Deuteronomy 5:23 - Meaning and Application

Here Moses reminds Israel of the agreement made between the two sides, with Moses acting as mediator, or go-between, for them.

The first thing he recalls is the fear the people felt when the law was given with such awful power. They admitted that they could not bear it any longer. “This great fire will consume us. This dreadful voice will kill us. We will surely die if we hear it again” (Deuteronomy 5:25). They were amazed that they had not already fallen dead under it, and they counted it a special act of God’s power and mercy that they had been able to endure even that much. “Who has ever heard the voice of the living God, as we have, and lived?” God’s appearances have been frightening to human beings ever since the fall into sin. But Christ has taken away sin, and so he invites us to come boldly to God’s throne of grace.

Next, Moses recalls their earnest request that God would speak to them through him from then on. They promised to listen to whatever he said as if it came directly from God, and to obey it (Deuteronomy 5:27). This shows several things. They expected to hear more commands from God, and they were willing to receive them. They also believed Moses could bear revelations of God’s glory that they, because of their guilt, felt unable to endure. They saw him as one favored by God and also as someone who would be faithful to them, even though they had often complained against him before and had recently been ready to stone him (Exodus 17:4). This shows how conviction can quiet a person’s passions. It also shows that they were, at that moment, in a serious and willing frame of mind under the force of God’s word. Many people are startled by the law, but not changed by it. They make fair promises, but no lasting good is rooted in them.

God approves of their request. He says what they said was well spoken (Deuteronomy 5:28). They spoke to Moses, but God heard it, because every word in our speech is known to him. He agrees that they had spoken well in admitting their need for a mediator, someone to stand between them and God. Their desire to receive more direction through Moses, and their promise to obey it, were also well spoken. What is well said should be praised by God, and it should be praised by us too. What is good, so far as it goes, should be acknowledged.

Yet God also expresses the wish that their words were truly sincere: “Oh, that they had such a heart in them” (Deuteronomy 5:29). He means, first, a heart they ought to have, a heart to fear God and keep his commands always. The God of heaven truly wants the good and salvation of poor sinners. He has shown that in many ways. He gives time to repent, he calls people to repentance through his mercies, he waits to show grace, he has sent his Son to redeem us, he offers pardon and life to all, he promises his Spirit to those who ask, and he has said and sworn that he takes no pleasure in the ruin of sinners. He also means, second, the kind of heart they seemed to have right then. Many people would do well if they always had the same heart they sometimes show when they are convicted of sin, warned by providence, or forced to face death. How gracious they seem when those pressures are on them. Oh, that they always had such a heart.

Finally, God appoints Moses to be his messenger to them, to receive the law from God’s mouth and pass it on to the people (Deuteronomy 5:31). So the matter was settled by agreement, that God would afterward speak to them through men like themselves, through Moses and the prophets, and later through the apostles and evangelists. If people will not believe these messengers, they would not be persuaded even if God spoke to them from Sinai again, or sent a special message from heaven or hell.

From this, Moses draws a charge for them to obey all that God had commanded (Deuteronomy 5:32, 33). Since God had shown such kindness to them, had been so careful to fit his dealings to their weakness, and had been willing to accept their request, and since they themselves had asked for Moses to teach them, and had solemnly promised to hear and do, Moses now urges them to walk in all God’s ways. He assures them that it will be for their own good. The only way to be truly happy is to be holy. Say to the righteous, it shall be well with them.