And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.
24. Behold, the Lord our God hath showed us. They are urged by their own confession no more to dare oppose themselves to the ministry of Moses. For, when they confess that they saw the glory and the greatness of God, they oblige themselves to the necessity of obedience, unless they choose avowedly to make war against God.
They could not bear God's voice and begged Moses to stand between them, promising obedience. But see their instability: earlier they had been ready to stone him. Terror wakes the conscience but does not change the heart. Fair promises drawn from guilt prove nothing; conviction without grace does not purify or fix good principles in the soul.
AI summary
Commenting on Deuteronomy 5:23-33
Go thou near,.... To the mount, and to God on it: and hear all that the Lord our God shall say; for they supposed, by the continuance of the Lord on the mount, and the fire burning on it, that he had more to say, which they were not averse to hear; but desired it might be not immediately delivered to them, but by the...