The Great Commandment

August 23, 2009

Lesson: Deuteronomy 6:1-15

Key Verses: Deuteronomy 6:4-6

Introduction

God’s promise is that he will be our God, and we will be his people. In this relationship we see the love of God manifested in us, toward him who first loved us, and toward one another. This covenantal relationship between God and his people must accompany any discussion of God’s moral law, the teaching of the statutes and commandments of God.

In answer to the question, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind (‘and with all thy strength’ Mark 12:30). This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matt. 22:36-39).

When the question was asked, “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus returned with the question, “What is written in the law?”; to which the lawyer replied, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself” (Luke 10:25-27; see Deut. 10:12). This is the requirement of being called a child of God, one who has his or her inheritance in God’s heaven. However, being transgressors of this law, we cannot enter his heaven unless redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ. The promise to God’s saints is that the “Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live” (Deut. 30:6). Jesus said, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21).

Hear and Observe –Deuteronomy 6:1-3

When Moses called Israel together to hear the “statutes and judgments,” he told them that they were to learn them and keep them and do them, for it was the “Lord our God” who made a covenant with his people (Deut. 5:1-2). The commandments were the words which the Lord spoke to the assembly out of the fire and cloud and darkness “with a great voice.” The people responded, “Behold, the Lord our God hath shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice … we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth” (5:24).

The people of God are to observe to do as the Lord has commanded, turning not from the “right hand or the left” (5:32). Moses speaks to God’s people, saying, “Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it.”

The fear of the Lord (which is the beginning of wisdom, Prov. 1:7), persuades us to obey God’s moral law. Fools despise instruction from God. When one has within his heart a true fear of the Lord, a deep feeling of awe before the Lord who is Creator and Redeemer, then there will be a greater desire to obey his law, “to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son.” The Lord’s people are to keep his statutes and commandments, in order that they and their children may live abundantly “all the days of thy life.”

Therefore, said Moses, hear and observe. The child of God is to listen carefully, thoughtfully, with the view to understand and obey. The result of this relationship with the Lord who has delivered his people, and who taught them his righteousness, is that they will prosper mightily, and by his promise enter “in the land that floweth with milk and honey.”

Discussion: What results are seen as the Lord teaches us his commandments and statutes?

Talk of Them – Deuteronomy 6:4-9

When the Lord gave to his people the commandments from his holy mountain, he began with these words: “I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Thou shalt have none other gods before me” (Deut. 5:6-7). Calling his people to hear the Lord, Moses reminds them that the “Lord our God is one Lord.” There is no other reason for us to hear and obey except this one, that the Lord God, as he has revealed himself in his Scriptures, and taught to us by the Spirit, is the one and only true God.

Thus shall his people “love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might;” the first and greatest commandment. From this principle of love which “shall be in thine heart,” comes the delight of the Christian: “in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night” (Psa. 1:2). Our prayer is: “Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight” (Psa. 119:77).

There is a foolish proverb which says that those who can’t do, teach. Not so with the child of God. It is because we have known the love of God, and have learned to hear and obey his statutes, that we are counseled to teach God’s way diligently to our children, talking with them when we sit in our house, as we walk with them in the day, and put them to bed at night, and when we wake up in the morning, securing God’s commandments in and upon our homes.” This is the spirit of being a disciple, sitting at the feet of Jesus and his Word, and of then being able to disciple others in the grace and joy of our Savior.

It is with a vigorous love for our Lord and Savior that we endeavor to pass the truths of God’s word from generation to generation. This is the spirit of our Confession and Catechisms, to teach each generation the truths of holy Scripture, the moral law being useful to inform all of their duty to walk righteously, convincing men of their sin and misery, “and thereby help them to clearer sight of the need they have of Christ, and of the perfection of his obedience” (Larger Catechism # 95). Both elders and parents are, in light of the compassion of Jesus Christ, to look to the souls of those whom the Father has put under their care.

Discussion: Why is it that we desire both to obey the word of God and pass it on to the next generation?

Serve the Lord –Deuteronomy 6:10-15

Moses instructs the people of God as to what is expected of them when they enter into the Promised Land. When the Lord their God brings them into the land promised to their fathers, and their houses are filled with “all good things,” and when they draw water from wells they did not dig, and obtain food from trees they did not plant; then, says the Lord, “beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”

The people are to remember their Deliverer by (1) fearing the Lord, (2) serving the Lord, and, (3) pledging their allegiance to the Lord. They are, therefore, not to bind themselves to the gods of the people around them, but be bound to the one and only true God. We are not to be “unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14). Jesus said: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matt. 11:29).

We flee from the sin and idols of this world, even that of our old nature, by looking unto Jesus the Author of our faith. We stand in awe before the Almighty God, the Savior, our Lord Jesus. We seek to serve him in all righteousness and, therefore, bring glory to his name. We pledge our full allegiance to our King to obey his law, and proclaim his gospel.

The people of Israel are to enter the promised land with the warning that the Lord their God “is a jealous God among you,” and therefore are to listen carefully to the word of God, and forget him not, “lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.”

This warning is for all the people of this world today; especially those who are the magistrates in the governments. It is not a message that goes well with unbelievers, nor, it seems, with many believers. We have received grace upon grace, and in that we rejoice. But does this mean that one should not have a fear of the Lord? Have we, in the proclamation of the gospel forgot that there is a hell, a place of torment provided by the Lord for those who rebel against Him?

In his book, Repent or Perish, Dr. Gerstner writes: “Surely if Christianity be true, Christians everywhere will be trying to persuade their friends to avoid the terror of the Lord. Knowing only Christ and Him crucified is the corollary of knowing the terror of the Lord and persuading men. The only thing that will save women and men from the terror of the Lord is the cross of the Lord.”

Discussion: How are we to serve the Lord our God?