INTRODUCTION
TO Deuteronomy 1-5:
·
Deuteronomy
1-5 serves as a review of what God has done with His people the Israelites
while under Moses.
o Moses addresses the Israelites,
speaking on behalf of God to them, reminding them that God had spoken to them
at Mt. Sinai (Horeb is the whole mountain range) when giving the 10
commandments, promising to drive away the Amorites to give them the Promised
Land/Canaan.
o But the 12 spies sent to spy out the
land gave a bad report, and Israel did not heed the command of God because of
fear of the mighty Amorites.
o Only after God told them they would not
inherit the Promised Land until their generation of men of war were consumed (2:14) and their babies would inherit did Israel
try to take it, but they were destroyed and driven back by the Amorites because
God did not go with them in their battles.
o That entire generation had to wander in
the wilderness, and yet even here God’s punishment is tempered by His mercy and
grace, as He leads them by pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, blesses
them in the work of their hands, feeds His people and provides them with water
(Deut. 2:7-8).
o After those forty years, God tells His
people to go forth and conquer, that Sihon the Amorite, King of Heshbon is
given to them. God hardens Heshbon’s heart & spirit so that he does not let
God’s people through, so that the Israelites would destroy them, man, woman,
and child, to possess that land and to make all the other nations fear and
dread the Israelites who are led by Yahweh, the one true God (2:25; 30ff.). Then King Og of Bashan is
defeated, & all the cities in the region were taken by Israel.
o The two kings and their cities on the
east of the Jordan river were also defeated and divided up to certain tribes of
Israel -- half the tribe of Manasseh, Gad, and Reuben -- though their men of
war still had to cross the Jordan with the rest of the Israelites to take the
land west of the Jordan.
o Moses & the Israelites’ faith is
strengthened as they see Yahweh, the one true God, conquering their far
superior enemies; yet Joshua, not Moses, leads them across the Jordan (Deut. 3:27ff.).
o
In Deut. 4, Moses
then reviews & exhorts Israel to obey the Lord, to follow His commands
& precepts, especially the 10 commandments, and to teach them to their
children and grand-children (4:9-10).
He reminds them that at Mt. Sinai they did not see God but heard His voice
only, so they should not make any images to bow down to and commit idolatry (4:15ff.)
o
But then Moses speaks prophetically in 4:25, explaining that when they are old and have children
and grandchildren, they will worship idols, so God will remove them from the
land, scatter them among pagans, and greatly reduce their number. They will
worship foreign gods, but in time will cry out to God again, and God will
remember His covenant, show them mercy, and deliver them.
o
How can they trust
God to do this? God reminds them in Deut. 4:32ff. how He created mankind, spoke to them from
the fire without consuming them, delivered them from Egypt by mighty trials, signs,
wonders, & war with a mighty hand and outstretched arm, teaching and
instructing them, leading them and then destroying other pagan nations greater
than them so that they may receive the Promised Land. God has done this to show
Israel (AND US!)
that there is no
other God besides Him (4:35), that He is God of heaven & earth,
worthy of praise and worship, & heeding His commands leads to blessing &
prosperity for you and your children after you (4:39-40) in His kingdom.
o
Moses summons the
Israelites & reviews the 10 Commandments in Deut. 5 so that they would hear & obey,
reminding them that even at Horeb/Sinai 40 years prior the covenant was made
with them, not only their parents but they themselves
(for the covenant includes God’s people and their children).
They were afraid of God’s voice/presence
then, & asked Moses to draw near to God for them as a mediator (Moses is a
type of Christ), to which God agrees but laments, “Oh, that they had such
a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments,
that it might be well with them & with their children forever (5:29)!” The law written in stone matched their
stone hearts.
o
Now, the Israelites
did not have an obedient heart, but Jesus, the God-Man and Word incarnate, did;
He kept the law perfectly for us & died to atone
for our sin/law-breaking so that we receive not only forgiveness of sins &
new life, but a new, law-keeping heart (Jer. 31:33; 32:37-41) that fears the Lord, obeys Him, teaches our
children the Word diligently, & reaps/receives from God the promised
covenant blessings for us & our children of everlasting life with our
risen, mighty Lord in His kingdom!
SERMON OUTLINE
Deuteronomy 6:1-9 – The Greatest
Commandment Written on Our Hearts -- Sermon Outline
Intro: What is the Christian’s relationship to the
law, does obedience matter, & what does it look like?
Need: See that in Christ, the law is
written on our hearts so that we love it, keep it, and teach it.
M.
P.: Jehovah (the only Covenant LORD) Gives His Covenant
Blessings to Those who Obey Him.
We see that this obedience --
I.
Keeps God’s Law
& Receives His life-giving blessings (v. 1-3)
A.
