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?

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Moses: "Look guys, it's pretty simple. Know the Law, Obey It, and Live well and long." Israel: "But what if. . . .?"

Deuteronomy Chapter 5: The Commandments, Israel’s Response, God’s Response

Deuteronomy 5:1-33 -- The Passage and Some Thoughts

In verses 1-5, Moses tells the children of Israel about the covenant God had made with them in Horeb. Then verses 6-21 basically repeat in detail each of the commandments.

Beginning in verse 22 and going to verse 27, Moses shares Israel’s response to God’s Covenant Commandments. To me, it was not the response that Moses or God may have expected. It sounded like they had their own concern as Moses tells us in verse 25 that the children of Israel feared that if they heard God’s voice any longer, they would die since no one before them had heard the voice of the living God and lived. And they wanted Moses to see what God had to say about that (vs. 27). In my opinion, they missed the whole point. They missed what God wanted for them and they were more concerned about their fear of dying. I wonder how many times we miss the blessing of God because of our fear of dying. How many times do we fail to see the big picture because we’re more concerned about one little aspect in the corner? It all reminds me of my recruitment days when our company was offering incredible and well-paying jobs to people and all some of them could ask about was whether or not they had to wear a suit, because if they did, it would kill them. (Yes, that was decades ago but you get my point.)

And God responds (through Moses) in verses 28-33. And while God indicates that the people spoke well, He also, as I read it, sees right through them when He said, in verse 29, “Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!”

And then God tells Moses to say to the children of Israel (verse 30): “Return to your tents.” I am confident that God was upset at them. He was angry.  First of all, notice the emphasis He placed on His statement in verse 29 – it ends with an exclamation mark. You don’t see a lot of those in these passages.  Secondly, please note there’s a closing double quotation mark at the end verse 30.

[In fairness to those that are studying this passage with me, I must admit I may be in the minority of those who read the text in this way. Many commentators think that God was actually quite pleased with the Israelites, their response, and the fact that they enquired further of Him through Moses. I just don’t find the words and punctuation support that. I would value your perspective on it.  Just reply with a comment on the site, or to the posting on the social media you may have used to get here.]

He was done with them, and in verse 31, God addresses Moses only. He tells Moses to sit tight, to stand by Him so that God could give him all the commandments so he could teach them to the sons of Israel so that they would keep them in the lands that God gave them.

Then in verses 32-33 Moses again turns to, and instructs, the Israelites, perhaps more emphatically or as a command even, to observe these laws and not waver to the right or to the left of them. He wants them to stay on the course, on the path (the way) that God commanded. And again, the blessing would be life for them, prolonging their days.

Wrap-up

At face value, this is a pretty straight-forward historical account of events that took place between God, Moses, and the children of Israel before the took over the Promised Land on the west side of the Jordan. However, focusing on God as our hero in every passage of Scripture, we see once again His incredible patience with His children. They were worried about getting closer to God and hearing His voice may cause their death. So, He set their minds at ease by simply asking them to learn and follows His commandments and statutes and to teach them to their children and future generations. And doing so meant that “they would live, that things would be well with them, and that their days would be prolonged”.

What amazes me about this whole thing is its simplicity. Here are the rules. Obey. Gain a lot. Nothing complex here.  And so it is with. God is saying to us, “Here is My Son. He died for you. Accept Him as Savior. And live.”  So simple. Yet so hard for many to grasp.

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

The Way Greeks Live Now - NYTimes.com

A very detailed look at how Greeks live today. This is brilliant "wide-angle" writing. I can vouch for much of what is being said. It checks out with my recent experiences there as well as what I hear from my relatives and friends even this week. What is startling about it all is that the author seems to be describing a painting that is not still life, but rather spans a period of time in which a civilization is collapsing but there's no ultimate end result (will they make it? will Greece survive?). What we get is only the dire warning that the way Greece is going may well be ominous for many more nations in the world today. Get yourself a good cup of coffee and enjoy this full-length description of erosion.

The Way Greeks Live Now - NYTimes.com

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