The Great Shema that Jesus quoted to his lawyer friend.

Deuteronomy Chapter 6: The Command to Teach the Law

Deuteronomy 6:1-25 – Highlights of The Passage and Some Thoughts

In verses 1-3, Moses tells the children of Israel that he will share with them the laws that God commanded him to teach them. And again, he gives them the reasons as to why God did this and why they should obey these laws. In particular, God intended these laws to be passed on by parents and grandparents (verse 2).

In this chapter, we have what many call the great Shema or the great commandment. I remember we learned this by heart on our trip to Israel. Verses 4 and 5:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all they soul, and with all they might.”
Jesus quoted this very verse in Matthew chapter 22 when the lawyer asked Him “Which is the greatest commandment?”  Chuck Smith calls this almost the Magna Carta for the Jew. They would say this whenever they got together.

David Guzik points out that these verses clearly show that God wants a complete love from us. Which makes sense given His complete love for us as exhibited in a myriad of ways, not the least of which was through the cross.

Verses 4-9 also make it clear that the community (not just parents) have a responsibility in that regard.  Yes, these are to be taught by family members to their younger members, but verse 7 also says to sons of Israel to talk of these laws “when you walk by the way”. In verse 8, we are told that they are to show others that they follow these laws by signs on their hands and by the frontals on their foreheads. Furthermore, in verse 9, these laws were to be written on the doorposts of their houses and on their gates. All in all, a very public testimony of their adherence to the laws. These little pouches or receptacles were everywhere.

In verses 10-16 he warns the sons of Israel not to forget God and His laws once they take over the cities they did not build, the vineyards they did not plant, etc., because God just gave these to them out of His love for them, and because He is a Jealous God.

The caution was particularly aimed at not forgetting God in their prosperity and plenty as Matthew Henry says in his commentary. And isn’t that when we forget God? We are most likely to do it in our prosperity and plenty. And we return to Him in our time of deepest need. I like the phrase Moses uses at the beginning of verse 12. He says, “then watch yourself”. Wow. That’s what we need to do; we need to watch ourselves and make a special effort not to forget God, especially in our prosperity and times of worldly success.

Furthermore, if His anger were to be kindled, He could wipe the Israelites “off the face of the earth.” And here I thought this is a phrase only used by terrorists and the Iranian leaders, and the Palestinians today who want to eliminate Israel and “wipe her off the face of the earth.”  I guess they stole the idea from God.

Now one would think that if one loved the place he/she lived, all the blessings he/she enjoyed, and all the promises your God was bringing to pass on you, that you would want to make sure you obeyed His rules and laws. This is especially true if you knew He was a Jealous God, that He could easily get angry, and once angry, could wipe you “off the face of the earth”. I mean you would think. You would think you wouldn’t “test” God. You would think.

And in verse 16, Moses reminds them of just that – don’t test God.

Now I really think we need to pay attention to verse 19. Moses says in verse 18 that we “do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord,” . . . by (here comes verse 19) “driving out all your enemies from before you,” and adds, “as the Lord has spoken”.

Can we get serious for a moment here? How is it that we Christians are just sitting quietly around these days letting godless politicians, godless terrorists, and godless aliens in our lands just take over things and force us to do what they want, and we even end up apologizing to them for the atrocities they commit against us?  How is that possible? Can some pastor please explain that to me, because I don’t think that this is what God wants for us.

Now I know that we are still studying the Old Testament and Jesus’ teachings are all in the New Testament. I get that. But I don’t believe that God the Father (Who is the same in both Testaments) really changed that much between Malachi and Matthew. I think it is us that are having the trouble of lining up Christ’s teachings with God’s directions to the Israelites. I’d love to hear your perspective.

The rest of the chapter describes Moses’ instructions to the children of Israel with respect to what they should tell their children about the laws that they see all over the place and that they hear about all the time. The bottom line is that these laws are the laws of God Who delivered them from slavery in Egypt and by opening these laws, it will be counted as “righteousness” for them. If our children are not asking us about the laws we are to follow – the commandments of Christ – it is likely because we don’t teach them to them, we don’t display them, and we don’t demonstrate them in our lives.

Wrap-up

Here’s the summary:

1.     Know the laws of God.

2.     Learn the laws of God.

3.     Teach them to your youth.

4.     Display them inside the house and out.

5.     Practice them.

Why?

1.     That you may be blessed as a people.

2.     That you may live long as a family.

3.     That it may be counted unto you as righteousness.

Now how hard is that?

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.