Deuteronomy is the last of the five books in the Torah. They have chronicled the beginning of the world, the flood, Abraham, slavery in Egypt, the Ten Commandments, wandering in the desert for 40 years, and now finally, Moses is at the end of his life and He is charging the Israelites with carrying on the torch.
If you knew for certainty that your life was coming to a close, what would be the most important things you would recount to your family? Would you spend your hours recounting the good old days? Would you want everyone to circle around you and tell you all the ways they have loved you? How would you challenge them to move into the future?
Remember, the generation that defied God and caused the 40 year punishment of wandering around the desert, has died. Moses is speaking to their children as they prepare to take the Promised Land. They are an entirely new nation, walking into a new future.
He begins by reminding the people how gracious God has been to them despite their disobedience. In Chapter 6, we find one of the most common sections of Scripture, still prayed daily by people of Jewish faith. It is called the Shema.
Shema is a Hebrew word meaning to listen. But not just to listen with your ears, but to listen with obedience. It is a prayer of hearing and action. So we could in some ways call the Shema, “The Listening Prayer.”
Hear, O Israel; The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deut. 6: 4-9
There are a couple of points I find fascinating here. One is that when Moses says, “LORD,” he is using the Hebrew word “Jehovah.” This is similar in sound to Yahweh (the Name God calls Himself in the burning bush) and are occasionally interchanged in translations.
God goes by many names throughout Scripture, each name highlighting an attribute of His character. Jehovah is used when the focus is on His relational side. This name itself is a reminder that God wants to know and be known by His people. He wants relationship with them.
When Moses uses “God” in these verses, he is saying the Hebrew word, “Elohim.” This is a plural word (think Trinity!) used in a singular sense. It means “the Creator God.”
So just in breaking down the titles Moses uses, we are seeing God’s focus on wanting relationship with His people, and reminding them of His might as Creator of all things.
He is also turning their attention to remember the multitude of gods they abandoned in Egypt and warning them of the polytheistic cultures they are about to enter as they conquer the lands of Canaan. Moses is sternly reminding them to teach the blessings and laws of the Lord to their children. In a modern example, instructing them would be a natural discussion as you drive along the road, tell bedtime stories, and sit around the table sharing food.
What would it look like if natural communication in your home centered around the goodness of God you have experienced in your own life and the ways He lovingly guided you back to Himself when you strayed?
The Shema was such a staple in the Jewish faith that Jesus quotes it when questioned which was the greatest commandment. He then also says to love your neighbor as you love yourself. (Mark 12:29-31)
Next consider how Moses commands the Israelites to bind them to their hands and as frontlets (a band or mark) between their eyes. (Deut. 4:8) This is perhaps in consideration that our hands and eyes direct almost every action of our lives. We see and then we put our hands to work.
Think for a moment where you have heard similar phrasing- something to go on the hand or forehead.
John writes in Revelation in the end days a beast will require, “all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of his name.” (Revelation 13:16&17) The focus of the eyes and actions of those who take this mark will differ greatly from those trusting Jehovah.
But when John looks into the light of eternity, he says, “No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.” (Revelation 22:3&4)
Remember when we read Scripture, we should be looking for the themes of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. Sometimes those themes are found in the same story, and sometimes God stretches out the conclusion over millennia.
This is such a fascinating point to me, that God is commanding His people, who are preparing for war to overtake the Promised Land, to let their minds and hands constantly be about His work. Some centuries later in an apostle’s vision, He shows us that the temptation to let our minds and hands turn from Him is not limited to an ancient people surrounded by idols of wood and stone, but will be before us until the end of all things.
BUT at the conclusion of all things, those who adore Him into eternity, will forever wear His name. We will sing with joy when Solomon’s love poem becomes reality for believers.
My beloved is mine, and I am His. (Song of Solomon 2:16)
A few chapters later, Moses continues, and this is where we will camp out for the remainder of our time together today.
This passage makes my heart leap. Listen to the pure LOVE pouring from the mouth of the same God who spoke out galaxies and roars the demonic into terrified flight.
And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD which I am commanding you today for your good?
Deut. 10: 12 & 13
Emphasis my own
Do you hear Him? Even in a book listing laws, He’s continuously pointing them back to the reason for them- He wants them to love Him as He loves them. And He’s promising that His commands are for their good.
Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it.
Deuteronomy 10:14
He’s reminding them of His power, here- His ownership of the entire universe. He can have anything He wants, because He created it.
Yet the LORD set His heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. For the LORD your God is God of gods and LORD of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God Who is not partial and takes no bribe.
Deut. 10: 15- 17
Emphasis my own
He has shown the people His power as Creator and that He remains Ruler of all. And yet He set not only His eyes, but His very heart on these people.
Circumcision was commanded for the Israelites as an outward symbol of devotion to Yahweh. But here, He tells them to circumcise their hearts, a physical impossibility. So what is He commanding? He’s telling them He is not interested in merely outward obedience, He wants the devotion of their hearts and souls.
You see similar concepts coming from Jesus when He says to the Pharisees, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:13
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.”
Galatians 5:6
Even in the books of the law, where circumcision is required as an outward symbol of Israel’s dedication and separation from the surrounding pagan nations, God is already unfolding His desire for their hearts, and not to simply be “white-washed tombs.”
Fulfilling the law completely means nothing to a heart that does not love God wholly.
He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 10:18 & 19
Is God’s writing not incredible? See how He is shifting from reminding them that they are a chosen people, separated and special to Him. He’s wanting their love to mimic His in their devotion to Him, but now He is shining His same love outward.
As deep as His love for His people, so far does His arm reach in justice for the oppressed.
And after showering His people with words of love for them, one people group is not enough to contain it. We begin to see how His love is going to burst forth for all people, shattering all boundaries. He commands them to love the sojourner, for they were also once in need of rescue. He is laying the groundwork to bring the wanderer back in.
You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve Him and hold fast to Him, and by His name you shall swear. He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.
Deuteronomy 10: 20- 22
Emphasis my own
I love this section. God wants them to remember His might. They cannot take His commands lightly because of how powerful and holy He is. They are to serve Him.
But watch His language as He reminds them of Who He is- to hold fast to Him. This word can be translated to say to “cling” or “join to” Him.
This is the God Who marched a weak, stiff-necked people out of slavery. His wrath burned against their sins and He punished them. Multiple times. But He still desperately wants them to cling to Him. He wants them to see His goodness and loving-kindness that will follow all of their generations if they will just remain in Him.
Jesus echoes His Father’s words in John 15:4.
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”
Look at the similarities here. God is promising blessings over His nation if they will cling to Him and obey His words. In other chapters, He promises blessings on their crops and families if they follow His ways.
Moses finishes this chapter that God is their praise. Ah! What a contrast from the fearful and gruesome gods they left in Egypt and the ones they would face in the coming years.
He reminds them that He alone has done the mighty deeds required to deliver them from slavery, in the sight of the surrounding nations.
And to finish with a wink, God jogs their memory that they went down into Egypt as 70 people. One family. And now they will claim the Promised Land, as a people as numerous as the stars.
Despite the complaining and disobedience of the people, God did not forget His promise to Abraham. He walked through the carcasses of animals and signed the covenant Himself, without any conditions on Abraham’s faithfulness.
When any author sits down to pen a book, or a producer films a movie, his intent is that the consumer will read or watch it from beginning to end. The Bible is very similar.
This is why we cannot read stories or books out of context. An author may write a confusing chapter, fully intending to tie up all of the loose strings later in the book. The confusion or frustration of the reader does not lie on the shoulder of the author if he or she refuses to finish the story.
God is using each chapter, story, and Bible from beginning to end to teach us about Himself. If we close the book after Abraham, we never know that God fulfilled His promise to make him into a nation. And we’d certainly never see how God grafts in all nations to gift His salvation to any willing to follow His Son.
As we journey through life, may we find ourselves pressing deeper into these stories of heaven. God recorded them for our good. Do not bypass the blessing of knowing Him fully because of the effort it takes to study well.
Consider today if you will allow the words of Scripture to engrave themselves on your hand and forehead. That they may always be your reason for action and at the forefront of your mind.
