VERSE OF THE DAY
Deuteronomy 6: 6-7 (New Living Translation)
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And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.
And you must commit yourselves in commitment of a entire hear and soul to these commands that I am telling you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. The nation and community you live in Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Continue sharing them where ever you go to whom ever you speak.
6 And these awords, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine bheart: 7 And thou shalt ateach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt btalk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
What Does Deuteronomy 6:7 Mean? ►
“You shall teach them diligently to your sons 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 up.
Deuteronomy 6:7(NASB)
Picture courtesy of Sweet Publishing/FreeBibleimages.org
Verse Thoughts
There are two mindsets in the world today 1) a biblical mindset and 2) a secular worldview. The first is a God-focussed, Christian mindset that is rooted in the wisdom and knowledge of God and the second is a God-rejecting, Christ-hating, worldly view, that is grounded on the wisdom of the world – where man is the focus of his own attention.
The mindset of the world permeates every avenue of life. It has become saturated in the laws that govern our land and floods into the eyes and ears of every member of the human race… through the media and advertising, through education, entertainment, leisure, work, religion, and a host of other outlets.
Even in the time of Moses, God knew that His chosen people would be adversely influenced by the worldly mindset of the surrounding, pagan nations which was why God gave very specific instructions to His covenant people concerning the commands He had given them: “You shall teach them diligently to your sons,” He instructed, “and you 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 up.
After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness due to national unbelief, Moses was, once again, preparing the children of Israel for their fast-approaching entry into the Promised Land. But the most important lesson they needed to learn, was to maintain a never-failing trust in God and an unshakable obedience to His Word.
In order for them to conquer the land and live as God intended, they needed to be morally prepared and God gave them practical instruction on how to live in the promised land of Canaan. They were to be obedient to the Lord by following all the instructions He had given them through His servant Moses.
They were to meditate on the Word of God and were to constantly remind themselves of all that the Lord had said to them in their wilderness wanderings. They were to diligently teach their children the decrees and statues of the Lord and to train them in the way they should go. They were to keep God’s laws in their hearts and use them to give their children godly guidance in every area of life. They were to develop a God-focused mindset and ensure that their children did not depart from a biblical worldview.
Though this was a mandate given to Israel so long ago, the same two worldviews have marched side by side, traversed centuries of time, and are still very prevalent in the world today. However, the failure of Israel to faithfully follow God’s instructions and diligently teach His Word to their children when they sat in their houses, walked by the way, lay down to sleep, and rose in the morning is a sober lesson to us all, for we are increasingly bombarded from all sides with a godless, pagan, worldly mindset, that is at enmity with God and all that is good and true.
Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/deuteronomy-6-7
As Christian parents, is it enough to take your kids to church every Sunday? Absolutely not. We need to find every opportunity possible to teach them about God. We need to start them at a young age of reading their Bible every day and learning how to pray. They need to lean about God through the examples that we set – how we spend our money, the words we use and the tones in which they are said, what we watch on TV, and how we react in rush hour traffic. The need to see mom and dad modeling a Christian marriage. Every moment of every day. That’s what God expects from us.
In Deuteronomy God said we are to be diligent about teaching them the ways of God. We should be teaching them at home, on the road, walking through the park, as they lay down to sleep each night, and the first thing when they wake up in the morning. We should teach them to recognize God’s blessing and to hear His “still, small voice.” We should teach them about tithing. We should teach them to be servant leaders. We should teach them to bear the image of Christ. We should teach them to be salt and light in the world. We should teach them to love their neighbors – no matter who they are and without prejudice. We should help them memorize Bible verses to hide in their hearts. We should teach them songs that honor and glorify God and teach them how to thank Him for everything.
Did you notice the word that is used here for what parents are supposed to do? We are to diligently teach them to our children. Another translations says, “Impress them on your children…” When does something leave an impression? Let’s say you have some cast iron chairs on your deck or porch that have a pattern on them. If you sit on that chair for even a few moments, it will leave an impression on your backside, but quickly fade once you get up. But if you sit on it for 60 minutes, you’re going to be walking around with an impression on your backside for quite some time. The longer you sit, the greater impression it leaves. God wants us to spend time with him and his Word so that he may leave a lasting impression on us. The more time we spend with God’s Word the greater impression it leaves on us. It is an impression of God’s love, faithfulness, power and promises. An impression that reminds us of just how valuable our relationship with Christ actually is. When we model that to our children, it will leave a lasting impression on them.
For fathers, you have the opportunity and responsibility of leading your family and growing them spiritually. But good spiritual leadership doesn’t happen by accident. It requires a deliberate investment of yourself into the people in your home. It begins with your own spiritual leadership. You cannot invest into the spiritual development of your family if you are not first investing in your own. Husbands and fathers only lead well when they have paid careful attention to their character and ensure they are both teaching and modeling Godly character. You need to remember that they know you better than any other person, so you won’t be able to hide even small character flaws from them. Your life is their model, and they will be following your lead. To lead your family intentionally, you need to have a plan for yourself. Ask yourself the question: “Do I have a plan for my development and growth as a man, husband, and father?” If not, you better get one, because your leadership is only as good as your plan—and subsequently how you work that plan.
As a husband, everything you do to nurture your relationship with your wife will have a direct impact on the overall health of your entire family. How you love your wife, honor her, respect her, listen to her, and forgive her not only teaches your children how to treat others, but it also prepares them for their own future marriage relationship. Your sons are learning everything about how to treat a woman by watching you and how you treat your wife. Your daughters are learning about how a man should treat them. Ask yourself: “Do I want my children to have the same kind of relationship with their spouse as I do with my wife?”
As a wife, everything you do to nurture your relationship with your husband will also have a direct impact on your entire family. How you love your husband, honor him, respect him, submit to him, listen to him, and forgive him, teaches your children about God’s design for a Christian marriage. Your daughters are watching you and learning these vital relationship skills that she will carry into her own marriage relationship one day. Momma’s, ask yourself: “Do I want my daughter to have the same kind of marriage relationship with her spouse as I do with my husband?”
Parenting is tough. It’s hard work. It takes investing time, effort, and energy. That can be hard after a long day at work – but it’s an investment that has lifelong dividends. Even simple investments in the life of your children will demonstrate your love for them and show them they are important to you. In the dairy of Winston Churchill’s father, he penned, “Spent the day fishing with Winston. A day wasted.” Leading our children requires us to have an invested relationship with them. That means we can’t sit on the couch with the remote or game controller in our hand and issue commands or ignore the kids. Their life is directly impacted by the investment of your time. Be present with them in pursuits that matter to them. Engage casually with them. Take them for one-on-one dinners. Ask them for prayer requests and pray for them and with them. Extend grace to them when needed. Show them how to do something new, such as building something together, working on a car or a home repair project together. Maybe your something new looks more like teaching a craft or hobby such as crochet, sewing, baking, etc. Or refurbishing a piece of antique furniture together. Have a significant, age appropriate talk with them on a controversial topic and be sure you are showing them in God’s Word what God has to say on the topic. From time to time, ask them about their “high and low of the day” and discover their challenges and disappointments. If you find that spending time with them feels like wasted time, they are likely to spend their entire lives trying to prove their worth to you or trying to earn your love and respect. Is the non-verbal message you are sending to them saying they are waste of your time or that they are valued and loved and worth your time? Just as Jesus invested in his disciples by spending time with them gave them the skills they needed for the work He was calling them to do, so your spending time with your children will prepare and equip them for the life they will have.
Every parent messes up at times. But even the “mess ups” become opportunities for teaching children about God’s grace and forgiveness. It also empowers them with the skills for extending grace and forgiveness to others. Don’t allow your pride to keep you from saying, “Son, I was wrong. I need you to forgive me.” Then use your “mess up” as grounds for teaching them what God says and about how God forgives us. When you become vulnerable an real with your children by sharing your failures with them, they will soak up your values, beliefs, and faith.
No matter the age of your children, the years you have them at home to influence them are short. Before you know they will be grown adults and stepping out into the world on their own. You will never get those years back. You will never get a “do over.” So invest in them by modeling Godly behavior, developing them spiritually, and investing your time with them.
God, thank you for the blessing of our children. Bringing them up in the admonition of the Lord is hard work, but with Your help, we commit to raising them in the full knowledge of who you are. Help us to parent them well, teaching them diligently about your commandments and love for them. Help us to model obedience to Your Word as we diligently train them every moment of every day in every circumstance.
Christian Parenting
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
It seems that today’s Christian parent is constantly looking for help on how to rear their children. There are many books in Christian bookstores on parenting, but although much of the parenting advice is from a Christian perspective, it is not truly biblical. Christian parents need to understand and apply the principles that the Bible sets forth in order to bring up their children in a way that honors Christ. An old Chinese proverb says, “One generation plants the trees and another gets the shade.” We benefit from previous generations. Our parents provided a moral grounding in what is right and wrong. There were absolutes that provided great security for us as we matured into adulthood. But the greater question for us today is this; what are we planting for our children? What are we doing right now, that will provide for the next generation of our children? The sad truth is that we live in a society where the focus is upon ourselves, not upon our children. We want what we want and there is little regard for others.
I am thankful for ministries such as Grace Baptist Academy, and for parents who realize the importance of investing in the lives of their children. Let me give you some thoughts today on the subject of Christian parenting.
Intro: The Decline of the Family
• A. Signs of the family’s collapse.
• 1. The term is being redefined to include every imaginable combination of individuals and their sexual preference.
2. Many consider marriage optional at best, and others think it is totally obsolete.
3. Abortion, homosexuality, radical feminism, all are signs of the family’s collapse.
• B. Anti-family values of our society.
• 1. Television dominates home life.
2. Killing an animal is criminal; yet killing unborn human infants is defended as a matter of choice.
3. There are those in government right now who would like to hand over to the federal government the rights and responsibilities of child rearing.
4. Some want to move us closer to state-sponsored parenting, and eventually eliminate the family.
• C. In light of our modern culture…
• 1. What can we as Christians do to plant shade to protect our children?
2. We begin with an understanding of scriptural principles of parenting.
I. Children Should Be Seen As A Blessing, Not a Hardship
• A. Children are a sign of God’s loving kindness.
• 1. After Adam and Eve rebelled against God and ate of the forbidden fruit, they were allowed to have children.
2. God multiplied the pain of childbirth (Gen. 3:16), but He did not nullify the blessing of children.
3. When Cain was born Eve said, “I have gotten a man from the Lord” (Gen. 4: 1).
4. The Lord was the source of the child.
5. When Seth was born Eve said, “For God has appointed me another seed” (Gen. 4:25).
6. Children are blessed gifts from God.
• B. The parents who gave birth to the tribes of God’s chosen people.
• 1. When Leah gave birth to Rueben she said, “…Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction…” (Gen. 29:32).
2. When Simeon was born she said, “…Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also…” (Gen. 29:33).
3. When Rachel gave birth to Joseph she said, “God hath taken away my reproach” (Gen. 30:23).
4. There are so many biblical illustrations and examples to demonstrate that children are a blessing from the Lord.
5. Psalm 127:3-5 is a wonderful example.
• (Psa 127:3-5) Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. {4} As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. {5} Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
II. Parenting Is Supposed To Be A Joy, Not A Burden
• A. Parenting can become a burden.
• 1. We make parenting a burden when we fail to follow the principles of the Lord.
2. When we neglect our duty as a parent, we forfeit the blessing God intends for us to have.
• B. Real joy comes when you bring your child up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
• 1. This is especially true of discipline.
2. It may seem distasteful, but discipline will ultimately produce joy when we are faithful to the Lord’s instructions.
• (Prov 29:17) Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.
• 3. Many of us can remember our parents saying to us just before a spanking, “This is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you.”
4. When I became a parent I knew that was true.
5. But when we do parenting God’s way it will produce joy.
III. Success in Parenting Is Measured By What the Parents Do, Not By What the Child Does
• A. The outcome of the child is not the gauge of the parent’s success.
• 1. Sometimes children raised in Christian homes grow up and abandon the faith.
2. The Lord also has redeemed many children that were not raised in Christian homes.
• B. The measure of success is the parent’s own character.
C. We are a success when we parent God’s way.
IV. A Child’s Most Important Influences Come From the Parents, Not Peers
• A. Parents do not have the prerogative to delegate their duty to others.
• 1. No other influence should take precedence over their influence.
2. Parents like to blame their child’s failures on a variety of other influences.
3. Ultimately the parents are to blame for allowing these other influences to take precedence.
• B. Too Often Parents have abdicated their role.
• 1. God has given the responsibility of rearing children to the parents!
2. That means that we will be held accountable before God for how we do this.
3. If we have turned our children over to other influences that shape their character in ungodly ways, we will be held accountable for this as well.
• C. Parenting is a full time responsibility.
• (Deu 6:7) And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
There are no coffee breaks from being a parent.
It is not something to be done a few minutes a day or on a weekend only basis.
For many parents the first step must be a commitment to the things of the Lord Jesus Christ for yourselves.
Parents, take inventory of your own hearts.
Would you be pleased, would the Lord be pleased, if your children turned out exactly like you?
It is impossible for you to lead your children where you won’t try to go.
You can’t influence your children to serve the Lord wholeheartedly if you don’t.
Deuteronomy Chapter 6
Deuteronomy 6 – Moses Reminds Israel of the Commandment and the Warning
A. The Commandment: The essence of God’s law.
1. (1-3) Remember the commandment before entering Canaan.
Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, that you may fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you; “a land flowing with milk and honey.”
a. Now this is the commandment: The Hebrew is emphatic here. Moses called attention to The Commandment. In the following verses, God reduced the law to one ruling principle – one commandment that encompassed all the commandments.
b. That your days may be prolonged… that it may be well with you: Israel’s fate rested on their obedience to this one great commandment. If they obeyed their commandment, their life would be long and filled with blessing. If they did not obey they could expect to be cursed by God.
2. (4-5) The great commandment: Love the LORD your God.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
a. Hear, O Israel: In Hebrew, these verses are known as the Shema (“hear” in Hebrew). It is the classic Hebrew confession of faith, describing who God is and what our duty is towards Him.
b. The LORD our God, the LORD is one: This is the essential truth about God. He is a person and not a vague pantheistic force. Being one, He cannot be represented by contradictory images. Since the LORD our God is one, He is not Baal, or Ashtoreth – He is the LORD God, and they are not.
i. In the mind of many Jewish people, this verse alone disqualified the New Testament teaching that Jesus is God, and the New Testament teaching of the Trinity – that there is one God, existing in three Persons. At some times and places, as Jewish synagogues said the Shema together, and when the word one (echad) was said, they loudly and strongly repeated that one word for several minutes, as if it were a rebuke to Christians who believed in the Trinity.
ii. Christians must come to a renewed understanding of the unity of God. They must appreciate the fact that the LORD is one, not three, as 1 Corinthians 8:6 says: yet for us there is one God. We worship one God, existing in three persons, not three separate gods.
iii. Yet, the statement the LORD is one certainly does not contradict the truth of the Trinity. In fact, it establishes that truth. The Hebrew word for one is echad, which speaks most literally of a compound unity, instead of using the Hebrew word yacheed, which speaks of an absolute unity or singularity (Genesis 22:2 and Psalm 25:16).
iv. The very first use of echad in the Bible is in Genesis 1:5: So the evening and the morning were the first day. Even here, we see a unity (one day) with the idea of plurality (made up of evening and morning).
· Genesis 2:24 uses echad in saying the two shall become one flesh. Again, the idea of a unity (one flesh), making a plurality (the two).
· In Exodus 26:6 and 11, the fifty gold clasps are used to hold the curtains together, so the tent would be one (echad) – a unity (one) made up of a plurality (the many parts of the tabernacle).
· In Ezekiel 37:17 the LORD tells Ezekiel to join together two sticks (prophetically representing Ephraim and Judah) into one (echad), speaking again of a unity (one stick) made up of a plurality (the two sticks).
v. There is no way that echad has the exclusive idea of an absolute singularity; the idea of One God in Three Persons fits just fine with the term echad.
c. The LORD our God: In addition, even the name of God in this line suggests the plurality of God. The Hebrew word is Elohim and grammatically, it is a plural word used as if it were singular – the verbs and pronouns used with it are generally in the plural.
i. Rabbi Simeon ben Joachi, commenting on the word Elohim: “Come and see the mystery of the word Elohim; there are three degrees, and each degree by itself alone, and yet notwithstanding they are all one, and joined together in one, and are not divided from each other.” Clarke adds: “He must be strangely prejudiced indeed who cannot see that the doctrine of a Trinity, and of a Trinity in unity, is expressed in the above words.”
ii. Leupold quoting Luther on Elohim: “But we have clear testimony that Moses aimed to indicate the Trinity or the three persons in the one divine nature.”
d. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might: Knowing who God is enables us to act towards Him rightly. We give Him His due.
i. God wants a complete love from us. This love is appropriate because He loved us completely: We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).
ii. What God most wants from us is our love. We often think God demands a hundred other things from us – our money, our time, our effort, our will, our submission, and so forth – but what God really wants is our love. When we really love the LORD with all of our heart, soul, and mind, then everything else is freely given to the LORD. If we give the LORD all the rest – money, time, effort, will, and so forth – without giving Him our love, it is all wasted – and perhaps, all is lost.
iii. Jesus called this the great commandment (Matthew 22:37-38); and He said the second commandment, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, was like this first, great commandment. When we love the LORD our God with all our heart, soul, and mind, we will find it easy to love our neighbor as ourselves.
3. (6-9) The continual reminder of the Law.
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 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.
a. These words which I command you today shall be in your heart: This great command must first be in our heart. Then it must be communicated to our children, the topic of our conversation, and should always be in front of us – as near as our hand or our forehead, as ever before us as our door posts and gates.
b. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand: By the time of Jesus the Jewish people based the practice of wearing phylacteries on this passage. Phylacteries are small boxes holding parchment with scriptures on them, held to the forehead or hand with leather straps.
i. Jesus condemned abuse of the wearing of phylacteries among the Pharisees; they would make their phylactery boxes large and ostentatious as a display of greater spirituality (Matthew 23:5).
ii. In the end times, there will be a Satanic imitation of this practice, when the number of the Antichrist will be applied to either the hand or forehead of all who will take it (Revelation 13:16).
c. You shall write them on the doorposts of your houses: This command leads to the Jewish practice of the mezuzah. This is a small container holding a passage of Scripture that is nailed to a doorpost.
B. The danger of disobedience.
1. (10-12) The danger of leaving God in times of prosperity.
So it shall be, when the LORD your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant; when you have eaten and are full; then beware, lest you forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
a. To give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build: God planned to bring Israel into an abundant, prepared land. In this abundant blessing God had for Israel, there was an inherent danger: That they would forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
b. Lest you forget the LORD: This cycle would be repeated through the history of Israel, especially in the time of the Judges. God would bless an obedient Israel, and they would prosper; they would begin to set their heart on the blessings instead of the LORD who blessed them; God would allow chastisement to turn Israel’s focus back upon Him; Israel would repent and obey again, and God would again bless an obedient Israel and they would prosper.
i. We usually fail to appreciate the danger of success and prosperity; we agree there is a theoretical danger in those things, but rarely think it applies to us.
ii. It is just a lot easier to forget the LORD your brought you out… from the house of bondage when there are no circumstances forcing you to remember Him.
2. (13-19) How to avoid apostasy in times of prosperity: honoring the LORD in everything we do.
