Short Teaching · Gospel for Life

D2: The Home, Deuteronomy 6:1-9

~14 min read

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Saturday, October 25, 2014

D2: The Home, Deuteronomy 6:1-9.

I. Introductory Matters (Read Deuteronomy 6:1-9).

Summarizing the book of Deuteronomy:

“God appears in a strong covenantal setting. He is the great King, the Lord of the covenant. The Mosaic Covenant portrays King who entered into a treaty (covenant) with Israel so that He became their God and they His people.” Thompson 68-69

A diagram of how the Abrahamic Covenant (justi ed on the basis of faith) is related to Mosaic La ﬁ Israel and the Law of Christ for the church. . .

An outline of the book with this covenant theme in mind:

1:1-5. The covenant mediator (Moses).

1:6-4:49. The covenant history.

(How they got to where they are in the wilderness. . .)

5:1-26:19. The covenant life. (The 10 reiterated)

27:1-30:20. The covenant sanctions (covenant rati cation, blessings and curses, covenant oath). ﬁ 31:1-34:12. The covenant continuity.

“The Center of Israel’s Life,” Deuteronomy 6:4.

We’ll pick it up in 6:4. This verse introduces to the reader the God of Israel, YWHW - and that in p He is Israel’s very life. The closer Israel draws to this YHWH, the warmer their a ection, love and o ﬀ to Him will be; the more lively their service of YHWH will be. Israel must stay close to this God who i center of their life. This is a call to not drift from Him. They will become cold toward Him if they do. will be dead if they do.
Dt 6:4 is called “The Shema” (from Hebrew word for “hear”). 6:4a, “Hear this Israel” (imperat the intent to live under what you hear; order all the rest of your life around YHWH (see 6:3a). This is the call begins.

“’To hear,’ in Hebrew lexicography, is tantamount to ‘to obey,’ especially in covenant contexts such as this. That is, to he putting into e ect the command is not to hear him at all.”

ﬀ Merrill, E. H. (2001, c1994).
Vol. 4: Deuteronomy
(electronic ed.). Logos
Library System; The New American Commentary (162). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

And this (hearing with the intent to obey) is in the light of all that YHWH has done for them and the covenant that YHWH has made with them. First, because they were to be a people under the Abrah covenant, and, because YHWH has redeemed them from Egypt with a strong hand, and, because YH has made a covenant with them in the wilderness, “hear with the intent of obeying.” Don’t forge Israel, there is a foundation of grace under this “hearing with the intent to obey.” This is not a “h the intent to obey” so that you might earn My favor and be saved.” So, to “hear” = is a call to were supposed to be believers in YHWH already, to listen closely for the purpose of obedience. Isra must be determined to align themselves with God and His ways, and to know what YHWH has said i order to conform their beliefs and their behavior accordingly. This principle still exists in the NT for believers in Jesus in the church, Js 1:23-25. This is the church’s version; Dt 6:4a = Israel’s version. Discontinuity in the people. But what hasn’t changed? The same God for both. Continuity.

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Dt 6:4b is the probably the most potent and succinct summary of YHWH up to this point in the Bible. “Moses, how would you summarize YHWH thus far toward His people?” Moses: “ 6:4b.” He is the center of our life. Take YHWH out of their midst and they lose their distinction. They become a lifeless nation the rest. Take YHWH out of their midst once they are in the promised land, surrounded by the false of the nations, and they instantly become cold and lifeless; like a corpse. BUT, as long as they stay n YHWH in the wilderness or in the promised land there is hope.

2 possible ideas/translations for 6:4b: 1) “The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!” (NAS, NIV, ESV, NKJ 2) “The LORD our God is one LORD.”

#1 stresses the uniqueness, exclusivity of YHWH as Israel’s God (“YH our God is the one and only YHWH”).

#2 stresses the unity or wholeness of YHWH (not a schizophrenic being). The ideas clearly overlap. The LORD is indeed one (a united being), but also He is the only t God for Israel and for all. However, the NAS and ESV translation is best:

“All the grammatical possibilities point in the same direction – to the uniqueness and supremacy of Yahweh, God of Israe God is stressed, God’s distance from the invented deities of the nations is stressed, Israel’s strength lying not only in the but in the exclusive worship of him is stressed.”

