The book of Deuteronomy is actually one long sermon which Moses “spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan” shortly before he died (Deuteronomy 1:1). It represents somewhat of a last will and testament from the most important person in Israel’s history.
The sermon has (of course) three points. First point: Remember God’s faithfulness to you. Second point: Remember your disobedience towards Him. Third point: When you get in the Land, obey the Lord your God that it may go well with you.
This third point is undoubtedly the burden of the sermon and the exhortation to renewed obedience begins with that famous injunction,
“Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” -Deuteronomy 6:4-5
It is impossible to overstate how important these two verses are in the Jewish and Christian traditions respectively. The first verse (6:4) is known as the Shema, which is the Hebrew word for ‘hear.’ For the observant Jew, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one,” are the first words they speak upon rising in the morning and the last words they speak before going to bed at
night.
Similarly, Deuteronomy 6:5 is central to the Christian faith. When a lawyer came to ask Jesus what the greatest commandment was, the Teacher did not even bat an eye:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).
Indeed, Jesus went on to explain that this commandment is the foundation and fulcrum of all the others (Matthew 22:40).
Being the central injunction of Holy Scripture and the seedbed of all subsequent holiness in a Christian’s life – the million dollar question becomes – how do we obey it? How do we “love the Lord our God” in a way that secures all the covenant blessings promised us?
If we simply continue reading the rest of the chapter the answer becomes clear as sunshine and can be summed up in three simple words: Teach your children (Deuteronomy 6:7ff).
The Prophet Malachi explains that the chief desire of the Lord is for “godly offspring” (Malachi 2:15). This is really good news. For sinful people who often find it so difficult to align our will with God’s it is refreshing to discover that here, at least, we are on the exact same page with our Creator. What we want, above all, is for our children to walk with God and receive all the blessings that this kind of life secures. This does not happen by accident. We must be diligently engaged in teaching our children about God: “Hear O Israel!”
So how do we do this? That will be the subject of our next discussion…
Leave a Reply