6 1-2 This is the commandment, the rules and regulations, that God, your God, commanded me to teach you to live out in the land you’re about to cross into to possess. This is so that you’ll live in deep reverence before God lifelong, observing all his rules and regulations that I’m commanding you, you and your children and your grandchildren, living good long lives.
3 Listen obediently, Israel. Do what you’re told so that you’ll have a good life, a life of abundance and bounty, just as God promised, in a land abounding in milk and honey.
4 Attention, Israel! God, our God! God the one and only!
5 Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got!
6-9 Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.
“3 Listen obediently, Israel. Do what you’re told so that you’ll have a good life, a life of abundance and bounty, just as God promised, in a land abounding in milk and honey.”
The title for these studies in Deuteronomy is “But God, do I really have to obey you? Why?” The reason for that title should be obvious. Deuteronomy embodies everything Moses tries to tell the Israelites just before he dies. Moses knows his time is short and the Israelites are rebellious. It’s likely Moses knows about all the pagan gods these people have persisted in hauling all through the wilderness. At night, when those worshiping the moon and stars have been slinking out to some quiet place, Moses has probably seen them going and knows full well what they are doing. Moses might also suspect that given the opportunity to engage in ritual sex, many of his people will be rushing to join in; after all, look what happened at Peor.
“5 Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got! 6-9 Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.”
God and Moses want the Israelites to have as many reminders of the commandments as possible, not only physical ones, but also mental ones. Sadly, the Israelites will only follow these commandments partially, reducing what should be acts of devotion to meaningless mechanical observations. Eventually, the Israelites will lose their land because of their failures; however, God will return some of them from Babylon, and there will always be a faithful remnant.
One Jewish writer who grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan has described Jewish taxi drivers at the turn of the nineteenth century who would take time out from their struggle to make a living to join in groups to study “ein stickl Torah,” a little piece of Torah. Even in the concentration camps and in other hostage situations, there have been people coming together to study God’s Word.
The phrase “a land of milk and honey” occur many times throughout the Bible, but what does it mean? http://www.Gotquestions.org tells us, “This poetic description of Israel’s land emphasizes the fertility of the soil and bounty that awaited God’s chosen people. The reference to “milk” suggests that many livestock could find pasture there; the mention of “honey” suggests the vast farmland available—the bees had plenty of plants to draw nectar from.” The Israelites have been wandering around in barren lands for years; after all, God has had to feed them manna and supply water miraculously for them to survive. Now God is promising to bring the Israelites into a fertile land where they will enjoy abundance of all kinds. But, there’s a catch: “Do what you’re told.” The Israelites have already demonstrated that they are remarkably bad at listening and obeying!
We might read these verses and feel a bit smug, for we know that eventually the Israelites will fall into sin and be carried off by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. But are we any better? Tee shirts and ball caps with scriptures on them and WWJD bracelets asking “What Would Jesus Do?” are popular, but if our hearts don’t match our tee shirts, we’d better change clothes! And are we teaching our children and grandchildren about God or are we leaving them to become spiritual orphans? Years ago, my husband and I taught in Children’s Church, and one of the shocking things was the number of kids who knew absolutely nothing about God or the Bible. Many of these kids came from families where their parents were actively involved in heavy duty Bible studies several times a week, but still the kids were Biblical illiterates. We found we had to start at the basics for all our kids.
God has given instructions for all of us: Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.
Absorb God’s Word and make it part of your thoughts and your daily life. May God help us to be obedient!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to make Your Word part of our daily lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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