers. Thus in His mercy He would carry through His purposes.
The promises to their forefathers had burned themselves deeply into Moses’ soul. It had made him aware that whatever they did Yahweh would not allow it to thwart His purposes. He would chastise Israel until at last His purposes succeeded. But He would never forget His mercy in the end.
Deu 4:32
‘ For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of heaven to the other, whether there has been any such thing as this great thing is, or has been heard like it?’
By a series of questions He now brings home to them why their Overlord has a right to expect their obedience. The first question is concerning the ‘days that are past’ from creation onwards, and concerning events happening from one end of heaven to the other. Can anyone, he asks, name any time or place where such a great thing has happened elsewhere as has happened to Israel? Can anyone say where such a thing has even been heard of?
Deu 4:33
‘ Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?’
For example, Have any people ever heard God speaking from the midst of fire and lived? For that is what Israel have heard, and they have still lived.
Deu 4:34
‘ Or has God made the attempt to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, in accordance with all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?’
The next question is, For what other nation since the beginning of creation or anywhere else in the world has God made the attempt to go and take them from the midst of another nation by trials, signs, wonders, war, a mighty hand, an outstretched arm and by great terrors, in the way that Yahweh has by what He had done for Israel in Egypt?
Note the expanded sevenfold explanation. God had used trials in order to spur His people on, signs with which to convince them, and even more to convince Pharaoh; wonders in order to bring home His supreme power; war because Pharaoh understood nothing else and had finally to be convinced by the destruction of his troops; by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm, because Yahweh had personally extended His own powerful action on their behalf; and by great terrors because Pharaoh and his people had proved so obstinate that in the end they needed the terrors of continual darkness and then of the night of the firstborn in order to be convinced. He had acted in a divinely perfect way.
Deu 4:35
‘ To you it was shown, that you might know that Yahweh, he is God, there is none else besides him.’
But it had been shown to them so that they might know that Yahweh truly was the only God, and there is none other. If nothing else could convince them, this should have done. The so-called gods of Egypt, even Pharaoh himself, had proved powerless. They were as nothings before Yahweh.
Deu 4:36
‘ Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you, and on earth he made you to see his great fire. And you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.’
And he goes on to answer his own questions. Yahweh had made them hear His great voice from heaven, so that they might be instructed, and He had made them see His great unearthly fire on earth. And it was out of the midst of that great fire that they had heard His words. Thus they must recognise that their experience in Horeb as they gathered round Mount Sinai was unique, and a powerful revelation of Yahweh their God which they must ever carry with them.
Deu 4:37
‘ And because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt,’
And he also had brought His people out of Egypt with His presence (manifested) and His great power. And why did He do it for them? The answer is because he loved their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That was why He had chosen them as the seed of their fathers, and brought them out of Egypt by His presence and with His great power.
And why had He done this? It was because their forefathers were loved. Although previously revealed in many ways (it was inherent, for example, in God’s description of Israel as His firstborn – Exo 4:22), this is the first reference in Scripture to God’s love for His own. The patriarchs, we are told, were beloved by God. The principles of elective love by God (see Deu 7:7-8; Deu 7:13; Deu 10:15; Deu 23:5; Deu 33:3; Deu 33:12) and responsive love by His people (see Deu 5:10; Deu 6:5-6; Deu 7:9; Deu 10:12; Deu 11:1; Deu 11:13; Deu 11:22; Deu 19:9; Deu 30:6; Deu 30:16; Deu 30:20) are central to the message of Deuteronomy. And it is also made clear that because of that He loves His people (Deu 7:7-8; Deu 7:13; Deu 10:15 (by implication); Deu 23:5; Deu 33:3; Deu 33:12). The whole of their deliverance, and of the mercies shown to them, since were manifestations of that love.
Deu 4:38
‘ To drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as at this day.’
And that was why He would drive out from before them nations greater and mightier than themselves, in order to bring them into the land and give it to them for an inheritance as He was about to do at this time.
