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Deuteronomy Chapter 6 "Injunctions
on Entering into the Land." This
Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location Deuteronomy 6 is a continuation of his second address to the children of Israel as they all gathered to hear Moses' message. It is directed to all the people of all the tribes. Deuteronomy 6:1 "Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:" Before we continue, lets get these definitions straight in our minds. "Commandments" are the "ten commandments" that were given to Moses on mount Sinai; "Statutes" are also called "ordinances" and they are authorities decrees or laws made by a tribe or municipal regulation. They are dealing with set times for customs and decrees to be fulfilled. Statutes are appointments dealing with time, space, size, quantity, labor, and usage. In the Hebrew dictionary both Statutes and Ordinances have the same number, # 2706, as given above, which comes from #2710 as the prime. "Judgments" are the duties and punishments of men and woman in their everyday lives. It is # 4941 in the Strong's Hebrew dictionary. "Mishpat, mish-pawt'; a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) given judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (by human, or by Divine law given individually or collectively); includes the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty; abstract., justice, includes a particular right or privilege." God gave the children of Israel "the health laws" that are for the purpose of prolonging their lives and keeping them healthy. He will give them the "agriculture laws" that would give them the understanding of how to prepare the ground to replenish it, and assure crops for many generations. The statutes and the ordinances tells us what to do, while the judgments lays down our rights under the law. Within the word "judgment" also includes your rights and protection under the law. When someone has been wronged under the law, the judgment makes the correction and restores the property or right to the individual. Judgment to those that love and trust the Lord is payday, for it is time to receive your rewards for those things you did and said in obedience to God's Word. After your obedience to the Word of God comes the time to reap your entire inheritance. Judgment is a time when you claim all your rights as a child of the Living God. Deuteronomy 6:2 "That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged." Moses is now repeating the very thing that God has just spoken to him. Moses is teaching that when we keep God commandments and statutes we are showing our reverence to Him, and we are to teach and train our children to do them also, that they may teach their children so that future generation will also respect the Lord. The laws and commandments were given to direct our lives to live peaceable with our neighbors, and be blessed by God through them. Deuteronomy 6:3 "Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey." Moses is addressing the entire congregation of the children of Israel. All of the people of all ages are warned to heed the Words that Moses is telling them in this message. This message is addressed to you and I today, for remember this message is to be passed on from parent to children all the way to the end of this earth age. We are not only to read and listen to God's instruction, but to follow these Words in our deeds and actions and God will bless mightily. That is a promise from God to you even today. Many of God's people ended up in that land of milk and honey long after the scatterings of the ten tribes by the Assyrians, and later, the house of Judah by the Babylonians. That land of milk and honey are the places today where God's people finally settled after the went through the Caucasus mountains and migrated to their present home-lands in Western Europe, the British Isles, and of course the Americas. God has blessed us mightily to the point that we are feeding not only ourselves, but the entire world. Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:" Don't pass over this short verse. The Lord our God is one Godhead. In the Hebrew tongue, "Lord" is recorded in Strong's Hebrew dictionary as # 3068. "Yehovah, yeh-ho-vaw'; from 1961; (the) self-Existing or Eternal; Jehovah, the Lord. Comp. 3050, 3069." In # 3050; "Yahh, Yaw; Meaning the same as 3068, Jah, the sacred name; Yah the Lord, most vehement." The Lord Jehovah is only one person, not several as is taught by many teach. Moses commands the people to "Hear", to listen to what He is going to say. In the Hebrew text, the word is "Sham's" which has the last letter larger than the others, as also the last letter of the last word (`echad). This is done to emphasize "the first and great commandment", that Jesus gave us in Matthew 22:38, and Mark 12:29, 30. These two letters taken together make the word " 'ed", meaning "a witness". "God is the witness that looketh on the heart." (I Samuel 16:7) This is one of those hidden acrostics that God has hidden in the manuscripts to allow the student of God's Word more insight. Those that care are given these days to better understand our Heavenly Father. So in the Hebrew it reads as such: "Hear, O Israel, Jehovah (the Self and ever existing One, our Elohim is one Jehovah". The word "one" in the Hebrew is "'ehad", which is a compound of unity. It is like saying one made up of other