Deuteronomy 6

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Introduction

[Illus] Perhaps you remember the Vulcan greeting that Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy) made famous. Forming his hand into the V-shape, Spock would say, “Live long and prosper.”

The hand gesture and line all came from Leonard Nimoy who first saw something similar as a small child during a Jewish prayer service.

Before his death, Nimoy explained that the V-shape was similar to the Hebrew letter shin, which is the first letter in many important Hebrew words… words like…

…Shaddai (a Name for God)…

…Shalom (the Hebrew word for hello and goodbye and peace),…

…and Shekinah (a word describing the nearness of God’s glory to God’s people).

It was during a prayer called shekinah when he was a boy that Nimoy first saw the V-shaped hand signal and heard something akin to ‘live long and prosper.’

Because the Shekinah represented the glory of God, the people were to keep their eyes closed during the prayer. Nimoy’s father told young Leonard to be sure to keep his eyes closed. Little Leonard complied for a bit but then his curiosity got the better of him and he sneaked a peak. At the front he saw the men with their hands out in the V-shape blessing the people with a phrase similar to ‘live long and prosper.”

Nimoy said, “I had no idea what was going on, but the sound of it and the look of it was magical.”

The theme of Deuteronomy 6 is ‘live long and prosper’ but there is no magic here and the blessing of this chapter is not one that can be put on you by someone else. It is a blessing that you must choose for yourself by obeying the Word of God.

As Joshua and the Israelites prepare to enter the Promised Land, Moses readies them to live long and prosper in that land.

Deuteronomy 6 NASB95

1 “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, 2 so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 “O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 “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. 8 “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9 “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 10 “Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, 12 then watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 “You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. 14 “You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, 15 for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth. 16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah. 17 “You should diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you. 18 “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 which the Lord swore to give your fathers, 19 by driving out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken. 20 “When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean which the Lord our God commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us from Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 ‘Moreover, the Lord showed great and distressing signs and wonders before our eyes against Egypt, Pharaoh and all his household; 23 He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers.’ 24 “So the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always and for our survival, as it is today. 25 “It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as He commanded us.

[PRAYER]

[TS] Let’s take a closer look at the first three verses in this chapter…

Major Ideas

#1: Notice how God’s Law is described (Deut. 6:1)

Deuteronomy 6:1 NASB95

1 “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it,

[Exp] God’s Law is described in this passage as…

…commandment - Now this is the commandment (1)

A commandment is a statement of God’s divine will for people.

Perhaps the singular ‘commandment’ is used here because the whole Law is to be seen as one commandment. It is not to be obeyed in part or in pieces but in its entirety.

…statutes - Now this is the commandment, (and) the statutes (1)

A statute is a permanent rule. In His Law God has given His people permanent (unchanging) rules for how they should conduct themselves before Him and before others.

…judgments - Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments (1)

Judgment refers to God’s determination of right and wrong, truth and error, and good and evil. If Israel wanted to know God’s determination of righteousness, truthfulness, and goodness individualistically or corporately, they need only look at His Law.

[Q] In a single word, how would you describe American society at present?

[Illus] As a part of our preparations for baby Lillian, we got the girls a new chest of drawers. Nothing expensive, just one of those that comes in two boxes and you have to put together yourself.

I was not excited to put it together but I got started one evening and a couple days later I was done.

You see, it was the instructions. The words were very small and hard to see, so I one point I just kinda did my own thing and later Dalton had to help me understand how to fix it.

I had abandoned the instructions, so I became confused.

[App] God’s Word is not in small print. It is not hard to see or understand, but there is much confusion in the world today because we have abandoned the instructions that God has given to us in His Word.

We live in a supposedly enlightened age but understand less and less.

We used to know what sin is.

We used to know what marriage is.

We used to know the difference between male and female.

We used to know the difference between right and wrong.

But now we’re confused about everything because we have abandoned the Word of God.

God has told us what His commands are.

He has told us what His will is.

He has told us what His statutes are.

He has told us how to love Him and how to love our neighbors.

He has told us what His judgments are.

He distinguishes between right and wrong for us in His Word!

Israel would have to cling to this Word if it was going to live long and prosper in the Promised Land.

We need to cling to it today before we are swallowed by the moral confusion that surrounds us.

[TS] …

#2: Notice the blessings for obedience (Deuteronomy 6:2-3)

Deuteronomy 6:2–3 NASB95

2 so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 “O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

[Exp] This obedience to God’s Law includes blessings such as…

…long life - that your days may be prolonged (2)

If the Israelites obeyed God, their days in the Promised Land would be extended and their lives would be prolonged.

