Deuteronomy 5:24

_AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN YE HEARD THE VOICE OUT OF THE MIDST OF THE DARKNESS, (FOR THE MOUNTAIN DID BURN WITH FIRE,) THAT YE CAME NEAR UNTO ME, EVEN ALL THE HEADS OF YOUR TRIBES, AND YOUR ELDERS;_ And ... ye came near unto me - (see the note at Exodus 20:19.)...

24._Behold, the Lord our God hath showed us. _They are urged by their own confession no more to dare oppose themselves to the ministry of Moses. For, when they confess that they saw the glory and the greatness of God, they oblige themselves to the necessity of obedience, unless they choose avowedly to make war against God. At the end of the verse, where they say that “God doth talk with man,” etc., not only do they mean that there are men surviving on earth who have heard with their ears the voice of God come down from heaven, but they express their astonishment at what was scarcely to be believed. For, although it was sufficiently notorious to them that God had formerly spoken with their fathers; yet, because a long period had elapsed since these revelations had ceased, they are amazed as at a new thing. We see, too, a long time afterwards, that as often as God appeared to His servants,...

23-33 Moses refers to the consternation caused by the terror with which the law was given. God's appearances have always been terrible to man, ever since the fall; but Christ, having taken away sin, invites us to come boldly to the throne of grace. They were in a good mind, under the strong convictions of the word they heard. Many have their consciences startled by the law who have them not purified; fair promises are extorted from them, but no good principles are fixed and rooted in them. God commended what they said. He desires the welfare and salvation of poor sinners. He has given abundant proof that he does so; he gives us time and space to repent. He has sent his Son to redeem us, promised his Spirit to those who pray for him, and has declared that he has no pleasure in the ruin of sinners. It would be well with many, if there were always such a heart in them, as there seems to be...

These verses contain a much fuller narrative of the events briefly described in Exodus 20:18. Here it is important to call attention to the fact that it was on the entreaties of the people that Moses had taken on him to be the channel of communication between God and them. God approved Deuteronomy 5:28 the request of the people, because it showed a feeling of their own unworthiness to enter into direct communion with God. The terrors of Sinai had done their work; they had awakened the consciousness of sin....

EXPOSITION THE DECALOGUE THE BASIS OF THE COVENANT, THE ESSENCE OF THE WHOLE LAW, AND THE CONDITION OF LIFE AND FELICITY. DEUTERONOMY 5:1 Moses reminds them of the making of the covenant at Horeb, and of the revelation of the fundamental law of the covenant there. As he was about to recapitulate the laws which God their King had enacted, it was fitting that he should refer at the outset to that covenant relation between Jehovah and Israel on which all the injunctions of the Law rested....

AND YE SAID, BEHOLD, THE LORD OUR GOD HATH SHOWED US HIS GLORY AND HIS GREATNESS,.... In descending on Mount Sinai in the manner he did, and giving the law from thence with such solemnity; for there was a glory in the ministration of it, as the apostle argues 2 Corinthians 3:7, it being delivered with so much majesty, and such a glorious apparatus attending it; see Deuteronomy 33:2. Aben Ezra interprets this of the appearance of fire in which the Lord was, "and his greatness", of the thunders and lightnings, and the voice of the trumpet: AND WE HAVE HEARD HIS VOICE OUT OF THE MIDST OF THE FIRE; the ten words, as the same interpreter rightly notes, which were vocally and audibly expressed out of the fire: we have seen this day, that God doth talk with man, an

II. THE EXPOSITION OF THE LAW, EXHORTATIONS AND WARNINGS, BLESSING AND CURSE 1. The Proclamation of the Decalogue Chapter S 4:44-5:33 _ 1. The introductory words (Deuteronomy 4:44)_ 2. The law proclaimed (Deuteronomy 5:1) 3. Moses, the mediator (Deuteronomy 5:22) First a general announcement is given of the discourse on the law. The fact is emphasized, that it was set before them after they came forth out of Egypt. Then the victories over Sihon and Og are mentioned once more and that they now possessed their land. Why this repetition? It was to remind them of the goodness and faithfulness of Jehovah, whose law they were about to hear expounded. It was to be

BEHOLD. Figure of speech _Asterismos._ App-6. MAN. Hebrew. _'adam._ App-14....

The people, fearing the fatal effect of hearing God's voice directly, request Moses to act as mediator. See Exodus 20:19-21, E, a much simpler form of the narrative, but containing in Deuteronomy 5:20 a saying of Moses not repeated here....

b. ISRAEL'S REACTION: FEAR AND DEVOTION (Deuteronomy 5:22-27) 22 These words Jehovah spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them upon two tables of stone, and gave them unto me. 23 And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders: 24 and ye said, Behold, Jehovah our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth speak with man, and he liveth. 25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more, then we shall die, 26 For who is there of all fl