Moses gave the people one commandment (v1-5). It covered all the laws, statutes, and judgments which The LORD had commanded which they must observe in the land they were going to. They were to fear The LORD their God and not only themselves, but their children and grandchildren. Their future depended upon their obedience. He combined all the commandments, laws, and statutes into one – “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” God’s promise was they would prosper in the land if they obeyed, but if they didn’t, they would suffer God’s wrath.
Our first duty is to God, to love and serve Him with all our being and our duty to our neighbour will flow naturally from that. Jesus, when asked which is the greatest commandment, said (Mark 12:28-30) “The first of all the commandments is, “Hear O Israel, the LORD our God is one….” and we often miss that from the Ten Commandments by starting at “You shall have no other Gods….”
This statement is who God is and that there is no other, and that we must love and serve Him with all our being. Jesus summed up the commandments into two – our love for God being paramount and then our love for our neighbour. If we love God, we should have no difficulty in loving our neighbour. God is love. God wants our love more than anything else. If we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, we will not hold anything back from Him.
The statement that ‘The LORD our God is one’ does not take away from the fact that God is One in Three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Hebrew word is plural – Elohim. Three but One, but not divided, not three Gods.
The words which God had given them were not simply to be head knowledge, but they were to be in their hearts (v6), meaning that they were to be part of their very being and guide their actions and show in the way they lived. They were also required to teach them diligently to their children (v7-9). This was not just like school, but part of everyday life – talk about them when sitting in their houses and when out walking, lying down and waking up. We are often guilty of idle chatter, but this was nothing of the kind, it was important and vital to their existence. To make these things a part of their daily conversation even going so far as place reminders on their hands and before their eyes, even on the doorposts and gates.
There was a Jewish practice of nailing a container with a scripture passage to their doorposts. They also practice the wearing of phylacteries, small boxes containing scripture to their forehead or hands. This became a matter of pride among the Pharisees wearing bigger and bigger ones to show their spirituality and Jesus condemned it in Matthew 23:5.
As often happens, Satan copies such things and in the end times he will give people a mark in their foreheads or hands (Revelation 13:16). I’m not happy that some have even had verses of scripture tattooed on their bodies, in fact not happy with tattoos at all and I would suggest thinking very carefully before doing so, especially for any Christian. If they have been done before conversion, so be it, but I know many who regret it now.
Leviticus 19:28 condemns cuttings in the skin and tattoos for the dead. These were pagan rituals of mourning. Mourning was not discouraged but the pagan rituals of disfigurement associated with it. We need to be careful trying to find passages of Scripture to say what we may or may not practice in this age. Having a tattoo will not stop anyone serving God but in the Bible, tattooing is associated with witchcraft. Perhaps we should concentrate on what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19,20 that our bodies belong to God; therefore, we should glorify Him in our bodies.
God had promised them a wonderful land with cities which they had not built, houses filled with good things, fully supplied wells, vineyards, and olive trees (v10-12). What more did they need – nothing. Everything was provided, but there was a grave danger. That danger was that in their prosperity, they would forget God, The One who had done so much for them, brought them out of bondage.
The LORD instructed them as to how they were to conduct themselves when they entered The Promised Land (v13-19). They were to fear God – fear, not in the sense of being afraid of God, but in absolute respect for God and fear of letting Him down or going against Him. They were to honour Him in everything they did. This was one of the verses Jesus quoted to Satan when he tempted Him (Matthew 4) ‘You shall fear the LORD your God and serve Him only.’
They were to keep themselves from other gods. They were only to take oaths in His Name. The Bible warns against taking oaths but only in the names of other gods etc. There is usually no need to take an oath. There is an example in the book of Judges 11 where Jephthah took an oath (vow) before going out to battle. It was that he would put to death the first thing that came out of his tent when he returned victorious. Sadly, it was his daughter. He fulfilled his vow but if he had spoken to the priest, he could have avoided it. (See Numbers 30, Deuteronomy 23:21-23). Jesus said that we should not use them. (Matthew 5:33-37.)
“You shall not tempt The LORD your God.” Once more this was the passage Jesus used to combat Satan (Matthew 4:5-7). Seems a strange phrase. How and why would they want to tempt God? The passage says that they did that at Massah – Moses called “…. the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?” Sadly, the place was named because they tempted The LORD there. (Exodus 17:1-7). This was doubting and disregarding God’s love for them and demanding something from God. They would bring judgment on themselves by doing this.
If they did what they had done at Massah, God would bring judgment on them, in fact wipe them out from the face of the earth, but if they did what was right, God would bless them and prosper them. Their blessing was based on their obedience.
We are in a different situation under the New Covenant. Jesus fulfils the law on our behalf. It is not by our works but by faith in His finished work. The Holy Spirit indwelling believers puts the power in us and the desire to be the people he wants us to be. We are not under condemnation for our sins when we have confessed them to Him and received His salvation. “If you love Me, you will keep my commands.” Jesus has paid the full price for our redemption, and we are new creations, the old has gone, the new has come. His law is now written in our hearts. This does not mean that we can do as we like, but our salvation is all dependent upon Him, and our obedience comes out of our love for Him.
The people were again, given the responsibility to teach others, especially their children and grandchildren (v20-25). “When your son asks you in time to come, saying, “What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD our God has commanded you?” then you shall say to your son: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and the LORD showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.”
What better story to tell our children than how The LORD has saved us, what He has done in our lives and in history. No-one can deny the truth of what God has done in your life, and how He can work in their lives, what He can do for them.
We often despair that a generation is growing up who do not know anything of God and His ways. Some years ago, children were encouraged to go to church and Sunday School and if they didn’t, they would receive some biblical teaching at School. The Education Acts stated that there should be some form of mainly Christian Assembly and Religious Education lessons in most schools, but even though that law has not been repealed, so far as I know, it has been watered down to be virtually meaningless. Even when I was at school over 60 years ago, our RE lessons left a lot to be desired, except for one teacher, a Christian, who I still see today. Fortunately, I had been to church and Sunday School where I was taught the Word of God as well as at home and it stood me in good stead when questionable teaching came at School. I remember one of my first essays in RE homework, which was about salvation. The teacher (not a Christian, evidently) marked it ‘John doesn’t seem to understand’. (My mother went mad and had a few words on parents evening.) It is vital that we as Christian parents and grandparents teach our young ones the truth so that they will be equipped to face the onslaughts of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
We live in a world where Christianity is largely overlooked so the responsibility on Christian parents etc is greater to teach the younger generation the things of God. Despite the lack of teaching, I have been surprised by the bible knowledge of some prisoners in my work of leading Bible Studies in prisons. Many might think that the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, is so out of date, but we can plainly see that God made no mistake in His instructions for living. Just as Peter says in his second letter 1:3 when he says that ‘God has given us everything we need pertaining to life and godliness.’
We also honour The LORD by the way we respect our leaders, governments, and rulers. 2 Peter 1:13-17 tells us this is God’s will. Also, that we should pray for them.