…well-being - that it may be well with you (3)

This is a general statement of well-being in the Promised Land, but I think of it more specifically as safety from enemies. If Israel obeyed, it would go well for them in the Promised Land in the sense that there would be no need to worry about enemies.

…multiplication - that you may multiply greatly (3)

This means more children, which are a blessing from the Lord.

…abundance - a land flowing with milk and honey (3)

If Israel obeyed, the land God was giving them would produce for them. God would cause the land to flourish and Israel along with it.

[Q] What’s the difference between a corporate blessing and an individual blessing? Which is it here in Deuteronomy 6 - corporate or individual?

A corporate blessing is a blessing upon the people as a whole.

An individual blessing is a blessing upon an individual person.

The difference is that a corporate blessing applied to the people generally but perhaps not to every person specifically.

There were surely those in Israel who didn’t live long lives or have many children or have an abundance of goods, but in general if the people obeyed, they could expect to be blessed.

[App] The blessings describe in Deuteronomy 6 are largely physical or material blessings but under the New Covenant in Christ’s blood, the blessings we receive are spiritual.

We have God’s Word written on our hearts.

We have God as our God and we are His people.

We know God in a personal way.

And He remembers our sins no more.

All of this through the death and resurrection of Jesus as we trust Him as Savior and Lord.

And what’s more, these spiritual blessings in the New Covenant are not applied generally to us, but individually and eternally to each one of us.

It may not seem like it now, but when we step into eternity we will be much more glad having had our sins forgiven than having our land back on earth produce an abundance.

By God’s grace through faith in Christ, we will truly live long and prosper.

[TS] …

#3: Notice the obedience called for (Deut. 6:1-3)

Deuteronomy 6:1–3 NASB95

[Exp] The obedience that Moses called Israel to was obedience that had to be…

…taught - which the Lord your God has commanded me (Moses) to teach you (1)

Israel didn’t have the natural inclination to obey God. It would have to be taught or trained in obedience.

…passed down - so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God (2)

Moses would teach them, but they would be responsible for teaching their children and their children would be responsible for teaching their children and so forth and so on. (Verses 4-9, which we will look at next time, speak to this necessity.)

…motivated - so that you… might fear the Lord your God (2)

They were to fear not only the consequences for sinning against the Lord, but they were to also fear not receiving the blessings of obeying to Him.

…persevering - all the days of your life (2)

Israel obedience started now and continued until death. No young adult rebelliousness. No mid-life rebelliousness. No senior adult rebelliousness. Obedience from the present moment until departure for eternity.

…attentive and careful - listen and be careful to do it (3)

Obedience required attention to detail. Carelessness with the Law of God would lead to sin against God. Sin against God would cause exile and even death.

…performed - O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it (3)

The ‘should’ of v. 3 is not only because of the curses that will follow disobedience but because of the blessings that will follow obedience. Israel should listen and be careful to obey because God has good things in store if it does.

[Illus] Look, sin is like candy. Candy instantly tastes good but its really bad for you in the long run. In the same way, sin is instantly pleasurable but will kill you in the long run. We usually say ‘yes’ to sin because it is instantly pleasing, but saying ‘yes’ to God (i.e. obeying Him) is more like delayed gratification.

Imagine that I go see a dietitian and the dietitian tells me to stop eating candy because if I stop eating candy I’m going to lose weight, have more energy, sleep better, and just feel better in general later on.

But I respond to the dietitian by pulling out M&Ms and saying, “Yeah, but this candy tastes good now.”

I think if we are mature, we’d all say that I made a poor choice. We all know that better health in the long run is a greater blessing than the instant sweetness of candy.

[App] Look, sin does have an illicit pleasure, but it is a fading pleasure. It is an earthly pleasure that is sure to pass away. But obedience to God—while not always instantly pleasing to our flesh—is a blessing of lasting value and eternal proportions.

There is simply no way to fathom all the good things God has in store for those who obey Him.

There’s just one little problem…

[TS]

Conclusion

…and that problem is this, we’ve all failed to obey Him.

The Bible says that we are all sinners.

We been exiled from the presence of God.

We are dead in our sins and trespasses…

…unless we have called on Jesus for salvation.

Through Jesus’ death and resurrection God has atoned for our sins and imputed to us perfect righteousness—the righteousness of Christ.

And in Jesus, all the promises of God—all the blessings of God to us—are ‘yes’ and ‘Amen’.

You see, if we have believed on Jesus, then His perfect obedience has earned for us all the blessings of God.