(v. 1a) “Now this is the
commandment and these are the statutes and judgments” can be seen through
several lenses (command/statute/judgment
encompasses all teachings of Jehovah to His people):
1.
Most condensed in 6:5, love God
alone with all your heart, soul, strength.
a.
Josiah reflects this in 2
Ki. 23:24-25, destroying idols in obedience to God in order to
keep Moses’ law (heart love is shown in law keeping, for the heart that loves
God has the law written on it); Jesus quotes Deut. 6:5 in Mk.
12:29-30, saying it is the first/greatest/ most important
commandment.
b.
In Mt. 22:40 Jesus
says that loving God with all your heart/being & your neighbor as yourself
is the basis of all the OT law & prophet’s teaching, and that if we love
Him, we will keep His commandments (Jn. 14:15)
2.
But in Dt. 5 we
see a summation of all the law of God in the 10 commandments.
a.
The first table/first four
commandments contain our duty toward God, loving God with all our
heart/soul/strength.
b.
The 2nd table/last 6
commandments show our duties toward man, corresponding to “love your neighbor
as yourself” (love as “yourself” not “as God”, otherwise we would be engaging
in idolatry).
B.
(v. 1b) “Which the LORD your
God has commanded to teach you”
1.
LORD in
capital letters indicates the name Jehovah/Yahweh, used
again in 6:2, 4-5. The name means “one true God” and indicates
that He is the “covenant keeping” Lord.
2.
The emphasis in
Deut. 1-5 has been that this Jehovah has delivered Israel
before, showing his power/supremacy over all nations and their false
gods/demons, demonstrating He is the one true God/LORD of all.
3.
Moses has been teaching the
Israelites all Jehovah’s commands to prepare them for life in Canaan, the
Promised Land flowing with milk & honey.
4.
The Promised Land pictures
paradise/heaven/being in Jehovah’s blessed presence.
5.
In Christ we have a foretaste of
this, but we await its fullness when He returns.
6.
Perfect obedience demands perfect
submission to God’s will, impossible until glory.
C.
(v. 1c) “That you may observe
them in the land which you are crossing over to possess”.
1.
The Israelites must be
obedient/holy in order to be with God in the Promised Land.
2.
We too must obey God’s commands; we
know that we are wayward, we still sin, we still await Christ’s return and the
Promised Land, redeemed creation and glory.
D.
(v. 2a) “that you may fear [may be
fearing/reverencing/respecting/honoring] the LORD your God, to keep all His
statutes and His commandments which I command you.
1.
Israel refused to listen/obey/“fear”
what God taught & commanded through Moses, even when they stood in God’s
presence at the foot of Mt. Sinai and heard God’s voice.
2.
Now, in worship we ascend to the
heavenly Mt. Zion, the city of the living God (Heb. 12:22); in
a real, spiritual sense, we come before God/Jesus, the saints and angels.
3.
Yet heaven itself will be shaken;
what is shaken is removed but what is firm remains.
4.
God’s true people are receiving
His kingdom, which cannot be shaken (12:27-28).
5.
So we must “not refuse Him” who
speaks. For the Israelites did not escape when they refused God who spoke on
earth from Mt. Sinai giving the 10 commandments.
6.
Thus we too shall certainly be
condemned if we turn away from Jesus and His commandments, for He speaks from
heaven on high to His Church (12:25).
E.
“you and your son and your
grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be [caused
to be] prolonged.”
1.
The law given at Mt. Sinai was not
re-introducing a covenant of works/merit.
2.
Entrance to the Promised Land was
not conditioned on meriting righteousness by an Israelite’s goodness. The
animal sacrifices pointed to the Lamb of God slain for sin.
3.
Israel was Jehovah’s redeemed
covenant people & were to love Him by keeping His commandments; the
children and grandchildren were expected to do this too.
4.
Obedience would result in the
Covenant LORD blessing them with long lives in His land.
5.
Those same promises are ours and
our children (Eph. 6:3), as
we too are Abraham’s seed and children according to the promise, true
Israelites (Gal. 3:29).
6.
No regenerate person loses faith
& turn to idols, but can be wayward for a season. The Israelites were not
merely wayward but faithless, unregenerate/apostate, idolaters.
F.
(v. 3) “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.’”
1.
God promised the patriarchs that
their seed would multiply and inherit the promised land forever (Ex.32:13);
that is fulfilled by Christ and all who are in Him.
2.
Moses speaks prophetically in Det.
4:25, explaining that after the Israelites enter the Promised Land, are old
and have children and grandchildren, they will worship idols.
3.
So God will remove them from the
land, scatter them among pagans, and greatly reduce their number. They will
worship foreign gods, but in time will cry out to God.
4.
God will remember His covenant,
show them mercy, and deliver them.
5.
Where Adam and the Israelites
failed, Christ as the last Adam and true Israel succeeded in being faithful to
His Father, receiving the promises that God gave to Israel, & Christ as the
true Israel gives eternal life to all who have true faith in Him.
II.
Requires a
heart-love for God that immerses our children in His law (v. 4-9).
A.
(v. 4) “Hear, O Israel: The
Lord our God, the Lord is one!”
1.
This is the second time Israel is
told to “hear”, this is an imperative/command.
2.
In Deut. 2-3 we
see God defeating pagan kings & their cities after Israel wandered 40 years
in the wilderness, which strengthens the faith of Moses & the Israelites.
3.
Moses reminds Israel that their
Lord God is one in essence, & is the only God among all the so-called gods
of the pagan lands.
a.
God reminds Israel in Deut.
4:32ff. how He created them, spoke to them from the fire
without consuming them, delivered them from Egypt by mighty trials, signs,
wonders, & war with a mighty hand & outstretched arm, teaching & instructing
them, leading them and then destroying other pagan nations greater than them so
that they may receive the Promised Land.
b.
God has done this to show Israel
(AND US!) that there is no other God besides Him (4:35); HE
is God of heaven & earth, worthy of praise/worship.
c.
Heeding His commands leads to
blessing & prosperity for you and your children after you (4:39-40) in
His kingdom. That is true for us as His kingdom people, who have been given
hearts that love and obey God.
B.
(v. 5-6) “You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And
these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.”
1.
“Heart” here can refer to the mind/will/understanding/affections,
etc.
2.
Note that in Deut.
5 Moses summons the Israelites & reviews the 10 Commandments, and his
words to them continue into our text in Deut. 6.
3.
“You shall” is not a prophecy, but
a command. Israel is commanded to
love God.
4.
40 years prior at Mt. Sinai Israel
was afraid of God’s voice/presence, & asked Moses to draw near to Jehovah
for them as a mediator (Moses is a type of Christ).
5.
Jehovah laments, “Oh, that they
had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My
commandments, that it might be well with them
& with their children forever (5:29)!” Jehovah
knew they would not fear/love/obey Him (Deut. 31-32).
6.
The law written
in stone matched their stone hearts.
C.
APPLICATION: The
new covenant Lord Jesus demands heart faithfulness/law-keeping.
1.
GOOD NEWS, now that Christ has
shed His blood, the law is written on our hearts!
2.
Christ’s imputed righteousness is
not an excuse to not obey/persevere.
3.
Be comforted, clothed in Christ’s
righteousness we “have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence
and godly fear” b/c “we are receiving an unshakeable kingdom,” the PROMISED
LAND of new heaven & new earth (12:28)!
4.
Also take comfort knowing God will
“make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is
well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus” (13:21).
a.
In Christ, God is pleased with our
service/good works, performed from our new, law-keeping hearts given to us by
the risen Son in power of His Spirit.
b.
These works are not accepted as
meriting heaven, but b/c they emanate from the power of heaven, by the Spirit
and through the exalted Son.
5.
So our obedience flows from a new
heart that is already redeemed in Christ.
a.
Remember the scribe of Mk.
12:33-34, who affirms that heart love for God and fellow man
is better than burnt offerings/sacrifice.
b.
Jesus affirms that the scribe is
not far from the kingdom of God. So think “love God and obey” not “sin now
& offer the ‘sacrifice’ of repentance later”
6.
He kept the law perfectly for us
& died to atone for our sin/law-breaking so that we receive not only
forgiveness of sins & new life, but a new, law-keeping heart (Jer.
31:33; 32:37-41) that fears the Lord, desires to know Him more,
and obeys Him.
D.
(v. 7) “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.”
1.
Israel is also
commanded to diligently teach, not just God’s kindness and mercy, but His COMMANDMENTS
to their children. So must we. “as we sit, walk, lie down, rise up indicates
this teaching encompasses our whole lives, all we do, not just rules/words.
a.
The Israelites largely failed to
do this, turned to idols along with their children, & received the covenant
curse of banishment from the land/from God, rather than enjoy a long &
prosperous life in the land.
b.
Israel did not have hearts for the
Lord, but were enslaved to their sin.
2.
But we have hearts full of the
Spirit & capable of teaching our covenant children the Word diligently. Children
are to obey in the Lord, but we must train them in the Lord.
a.
“Diligent” is translated elsewhere
as whetting a sword or sharpening an arrow, indicating an intentionality and
rigorousness in our teaching.
b.
We must labor to drive God’s Word
deeply into the heart of our children, & pray the Spirit bless it. The NIV
translates “impress them” on your children.
3.
If we so teach & talk, we may
reap/receive for us & our children the covenant blessings of everlasting
life with our risen Lord in His kingdom (Gal. 6:8; Rom.
6:22).
4.
Teaching our children has always
been & still is our covenant duty as parents. If failure to do so was sin
for the Israelites, how much more for us?
a.
But how much more powerful is the
gracious work of God’s Spirit in us & our children when we do!
b.
We will not teach our children
perfectly. God gives grace. But we must also repent of our laxity. Can you say
honestly that you regularly talk of God’s law & grace in Christ at home and
while out and about together, in the morning and the evening?
c.
We should have family worship, but
if that is the only time we talk about God’s Word & grace, we are stingy
with the Living Water and Bread of Life, spiritually malnourishing our
children/God’s children He has entrusted to us.
d.
We must live faithful, godly lives
ourselves, as a model example for our children.
5.
When we teach
our children, we want them to see the goodness/glory of God’s law/commands.
a.
Show how God’s law is good for
their lives, how sin is bad/dangerous/only brings sorrow in the long run. When
everyone obeys God’s law, everyone is looking out for one another, loving
neighbors as ourselves. When everyone is only looking out for themselves, nobody
is looking out for one another. Which is better/more blessed?
b.
Give rewards for obedience/show
joy and delight/love, discipline for disobedience. God delights/rewards
obedience, is displeased with/disciplines sin.
E.
(v. 8-9) 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.
1.
The Israelites did not have copies
of the Law, but they could write portions down and carry them on their person
and place them in their homes.
2.
Israel forgot God’s laws &
turned to idols. We have new hearts but are still forgetful, turning not to
full-blown idolatry, but the lusts of the flesh/worldly temptations.
3.
We, like Israel, need to not only
hear the Word, but to see it. Placing Scripture in prominent places in your
home is wise & reminds us that we live by the Word.
4.
The point is to have God’s word
ever before our eyes, on our minds, in our hearts.
5.
Memorizing Scripture/catechism &
being able to recall our duties to God & His promises to us are important
for us to grow as Christians as we combat sudden temptations.
6.
Teaching
biblical manhood/womanhood is SUPREMELY IMPORTANT TODAY.
a.
I Cor. 6:9, KJV,
says the “effeminate” will not enter the kingdom of heaven! The Greek word
literally means “soft”. Raise your boys to be strong leaders/lead wives.
b.
I Pet. 3:4 tells
women to have a “gentle and quiet spirit” of the heart, and
not focus on physical beauty alone. This means to be soft/submissive to your
husbands. Let us raise our daughters to have such a gentle and quite spirit.
c.
I Cor. 11:14,
nature teaches that it is shameful for men to have long hair, but a glory for
women. Why? God has designed nature, Scripture presupposes nature.
Not everything that is true/biblical has to be a Bible verse/proof text.
F.
You don’t
have to parent in fear! We have a covenant promise that God will save our
children through His appointed means, chiefly parental nurture/teaching
diligently.
1.
Raising covenant children in the
fear/nurture of the Lord is primarily the father’s responsibility as head of
home, Eph. 6:4 (but mom at home does much in the child’s younger
years especially as well, and all through life, and with the daughters).
2.
Fathers, do not think that pastors
or Christian schooling or anything but YOU can raise your child “in the
training/admonition of the Lord”. Church/schools are just aids, but can never
replace your essential role/authority/duty in the home.
G.
Is this
covenant promise absolute? What of covenant children who leave the faith?
1.
Israel was promised that if they
obeyed, they would live long in the Promised land. NT covenant children are
told if they obey and honor their father/mother, the promise is that “it may be
well with you and you may live long on the earth.” (Eph. 6:4-6).
2.
This does not mean that if an
Israelite child died of a disease, or a NT covenant child gets into a car
accident or dies from juvenile cancer, that the child was disobedient.
3.
These
promises are general. But just because they are general doesn’t mean we
should think it is normal when a covenant child apostatizes/leaves the faith!
4.
What is promised, what is normative, is that when parents raise their children
faithfully, God blesses that by saving their covenant children by grace alone
in Christ alone.
5.
When we see so many covenant
children leaving the faith, we can either doubt God, doubt His word/promises,
or we can examine ourselves, our own parenting, pastoring, schooling, etc. We
should do the latter, repent, and ask God to show mercy and save!
6.
God is sovereign over birth and
rebirth, the womb and regeneration. As we are faithful to the Lord, He often
blesses His people with physical & spiritual children.
7.
Couples unable to have children might
adopt, teach other children, evangelize, etc.
8.
As we
obey the Lord & train our youth, we prosper in our well-ordered lives (Lk 1:17).
Conclusion: Through Christ, we rejoice that we are not like Israel
of old, but are redeemed in the New Israel, Jesus Christ Himself. So we say
with Paul in Rom. 6:17, 22: “But God be thanked that though you were
slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which
you were delivered. But now having been set free from sin, and having
become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting
life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
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