Deuteronomy 6:1-25

Deuteronomy: God’s Law of Love

Love and Obey the *LORD your God

Deuteronomy

Philip Smith

Chapter 6

v1 ‘These are all the *commandments, rules and laws that the *LORD your God ordered me to teach to you. Obey them in the country that you will cross the River Jordan to possess. v2 Then you, your children and their children must *fear the *LORD your God for as long as you live. You must *keep all his rules and *commandments that I order you. Then, you will have long life. v3 *Israelites, listen and be careful to obey. Then your life will be good. And you will grow and you will become a nation with many people. You will live in a rich and *fertile country. The *LORD, the God of your *ancestors, has promised that to you.’

Moses taught the *Israelites all that God had ordered him to teach. Moses also emphasised that the *Israelites needed to obey God. The *Israelites would stay in the country if they were loyal to him.

Jesus told his followers to do this when they told the Good News to people. ‘Teach them to obey everything that I have ordered you to do.’ (See Matthew 28:20.)

v4 ‘*Israelites, listen to this. “The *LORD is our God. The *LORD is one God. v5 You must love the *LORD your God completely.” v6 You must remember the *commandments that I am giving to you today. v7 Carefully teach them to your children. Talk about the *commandments when you are at home. Talk about them when you walk along the road. Think about them when you lie down. Think about them when you rise up. v8 Tie them on your hands and wear them on the front of your heads. v9 Write them on the sides of your doors and on your gates.’

People call these words the Shema. Shema is a word in Hebrew, the language of the *Old Testament. The word ‘listen’ in verse 4 is the English translation of the word ‘Shema’. *Jews pray the words of verses 4-6 twice every day. The *LORD God is the only God. He is the ruler. There are no other gods. We should obey God’s laws because we love him. And we should love him with every part of our lives. In Jeremiah 31:33, God promised to give to people a love for his laws. Then they would choose to obey them.

This is what Jesus told his disciples (students). ‘If you love me, you will obey my *commandments.’ (See John 14:15.)

God told the *Jews to teach their families about his *commandments. God told them to tie the *commandments on their hands, heads, doors and gates. God may have meant that the *Jews should never forget the *commandments. They must affect every part of a *Jewish person’s life. However, some *Jews have done exactly what these verses said. They wrote the *commandments and then they tied them onto their hands and onto their heads. They fixed them onto their doors and gates also. They thought that they were *keeping God’s laws in that way. But that did not prove that they loved him. And they did not always behave in the right way.

Christians today can easily do the same thing. They may go to church. They may read the Bible and pray. But those things have no value unless Christians behave in the right way too. Then that will show that they love God.

v10 ‘The *LORD your God promised to give a country to your *ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It will have large cities that you did not build. They will be rich and successful. v11 It will have houses. They will be full of good things that you did not put in them. There will be wells that you did not dig. There will be *grape plants and *olive trees that you did not plant. God will bring you into the country. Then you will have all that you want to eat. v12 So be careful that you do not forget the *LORD. He brought you out of Egypt; out of the country where you were *slaves.

v13 *Fear the *LORD your God and serve only him. Speak only his name when you make your promises. v14 The people, who are round you, *worship false gods. But you must not *worship those false gods. v15 The *LORD your God is present with you. He is a jealous God. If you *worship false gods, the *LORD your God will become very angry with you. He will remove you from the earth. v16 Do not try to prove that the *LORD your God can help you. You did that at Massah. v17 Be sure to *keep all the *commandments, orders and rules that the *LORD your God has ordered you. v18 Do what the *LORD says. Do right things and do good things. Then your life will be good. You will be able to go in and to possess the good country. The *LORD promised to give this country to your *ancestors. v19 You will also force out all your enemies as the *LORD promised to you.’

Moses warned the *Israelites. They must not forget what God had done for them. When they reached the country, everything would be ready for them. They would be so pleased with this that they might forget God. But God was jealous because he did not want the people to *worship any false gods. It was right for God to be jealous. It was because he did not want them to *worship any false god. The *Israelites should respect God and they should serve him only. That is the only right way. If they did not do that, God would be angry. He would ruin them completely. That happened later in *Israel’s history. In the time of Amos, people were very rich and they forgot the *Lord. They remembered his *festivals, but they did not obey his laws. Sometimes they gave honour to false gods. Those false gods did not demand the high standards that God wanted. Jesus said that the *Pharisees were wrong. See Matthew 23:23: ‘You give to God a 10^th of your herbs, but you neglect *justice, *mercy and truth.’ (Herbs are plants that give flavour to food.)

