All things bear record · Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 4

8 witnesses of Christ here.

Jehovah

For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? Deuteronomy 4:7

Israel's greatness was not its army but its nearness to Jehovah, who answered when they called. The Lord makes the same offer in our dispensation in His own voice: draw near unto me, and I will draw near unto you.

VerifiedJehovah — the LORDA divine name

How we know: a footnote points to Him · another scripture interprets it of Him

  • alluded to by Doctrine and Covenants 88:63 — Footnoted here: "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me" — the Lord's own restatement of the nearness Moses points to.

Jehovah

And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. Deuteronomy 4:12–13

At Sinai Israel heard Jehovah's voice out of the fire and received His covenant. Latter-day Saints understand this God of the covenant to be the premortal Jesus Christ, who later declared that He gave the law.

VerifiedJehovah — the LORDA divine name

How we know: Jehovah is the premortal Christ (Abraham 1:16; D&C 110:3–4) · another scripture interprets it of Him · a footnote points to Him

  • the same event in Exodus 19:18-19 — The mount burned and quaked because the LORD descended in fire, and God answered Moses by a voice.
  • interpreted by 3 Nephi 15:5 — Christ: "I am he that gave the law, and I am he who covenanted with my people Israel."

Jehovah

But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. Deuteronomy 4:20

Jehovah pulled Israel out of Egypt's iron furnace to make them His own people. Nephi names that same deliverer "their Redeemer"; the rescue from bondage is the pattern of how Christ redeems us from sin and claims us as His.

VerifiedJehovah — the LORDA divine name

How we know: another scripture interprets it of Him

  • interpreted by 1 Nephi 17:30 — The God who brought Israel out of Egypt is called "the Lord their God, their Redeemer."

Jehovah

For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. Deuteronomy 4:24

Jehovah's holiness is like fire that burns away what is impure, and He will not share His people's devotion with idols. Hebrews repeats the line of the God of the new covenant mediated by Jesus, and Malachi pictures His coming as a refiner's fire.

VerifiedJehovah — the LORDA divine name

How we know: Jehovah is the premortal Christ (Abraham 1:16; D&C 110:3–4) · a footnote points to Him · another scripture interprets it of Him

  • quoted by Hebrews 12:29 — "For our God is a consuming fire" — quoted verbatim, in the chapter that names Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.
  • alluded to by 3 Nephi 24:2 — Footnoted here: "he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap" — the Lord's coming to His temple as purifying fire.

Jehovah

But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. Deuteronomy 4:29–31

Moses promises that scattered Israel will find the LORD again in the latter days if they seek Him with all their heart. The merciful God who never forgets His covenant is Jesus Christ, who in our day gathers Israel to the knowledge of the Lord who redeemed them.

VerifiedJehovah — the LORDA divine name

How we know: Jehovah is the premortal Christ (Abraham 1:16; D&C 110:3–4) · another scripture interprets it of Him · the chapter heading names Him

  • alluded to by Jeremiah 29:13 — "Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."
  • alluded to by 3 Nephi 20:13 — Christ's own promise of the same latter-day gathering: the scattered remnants "shall be brought to the knowledge of the Lord their God, who hath redeemed them."

Jehovah

Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? Deuteronomy 4:33–34

No other nation heard God's voice out of the fire and lived, or was carried out of another nation by His mighty hand. Jehovah, the premortal Christ, spoke to instruct Israel and acted to deliver them.

VerifiedJehovah — the LORDA divine name

How we know: a footnote points to Him · another scripture interprets it of Him

  • the same event in Deuteronomy 5:24-26 — The people's own words about that day: "we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire ... and lived."
  • interpreted by 1 Nephi 17:30 — Footnoted here: the God of this Exodus deliverance is "the Lord their God, their Redeemer."

Jehovah

Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him. Deuteronomy 4:35–36

Everything Israel saw and heard was meant to teach one thing: Jehovah is God, and there is no other. He spoke from heaven to instruct them, as Christ still teaches His people by His voice.

VerifiedJehovah — the LORDA divine name

How we know: the verse itself names Him · another scripture interprets it of Him

  • alluded to by Isaiah 45:5 — "I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me" — Jehovah's own form of this confession.

City of refuge

Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising; Deuteronomy 4:41–42

A person who had killed unawares could run to a city of refuge and live, safe from the avenger of blood. These cities have long been taught as a type of Christ, the refuge sinners flee to so that they may live.

VerifiedProphecy or typetype_place

How we know: a traditional type, cited

  • alludes to Numbers 35:11 — The command being carried out here, in the same words: "that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares."
  • the same event in Joshua 20:8 — These same three cities — Bezer, Ramoth in Gilead, and Golan in Bashan — assigned east of Jordan.
  • alluded to by Hebrews 6:18 — "we ... who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us" — the refuge image applied to the hope in Christ.