Macintosh 85

Why is this so important to say about YHWH? Think with me on the importance of the context. 1)

Behind them. The place YHWH’s people have been for the last 400 years was a nation that had m gods. Ezk 20:5-17 (What YHWH found when He went down to get Israel in Egypt).

In front of them: The place YHWH’s people are about to go to is full of gods, “baals,” Dt 7:1-6. YHWH who is uni God and the center of their life, could not be more distinct, unique, unlike the gods that surrounded them in Egypt and the gods that will surround them in the PL. No god anywhere had come to a nat separated that nation out from the host nation, performed judgment miracles against the evil host n like YHWH did; powerfully delivered/redeemed His people like He did. Yet, Josh 24:1 (Shechem), 2-3, 14-15, 23.

Back to Dt 6:4. If Israel will stay near to her God, YHWH, there is hope that she will have fullness of life Him in their covenant with Him. What is the rst thing on the mind of YHWH for His people, Israel? ﬁ Love from His people is what is on His mind. And, it is to be love from the heart (the inner man).

II. D1: The heart, Deuteronomy 6:5-6.

Love that consumes the whole heart (inner man). This is totally unique. The gods of Egypt, of the Amorites, the Canaanites, Philistines, Hittites never communicated such a request of/to their devotee fact, no ruler today would think to request this of his subjects.

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“Did ever any prince make a law that his subjects should love him? Yet such is the condescension of the divine grace tha
first and great commandment of God’s law, that we love him, and that we perform all other parts of our duty to him from a
love.” Henry, M. (1996, c1991).
Matthew Henry's commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume
(Dt 6:4). Peabody:
Hendrickson.

What is meant by “loving Him with all the heart, soul, strength/might?” What is God’s intent? H NOT to send man on a splicing analysis assignment. Israel (we in Christ’s command) was not to loo here for the heart and then love God with all of that, and then look over there in a di erent place fo ﬀ soul and then love God with all of that too, etc. And then hope that you got all the di erent parts o ﬀ and directed them to love God. God is NOT trying to divide man up into pieces. He’s actually doi the opposite. He’s gathering all that man is into one! He’s describing man in di erent terms to m ﬀ point.

Because, if you get the heart of the man (the inner man), you get all the man (heart = command central where TWADDE are birthed, weaned, sent o to college, etc.). If you get the ﬀ soul of the man, you get his whole life. Same with “ strength.”

“‘Strength’ = not so much a person’s physical power as his intensity. God wants earnestness in a person’s [love]; he des that we possess a faith [love] but that our faith [love] should possess us.”

Macintosh 86

Question: When you think of the Old Covenant and Mosaic Law, do you think rst about love for Go ﬁ YHWH did! YHWH’s people, Israel were not guilty before Him rst and foremost because they bro ﬁ dietary laws, social laws, sacri cial laws, or even broke the 10 commandments. They were guilty befo ﬁ YHWH rst and foremost because they did not love Him with an all-consuming love. And because t ﬁ did not love YHWH they were unconcerned with or were slow to obey dietary, social, sacri cial laws, ﬁ the 10 commandments. In God’s mind, love has always been the issue. The cure for disobedience more love. . .

Illustration: The closest covenant idea in our minds to this is probably the covenant of marriage. The marriage covenant is full of vows that the two parties pledge to keep, obey. “Will you? Will you? W you? I will. I will. I will. Sound like a bunch of do’s and don’ts primarily. Law-like. Why on the w day does no bride object to these rules? Why does no bride on her wedding day hear those vows a “law?” Because of the love in her covenant/commitment relationship!
This command from YHWH to love Him re ects/reveals His desire for His people’s attitude toward ﬂ

“Jesus would later insist. . . (Jn 14:21). His disciples could hardly have missed the point of this statement, in which Jesus same devotion that Israel had been commanded to give Yahweh.”