Moses reminded the *Israelites about an event at Massah. (See Exodus 17:1-7.) The *Israelites were complaining because they did not have any water. Moses had brought them out of Egypt. But the people said that he had done the wrong thing. They did not believe that God could give them water at that place. If the *Israelites obeyed God now, they would be able to defeat their enemies. Then they could possess the country.

The *Pharisees wanted Jesus to prove that he was the Son of God. (See Matthew 16:1-4.) They asked him to perform a great act. He refused to do that. Jesus used Deuteronomy 6:16 when the devil tempted him to jump off the *temple. (See Matthew 4:7.) Then the devil tempted Jesus to serve him. Jesus referred to Deuteronomy 6:13. (See Matthew 4:10.)

v20 ‘In the future, your children will ask you this. “The *LORD our God ordered us to obey all these orders, rules and laws. What do they mean?” v21 Tell them, “We were *slaves of the king of Egypt. The *LORD brought us out of Egypt with his great power. v22 We ourselves saw the *LORD do great *signs and *wonders. He did terrible things to the *Egyptians, to their king called Pharaoh and to all his family. v23 But the *LORD brought us out from Egypt to bring us here. He gave to us this country that he had promised to our *ancestors. v24 The *LORD ordered us to obey all these rules and to *fear the *LORD our God. Then, we will do well and we will remain alive. v25 We must be careful to obey all the laws that the *LORD our God has ordered us to obey. When we do that, we become good people. And we shall please God.” ’

In the future, the children of the *Israelites would ask them about God’s laws. Moses told the *Israelites what to tell their children. They would tell the children how God brought the *Israelites out of Egypt with great power. *Israelites believed God because of what he had done for them. The law was a guide for how to behave in the right way. If they obeyed the law, good things would happen to them. They would enjoy their life.

Jesus taught the same idea in Matthew 5:1-12. We will enjoy God’s *blessings if we obey him.

Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the word ‘Adonai’ in the Hebrew language, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It is the Covenant name for God. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has always been here.

covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
commandment ~ a rule or a command that God gave to the Jews; the 10 rules that God gave to Moses. That was on the mountain called Mount Sinai (or Horeb); a command from someone who has authority.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Mount ~ mountain. For example, ‘Mount Sinai’ means the mountain called Sinai.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
fear ~ to be afraid; to respect someone who is very great.
keep ~ to do whatever you should do because of a promise or a law; to respect and to give honour to the law.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
fertile ~ land that can produce many crops.
ancestors ~ people in your family who lived before you.'Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible, it tells about the history and the beliefs of the Israelites.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
grape ~ small green or purple soft fruit that people can use to make wine.
fear ~ to be afraid; to respect someone who is very great.
worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a sacrifice.

sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.
Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the word ‘Adonai’ in the Hebrew language, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It is the Covenant name for God. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has always been here.

covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
festival ~ a happy time when people meet together to remember a person or a special event.
Pharisees ~ a group of Jews who thought that they obeyed all the laws of their religion. Those laws were all the commandments that God gave to Moses plus extra laws.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

commandment ~ a rule or a command that God gave to the Jews; the 10 rules that God gave to Moses. That was on the mountain called Mount Sinai (or Horeb); a command from someone who has authority.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.

Mount ~ mountain. For example, ‘Mount Sinai’ means the mountain called Sinai.
justice ~ when things are completely fair.
mercy ~ kindness instead of punishment.
temple ~ the chief place of worship for the Jews. King Solomon built the first temple for God in Jerusalem. But the word can refer to a similar building for a false god.

worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a sacrifice.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
sign ~ an unusual event that God uses to teach people something. But sometimes false prophets promised signs.
wonder ~ an event that astonishes people and it shows God’s power. But other people who did not love God sometimes did them too.
Egyptian ~ someone from the country called Egypt; anything with a relationship with Egypt. The Israelites were *slaves in Egypt before God freed them.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
blessing ~ a good thing that God does for us; when someone asks God to do good things for a person or for people; when a person speaks good words about someone.