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, O 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 fathers, promised you.
Moses is the one speaking in this passage of the Bible. He is giving his last words to the people of Israel before they cross the Jordan into the land of the Canaanites. He could not go with them because of the rebellion 40 years earlier, in which he did not listen to the words of God.
He is telling them to obey these laws that he has given them so that they may be blessed and not end up as the people who rebelled before them, so that they may gain the land promised to them by God.
This is something that can relate to the New Testament. The promise. I have spoken on this before, and I shall do it again. Hebrews 6:13-20 says,
When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants." And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his promise very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
This is basically saying that God's promise is always fulfilled for the ones He made the promise to. When God promised the land to the forefathers of the people Moses is speaking to in Deuteronomy, He gave His unbreakable, undeniable, unbending word to them to give them the land of the Canaanites. And nothing would change it.
Continuing on in the passage, Deuteronomy 6:4-9 says,
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 upon your hearts. 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.
This paragraph relates to two passages from the New Testament. The first is also something I've spoken of before. Romans 12:9-21 says,
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at piece with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for as it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, this you will heap burning coals on his head."
Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.
And another passage goes with this one. It's 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, and it says,
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
When it says to love God in Deuteronomy, it means all these things. It means to trust God, be kind to Him, be patient with the life He made for you, to always put your hope in Him, to persevere in the hard times, and to serve Him in any way you can. A huge part of loving someone is sacrificing for them. Time you were going to spend doing something for yourself, things you were going to get, it is the most major part of loving someone. You can't love someone without giving up your selfishness. It's not possible.
The second part of the paragraph can be related to James 1:22-27. It says,
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in the mirror and, after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-he will be blessed in what he does.
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
In Deuteronomy, it says to talk about the laws to everyone, and everywhere; and to show them to the world. In the same way, we are to read God's Word and talk about it with and show it to everyone we possibly can. To tell them of our faith, and to show them our faith with actions.
So we must love our God by doing His commands and serving Him in any ways we can, and we must talk about and show people who God is.
The next paragraph is Deuteronomy 6:10-12. It says,
When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, 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.
Moses mentioned God's promise again in this paragraph. Reminding the people of Israel of what God said He will do, and that He will do it. So that they not forget the Lord when He rewards them. Likewise, we should not forget the Lord when something wonderful happens in our lives. In fact, we should never forget the Lord no matter what happens to us in our lives.
Also, just like the Israelites were going to receive a new land they did not toil to build, we too shall receive a new land we did not toil to make. 2 Corinthians 5:1 says,
Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
They received a land they did not build when they were set free from their bonds of slavery, and we will receive a land not even built by humans, but built by God. After we are freed from our bonds of sin.
The next paragraph, Deuteronomy 6:13-19, says,
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 around 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 test the Lord your God as you did at Massah. Be sure to the 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 that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers, thrusting out your enemies before you, as the Lord said.
Fear the Lord. But you should not fear Him as we do the dark or what we don't know, for we know the Lord, and that He loves us. Fear Him in a way of respect for His power and majesty and wisdom. For if you fear Him he will teach you.
Take your oaths in His name, fore God is the highest person to swear an oath upon. So that if you do swear an oath, you are bound by God to keep it.
Part of this paragraph can relate to many parts of the Bible, but the original location is
Exodus 20:3-6. It says,
"You shall have no other gods before me.
"You shall not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who have my and keep my commandments."
Do not follow any other gods and do not make an idol. These are not always some statue made of gold or wood. They can be your computer, your TV, sports, your spouse, your girlfriend/boyfriend, your ipod, school, family, work, other books, video games, idols take many forms. You can still do these things, but you just have to make sure that God is at the top of the list. These acts will not go unpunished, for God is jealous. James 4:4-6 says,
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensly? But he gave us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
Be humble and do not desire the world or trust it. Instead, trust God and make Him your WHOLE world! Because God is bigger, and more forgiving than this world! Therefore, it would make much more sense to follow Him, than it would to follow an idol.
The next part can relate to Galations 6:7-10. It says,
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, espeacially to those who belong to the family of believers.
The Israelites did what was right and good in the sight of the Lord, and they recieved the land God promised with long lives. If we do what is good in the Lord's sight, we will be rewarded with riches in heaven.
Moses also mentions God promise once again at the end of the paragraph, and that God will keep it with them.
The last paragraph is Deuteronomy 6:20-25. It says,
In the future, when your son asks you, "What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord your God commanded you?" tell him: "We were slaves of Pharoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our eyes the Lord sent miraculous signs and wonders-great and terrible-upon Egypt and Pharoh 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 forefathers. 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."
Just like the Israelites were told to tell their children that God freed them from slavery in Egypt, we are to tell others of how Jesus died on the cross to free us from our sin. Ephesians 2:1-5 says,
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.
We were once slaves to our sins, but Jesus died on the cross and freed us.
The paragraph continues to mention God's promise to the Israelites again. I will get back to this.
The Israelites were given laws to obey so that they may live long and thrive in the land promised to them. This would be their righteousness. However that was before Jesus died on the cross. Galations 3:15-25 says,
Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and his seed. The Scripture does not say, "and to the seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.
What, then, was the pupose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise reffered had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a midiator. A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.
Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law has been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
What does all this mean? It means the promise made to Israel to receive the land would and could not be changed by the law. But also that the other part of the promise (made directly to Abraham) , that his seed would become a great nation, was actually talking about Jesus. Jesus is the seed that, when he died on the cross to save us from our sins, made a nation of all the people who believed in Him! That nation is the invisible Church of all the Christians of the world!
The law was completely separate of the promise made to Israel. In Israel's time, the laws were rules set up to be followed by the people. They didn't have a savior yet. However we do! But that doesn't mean the Law doesn't have anymore meaning. It tells us how God wants us to act for Him. It also shows us what sins we commit and need to be saved from. So when we see the sins we commit, we go to Christ and ask for forgiveness, and strength, wisdom, and knowledge to not commit them again!
This is why God's promise was mentioned 4 times in the passage. When the Israelites heard it, they were reminded of when God freed them from Egypt! And when we read it, we are reminded of Christ dying on the cross to free us from our sins!
The Old Testament is regarded as a bunch of stories that aren't worth reading most of the time by many of the people I know, as well as some books in the New Testament. But that is wrong! Every book in the Bible can have a deep meaning! You can see it if you keep reading your Bible! Eventually you can relate multiple books in the Bible to just one! And come out with a completely new meaning than with just the single books alone! God had the Bible written in the way it is for a reason! If you read it all the way, read it again, and again, and again! You will realize new things every time you read it!
Thank You For Reading
Long Live Jesus Christ
Amen
