The Meaning of God’s Law: Deuteronomy 6 (7)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 78.1-5
Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
For He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That they should make them known to their children…

Psalm 78.1-5
(Foundation: How Firm a Foundation)
Give ear, O my people, attend to my word,
dark sayings and parables sent from the Lord,
things we have before by our fathers been told,
which we would not dare from our children withhold.

The glorious deeds of our God in His might,
and all of the works He has done in our sight,
together with all of the words of His Law,
would we on ourselves and our children bestow.

Read Deuteronomy 6; meditate on Deuteronomy 6.4-9

Preparation
1. How are God’s people to love Him?

2. How much of our lives should be given to obeying His Law?

Meditation
It is easy to lose sight of the role of love when it comes to the Law of God. In Deuteronomy 6, having just given the Ten Commandments for a second time, Moses backtracks a bit to set God’s Law into its proper framework of grace and promise.

God delivered His people from Egypt and gave them His Law out of the infinite depths of His love for them. His purpose was to liberate them from slavery to life, from captivity to freedom, from oppression to blessing. He showed Himself powerful in saving His people and entering into covenant with Him. He intended that they should recover a modicum of that “upright” and “good” condition in which their first parents existed, and thus to know fullness of life and abundant wellbeing in Him.

Their duty was to love Him Who showed such love for them, to devote themselves entirely to Him, and not to forget or stray from Him as they began to enjoy all His many and rich blessings. They would show their love for God by keeping His Law. In the process, they would learn how to truly live, and how to be an upright and righteous people in the eyes of the nations.

But obedience begins in fearing God – because He is a great God – and loving Him – because our great God loves us greatly! This focus on God’s love for Israel and their duty of loving Him is so important, that Moses will stretch it out a bit further, emphasizing it over and over, before he begins to unpack the rest of God’s Law for His people.

God loves us. He gave Jesus to fulfill the Law for us, and He has given us His Spirit to write His Law on our hearts (Ezek. 36.26, 27). The measure of our love for Him will be in the faithfulness with which we follow Jesus in obeying the commandments of God (1 Jn. 2.1-6; 5.1-3).

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
God invites us into covenant with Him. Jesus invites us to abide in Him. The Holy Spirit invites us to be filled by Him. We RSVP with a “Yes” and “Thank You!” “As the Father loved Me, I have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full” (Jn. 15.9-11). “…these words…shall be in your heart” (Deut. 6.6).

Reflection
1. Why are the fear of God and love for Him complementary rather than opposing concepts?

2. Why is it important that we always keep in mind how much God loves us?

3. How can we say “Yes” and “Thank You!” to God?

The Lord our God indicates the people’s relationship with the living God. He had come into the lives of His people; it was not that they had ascended to Him. He had saved them from slavery in Egypt, guided them through the wilderness, and given them His instructions. Further, He was about to give them His land. The Lord is one means “the Lord alone.” There is only one God. Earl Radmacher (1931-2014), NKJV Study Bible Notes on Deuteronomy 6.4

You only are God, O Lord, and I will follow You by…

Closing Prayer: Psalm 78.6-16
Ask the Lord to let you “arise and declare” His love to someone today, and to share the truth of Jesus as often as you can.

Psalm 78.6-16
(Foundation: How Firm a Foundation)
Lord, let all our children arise and declare
the truth of the Lord every day, everywhere,
and set all their hopes in God’s wonderful Word,
and never forget all the works of the Lord.

Our fathers were stubborn; they would not obey;
when faced with their foes they in fear turned away.
God’s work of redemption they wholly despised,
forgetting the pow’r He had shown to their eyes.

T. M. and Susie Moore

Listen to our summary of last week’s study in Deuteronomy by clicking on today’s Scriptorium column at www.ailbe.org. You can download all the studies in the series by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All quotations from Church Fathers from Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy: Ancient Christian Commentary Series III, Joseph T. Lienhard, S. J. ed. in collaboration with Ronnie J. Rombs, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2001). All quotations from John Calvin from John Calvin, Commentaries on The Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Order of A Harmony, Rev. Charles William Bingham M. A., tr. and ed. (Edinburgh: The Calvin Translation Society, 1863. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).