Deuteronomy Chapter 6 is the
part of the second sermon of Moses delivered to the Israelites who were poised
to cross the Jordan and enter the land promised to the ancestors. Moses
reinstated the Law of God, the Ten Commandments, so that they might obey them
in the land God gave them to possess. Why do the Scriptures keep on saying that
they must obey all the laws and decrees carefully as long as they live? It’s
because it is the way to live a life worthy of the Lord, the true and eternal
life in our Lord Jesus Christ.
“These are the commands, decrees
and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that
you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their
children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping
all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long
life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and
that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as
the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.” (Deuteronomy 6:1-3)
There are so many lofty ideas
and philosophical thoughts and practical experiences in human history which are
highly exalted and respected and honored. People are attracted and fascinated
by the glowing and glittering things of
the world, thinking that they can build a paradise on the earth only if they
work out some problems like the rich and poor gap with the investment of time
and intellectually collaborative work and mind. It’s not true and history
proves it, as Philosopher Hagel put it, “History teaches us that history
teaches us nothing!” There is no other way to live a true life except through
obeying all the commandments of the Lord God. When the people appealed with
Moses that they didn’t want to listen to the voice of God for they would be
consumed by fire in the mount Horeb, God was pleased with his people that they
feared the Lord God. Fearing God is the beginning of knowledge, says the
Scripture (Proverb 1:7). Fearing God means fully recognizing his mighty
presence in the midst and submitting to him entirely and completely.
Our God is the God of promise
and faithfulness. He swore to himself to keep his promise because there is no
one to swear. God cannot lie, so all the words of promise shall be fulfilled
without missing the smallest letter and the least stoke of a pen (Matthew
5:18). That’s the reason the Lord our God is saying his people over and over
again to keep the laws and decrees carefully. It’s not that he wants us to obey
him mechanically and legalistically but that he wants us to obey him
voluntarily and willingly in order to have a true life which goes well in every
way and increases greatly in the land God has given. Our God is truly and
faithfully desiring his children to have life in full now and forevermore. In
order give that life to the full, God sent his Son in keeping with the promise
of his mouth.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our
God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today
are to be on your hearts.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-6)
What does it mean, “The Lord our
God, the Lord is one?” It’s because the Lord is God and besides him there is no
other (Deuteronomy 4:35). People say that there are many gods in heaven or on
earth, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came
and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all
things came and through whom we live (1 Corinthians 8:5-6).
So, the Lord God says, “Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with your
strength.” To obey the commandments of God is to love the Lord with all our
heart and with all our soul and with all our strength. It is impossible to
command to love someone. That’s not love if forced and involuntary. But God
commands us to love him wholeheartedly and unreservedly. Why is it absolutely
required for us to love the Lord God? It’s because it is the way to live a life
worthy of the Lord and besides it there is no other. How can it be possible to
love the Lord with all the heart and mind and strength? How can it be possible
to obey all the commandments of the Lord? It is impossible with man but
possible with God.
Our God knows that we cannot
keep the commandments of God because we’re fatally and hopelessly lost and
fallen in Adam. That’s why God has given the Law after delivering from the bondage
of sin and death. He wants to teach the fallen race that they cannot keep the
commandments of the Lord by any means. God never gave the Law to keep it with
the best effort and endeavor of ours. It is exactly the opposite. God really
wants the race to see the impossibility of keeping the Law. When we reach the
point of bankruptcy in body and spirit before the Lord God, finally he can help
us out. When we truly ask for his pity on us with the repentant and contrite
heart, he immediately stretches out his arms for help with true and awesome
power and delivers us again and again.
Therefore, the Lord our God
commands us to love him with all our heart and with all our soul and with all
our strength, and at the same time he provides and equips us to obey him
wholly. The way is Jesus Christ our Lord. God promised to send the Holy Spirit
to those who believe in the Son and the Father who sent him. Christ Jesus would
never leave us nor forsake us forever (Hebrews 13:5). This is the hope of
glory, “Christ in you,” says the Scripture (Colossians 1:27). The redeemed
humanity is the temple of the Holy God, the eternal residence of the Holy One
(1 Corinthians 6:19). It is not us who obey the Father but the Son Jesus Christ
who indwells us forever does. That’s how we love the Lord our God with all our
heart and mind and strength by means of the provision of God, the Son Jesus
Christ.
“Impress them on your children.
Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you
lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them
on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your
gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:7-9)
This part is one of the most
abused passages in the Scriptures. It is widely and mostly interpreted as the
parents shall literally teach their children over and over again at home and
along the road with the words and tie them on their hands and foreheads and
write them on the doorframes of their houses. The Jews still practice them
literally. No, it’s a figurative and symbolic language. Teaching the children
is two edged—one is to talk about the laws and decrees at home and outside and
the other is to set the demonstration before the children in their midst.