So all was as a result of His covenant love for Abraham and his sons, and his descendants. That was why even their sins would not finally change His purposes. Rather if necessary He would use tribulation and suffering in order to fulfil His purposes. But His love would not fail. And it was through that love that He would finally save a multitude of Jews through the ministry of His Son, so that they became the foundation of His work throughout the world in bringing many sons to glory (Heb 2:10).
Deu 4:39
‘ Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that Yahweh, he is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is none besides.’
Thus considering all this they should now on this very day know and lay to heart Whom and What it reveals Yahweh to be. It reveals Him as the God of heaven and earth, beside Whom there is no other. It reveals that He is the great Overlord of heaven and earth with Whom none can compare. We have here a clear statement of monotheism.
Deu 4:40
‘ And you shall keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Yahweh your God gives you, for ever.’
Knowing this then they must keep His statutes and His commandments which they have received from Moses, and which he, Moses, now commands them, in order that it might go well with them and with their children after them, and so that they may prolong their days in the land which Yahweh their God has given them into the distant future.
And here he finishes his words at this time, leaving them to ponder on what he has said. But the situation has been made clear. The great God, Yahweh, has amazingly revealed Himself and has delivered them and has determined to give them this land because of His promises to their forefathers, and because they have responded to His covenant, and while they continue to respond to that covenant and obey His commandments and statutes all will go well. But if they turn to sin and idolatry, then this land will no longer hold them, for it is God’s holy land and is not available in the long term for the use of such sinners. They will be turned out from it until they can return to it again purified and restored. But that that restoration would happen was also sure. Because it would be the result of His faithful promises made to their forefathers.
If what had happened to Israel was wonderful, how much more wonderful is what has happened to those who are His. What other peoples have had the Son of God die for them, so that for His sake they are blessed? And we can therefore have the confidence that He will do good to us far beyond our deserving, as we respond in love and obedience to Him. And in view of this, if we do not trust Him and obey Him how can we possibly speak of knowing Him?
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Deu 4:30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, [even] in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
Ver. 30. Even in the latter days. ] This is by some understood of the Messiah’s days, which are the latter times of the world; Hos 3:5 1Co 10:11 and they believe that here is pointed at the great and last conversion of the Jews.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the latter days = the end of the days.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
all these: 1Ki 8:46-53, 2Ch 6:36-39, Dan 9:11-19
are come upon thee: Heb. have found thee, Deu 31:17, Exo 18:8, *marg.
in the latter: Deu 31:29, Gen 49:1, Num 24:20, Jer 23:20, Dan 10:14, Hos 3:5, Heb 1:2
if thou: Deu 30:10, Lam 3:40, Hos 14:2, Hos 14:3, Joe 2:12, Joe 2:13, Act 3:19, Act 26:20
obedient: Isa 1:19, Jer 7:23, Zec 6:15, Heb 5:9
Reciprocal: 2Ch 6:37 – Yet if 2Ch 7:14 – humble 2Ch 15:4 – in their trouble 2Ch 33:12 – And when Job 36:11 – If Psa 119:59 – turned Isa 26:16 – in trouble Isa 30:8 – the time to come Isa 63:11 – he remembered Jer 30:24 – in Jer 48:47 – in the latter Eze 38:8 – many days Dan 2:28 – in the Zec 1:3 – Turn Act 8:22 – pray Act 9:35 – turned 2Co 3:16 – when 2Th 1:8 – and that 1Ti 4:1 – the latter
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 4:30-31. In the latter days Either in general in succeeding ages and generations, or particularly in the days of the Messiah, commonly called in Scripture, the latter, or last days. Here the apostacy and misery of the Jewish nation in the latter days is clearly foretold, as it is more at large in chap 28. But the passage also gives encouragement to hope for their conversion and redemption; and that even in those times when their case should seem most desperate; when they should have forsaken God and rejected the Messiah, toward the end of the world.