units, one of the Trinity of offices that are part of the Godhead. It is another part of the witness of the Oneness that there is in the Godhead and the three offices that are fulfilled by one Person, in our Father, the office of His Son Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit that leads us and gives us warmth and comfort. Deuteronomy 6:5 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy might." If you are a student of the Gospels, this should be very familiar to you, for Jesus quoted these Words in Matthew 22:37; "Jesus said unto him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." We know this to be the first commandment, as Jesus said in the next verse. This is the new commandment that Christ gave that covered all other commandments. We see in the New Testament, the word "might" is brought forth in the Greek to read "mind", for that is where your thinking process takes place. It is from your mind that the thought takes place whereby you give the reverence to our Father, and to all the other laws and statutes of His Word. Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy quite a bit. Matthew 22:39 "And the second is like unto it, "Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself." Matthew 33:40 "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." The first five commandments are those dealing with our relationship to the Father, and the second five deal with our relationship to our neighbor. These second set of five commandments are the five civil laws or commandments. So within these two sets of five commands all the law is touching, and here Jesus does just that. Though Jesus is stating just two, within these two represent all the other eight. Deuteronomy 6:6 "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:" Though the word "heart" is given here, Jesus translated it "mind". God wants your love and devotion to Him to come from deep within your mind. Deuteronomy 6:7 "And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." When you are sitting around in your house, what is the center of your conversation? Remember that Moses is addressing not only those of the tribes that are standing before him, but this message and words of Deuteronomy are directed to future generations as well, all the way to our generation. If you are living and breathing in your flesh body, then this is addressed to you. You are God's child, so what do you talk about when you sit in your house, when you go to bed, and what is the first thing you address when you get up in the morning? Do you speak of and to your heavenly Father, or is He left out of your conversation? How often do you meditate on God's Word, and those things that are written in His Word? God is not asking you to be a religious fanatic, but He is asking you to be mindful of Him in all the things that you do. God is asking you to be mindful of His laws and commandments as you live your life, and to seek Him when the going gets a little tough. God is telling you that when you do, it pleases Him, and He will bless you for it. Deuteronomy 6:8 "And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes." The Orthodox Jews still practice this literally, however Christians take this spiritually because it simply does not matter what you wear. Those signs and writings that others can see plastered on your clothing does not tell what is on your mind, but what matters to us is what is in your mind. What you think and your actions and deeds comes from the mind, and not the clothing that is hanging on your back or markings on your flesh. The thing that matters is that you have a working knowledge of His Word; of the law and commandments, and that those commandments govern what you say and do. It is not even important that you memorize the Word of God, word for word, but that you have the knowledge and understand the meaning of those words. Deuteronomy 6:9 "And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." The post of the house is the front door of your home. All that this is saying is that when people enter your home, make it apparent to them that your home is a Christian home that follows the commandments of God and His Word. Many people today have signs and plaques hanging on their wall with their favorite verses, and this is good. It is a constant reminder to them of God's faithfulness. When people have a conversation with you, can they tell by your conversation that you are a Christian, or do they have to ask? Deuteronomy 6:10 "And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which He sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not," In the very short time, these Israelite tribes did go in and conquer these cities of their enemies. However, in the far distant future, the tribes went into the lands such as we have in America, in England and where ever the tribes settled, and God gave them the victory and the land to live in and build their great cities. When the children of Israel came to America and Canada, and all the other places, God blessed our forefathers and caused them to be prosperous. In time we would become the superpower of all superpowers. Deuteronomy 6:11 "And houses full of good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; Deuteronomy 6:12 "Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, Which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." When you get settled in your nice new home and everything is going well, beware lest you forget the Lord and turn away from His Word. This can happen within your own family, even today. We know that this did happen over and over, as it was recorded in the book of Judges, and continued right down to the times when the tribes were scattered off their lands into captivity. It is also happening today, as the wealth of our nation is turning many to themselves in their own self interests and pride, and they are forgetting to thank the Lord and seek His guidance. Deuteronomy 6:13 "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve Him, and shalt sware by His name." God is telling you to depend on His name, to sware by Him as serve Him in all that you do. We are to know His Word to be a fact and come to rely upon in in our lives. Deuteronomy 6:14 "Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;" This is taking us to very important verses. Deuteronomy 6:15 "(For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth." Stay away from other people beliefs, and those new ideas of religion that people like to bring into and mix with their Christianity. Stay with God's Word. Deuteronomy 6:16 "Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted Him in Massah." This was quoted by Jesus in Matthew 4:7, and He quoted it to Satan. It is the messing around with God's Word by dropping a letter or word, to change the meaning of the word, just as Satan did to Jesus while our Lord was being tempted those forty days in the wilderness. Matthew 4:5 "Then the devil taketh Him up into the holy city, and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple," Jesus had been in the wilderness for forty days without food or water, and when His body was in a weakened state, Satan came to Him to tempt Him. Matthew 4:6 "And saith unto Him, "If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down: for it is written, `He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee: and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time [making Satan quoting a lie] Thou dash Thy foot against a stone.' " " Many teachers think that Satan was teaching here from the Old Testament, however Satan was misquoting Psalms 91:11, 12, because he added the words "at any time", which changed the entire meaning of Psalms 91:11, 12. Jesus knew what Satan had done, and this is why He stated, the following. Matthew 4:7 "Jesus said unto him [Satan], "It is written, `Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.' " " When Jesus went to the wilderness, Satan himself tempted Jesus by distorting and using twisted quotations from God's own Word against Him. That is how He works against us, by twisting the Word and distorting it, and then presenting it as something from God. That is why we must check out what is being said, when God's Word is being quoted, so that we do not believe a lie. Jesus is quoting here from Deuteronomy 6:16. Satan is going to try to tempt a lot of us through the Word of God, and he does in by twisting the Word, and adding and taking away a Word to make it something that just isn't so. The number "forty" stands for "probation" in biblical numerics. "Massah" in the Hebrew tongue means "temptation", and that is why Moses named it that. When we tempt God through our actions, it causes God to correct us. God corrects us to make adjustments on our attitudes which in turn will cause us to change our ways. Tempting God by mishandling His Word is a good example of how you can get God on your back. The correction came to the Israelites back in the wilderness, because of their attitudes over water. The were holding God's miracles up to ridicule because of their lack of water. So how did this tempt God? The people were about to kill Moses because of their lack of water, and they blamed Moses for having brought them into the wilderness to die. Moses went to the Lord and asked Him what he was to do. The people cause Moses to disobey God by using his anger, because God did not give them instant relief when they asked for it. This same sin is very common today, for people just are to lazy to wait upon the Lord, and would rather shoot their mouth off and blame God for all sorts of things when things don't appear to be going right in their minds. Friend, that is what makes God very angry, for we are to wait on the Lord for His time, and learn to trust upon Him. God is the eternal Father, and He is the creator of all things. We are His creation and we should learn to trust Him for He has made promises to us. God is not going to allow us to run the universe, and take control away from Him. That is what Satan did in the first earth age, and it caused God to sentence him to perdition. God will do what He chooses to do, and on His time schedule. God did so much for them, and they simply did not appreciate it or even thank Him for the protection and provision that He had given to them. Deuteronomy 6:17 "Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and His testimonies, and His statutes, which He hath commanded thee." God spoke to them from the mountain, in the storm of fire, and they saw the light of day disappear in the smoke that covered the sky. They heard God's voice give them the commandments, and now God expects them to obey the commandments that were given to them. Deuteronomy 6:18 "And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers," We are to follow His commandments for the sake that through our obedience to Him, God could bless