An inheritance is a very special thing to receive. Though we most often think of an inheritance as comprising material things like land, houses, money, stocks and bonds … there are immaterial things that may be passed down through the generations as well. Having been the executor of a will once in my life, there was the great blessing of being the custodian of varied material treasures being passed along with all it represented of my parents’ lives; yet it was also very sad and painful to be the bearer of news to family elements of what was not going to happen – all because of a lack of faithfulness to common duties by those members not materially remembered.

In the passage today, the Israelites are being reminded that they are being given an awesome inheritance by the Lord – the Promised Land, along with God’s active provision for their lives as they trusted in him. Yet they are being warned as well of the horrific consequences that will befall them if they do not remember – expressing their departure from the Lord through the silly means of making idols of wood and stone. In that event – fully anticipated by God – they would be disinherited essentially, even scattered to the nations who would be allowed to come and overpower them. This did indeed happen in Israel’s future, yet in the passage it is interesting to see God’s grace and mercy by saying there would be a remnant always preserved and saved. By this, God would keep his covenant word to the nation.

As an example of the serious nature of God’s anger if the nation put idols before the Lord, Moses again uses himself as the example. He reminds them that God is not going to allow him to cross the Jordan with them. And again, I admit that this seems very harsh. The reason is because Moses hit the rock in anger rather than speak to it in obedience as God instructed. Whenever Moses does recount this, he does share the culpability with the people – saying something like, “You people were so frustratingly miserable in your moaning and complaining that YOU brought me to the place of hitting that dumb rock that got me into trouble with God!” But God is holy; he will not share his glory with any … and if not with Moses, then certainly he is going to bring judgment on those who worship idols made by hands.

Today’s passage calls God a “consuming fire,” yet later says that he is “a merciful God.” Of course, both are true. But here’s the great truth for us – for those who have trusted in Christ for salvation:  God’s wrath against sin has been poured out in judgment upon Christ at his substitutionary sacrifice for us. Therefore God’s mercy is able to be lavished upon us in abundant grace through the promise of an eternal inheritance that will not fade away. It says in 1 Peter 1:3-5 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Deuteronomy 4:15-31

Idolatry Forbidden

¹⁵ You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, ¹⁶ so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, ¹⁷ or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, ¹⁸ or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. ¹⁹ And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping  things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. ²⁰ But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.

²¹ The Lord was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance. ²² I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land. ²³ Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. ²⁴ For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

²⁵ After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, ²⁶ I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. ²⁷ The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. ²⁸ There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. ²⁹ But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. ³⁰ When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him. ³¹ For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.