people, and showing how it reveals Jehovah's love for Israel,
earnestly urges upon them the duty of keeping His laws, reminding
them of His spirituality and absoluteness. Then follows the
appointment, iv. 41-43--here irrelevant (cf. xix. 1-l3)--of three
cities of refuge east of the Jordan.

The second section, v.-xi., with its superscription, iv. 44-49, is a
hortatory introduction to the more specific injunctions of xii.-xxviii.,
and deals with the general principles by which Israel is to be governed.
The special relation between Israel and Jehovah was established on the
basis of the decalogue (Ex. xx.), and with this Moses begins, reminding
the people of their promise to obey any further commands Jehovah might
give (v.). But as the source of all true obedience is a right attitude,
Israel's deepest duty is to love Jehovah, serving Him with reverence,
and keeping His claims steadily before the children (vi.). To do this
effectively, Israel must uncompromisingly repudiate all social and
religious intercourse with the idolatrous peoples of the land, and
Jehovah their God will stand by them in the struggle (vii). In the
past the discipline had often indeed been stern and sore, but it had
come from the hand of a father, and had been intended to teach the
spiritual nature of true religion; worldliness and idolatry would
assuredly be punished by defeat and destruction (viii.). And just as
deadly as worldliness is the spirit of self-righteousness, a spirit
as absurd as it is deadly; for Israel's past has been marked by an
obstinacy so disgraceful that, but for the intercession of Moses, the
people would already have been devoted to destruction,[1] ix. 1-x. 11.
True religion is the loving service of the great God and of needy men,
and it ought to be inspired by reverent fear. Obedience to the
divine commands will bring life and blessing, disobedience will be
punished by the curse and death, x. 12-xi.