MacIntosh 85

Mt 22:36-40; 1 Cor 16:22 (“if anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed”);

Eph 6:24 (“those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love”). And Jn 21:15-17!!!! (After Peter’s BIG promises: “Peter, wi you stop being so foolish now?! Will you promise and resolve to do better from here on out? Will y some accountability around you, man!”) No! What is the foundation of our relationship with Jesus our side)? Love. Peter needed to remember that and so do men like us who make big promises to and then don’t keep them.

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Back to Dt 6. YHWH’s people, Israel, whose life is bound up in YHWH, discover that He has provided a means by which their comprehensive love for Him might be kept up, maintained, promoted, nurtu and not wither or undergo decay (M. Henry).

Dt 6:6 “These words.” And notice where these words mus rst advance, nd their resting, dwelling place? “The heart.” YHWH’s intent back then for Israel ﬁ ﬁ Christ for us, has been this: Love for God must move towards God’s word in order to bring it to th of the believer. NT:

Luke 8:9-15 (vv. 12, 15) – the word and the heart are intertwined;

24:25-27, 32; Heb 4:12-13.

“God’s words must be laid up on our heart, that our thoughts may be daily conversant with them and employed about the the whole soul may be brought to abide and act under the influence and impression of them. This immediately follows up loving God with all your heart; for those that do so will lay up his word in their hearts both as an evidence and e ect of th ﬀ means to preserve and increase it. He that loves God loves his Bible.”

Henry, M. (1996, c1991). Matthew Henry's commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume (Dt 6:4). Peabody: Hendrickson.

This is what D1 is all about. A spiritual leader in the church is someone who constantly brings his hea the word of God so that God might graciously reveal Himself through those words. The spiritual lea love for God gets fanned into a ame there and turns the spiritual leader back again and again to th ﬂ words so that his love for God might be guided into proper expressions of obedience. All day long! Christian is called to this, but especially the leaders in the church must be well-disciplined in this as a example for the rest. You must be that well-disciplined man in this area as an example for your hom that leader/example in your home and aspire to being that leader/example in the church. The men GBC must be known rst of all as men who love Jesus Christ! The rest serves to deepen and strengt ﬁ that love. The warning of Rev 2:4 “But I have this against you, that you have left your rst love. . .” ﬁ

III. D2: The home, Deuteronomy 6:7-9

In Israel, these words had to advance beyond the man/husband/father to his home (wife and childre 6:7. “Teach them diligently” = (2 illustrations of the phrase to help us understand - knife and ston

“Frequently repeat these things to them, try all ways of instilling them into their minds, and making them pierce into their sharpening a knife, it is turned first on this side, then on that.”

Henry, M. (1996, c1991). Matthew Henry's commentary on the whole Bible : Comple and unabridged in one volume (Dt 6:4). Peabody: Hendrickson. Repeatedly, diligently - the knife on a sharpening stone.

“The image is that of the engraver of a monument who takes hammer and chisel in hand and with painstaking care etche face of a solid slab of granite. The sheer labor of such a task is daunting indeed, but once done the message is there to s .” Merrill, E. H. (2001, c1994). Vol. 4: Deuteronomy (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (162). Nashville: Broadman & Holm

Summarize so far: YHWH’s intent for Israel was that they were to come into direct contact with Him center of their life, in and through His words, which would enable them to pour forth heated love fro their heart for Him. And then those precious words where to be advanced into the household. Wha nation this was supposed to be!
“When you sit and when you walk ( not merely a quiet time, and then get on with the day!),” 6:7 = Israel was, upon any occasion within or without the home, impress the word of YHWH on their children, th who were in their home (occasions of inactivity = “sitting,” and activity = “walking”). “When yo and when you rise up” = at the end of the day, at the beginning of the day; the bookends on the d were to characterized by the impressing of the word of YHWH upon the heart and mind of those in home.

