Chapter 6

LITV

Deu 6:1  And this is the commandment, the statute and the judgments which Jehovah your God commanded to teach you, to do them in the land to which you are crossing over, to possess it, 

Deu 6:2  that you might fear Jehovah your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you; you, and your son, and your son's son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged. 

Deu 6:3  Hear, then, O Israel, and take heed to do it, that it may be well with you, that you may increase greatly, as Jehovah the God of your fathers has promised you, in the land flowing with milk and honey. 

Deu 6:4  Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah. 

Deu 6:5  And you shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 

Deu 6:6  And these Words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart. 

Deu 6:7  And you shall teach them to your sons, and shall speak of them as you sit in your house, and as you walk in the way, and as you are lying down, and as you are rising up. 

Deu 6:8  And you shall bind them for a sign on your hand; and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. 

Deu 6:9  And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house, and on your gates. 

Deu 6:10  And it shall be, when Jehovah your God shall bring you into the land which He has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to you great and good cities, which you have not built, 

Deu 6:11  and houses full of every good thing which you have not filled, and wells dug which you did not dig, vineyards and oliveyards which you did not plant; and you shall eat and be satisfied; 

Deu 6:12  and you shall be on guard that you not forget Jehovah who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves. 

Deu 6:13  You shall fear Jehovah your God, and you shall serve Him, and you shall swear by His name. 

Deu 6:14  You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, 

Deu 6:15  for Jehovah your God is a jealous God in your midst, lest the anger of Jehovah your God burn against you, and He destroy you from off the face of the earth. 

Deu 6:16  You shall not test Jehovah your God as you tested Him in Massah. 

Deu 6:17  Keeping you shall keep the commands of Jehovah your God, and His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. 

Deu 6:18  And you shall do the right thing and the good thing in the eyes of Jehovah, so that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land which Jehovah has sworn to your fathers, 

Deu 6:19  to cast out all your enemies from before you, as Jehovah has spoken. 

Deu 6:20  When your son asks you hereafter, saying, What are the testimonies and the statutes and the ordinances which Jehovah your God has commanded you? 

Deu 6:21  Then you shall say to your son, We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, and Jehovah brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 

Deu 6:22  And Jehovah gave signs and great and grievous wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household, before our eyes. 

Deu 6:23  And He has brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers. 

Deu 6:24  And Jehovah commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Jehovah our God for our good forever, to keep us alive, as today. 

Deu 6:25  And it shall be righteousness for us when we take heed to do all this commandment before Jehovah our God, as He has commanded us. 

 

Main Point(s): Moses deals with perceptions, attitudes, motivations: Respect God,  love God, associate with God, teach the next generations the same thing. God is to permeate your life (lives).

1.       What are the reasons given for why the people must fear the Lord and keep His commandments (1-3)?  Fear: yârê' yaw-ray' A primitive root; to fear; morally to revere; causatively to frighten …“ that your days may be prolonged” … “that it may be well with you, that you may increase greatly”…
This is base reasoning. It addresses a problem of perception. Why would Moses say this? It seems that Moses may possess great faith in God, but maybe not so much faith in the people. This is merely a starting point.

2.       What does God want (4-6)?  
Love: 'âhab    'âhêb aw-hab', aw-habe' A primitive root; to have affection for : you shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Heart: lêbâb lay-bawb' From H3823; the heart (as the most interior organ) …these Words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart
God is looking for us to grow to love Him with every fiber of our being. This is the long-term pattern of a relationship. It might start with “fear” but with attentiveness should develop into the affectionate understanding of who God is and how it is that he cares for us. It moves the relationship to a mature place of reverence.

3.       What were they to do with God’s commands (7-9)? How do we do this?  They were to teach their sons. In the broadest sense, speak about God, always, without regard to appointment s or time tables. God was to be present in all conversations. His commands were to be an integral part of what they said, and even what they saw (His word exhibited outwardly)
Nothing has changed. Today we are to keep the word open in our homes, teach our children and have Jehovah central to our lives.

4.       What warning is given (10-15)? What is the cause for this sin? “you shall be on guard that you not forget Jehovah”  - In this instance Idolatry is the warning. Forget: shaw-kakh', shaw-kay'-akh A primitive root; to mislay, that is, to be oblivious of, from want of memory or attention -
This is the end result of NOT doing what he just said; Keeping God centered in our life, keeping His words open and in front of us all the time. Nothing has changed since then.

5.       What are the people warned against doing (16-19)? How do we commit this sin?  See Ex17:1-7  - This is the incident where the people were thirsty and made accusations against God (Moses strikes the rock for water as commanded by God). The location is named Massah/Meribah “because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?””
Massah (testing)+Meribah (quarrel)
Then and now, this is something many people do without thinking. Even today we see many people accusing God when catastrophe occurs; “If there is a God why would He let…”

This is plain arrogance and lacks the heart that Moses speaks of earlier. There is no humility in the heart that seeks to accuse God. On the flip side, how does a heart of love ask a favor or request?

6.       What were the parents to teach their children (20-25)? What was to be explained? How are we to do this today?  The context is when the children asked the parents about these laws; the parents are to tell them that God freed them from slavery and REVEALED Himself through His works (establishes a visual witnessing). That is a visual component for their faith (and a subsequent building block for all future generations’ faith). THIS is the exhibition of LOVE that is key to understanding God. AFTER that, the parent was to explain that obedience to  these laws was there “for our good forever, to keep us alive” (basically that they would prosper in the land).

7.       What will be righteousness to us (24-25)? Explain. “And it shall be righteousness for us when we take heed to do all this commandment before Jehovah our God, as He has commanded us”

Take heed (observe): shâmar shaw-mar' A primitive root; properly to hedge about (as with thorns), that is, guard; generally to protect, attend to,
(some versions interpret “if we are careful”)

This is an end statement of a dedicated life. Obedience to these laws shall be righteousness. However, obedience is not just a goal. It is a lifestyle. It starts with the love described in 4-6. That is only cultivated with daily effort and attention. That love is the foundation of a trust in God. Obedience is the natural outcome to those practices.
As is indicated in Romans, God is the one who makes us righteous if we are faithful. Similarly, obedience (alone) to law did not make the subject righteous.
Righteousness: tsedâqâh tsed-aw-kaw' From H6663; rightness (abstractly), subjectively (rectitude), objectively (justice), morally (virtue) or figuratively (prosperity): - justice, moderately, right (-eous) (act, -ly, -ness).