Love The Lord

Deuteronomy 6:5 – Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Deuteronomy 11:1 – Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.

Luke 10:27 – He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

1 Samuel 12:24 – But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

Deuteronomy 4:29,37-38 – But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul…Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.

Joshua 22:5 – But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Leviticus 19:18 – “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

Mark 12:31 – The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Application:

• ·         Primarily in view here is the love shown by a subject to a king. To love King Yahweh is to be His loyal and obedient servant. Love for God and neighbor is built on the love that the Lord has for His people and on His identification with them. Such love is to be total, involving one’s whole being.
• ·         Love and obedience are frequently linked in Scripture.
• ·         Elsewhere Jesus uses the words “Love…God…Love your neighbor” in reply to another question, putting the same two Scriptures together. Whether a fourfold love or threefold, the significance is that total devotion is demanded. James calls such neighborly love the “royal law”.
• ·         Samuel summarizes Israel’s obligation of loyalty to the Lord as an expression of gratitude for the great things He has done for them.
• ·         “With all your heart and…soul” is applied not only to how the Lord’s people should seek Him but also to how they should fear Him, live in obedience to Him, love and serve Him, and, after forsaking Him, renew their allegiance and commitment to Him.
• ·         Both Moses and Joshua saw that obedience to the laws of God would require love and service from the heart. In the ancient Near East, “love” was also a political term, indicating truehearted loyalty to one’s king.
• ·         Jesus’ reaction, “Love your enemies”, was in line with true Old Testament teaching and was more in agreement with the middle-of-the-road Pharisees. Rabbi Nahmanides caught their sentiments: “One should place no limitations upon the love for the neighbor, but instead a person should love to do an abundance of good for his fellow being as he does for himself”.
• ·         According to Jesus, the second most important commandment states that love for neighbor is an essential component of love for God.
• ·         “He loved” is the first reference in Deuteronomy to God’s love for His people. The corollary truth is that His people should love Him.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

One

Deuteronomy 6:4 – Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Deuteronomy 4:35 – You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other.

Nehemiah 9:6 – You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

Zechariah 14:9 – The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.

John 10:30 – I and the Father are one.”

• ·         The truth revealed to Israel that God is one and that this one God created all things, sustains all things and governs all things stood in radical opposition to all the religions of the ancient Near Eastern world. Israel could live serenely in the knowledge that all things and all times were under the rule of one divine King, whose ways are righteous and whose purpose with her and through her is salvation for humankind—from sin and judgment and every evil that has burdened human life.
• ·         Moses insisted that there was only one God.
• ·         You alone are the Lord.
• ·         “The Lord will be king over the whole earth” is a pervasive theological theme in Scripture.
• ·         Jesus and the Father are one in essence or nature, will and purpose, but they are not identical persons.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Hear, Israel

Deuteronomy 6:3-4 – Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Exodus 19:5-6 – Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

Genesis 15:5 – He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Deuteronomy 4:1 – Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.

Application:

• ·         Participation in the divine blessings is conditioned on obedience added to faith.
• ·         Ultimately, all who belong to Christ are Abram’s offspring.
• ·         The truth revealed to Israel that God is one and that this one God created all things, sustains all things and governs all things stood in radical opposition to all the religions of the ancient Near Eastern world.
• ·         God’s call to His people to hear and obey is a frequent theme in Deuteronomy and elsewhere in the Old Testament.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Fear The Lord

Deuteronomy 5:33-6:2 – Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.

Jeremiah 7:22-23 – For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.

Exodus 20:12,20 – “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the landthe Lord your God is giving you…Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

1 Samuel 12:24 – But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

Genesis 20:11 – Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’

Application:

• ·         “Your God…my people was the most basic summary of the relationship between God and Israel implied in the covenant at Sinai.
• ·         Do not think that God’s display of His majesty is intended simply to fill you with abject fear. He has come to enter into covenant with you as your heavenly King.
• ·         Samuel summarizes Israel’s obligation of loyalty to the Lord as an expression of gratitude for the great things He has done for them.
• ·         So that you may live long is “the first commandment with a promise”.
• ·         “Fear” in has the sense of reverential trust in God and commitment to His revealed will.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Do Not Turn Aside To The Right Or To The Left

Deuteronomy 5:27-32 – Go near and listen to all that the Lord our God says. Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. We will listen and obey.” The Lord heard you when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, “I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good. Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever! “Go, tell them to return to their tents. But you stay here with me so that I may give you all the commands, decrees and laws you are to teach them to follow in the land I am giving them to possess.” So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left.

Joshua 22:5 – But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Deuteronomy 4:1,29 – Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you… But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 17:19-20 – It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

Joshua 1:7 – “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

Application:

• ·         Both Moses and Joshua saw that obedience to the laws of God would require love and service from the heart.
• ·         God’s call to His people to hear and obey is a frequent theme in Deuteronomy and elsewhere in the Old Testament.
• ·         “With all your heart and…soul” is applied not only to how the Lord’s people should seek Him but also to how they should fear Him, live in obedience to Him, love and serve Him, and, after forsaking Him, renew their allegiance and commitment to Him.
• ·         The king was not above God’s law, any more than were the humblest of his subjects.
• ·         Success was not guaranteed unconditionally.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

We Will Die

Deuteronomy 5:17-26 – “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” These are the commandments the Lord proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me. When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leaders of your tribes and your elders came to me. And you said, “The Lord our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them. But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer. For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived?

Mark 10:19 – You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”

Exodus 20:18-19 – When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”

Isaiah 6:5 – “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Application:

• ·         Jesus mentions all six commandments that prohibit wrong actions and attitudes against others.
• ·         The Israelites request a mediator to stand between them and God, a role fulfilled by Moses and subsequently by priests, prophets and kings—and ultimately by Jesus Christ.
• ·         Isaiah was dismayed because anyone who saw God expected to die immediately.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

That It May Go Well With You

Deuteronomy 5:15-16 – Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Deuteronomy 4:10 – Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.”

Ezekiel 22:7 – In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.

Mark 10:19 – You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”

Proverbs 3:2 – My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity.

Exodus 20:12 – “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Application:

• ·         The divine call to Israel to remember the Lord’s past redemptive acts—especially how He delivered them from slavery in Egypt—is a common theme in Deuteronomy and is summarized: “Remember the days of old”.
• ·         Treating father and mother with contempt is the opposite of what God commands.
• ·         Jesus mentions all six commandments that prohibit wrong actions and attitudes against others.
• ·         Fear of the Lord brings health to the body and “adds length to life. When Solomon prayed for wisdom, God promised him riches as well as long life if he obeyed God’s commands.
• ·         Honoring those in authority is essential for social stability.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

So That Your Male And Female Servants May Rest

Deuteronomy 5:7-14 – “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do.

Leviticus 26:1 – “‘Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.

Psalm 97:7 – All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols—worship him, all you gods!

Exodus 20:9-10 – Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.

Application:

• ·         Worship of God is forbidden in any material form.
• ·         Two reasons are given for not doing any work on the Sabbath: (1) Having completed His work of creation God “rested on the seventh day”, and the Israelites are to observe the same pattern in their service of God in the creation; (2) the Israelites must cease all labor so that their servants can also participate in the Sabbath-rest—just as God had delivered His people from the burden of slavery in Egypt.
• ·         The Sabbath thus became a “sign” of the covenant between God and Israel at Mount Sinai.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Out Of The Land Of Slavery

Deuteronomy 5:3-6 – It was not with our ancestors that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today. The Lord spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain. (At that time I stood between the Lord and you to declare to you the word of the Lord, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

Exodus 20:2-7,9-10,12-14,17,19-20 – “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name…Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns…“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery…“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

Leviticus 26:1 – “‘Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 6:4 – Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Psalm 81:10 – I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

Jeremiah 16:2 – “You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place.”

Application:

• ·         The Israelites request a mediator to stand between them and God, a role fulfilled by Moses and subsequently by priests, prophets and kings—and ultimately by Jesus Christ.
• ·         Do not think that God’s display of His majesty is intended simply to fill you with abject fear. He has come to enter into covenant with you as your heavenly King.
• ·         Worshiping God in any material form is forbidden.
• ·         Israel could live serenely in the knowledge that all things and all times were under the rule of one divine King, whose ways are righteous and whose purpose with her and through her is salvation for humankind—from sin and judgment and every evil that has burdened human life.
• ·         Trust in the Lord alone for all of life’s needs.
• ·         As God’s subjects, His covenant people are to render complete submission, allegiance and obedience to Him out of gratitude for His mercies, reverence for His sovereignty, and trust in His continuing care.
• ·         No deity, real or imagined, is to rival the one true God in Israel’s heart and life.
• ·         Because God has no visible form, any idol intended to resemble Him would be a sinful misrepresentation of Him. Since other gods are not to be worshiped, making idols of them would be equally sinful.
• ·         The “jealousy” of God (1) demands exclusive devotion to God, (2) delivers to judgment all who oppose God and (3) vindicates God’s people.
• ·         We are not to misuse the name of the Lord, by profaning God’s name—e.g., by swearing falsely by it, as on the witness stand in court.
• ·         Two reasons are given for not doing any work on the Sabbath: (1) Having completed His work of creation God “rested on the seventh day”, and the Israelites are to observe the same pattern in their service of God in the creation; (2) the Israelites must cease all labor so that their servants can also participate in the Sabbath-rest—just as God had delivered His people from the burden of slavery in Egypt.
• ·         Honoring those in authority is essential for social stability.
• ·         The Hebrew for murder usually refers to a premeditated and deliberate act.
• ·         Adultery is a sin “against God” as well as against the marriage partner.
• ·         Covet means desire something with evil motivation. To break God’s commandments inwardly is equivalent to breaking them outwardly.
• ·         Jeremiah’s ministry was such that he had to face life alone, without the comfort and support a family can provide.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Covenant With Us At Horeb

Deuteronomy 4:1,41-5:2 – Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you…Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan, to which anyone who had killed a person could flee if they had unintentionally killed a neighbor without malice aforethought. They could flee into one of these cities and save their life. The cities were these: Bezer in the wilderness plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites. This is the law Moses set before the Israelites. These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt and were in the valley near Beth Peor east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites as they came out of Egypt. They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. This land extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Sirion (that is, Hermon), and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Dead Sea, below the slopes of Pisgah. Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.

Exodus 19:5-6 – Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

Hebrews 9:15 – For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

Genesis 17:9 – Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.

Jeremiah 31:31,33-34 – “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah…“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Application:

• ·         God’s call to His people to hear and obey is a frequent theme in Deuteronomy and elsewhere in the Old Testament.
• ·         Adherence to the covenant would bring God’s people the blessings of the Lord, while breaking the covenant would bring against them the punishments described as “curses”.
• ·         Participation in the divine blessings is conditioned on obedience added to faith.
• ·         On the basis of Christ’s atoning death, the promised eternal inheritance has become real for those who are called by God.
• ·         Having reviewed his covenanted commitment to Abraham, and having broadened it to include the promise of offspring, God called upon Abraham to make a covenanted commitment to Him—to “walk before me faithfully and be blameless”.
• ·         As the old covenant was put into effect with the shedding of the blood of animals, so the new was put into effect with the shedding of the blood of Christ.
• ·         The “new” covenant fulfills the “old” and achieves its purpose.
• ·         Now that the Lord has done His new work, there is no longer among His people those who are ignorant of Him and His will for human lives. True knowledge of the Lord is shared by all—young and old, the peasant and the powerful. The Lord is known in the experiential, not the academic, sense.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV