Deuteronomy 4:20

The Israelites were not to imitate the heathen in this respect, because Jehovah, who brought them out of the iron furnace of Egypt, had taken them (לקח) to Himself, i.e., had drawn them out or separated them from the rest of the nations, to be a people of inheritance. They were therefore not to seek God and pray to Him in any kind of creature, but to worship Him without image and form, in a manner corresponding to His own nature, which had been manifested in no form, and therefore could not be imitated. בּרזל כּוּר, an iron furnace, or furnace for smelting iron, is a significant figure descriptive of the terrible sufferings endured by Israel in Egypt. נחלה עם (a people of inheritance) is synonymous with סגלּה עם (a special people, Deu 7:6 : see at Exo 19:5, "a peculiar treasure"). "This day:" as in Deu 2:30.

In this chapter we have, I. A most earnest and pathetic exhortation to obedience, both in general, and in some particular instances, backed with a great variety of very pressing arguments, repeated again and again, and set before them in the most moving and affectionate manner imaginable (v. 1-40). II. The appointing of the cities of refuge on that side Jordan (Deu 4:41-43). III. The particular description of the place where Moses delivered the following repetition of the law (Deu 4:44, etc.).

4:20 An iron-smelting furnace was used to refine metal ores and separate the pure metal from the dross. Israel’s trials in Egypt made the Israelites more spiritually and morally pure. • special possession (literally people of inheritance): Israel itself was God’s inheritance. This concept is confirmed by the parallel phrase describing Israel as his very own people. As such, the Israelites were now fit to enter, conquer, and occupy the land (cp. 1 Pet 2:9-12).