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The Israelite was to go even farther still, 6:8-9. 6:8 = Moses is commanding that the commandments (a summary) be worn on the person, the body of the Israelite. MacIntosh and Spurgeon caught the he behind this command:

“The commandments were to be sovereign over individual Israelites, and they were to serve as constraints [guides] on th mental checks upon their thinking. The purpose of using such symbolism was to connect God’s law with the everyday, ro life. Nothing was to be considered outside the scope of his authority.”

Macintosh 87

“Thou shalt see by them, thou shalt see with them, thou shalt see through them.”

Spurgeon, C. H. (1998). Vol. 43: Spurgeon's Sermons: Volume 4 (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; Spurgeon's Sermons. Albany, OR: Ages Software.

6:9 - One more step beyond them with the words of YHWH. . .

“The form of the commandment is in any case most significant. After ordering that the covenant commandments be worn of the faithful Israelite, Moses expanded the sphere of covenant claim to the house and then to the village. In this manne his entire family and community become identified as the people of the Lord [whose word was EVERYWHERE! What a be!).” Merrill, E. H. (2001, c1994). Vol. 4: Deuteronomy (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (168). Nashville Holman Publishers.

Now we understand God’s intent for Israel in Deuteronomy. Let’s take that and put along what the NT teaches also. . .

NT teaching on the importance of the home in the mission of the gospel:

The impact of one’s faith on the entire household.
Acts 10:22-48.

Cornelius.

Acts 16:11-15.

Lydia.

Acts 16:22-34.

Philippian jailer.

ALL: In the early church, just one person’s interaction with the gospel had the potential to make a profound impact o entire household. These narratives give no indication of a leapfrog pattern or e ect. Focus on advancing faith in Je ﬀ home.

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The attack on the home.
2 Timothy 3:1-9. (esp. vv. 3:6-7)
Titus 1:9-14.

Note the attack on the family didn’t come from the surrounding pagan world, but from the false religious world, 1:10, Where are the men who must take ownership and responsibility and watchful care of these households? False religi teaching crept in. What does this say about the man’s grasp of sound doctrine and ability to apply it? With humility, this shepherding care now no matter whom you live.

The family/home can become an obstacle to the gospel.
Matthew 10:34-39 (bring a sword between family); Luke 12:51-53 (it is better to be separated from family to be saved than stay with family’s rebellion and perish); 14:26 ( if not willing to leave you family for Jesus, then you will remain lost).
Luke 9:57-62 (inordinate love for family above following Jesus).
Matthew 12:46-50; Mark 3:31-35; Luke 8:19-21 (all three - Jesus’ view of His own family).

A summary for all three collections of verses above: The NT (Jesus!) urges us to properly weight the household in re gospel. We can’t conclude from the call to care for the family that we should set the family higher than it’s supposed gospel, fidelity/faithfulness to the gospel is above the family. The gospel, your fidelity to it must come face to face wi family. But if your family rejects that, you are divided from your family – the family unit su ers the loss. Your fidelity/ ﬀ faithfulness to the gospel is not to su er loss.

ﬀ

Leading a wife requires a strong grasp on the gospel.
Ephesians 5:25-33.

5:25! We must be men who have studied and admired the cross from multiple angles so that our self-emptying love wives is well-informed by Christ’s self-emptying love.

A NT model marriage.
Acts 18:1-3, 24-28; Romans 16:3-5a.

Priscilla and Aquila. Involved together in the gospel (of course no kids mentioned!!). Be thoughtful about your wife’s ministry to your own children, and about your wife’s capacity for added gospel ministry outside your home. Know yo Some need to be encouraged to not leap frog over their own children. Others need to be released from the pressure go outside the home because that’s where ministry “really is.”

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The qualifications (d4):
1 Timothy 3:2, 4-5; Titus 1:6, 8a

You can’t a ord to ignore your household. No leapfrog over your heart or your household to get to ministry. The qu ﬀ oversee ministry or to minister (1 Timothy 3:12 – deacons) will push you through your household relationships to get leadership in ministry!

The elders want to see a well-engraved pattern of D1 and D2 in your life developed. You can see from Dt 6 and the Scripture that is what captures the eye and heart of God in a man! Therefore, that is what captures the eye of an eld