Deuteronomy 4:1-8
The Lord gives Israel His word for life, holiness, nearness, and witness, so His people must hear it, keep it, and refuse to alter it.
1 Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances which I teach you, to do them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, gives you.
2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you.
3 Your eyes have seen what Yahweh did because of Baal Peor; for Yahweh your God has destroyed all the men who followed Baal Peor from among you.
4 But you who were faithful to Yahweh your God are all alive today.
5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do so in the middle of the land where you go in to possess it.
6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who shall hear all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”
7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to them as Yahweh our God is whenever we call on him?
8 What great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you today?
The LORD gives Israel His word for life, holiness, nearness, and witness, so His people must hear it, keep it, and refuse to alter it.
Moses calls Israel to hear and obey the decrees and laws he teaches so that they may live and possess the land the LORD is giving them, guarding the LORD's commands from addition or subtraction and interpreting their survival after Baal Peor as proof that life belongs to those who hold fast to the LORD.
Moses speaks to the new generation on the plains of Moab after the wilderness generation has fallen and after Israel has seen the LORD defeat Sihon and Og east of the Jordan. The people stand near the threshold of Canaan, and Moses now shifts from recounting the LORD's past dealings to exhorting Israel to live under the covenant word as they enter the land.
Hear, Obey, and Do Not Forget: The Incomparable God and His Word
Moses closes his historical prologue with the most theologically dense argument in the first address: Israel's singular privilege is that the incomparable God spoke directly to them at Horeb, gave them righteous statutes, and remains near to them in every call — and this privilege makes their obedience, their memory, and their refusal to manufacture any image of God an absolute covenant obligation, with exile and return both held within the LORD's own sovereign plan.