You shall fear the LORD your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you (for the LORD your God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of the LORD your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth. You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted Him in Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the LORD swore to your fathers, to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has spoken.
a. You shall fear the LORD your God and serve Him: When we do this, the idea is not of a shrinking fear from an angry God. Instead, the idea of fear is more in the concept of an awe-filled respect, an inner repulsion at the idea of offending such a great, loving God who has done so much for us.
i. This is the passage of Scripture Jesus quoted back to Satan when tempted by Satan to avoid the cross and win back the world if He would only bow down and worship Satan. Jesus rightly replies, based on the truth You shall fear the LORD your God and serve Him that it was only right to fear, and worship, and serve God – and it was wrong to bow down to Satan, no matter what might be given Him in return (Matthew 4:8-10).
b. And shall take oaths in His name: although the concept of the oath in God’s name can certainly be abused (as Jesus pointed out in Matthew 5:33-37), there certainly is a permissible use of oaths by those who follow God – since God Himself uses oaths (Hebrews 6:13). Here, Israel is being told, “you are to swear an oath only in the name of the LORD, not in the name of any other god.”
c. You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted Him at Massah: In Exodus 17:1-7, Israel tempted the LORD by doubting His love and concern for them. This was tempting or testing God regarding His love for Israel, something that is not only high-handed against the LORD (because we have no right to administer a test to the Almighty) but also disregarding His previous, and constant demonstrations of love and care for Israel (by demanding that God prove His love for them now by giving them what they want).
i. Anytime we deny God’s love for us, or demand He do something for us, we are testing Him as if He must answer to our standards and tempting Him to judge us.
ii. This is the passage of Scripture which Jesus quoted back to Satan in the wilderness, when tempted to make God the Father prove His love for the Son by spectacularly protecting Jesus if He should jump off the pinnacle of the temple (Matthew 4:5-7). Jesus knew it was wrong to demand this sort of “proof” from His Father, since every day was proof of God the Father’s love for the Son!
d. And you shall do what is right… that it may be well with you: This theme is constantly repeated. Under the Old Covenant, Israel’s blessing was based on their obedience. When they obeyed they would be blessed; when they disobeyed they would be cursed.
i. This is not the source of blessing in the New Covenant. In the New Covenant, we are blessed by faith in Jesus since He fulfills the law in our place (Romans 8:3-4). The watchwords for blessing under the Old Covenant were earning and deserving; under the New Covenant, blessing comes by believing and receiving.
ii. The New Covenant system works because when we receive the New Covenant, God sends with it an inner transformation, where the law of God and the desire to do His will is now written on our hearts. Through the New Covenant, God makes us “safe” for His grace by this inner transformation.
iii. Under the New Covenant there is no judgment from God for our disobedience, because all the judgment we deserved was put upon Jesus at the cross. However, there may be correction from the hand of a loving God the Father (not in the sense of making us pay for our sin, but in the sense of training us not to continue in sin), and there are the natural consequences of our disobedience, which God has not promised to shield us from.
iv. Christians who fear the “freedom” of a New Covenant relationship with God must ask this question: did Israel come to great obedience to God through the Old Covenant? Does the system of earning and deserving blessing make us truly godlier than the system of believing and receiving? Or does it leave us either in total desperation (where one can then look to Jesus), or in total pride in our own works before God (as were the religious leaders of Jesus’ day who had a significant hand in crucifying Him)?
3. (20-25) How to avoid apostasy in times of prosperity: Teach your children to understand and honor the LORD.
When your son asks you in time to come, saying, “What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD our God has commanded you?” then you shall say to your son: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and the LORD showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.”
a. When your son asks you in time to come: Often, the apostasy that comes from prosperity afflicts the next generation more than the present. They grow up expecting such prosperity and blessing, without understanding the repentance and walk with God that led to the prosperity.
b. Then you shall say to your son: Therefore, it was essential for Israel to teach and warn their children, so that the blessings given to one generation would not become a curse to the next generation.
i. Key to the teaching was the simple recounting of Israel’s testimony – how God saved them from the bondage of Egypt. Parents need to relate to their children how they came to a personal relationship with Jesus, so the children understand that they must come to the same relationship.
c. It will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments: If one will obtain true righteousness through the law, it is simple (though not easy): observe all the commandments. But if you are lacking in observing any commandment, then you need the atonement of a Perfect Sacrifice – Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
©2018 David Guzik – No distribution beyond personal use without permission
Categories: Deuteronomy Old Testament
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