Deuteronomy 5–6

chapter five actually the end of chapter four excuse me we start in chapter four verse 44 because every now and then it's fun to end not at the end of a chapter to see who's paying attention okay tonight we move into a different section of the book of deuteronomy the section that we move into tonight is what god expects we saw what god had done for the nation in the first almost four chapters but now from the end of chapter four until chapter 26 is going to be what god expects of the people really this is the reiterating of god's law to the nation of israel and it's really going to take on tonight in chapters five and six two portions we'll talk about the ten commandments but then ultimately

the greatest commandment which is to love the lord your god but we pick up in verse 44 with a little bit of an introduction on the ten commandments and an introduction to this new section so we now this is the law which moses set before the sons of israel these are the testimonies and the statutes and the ordinances which moses spoke to the sons of israel when they came out from egypt across the jordan in the valley opposite beth peor the land of sihan king of the amorites who lived at heshbon and who moses and the sons of israel defeated when they came out of egypt they took possession of his land in the land of excuse me og king of bashan the two kings of the amorites who were across the jordan to the east from auror which is on the

edge of the valley of arnon even as far as mount sion which is herman with all the araba across the jordan to the east even as far as the sea of araba at the foot of the slopes of pisgah so as he gives this little introduction before he makes a call to the nation of israel he puts first of all a little bit of a uh an introduction to what he's going to do he says these are the uh he puts several words on the law the testimonies the statutes and the ordinances that tells us that's what we're moving into he's going to begin to explain what this new generation this new generation who maybe were just kids when they stood at the base of mount sinai and heard that law given

these uh young folks who were just kids when they saw the tabernacle first put up he's going to explain to them all of these things so that as they move into the land they'll know what god expects of them as they move into the land it of course puts a little bit of a time stamp as well of a locational stamp on it for us because it tells us that he's on just the other side of the jordan right after he has defeated those kings og and sihon and so that prepares us for where we are now so that sets the the historical as well as the theological standing for what he's going to say next so he continues on with his introduction by saying then moses summoned all israel and said to them

hear oh israel the statutes and ordinances which i am speaking to you today in your hearing that you may learn them and observe them carefully the lord our god made a covenant with us at horab the lord did not make this covenant with our fathers but with us with all those of us alive here today the lord spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire while i was standing between the lord and you at that time to declare to you the word of the lord for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up to the mountains and then he said pause there i want to make a couple of comments before we move on so as moses calls the people says he summoned the nation of israel i want you to notice the

three things that that moses tells them as he summons the people the first thing he says is hear oh israel that tells us that the first most important thing that they could do at this point

they need to have ears that are willing to hear all of the things that he's going to tell them about the laws the testimonies the statutes and the ordinances which he's going to be speaking to them now i think there's a word in each of these three things that he's going to tell the nation of israel i think there's a word in them for us and the first word that i think that's there for us is that we as believers in jesus christ need to become a people who listen we need to become a people who can learn to listen to what god has to say to us be it through somebody teaching the us being in it on our own i think one of the greatest hindrances to listening is distractions

right if you look at any kid and you try to get them to listen to you what's the first thing that you have to say no don't look at anything over here look at me so that you can hear the words that are coming out of my mouth well in the same way i think sometimes in the culture that we live in today god wants to do the same thing to us because while i may not be a five-year-old in stature although almost sometimes in my i can be especially when it comes to spiritual things because the distractions of the world are so many and sometimes god just the first thing he says to me is before i can tell you anything i need you to listen i need you just to stop i need you to put aside everything else in the world

and i need you to listen to what i have to say to you because it's the most important thing that we can do anytime i work with a couple and i talk to them about communication we talk to them about the fact that the most important part of communication is the ability to listen because if you don't listen it's not communication it's just one-sided it's just someone talking and no one's ever hearing any of it god is calling us as believers in jesus christ in the same way that he's calling the nation of israel before they can enter into the promised land to first of all listen but the second word that stuck out to me is this he says that you may learn now i think that's a really important word for us to pay attention to as well because

he needed to teach the children of israel but they had to have a desire to learn what god expected of them i think learning is a place that we need to be in our own lives this is what can happen to us right and it happens very subtly we don't always realize it's taking place but we get into our walk with jesus christ and we start walking with him for a certain amount of time and we forget that we don't know everything yet and because we don't because we've forgotten that we don't know everything yet we think oh i pretty well got this thing figured out we stop we stop learning right the the greatest thing that we can do as human beings is decide that i'm going to always learn what god has to share with me that if i'm

first going to listen i then need to take that information in and begin to learn i'm reminded of what jesus told to his disciples when he said take my yoke upon you and learn of me for i am meek and lowly in heart and as you do so you will find rest for your souls we as believers in jesus christ as long as long as we're living on top side of this earth are never going to know everything and there's always going to be so much more that we need to take in we need to be those that have a heart to continually learn but then the third word that he says is where things get really hard he says not only do you need to hear these things not only do you need to learn these things but you need to learn these things and you need to