us. That promise is brought right to our generation, and the lands that are occupied by the Christian nations of today. The blessings of our nation come because of the obedience of our forefathers to respect and follow God's Word, as a nation. As the obedience from the people erodes, so will the blessings from God. Stop for a moment and observe how the jobs of our nation are being removed from our land. The streets of our cities are becoming filled with violence and all sorts of hazards. Deuteronomy 6:19 "To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the Lord hath spoken." This still holds true to this day. When we stand firm as a family to the truths from God's Word high, the Lord will hold the enemies of our family at bay from us. It is a promise from God to you, no matter what generation you live in. Deuteronomy 6:20 "And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, `What meanest the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded you?' " This is directed to what the children should be taught that are within your household. God is telling you what you should teach your children. When you teach them the laws and commandments, you are to teach it on their level of understanding. You are not to run to the books of the ways of the world, but to God's Word. This is talking about teaching your children about God and How to get along in this world. God's laws and commandments are given for that purpose. This then is what you should teach them. Deuteronomy 6:21 "Thy thou shalt say unto thy son, `We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand:" Stress the mighty protective hand of God, when you are teaching your children. God was the one that caused our forefathers to be freed from Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt. We are to tell the little children of the many wonderful things that God has done for our people. Deuteronomy 6:22 "And the Lord shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:" Teach them about the plagues that came upon Egypt and Pharaoh's household. Then to carry this more in detail, how God showed us many signs and wonders as He led and protected His children in the wilderness. This was a type of how God releases us from our enemies and the plagues that bind us in this life. We have a plague upon our land today called AIDS, and many innocent people are drawn in by it. However if you were to follow God's instructions, it would be very unlikely that you would ever have AIDS, you wouldn't have to worry about it, because AIDS is the product of defying God and not following His Word. It is just that simple. When you disobey God's health laws, you can expect to get sick. God gave His health laws to help you maintain your body in good physical health. We are to be patient in our teaching, and with children it requires repeating those important things over and over. Explain who it was directed to, when, where, and why these things are important. Deuteronomy 6:23 "And He brought us out of thence, that He might bring us in, to give us the land which He sware unto our fathers." God not only brought our forefather out of the land of Egypt to the promise land, but after the scattering them by the Assyrians and Babylonians, He led our people to the distant lands to where we now occupy and have settled. Our people were scattered, and in the scattering God did bless His people were every they settled. This proves God's Word to be true to the letter. This is what you are to teach your children, don't hold it back. Deuteronomy 6:24 "And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is at this day." Did you catch that? We are to follow all His commandments and statutes and to revere God for our good. We are to constantly follow His ways so that God can preserve and keep the blessings coming to us while we are alive and living our lives here on earth in our flesh bodies. Sure there is a spiritual side to this, but it comes right down to plain common sense to those that want to life a good live, and have the blessings and protection from God. God wants you to live a good life while you are here on earth, living in your flesh body. Moses wanted you and I to stress this upon our children and grandchildren. Deuteronomy 6:25 "And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He hath commanded us.' " "Our righteousness" is our right to do and to follow the instructions God gave us. We know that even our best righteousness is as filthy rags before the Father. However if we seek to do the will of the Father, and by faith repent of our sins before the Father in Jesus name, our righteousness becomes and takes on Jesus' righteousness. Jesus' blood covers our sins and shortcomings, and we take on His righteousness. Then after we are His, God counts our doing His works, and following His ways, righteousness. Then you have the right to claim all the promises that God has made to you through His Word. It becomes your right to teach your children, and to claim all the promises that God has made to those that have met the condition to those promises. When you place your children under God's protection, God will protect them when the trouble comes. When your children learn to follow God's ways, many of those dangers in life just would not come their way. God Word does make a difference in people's lives when they learn to love and follow His Word.
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