It never works to teach the
children by talking only without demonstration in their midst. The parents must
not only talk about the laws of the Lord but also obey them carefully. That’s
what it means to tie them as symbols on their hands and bind them on their
foreheads. The children see what the parents do, not what they say. For
example, if the parents say not to lie to their children and they lie, the
children will immediately know what they do.
“When the Lord your God brings
you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to
give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled
with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and
vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are
satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of
Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Deuteronomy 6:10-12)
And they shall never forget the
Lord who brought them into the land God swore to their fathers to give them.
They were dead and powerless under the power of Pharaoh in Egypt, the land of
slavery. They were suffering and groaning under the iron yoke of forced labor
generations after generations. But God heard their cry and groaning and sent Moses
to deliver them out of the land of slavery and led them into the land of the
Lord where they were given flourishing cities, houses, wells, and vineyards and
olive groves. There they ate and were satisfied with the provisions of the Lord.
So, they shall never forget the Lord who brought them out of Egypt with mighty
wonders and signs.
We also shall never forget the
Lord Jesus Christ who delivered us from the bondage of sin and death by the
power of God because it’s not our works, not even a bit but wholly by grace
(Ephesians 2:8-9). The devil is more cunning and crafty than any other wild
animals (Genesis 3:1). He is strong enough to get hold of his captives and
belongings with the lie and murderous threat. But our Lord Jesus is stronger
than the devil that he infiltrated the devil’s stronghold and bound him and
released those who believe in him and made his captives forever (Luke 11:21-22).
When our Lord died and rose again from the dead and ascended on high he took
many prisoners with him (Ephesians 4:8).
“Fear the Lord your God, serve
him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of
the peoples around you; for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous
God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face
of the land. Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. Be
sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees
he has given you. Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may
go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord
promised on oath to your ancestors, thrusting out all your enemies before you,
as the Lord said.” (Deuteronomy 6:13-19)
God says again to the Israelites
to fear the Lord God and serve him only and not to follow other gods for the
Lord is a jealous God. He is always among his people and his anger will burn
against his people and destroy them from the face of the land if they follow
other gods, the gods of the peoples. This is the serious warning to the people
of God. And God says that they shall not put the Lord God to the test as they
did at Massah. When they didn’t find water, they quarreled with the Lord God,
putting him to the test (Exodus 17:1-7).
They shall do what is right and
good in the Lord’s sight, not in their own sight. It is forever true. But exactly
the opposite thing happened in Israel that they did as they saw fit (Judges
21:25). That’s how the world reasons and operates persistently.
“Let the one who does wrong
continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who
does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.”
(Revelation 22:11)
The measurement of right and
wrong does not depend upon humans but solely upon the Maker of the heavens and
the earth, the Lord God Almighty. No matter how much we fabricate and decorate
the things of the world and try to highly exalt and honor them, it is no avail.
Our God measures not based on what we humans value but on what he set as the
Law of holiness and faithfulness. That’s the reason the Lord our God made an
oath to the forefathers that if they obeyed all the laws and decrees and did
not follow other gods they would possess the land go well in all directions,
thrusting out all their enemies.
“In the future, when your son
asks you, ‘What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord
our God has commanded you?’ tell him: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but
the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our eyes the Lord
sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole
household. But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land
he promised on oath to our ancestors. The Lord commanded us to obey all these
decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be
kept alive, as is the case today. And if we are careful to obey all this law
before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our
righteousness.’” (Deuteronomy 6:20-25)
God delivered the people of Israel
and gave the Law because they were the lawless people. The Israelites in
slavery under the yoke of Pharaoh is the picture of the fallen race in Adam. So,
God set them free at the cost the Son Jesus Christ to make them a law abiding
nation. God did not command the people in Egypt to keep all the laws and
stipulations which were not even given to them yet. Only after God had
delivered them from the bondage of slavery in Egypt, God gave the laws and
decrees through the servant Moses and commanded them to keep them in order that
they might always prosper and be kept alive. That’s the righteousness of God to
all peoples of the earth who obey all the laws and decrees. Again, there is no
one who can obey God on their own. We can obey him in Christ Jesus who is power
and authority over all things and yet died in our place, shedding his blood as
the ransom sacrifice. This is why we keep on fearing the Lord our God all the
days of lives now and forever.
Prayer: Thank you once again
Father for teaching us the truth that we can be kept alive and prosperous only
if we obey all the laws and decrees carefully. Thank you Father for providing
and equipping us power to obey the Lord our God in Christ Jesus. May we keep on
fearing the Lord our God in our midst for he is in us and among us as the
supreme being who has all power and authority in heavens and on earth and under
the earth. In Christ’s name. Amen.
May
24, 2016
© 2015-2016 David
Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment