Stay-at-Home Scripture Study 5: Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Deuteronomy is the fifth book the Bible, the end of the section called The Pentateuch, which simply means “five books.” The Pentateuch is often called the “Five Books of Moses” or the Torah, a Hebrew word that means “instructions.” With the wandering in the wilderness now over, these laws were delivered “in the land of Moab” (Deut 1:15). Deuteronomy is a Greek word meaning “second law,” and it contains the set of laws which the Israelites received as they prepared to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land.

At the beginning of Deuteronomy 6, Moses speaks of the commandment “that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, so that you and your children and your children’s children, may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you” (Deut 6:1-3). This begins a section in which Moses reviews God’s goodness and urges the people to behave like God’s chosen people and be faithful to God’s laws. The people are to fear God and keep all of God’s commandments so that their “days may be long” (Deut 6:2).  If the people observe the commandments diligently, it will “go well” with them, and they will multiply greatly in the land that has been promised to them (Deut 6:3).

Clearly, God desires to work for good in the lives of God’s people.  Decrees and commandments are given for our benefit, to structure our lives in life-giving ways. Just as the game of tennis would be meaningless without lines or a net, our lives would become chaotic without the ordering of God’s laws. Commandments are meant to be helpful to us, not oppressive.

Then Moses says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone” (Deut 6:4). Particularly important are the verses in Chapter 6 which begin with the verb “hear,” in Hebrew shema’. Hearing is critical to the life of faith, even more important than seeing, as the apostle Paul noted when he said, “faith comes from what is heard” (Rom 10:17). Israel is challenged to hear that “The Lord is our God, the Lord alone” (Deut 6:4). When “The Lord” is written in all caps, it is a code for the personal name for Israel’s God: YHWH. Since this name is regarded by many Jews as being too sacred to be pronounced, the word “Lord” is said whenever YHWH appears.

The reality of life is that other powers are constantly competing for our loyalty. “As good as we might be,” I wrote in a column on idolatry in USA Today, “we can still be seduced by counterfeit gods. In Washington, the idol of power draws politicians and their supporters away from compromise and toward ideological purity. On Wall Street, success tempts brokers and investors to value profits over people. In Hollywood, the focus on beauty creates a standard of physical perfection that is impossible for most people to achieve. And in neighborhoods across the country, children are pampered in ways that border on idolatry, leaving them with a distorted sense of their place in the world. Each of these idols can be a good thing, when handled properly. But power, success and even children can become obsessions and lead us down dangerous and deadly paths.”

Next comes the commandment to love, introduced here for the first time. The commandment to “love the LORD your God” (Deut 6:5) is a bold new approach, one that goes on to become central to both Judaism and Christianity. Jesus later referenced this verse as the first part of his Great Commandment (Mark 12:29-30). With this commandment comes the challenge of giving priority to God, much in the way that we give priority to the people we love: Spouses, children, relatives, friends, close neighbors. Love is a much stronger bond and obligation than respect, duty or affection.

Moses continues by saying, “Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away …. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house” (Deut 6:6-9). Moses gives the people of Israel advice about maintaining the centrality of the commandments, in particular the Ten Commandments which are presented in the previous chapter of Deuteronomy. In Jewish tradition, these instructions are taken literally in the wearing of phylacteries, small leather containers which contain biblical tests, and the nailing of a mezuzah to a doorway. God’s law is to be remembered in every aspect of life. 

The sixth chapter of Deuteronomy, containing the “Shema,” is one of the Bible’s greatest hits because it commands us to make God the highest power in our lives, and to love this God with all of our heart, soul and might. It also challenges us to remember God’s commandments and to live by them, in every time and place and situation.

Questions:

1.      What are some of the counterfeit gods that compete for your loyalty?

2.      How do God’s commandments structure your activities in life-giving ways?

3.      In what ways do you love God and order your life around this bond?

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