but you need to observe them carefully let me put another o word on that that i think will explain that word just a little bit better we need to obey what god's word has to say because a lot of us can end up becoming learners that never actually put it into action our bibles are full of notes we can tell you how to do all the things correctly as far as what scripture has to say we can give you all of the historical context and all the historical all those things and yet in our lives we can find i know all the things that i've been taught but i don't ever obey them and what does the book of james tell us that we need to do we need to not be hearers only but also doers of the word he said these are three really key things that as i gather

you as the nation of israel preparing you to go into the land you need to first of all people be people that can listen second of all be people that can learn but third be people that are going and obey you may have noticed that the word carefully the little adverb is used right there observe these things carefully in other words we should put great thought that's the same word that was used in the last chapter where we said it meant to set a guard over in other words my obedience is something that i should constantly have guard over in my life to make sure that i'm constantly doing the things that god calls for me to do and as moses speaks this word to them still continuing on in this introduction the first thing he does is he reminds

them that what they're in right now is a covenant he says the lord our god made a covenant with us at horeb that word covenant is so important because the word covenant carries with the idea of commitment you made a commitment you remember the commitment we'll go over kind of at the end after he goes through these 10 commandments but the commitment that they made is that they would obey god and he said i want you to remember as you go into the land you've made a covenant with god you've made a commitment to god and it's a commitment that's very unique to you because notice what he says wait a second didn't he make it with their fathers their fathers didn't keep the covenant

now did they because they wouldn't enter the land he said he made this covenant with you you who are about to enter the land that's who this covenant is uniquely yours because you are the ones who are ready to enter the land and then he goes on to remind them of their unique relationship with the lord he says the lord spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire there was a personal aspect to the way god delivered this law to them and because of that these are the things that they need to pay attention to and so in verse six we start with the commandments it says i am the lord your god who brought you out of the land of egypt out of the house of slavery you know he reiterates this in the same way that

he did in the book of exodus when he first gave the law first gave them the law before he ever gave them any commandment what was the first thing that he reminded them of that he was the god who had delivered them out of slavery he was the god who had given them rest therefore as the god who has given them rest the god who has delivered them from their slavery they must respond with a heart of obedience you know what i appreciate about this i appreciate the fact that god only desires that we would respond to what he's already done for us he desires that our obedience to him would not be so that we could earn a position in the kingdom of god but our obedience to him would be because we have a

position within the kingdom of god we are simply responding to that which god has done for us and the first response that we have is just simply to rest if you ever look at a marathon training program i don't know if you've ever thought about running a marathon before maybe you've most of you haven't but if you look at a marathon training program they actually have those online you should look it up sometime you know what the first day that you do or the first thing that you do on the first day of a marathon training program you rest day one is rest isn't that funny it's like hey things are about to get real you're about to do something really intense so the first thing that

you should do take a day of rest and then you'll jump into all of the training that you're going to be doing you know throughout the marathon training program you know what there's lots of rest why because we need that so we go on from there he says this is what i've done for you therefore this is what you will do in response to what i've done you shall have no other gods before me you shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth you shall not worship them or serve them for i the lord your god am a jealous god visiting the iniquities of the fathers on the children and on the third and on the fourth

generations of those who hate me but showing loving kindness to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments you shall not take the name of the lord your god in vain for the lord will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain observe the sabbath day to keep it holy as the lord your god commanded you six days you shall work and do all or shall labor and do all but the seventh day is a sabbath of the lord your god in it you shall not do any work you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you so that your male and female servant may rest

as well you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of egypt and the lord your god brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm therefore you shall not do any the lord commanded you to observe the sabbath day honor your father and your mother as the lord your god has commanded you that your days may be prolonged that it may go well with you in the land which the lord your god gives you you shall not murder you shall not commit adultery you shall not steal you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor you shall not covet your neighbor's wife shall not covet your neighbor's house his field or his male servant or his female servant his ox or his dog or his wife his mother his daughter his father his father

donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Now, as he does this, he literally just reiterates all of the Ten Commandments. But in the same way that Moses thought it was important for the people to hear all these Ten Commandments again, I think it's important for us to hear the Ten Commandments again. As a matter of fact, you know what we're told in, I believe it's Psalm 19, it says that the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. And it's a good thing for us to meditate

on. Matter of fact, Psalm 1 says we should meditate on it day and night. I think it's really good as God lays this foundation of godliness for the nation of Israel, that this foundation of godliness doesn't change in the New Testament. So let's look through these really quickly. Number one, he says, you shall have no other gods before me. Now, that phrase before me, if we take it in the English

face value, it makes it sound like, you can have other gods, you just can't put them in front of me. Right? I mean, honestly, if we were looking for some justification for things, that would be it. But what that phrase really means in the Hebrew is, you shall not have any gods in my face. In other words, I don't want you to have any other gods. Friends, we could run out of highlighter ink,

highlighting all of the times in the Old Testament that God tells us not to have any other gods. It's not even going to be the last time in the Ten Commandments that he says it. He's going to bring it up again. And yet, he makes sure that the people know, you shall have no other gods before me. I'm not going to share you with anyone. And it's an important thing for us to pay attention to because

in the world that we live in, we are constantly surrounded by little gods. And we're really good at making for ourselves little gods. And it's so natural for us. That's why the very first thing God tells them is, listen, I can be the only one. You don't have to worship me. But if you're going to, you only worship me. He says, you shall have no other gods before me. And then he says, you shall not make for yourself an idol. In case you had any

questions, number two solves that for us. You shall not make any idol for yourself of any kind of likeness. And down in verse nine, you shall not worship them or serve them for I am the Lord your God. For I, the Lord your God, am a god. I am a god. I am a god. I am a god. I am a god. I am a god. I am a god. I am a god. I am a god. I am a god. I am a god. I am a god. I am a god. I am a god. I am a god. I am a god. I am a god. I am a was dog. I am a

He says, he says, don't make for yourself a bunch of images. He says, don't make images for them. As a matter of fact, don't bow down to any images of all those things. Because once again, I am a jealous God. He says, I only want you to worship me. Now, depending on how you look at this, you can think, gosh, that's awfully selfish of God. isn't it but when you know something's the absolute best that something provides life

then you want people to push aside everything that might bring death and that's exactly what God tells them by not making any images for themselves and again a really thought-provoking question I think that we should ask ourselves is what kind of images do I set up in my life what are some little idols that take on the form of humans or take on the form of animals or take on the form of material things what kind of idols do we have in our lives that if something were to happen to that thing I just don't know what I would do I just don't know what it would do to me if that thing was destroyed he said don't make for yourselves idols because I'm a jealous God as a matter of fact

I visit the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the third and on the fourth generations of those who hate me that means that if you do decide that you'll live a life of idolatry it will have long-lasting consequences in your life you know how it has long-lasting consequences in your life because our kids watch the idols that we have our kids watch the things that are of vast importance to us you know how it has long-lasting consequences in your life because our kids watch the things that are of vast importance to us and they have a tendency to put vast importance on those things as well and they tend to become idols in their lives as well it's it's fascinating to work with kids

because when you work with kids and you hear them say certain things you don't have to know who their parents are because when you hear certain things come out of parents mouths you're like I know who you belong to I know who your kid is because I hear them say the exact same thing that's how it gets visited down through the generations and God's going to tell you that's how it gets visited says, hey listen, there's consequences and they're long-lasting consequences, but for those who love me, the loving kindness just continues. Number three, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain. I loved

what David Guzik had to say about this. He said there's three ways that we can take God's name in vain. We can first of all take God's name in vain through profanity. In other words, we can turn God's name into a swear word and therefore we lower it down to a level of vulgarity that God never intended his name to be lowered down to. The second way that we can take God's name in

vain is through frivolity. In other words, we just throw it out there haphazardly and it really doesn't mean that much to us. But the third way, and I thought that this was kind of fascinating, especially based on what we talked about on Sunday morning, is he said we can take God's name in vain through hypocrisy. Because while claiming the name of God, we don't.

We don't deny it by our lifestyle, therefore taking God's name in vain. Unfortunately, we as humans can have a tendency to be guilty of all three of those at times. And so God knowing that says, don't take my name in vain because I won't hold you guiltless if you do. Number four, observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy. And then he goes on to give a bunch of different instructions that

go along with that. Six days you'll work, you take the seventh day off. He says remember to keep it holy. As a matter of fact, it was so important that this was to be held in high regard for your male and female servant, for your daughter, for your animals, even for those who were strangers and sojourners among you. In other words, everybody should get a day off. You should not take advantage

of people because you hold some sort of dominance over them because of gender. You should not take advantage of people because you may hold some sort of dominance over them because of their financial status. You shouldn't keep those from having a day off. You shouldn't keep those from, from having a day off just because they work for you. Everybody should get this day off because

it's incredibly important. I've always said that there's both a physical and a spiritual aspect to the Sabbath day. Number one is the physical aspect. It's really important to take a day off. And I'm not always good at it. And my wife continues to remind me, hey Ryan, remember you said you're supposed to take at least a day off during the week? Maybe you should do that too.

And so I always have to remember, hey, I need to make sure I guard that day off because it's really healthy for us physically to take a day off. As a matter of fact, those who would say, well, I just work seven days a week all the time because that's just what I do. Unfortunately, that's an incredibly unwise attitude and really an ungodly attitude for us to have because God intended to give us rest. But the other end of it is that there is a very spiritual lesson in this too. All of the Ten Commandments are confirmed for us in the New

Testament. In other words, different writers of the New Testament, in the epistles, they all say one aspect or another of the Ten Commandments. Therefore, we know that they're not just intended to be old covenant ideas. These are long-lasting ideas that are both old and new covenant, except for one commandment. And that's the commandment about the Sabbath day. And so you should ask yourself, why is that one commandment not carried over into

the New Testament? Because that one commandment is actually fulfilled in Christ. Because the ultimate Sabbath rest that we have came about the day that Jesus was born. And that's why we're declared from the cross to Telestai, it is finished, paid in full. And now the Sabbath rest that I ultimately have, that I am not to violate, is that I am to find my rest in Christ. Not in the

works that I do, not in how good I am, and not in any other thing, but that my ultimate rest is found in Him. And then I can finally just relax in who I am in Christ. And that's the ultimate Sabbath rest. Now there are those out there who say, well, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, you will say, you know what, you need to follow the law and you should only worship God on the Sabbath, which of course is Saturday. And I say, well, if that's your conviction, I think that's

what you should do. If you feel like the day that you're supposed to worship is on Saturday, then I absolutely think that you should worship on Saturday. That's between you and Jesus. But the one thing you can't do is tell me that I'm wrong for worshiping on Sunday, because actually the New Testament church met on Sunday mornings. We're told in several different

places throughout Scripture. When they gathered on the first day of the week, they met together as a fellowship. Matter of fact, Paul kind of put it this way. He said, listen, some of y'all regard one day as better than another, but I just regard them all the same. And so really ultimately what you could say is, do you worship Jesus on Saturday? Yep. Do you worship Him on Sunday? I sure try to.

And I really try hard Monday through Friday as well. I try to make every day a day that I, a day that I worship Jesus. My rest isn't just found in Him on one day of the week. My rest is found in Him every day of the week, right? So he goes on from there, observe the Sabbath day. And then number five is honor your father and your mother. I have found that I like this commandment more now that I have kids

and I like to use it against them every now and then. Listen, Bible says, honor your father and your mother that your days may be long on the earth, because I don't know if I'm allowed to quote Bill Cosby anymore or not, because as Bill Cosby said, I brought you into this world, I can take you out of this world, right? No, that's not really what that means. But it does mean to honor those that God has given to be the ultimate or the first authority in your life. And

that's why we're to honor them. Because the first place that we learn the authority of God is from our mother and father. Therefore, if I struggle to honor my mother and father and the authority that they have in my life, I will always struggle to honor the authority of God in my life. So he gives him that commandment. Goes on from there in verse 17, it says,

you shall not murder. No explanation. We're just told, hey, don't take the life of another. Now, this is going to bring up a couple of questions. First of all, as I had us make a t-shirt here, all life has value. Even those lives, the moment that they are conceived have value. And I believe that murder even carries into that. Do I think that God can redeem and

restore and forgive? Absolutely. But I also believe that God's really serious when he's saying, you shall not murder. But the second question that always comes up is this, what about war? What about when someone is sent, a soldier is sent out to take part in war because of what's taking place within a nation? I say, well, that's justified because you're being used

as an instrument of the law at that point in time, and you're dealing with lawlessness. In the same way that in the book of Romans, he says that the officer does not bear his sword in vain. Therefore, it's no longer murder at that point in time. It is an arm of the government at that point in time. There's a difference. Scripture's clear to make the difference between

murder and killing. But then the third question that always comes up is this, if it says don't murder, what about capital punishment? Because the Bible calls for capital punishment. Isn't that murder? No. Actually, if you want to honor life the way that God has intended life to be honored, then you have to require the life of one that takes the life of another.

That's how important life is. If you are going to take the life of another, your life is required of you because that's how valuable life is. And so it's not murder. It's the very judgment of God in the life of an individual. And my philosophy on capital punishment is this, give them the gospel of Jesus Christ, and then carry out the sentence of the law. So he says, you shall not murder,

goes on from there to say, you shall not commit adultery. Again, a pretty easily understandable one. It means any extra marital sexual relationship. He goes on to say, you shall not steal. I could make just an entire, you should not, oh, you know what? Yeah, you know what? Hey, why not? I get myself in trouble all the time anyway. Okay, so I have several times seen people

try to say that we as Christians should support the fact that, the government wants to pay off student loans because Jesus paid a debt that we didn't owe. And all I can think is, that's the worst handling of the word of God I've ever seen in my entire life. I literally just unfriend people that do that because that's the most ridiculous statement I've ever seen made. Because that is called cheap grace. That's not holding someone

accountable. Because you know what? When Jesus paid the debt for me, I had to admit that it was a debt that I owed, right? And what's going on right now is, we are not, allowing people, let me rephrase that, we are not forcing people to accept a debt that they owe, right? And so, what's going on is theft. And I'm just here to tell you right now, God's going to hold people accountable for this. He is. That's just all that there is to it.

And the moment that these things begin to take place, we can know those in high government officials that are stealing money to, give it to other people. God's going to hold them accountable. And we can get as upset as we want to about all the things that take place, but I always have to remind myself of the same thing. They're going to have to answer to God for that. I answer to God for how I respect my government.

I answer to God for whether or not I pay the taxes that I'm required to pay. I will answer to God for that. They'll answer to God for what they do with it. And trust me, they will. He says, you shall not steal. That being said, don't steal other things either. He says, you shall not steal. That being said, don't steal other things either. Number nine, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Now, this is another

interesting one as well, because ultimately the meaning of this has to do with telling a lie, right? You should not tell lies about your neighbor. But there's another aspect of this that I think is really important that oftentimes gets left out when we look at bearing false witness against your neighbor. And that is the idea of slander. Because slander is absolutely

included in what he says there about not bearing false witness against your neighbor. Because slander is telling a falsehood about another. And again, God will hold those things accountable. God will hold those people accountable. He goes on from there to say, number 10, you shall not covet. He tells all the things you're not supposed to covet. Interestingly enough, the first nine have to do with some sort of an outward work, an outward

thing that you're not supposed to covet. And he says, you shall not covet. And he says, you shall not covet. And he says, you shall not covet. And he says, you shall not covet. And he says, you shall not covet. And he says, you shall not covet. And he says, you shall not covet. And he says, you shall not covet. And he says, you shall not covet. And he says, you shall not covet. And he says, you shall

Number 10 is the one exception. Because number 10 is the only one that can take place inside the heart. Number 10 is the one that can only take place inside the heart. Don't get me wrong. Adultery, murder, all those things, they take place inside the heart. That's clearly displayed for us in the Sermon on the Mount. Covetousness can't be seen. Not until it plays itself out in some other way,

but it can still be in the heart. Remember what Paul said in the book of Romans? He said, I didn't know that I had any sin inside of me until I read in the law, thou shalt not covet. And then all of a sudden, sin was given an opportunity, and it flourished, right? And then it brought death into my life. That covetousness is such a dangerous thing. I've always said we have an economy right now.

We have an entire advertising system right now that's built upon covetousness, right? But everything about advertising right now is, don't you want to be like them? Don't you want to be like that athlete? Don't you want to be like that celebrity? Don't you want to have what they have? Well, for $19.95, you can, right? Or with inflation, it's now for $29.95, you can, right?

I will never forget the day Dollar Tree turned into $1.25 Tree. I'm like, man, you got to change your name. That is no longer a real name. Anyway, so he says, you shall not covet. Now, those are the Ten Commandments. That's the basis for God's righteousness. He says, when you're living life, this is a foundation for what it looks like to live both in your relationship with God and your relationship with man in a righteous sort of way.

Well, he goes on from there to do a little bit of recounting because there's a response. He says, these words, verse 22, All your assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick gloom with a great voice. And he added, no more. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. And it came about when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness while the mountain was burning with fire that you came near to me.

All the heads of your tribes and your elders. You said, behold, the Lord our God has shown his glory and his greatness. We've heard his voice. We've heard his voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives. Now then, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, we will die.

For who is there of all flesh who heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire as we have and lived? Go near and hear all that the Lord our God says. Then speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you. And we will hear. We will. Do it. So, first of all, we see the response of the people. The response of the people was, whoa, that was trippier than we thought it was going to be.

Tell you what, Mo, you go talk to God. Let us know what he says, right? Shoot us a text. And then, whatever he says, we got this thing. We'll do it, right? That's basically the response of the people. Whatever God says, we're in. Let's do this thing. Boy, they did not know what they had coming because 40 days later, they would find themselves dancing around a golden calf,

making a graven image, creating an idol, putting another God before him. They found themselves not honoring anything that God said. Well, anyway, so that was the response of the people. We'll do what God says. And then there's a response of the Lord. The Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, I've heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you.

They've done well in all that they've spoken. I love verse 29. Oh, that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever. Go and say to them, return to your tents. But as for you, stand here by me, so I may speak to you all the commandments and the statutes and the judgments,

which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land, which I give them to possess. So here's the response of God. He says, I've heard them. Man, I really just want to hear them. I want them to have a heart that would want to obey me. May they have the kind of heart in them. May they have a mind to obey me. It's almost like this is God's greatest desire for the people.

And, you know, I think it really speaks to God's greatest desire for us as well. That as we decide, Lord, I want to follow you with all of my heart. It's almost as if God goes, oh, that they had such a heart in them. Oh, that you would have such a heart in you. Do you know, I think that this is a really good prayer for us to pray for ourselves. Lord, I want to obey you.

I want to have that kind of heart in me. I want to have that kind of desire in me that I would obey you with everything. That I would cast off the works of darkness. That I would cast off the things of this world. And that I would follow you with my whole heart. Because if that's God's desire for me, then that should be the greatest desire that I have for myself.

Well, then there's Moses' response, verse 32. Therefore, so you shall observe to do. Just as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right or to the left. You shall walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you. That you may live and that it may be well with you. And that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.

And of course, Moses' response is to give them another exhortation. Which he will also start chapter 6 with. And the exhortation is this. So you obey God. Do what you've said that you're going to do. That was his righteous commandments. Your response was that you would obey. God's response was, man, that's what I really want for them to do. And so now I'm telling you, do it.

Sometimes I think we make obeying God a little more complicated than it needs to be. What does it look like to obey God? Do it. Just do what he tells you to do. Do what he calls you to do. Use the word of God as a baseline. And then do it. You know when obeying God gets complicated? Complicated? When I don't want to. That's what I've always found about myself.

Anytime I'm going, Lord, I don't know what your will is here. Please show me. He's usually going, I did. You won't do it. Right? Like that's when things get complicated. I told you what you need to do. Now just go do it. Oh, it just seems so hard. No, you just don't want to. And so that's when Moses tells the people. Well, then as we move into chapter 6, we see the greatest command that God gives them.

And that's to love the Lord your God. But again, chapter 6 starts off with an exhortation. Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you all the days of your life, that your days may be prolonged. Oh, Israel.

Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly just as the Lord, the God of your fathers has promised you in a land flowing with milk and honey. You know, I take note of in this next part of the exhortation that he gives him right before he gets to this most important command is that this is now the heart of one who knows he's about to go home to be with Jesus. He knows he's about to go home to be with the Lord. And he's pouring everything.

He's pouring every bit of himself into urging the people to obedience. Have you noticed how repetitive Moses has gotten in Deuteronomy? Have you noticed he kind of just keeps saying the same things over and over again? It's because it's the most important thing on his heart. You know why I think it's the most important thing on his heart? Because why can't Moses go into the promised land?

Because he didn't obey God. And it was in a small way. But he didn't obey God. So as he's looking at his own life, he's almost like a grandfather who now sees the mistakes that he's made. And he sees all these young kids. And all he wants them to do is not fall into the footsteps that he fell into, not fall into the traps he saw all of their dads fall into, not fall into the pitfalls he saw all

of the rest of their family fall into. And so he is just passionately pouring his heart into the people and going, just do what God tells you to do. Just obey God. Because your days will be prolonged. On the earth, you, your sons, your grandsons, everything's going to be better for your family if you'll just do what God commands for you to do. If you'll just follow him with all of your heart.

I got to tell you, right now, not only as I talk to my own two girls, but as I talk to that crazy group of high school kids that I get to talk to every morning, I just find myself doing this exact same thing. Because I know all of the pitfalls that I've fallen into and continue to fall. And I've seen other people do the same things. I've seen those that have gone before some of these kids do the same things.

And I just want to, I just want to do it for them sometimes. But I know that I can't. But what I can do is keep giving them the exhortation that God gives me in as passionate of a way as I possibly can. Because that's what Moses is doing for the people right now. And as he once again passionately gives this exhortation, he gets to what I consider to be the most important thing.

The most important thing. The most important thing. The most important commandment in Deuteronomy, if not maybe all of Scripture. And it's not just me that feels this way. Jesus kind of felt this way too. Because we come now to verse four, the great Shema. Notice what it says. Hear, O Israel, the Lord is 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 might. These words which I am commanding you to do. Today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons. You shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand. They shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

And he goes into some warnings. But let's take this great command that he gives. Let's take a look at this. Let's take a look at this for just a minute. He starts off by saying, hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is one. In the Hebrew, as I mentioned, this is called the great Shema. The word Shema literally means hear. And so it starts off by saying, hear, O Israel.

In other words, pay attention to this. Because this is going to be the most important thing that I tell you. He says, the Lord, our God. The Lord, our God is one. In other words, we don't serve a multiplicity of gods. We don't serve a pantheon of gods. We serve one single God. Just the one. Which is why we can't have any other gods in his face. We can't have any other gods before him.

Because all the rest of them, they're not really gods. The Lord, our God is one. The word one here is a very interesting word. The word one here carries with it the idea. Of unity through plurality. What do you mean, Ryan? Well, right now, as you sit here today, you are one congregation of people, right? That's unity. Because you're one. But because you're a congregation of people, it means it takes more than one of you to make a congregation.

That's plurality. In other words, while it's a singular word, it's a singular that is made up of many. That's what the word one means here. The word one means more than one making up the single. Ryan, why do I care about that? Why is that important? Quite frankly, I'm a little bit confused. Because what do we know that God is? Based on everything that we read in scripture.

God's a trinity. He's the triune Godhead, right? It's great because I was just teaching this morning about the baptism of Jesus to the kids in the high school over there. And I said, okay, I want you to tell me all the characters that you just saw show up when Jesus came out of the water. And one of them raised their hand and they said, Dove. Like, yes, that's true.

It is a dove. What does it say the dove is? The spirit. Okay, who did the dove land on? Jesus. Okay, who spoke from heaven? God. More specifically, the Father. I said, oh, you just have all your Sunday school answers written down right there, right? Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit. I said, how many different entities is that? They're like, well, that's three.

Yeah, but how many gods do they make up? They just make up the one. That's the same idea that's given to us right here in the great Shema. The Lord our God is one. And yet, three entities make up the one. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is incredibly important because it's seen throughout Scripture and there are so many that deny it. There are so many that deny that there is this triune Godhead.

Oddly enough, those that don't know very much about the Hebrew language try to use, that as their verse to prove that there is no trinity. And it's like, well, but you've got to look at the word one. Because that's exactly what the word one means. A unity through a plurality. And so we see right here, he says, the Lord our God is one. Ah, but now we get to the really important part.

He says, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. It's the great commandment. Honestly, you could take all of the commandments and wrap them up into that one. You shall love the Lord your God. Because that's what God desires of us. God does not desire from us a rote sort of spirituality, a mindless obedience.

He desires a walk with us that is out of a heart of pure love for him. That is out of a desire to follow him. That is out of a desire to give him. And every aspect of myself. I often ask couples when I'm doing premarital counseling, describe the word love to me. How would you explain it? And I don't remember which couple it was, but man, they started and I was like,

that's probably the best explanation of it I've ever heard. But you know what the one word that stuck out in the entire explanation of love for them was the word commitment. Do you know really that that's kind of what love is? Love is. A heartfelt commitment to another person. And a commitment that oftentimes is very full of passion. Here's the thing. Sometimes your love for God, you won't really feel that much.

It won't be like, oh my gosh, I feel just so much emotion towards the Lord. No, because that's not reality. Because there's days I don't feel very much emotion about anything. And yet I continue to pursue God. Why? Because I love him. And because I love him, I'm wholeheartedly committed to following him. And that's what God is looking for in his believers. That's what God is looking for in his followers.

Is he's looking for people who will follow him wholeheartedly. Because notice what he says. With all of your heart. With all of your soul. And with all of your might. In other words, every part of me is poured into my pursuit of God. Whether I feel like it or not. Whether there's any emotions that accompany it or not. Because I pursue him with all of my heart.

And with all of my soul. And with all of my might. Because I'm committed to him. Why am I committed to him? Because I'm responding to what he's done for me. You see, I never actually lived in the nation of Egypt where I was a slave. But I definitely lived in the land of sin. Where I was a slave. I was destined to live in that land forever. Until Jesus stepped in and set me free.

When he stepped in and set me free. He not only set me free from the bondage of sin. But he gave me new life. And so now the only way I know to respond. Is to follow him with every fabric of my being. And to try to get as many other people to do that as possible. I think that's why often times the saddest thing that I see. Is people who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ.

And there's just no passion in the way that they follow Jesus. It's just what I see. It's just what I do. Well, it's the right thing to do. Listen, if you're following Jesus because it's the right thing to do. I got news for you. That's not the kind of passion he's looking for. He wants you to follow him because he's your life. Because it's the only thing to do.

Because it's what you were created for. So he says, Love the Lord your God. With all your heart. With all your soul. And with all your might. And then I love how he continues on. He says, I love this because he goes back to this same theme. He says all these words that I'm teaching you. Words of obedience. The law. I want those things to be on your heart. He doesn't just want them to be things that they think about.

Although that's going to be a really important part of it. He wants them to be a part of their heart. A part of the very fabric of their being. I often times pray after we study the word. Or after I study the word personally myself. That God would marinate us in the word of God. And I had somebody come up to me after a service one time. This is when I was just doing pulpit fill for churches.

And they said, Why do you pray that God would marinate you in the word? And I said, Do you understand what happens when you marinate meat? That liquid soaks into the meat. And it actually breaks down the cellular compounds of the meat. So that it so saturates that liquid. And it actually breaks down the cellular compounds of the meat. And it actually breaks down that piece of steak.

That every part of it smells and tastes just like the marinade. That's what I want God's word to do to me. I want it to so saturate my heart. That every part of it smells like and tastes like the word of God. So that the commandments of God are so much a part of me. That I don't even have to think about it. It's second nature. He says, These words that I'm commanding you,

let them be on your heart. But then he gives them some practical ways to do this. He once again goes into what we talked about last week. He said, You shall teach them diligently to your sons. How can we keep it on our heart? Well, first of all, teach it to your kids. I have actually found that the best way for me to understand what God's word says is to try to teach it to somebody else.

Right? And sometimes as I do my devotional life, I think, Okay, could I explain what God just showed me there? Could I explain that to somebody else? And sometimes I'm like, Maybe. Maybe, but not very well. So that means I need to study it more. But I ultimately try to make it to where, Can I teach this to somebody else? He said, Right. I'm never going to be a Bible teacher.

I'm never going to be a pastor or lead a small group. No. But you probably got kids. And you need to teach it to them. And you don't have to be the best at it. You just have to be able to share with them what God's shown you. You just have to be able to share with them what God's word has to say. He says, Teach it diligently to your sons. Why? Because it's good for your kids,

but it's also good for you. Then the second thing he says is, You shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. How do you keep God's word a part of you? Man, talk about it all the time. Right? Just spend time talking to people about it. My favorite type of Bible study to do with people is where we all show up,

and everybody just shares what they've been reading in the word of God. And we just spend time talking about it. It's the most fascinating. It's the most fascinating time you'll ever have with a group of people. Because you each will be reading something completely different, maybe in completely different portions of the Bible. You'd be amazed how God's speaking to all of you about similar things

just from different passages of Scripture. Because that's what God's really good at doing. He's really good at creating harmony like that because his whole word is in harmony. He said, You should talk about it all the time. When you're hanging out with folks, do you ever take time to talk about what the Bible has to say? When you're talking with your kids, do you just talk to them about what you're reading in the Bible?

I think I've shared with you before, the greatest way I ever knew to share Scripture when I worked construction was just to tell people what I'd read in the Bible that morning. And it started a lot of conversations. It started a lot of conversations when they're like, How you doing this morning, Ryan? Oh, man, pretty good. Dude, I read the coolest thing in the Bible this morning.

I don't want to hear what you read in the Bible. Are you sure? Because I thought it was pretty interesting. Fine, whatever. Tell me what you read in the Bible. And we start talking about it. Like, you know, I've always had questions about the Bible. Like, I'm here for you. Let's talk about it. Right? It's a great way to do things. Do you know what else you find?

You want to tell us this in the book of Malachi? I know I've shared this lots of times before. You want to tell us this in the book of Malachi? It says that every time God's people would take time to speak about him and his word, a little book of remembrance was kept. God wrote it down. We're really told there's only a couple things God keeps track of. Sin's not one of them in the life of a believer.

Two things God keeps track of. Keeps our tears in a bottle. Some of our bottles are bigger than others. And he keeps track of all of the times that we talk about him. So every time. You sit down with some friends or you're talking to your kids. You're driving in the car. Hey, kids. I want to tell you this really cool thing out of the Bible. This really cool story that I heard.

God's like, write that down. Write it down. Take a little note. Remind yourself in case you didn't know. Right? So he says, talk about it all the time. Then he says, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand. I remember when I was in high school, I used to write on my hands all the time. And I was like, but that's what the Bible says. My mom didn't agree with me.

They shall be as frontals on your forehead. And I guess if you wrote it on your forehead, you'd have to write it backwards. So that when you look in the mirror, you're like, sweet. He says, you shall write them on your doorpost. Also get you in trouble as a kid living in a house. On the house and on your gates. In other words, these commandments should be everywhere that you look.

You hang scripture on the walls of your home. You use scripture to decorate. I think it's a great thing to do. I remember when I graduated college, going through some difficult things. And was wondering who that spirit was. And I remember that I had a special someone was going to be, oh man, I have forgotten the exact verse. But it had to do with the fact that, oh, I know what it was.

It wasn't a verse, it was just a little poem. It said, God gives his best to those who leave the choice to him. The bathroom where I brush my teeth and everything, that was hanging on the wall of that bathroom. My mom had put that there. So every morning I'm brushing my teeth. God gives his best to those who leave the choice to him. And you know what I found?

He did. Because I found this great little lady. Who was absolutely God's best for me. Because I finally left the choice to him. Because I kept screwing it up. God was like, okay, fine. Now let me bring you the absolute best for you. So he says, put it everywhere so you can see it all the time.

I'll try to decide if I want to keep going with this or not. Let's stop there for tonight. Because there's a lot of warnings to get into. And I don't think we have time to get into all that. I want to make sure that we take the time necessary. So good stuff in the book of Deuteronomy. I know I get kind of geeked up about this thing. Thanks for putting up with me.

But isn't God's word amazing? Lord, we come before you. And I thank you for the time that we've had in your word tonight. I thank you that it is so good to our souls. And Lord, I do pray that you would give us a heart. That wants to love you with every fabric. Every fiber of who we are. Lord, I pray that we would not have an apathetic following of you. Lord, that it would be full.

Full of the passion that you want for us to have. Lord, that we would be committed to knowing you. Father, we thank you and we praise you for who you are. Marinate our souls. Marinate our hearts in the truth of your word tonight. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.