Old Testament - Deuteronomy 6 & 7 - May 16, 2022

 5/16/2022 – Deuteronomy 6 & 7

We shouldn’t skim through Deuteronomy…. Marion G Romney brought our attention to that fact. Elder Romney taught  “Jesus’s thorough knowledge of the scriptures is evidenced by the fact that He repeatedly cited them. When the devil tempted Him to turn the stones into bread, He countered by quoting from Deuteronomy: ‘. . . It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’ (Matthew 4:4; see Deuteronomy 8:3.) When the tempter challenged Him to cast Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple, He responded by quoting from the same book: ‘It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’ (Matthew 4:7; see Deuteronomy 6:16.) For the third time He quoted from Deuteronomy (6:13) when Satan offered Him the kingdoms of the world, saying: ‘Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.’ (Matthew 4:10.)” 

Deuteronomy 6

Now back to the Israelites: their 40 years of being in the desert is almost over. Moses knows that he will not be going into Canaan with Israel. Moses wants to give them his final words and counsel that he feels will help them live as the Lord has advised. The synopsis of chapter six tells us a few of the things Moses felt were so important for the Israelites to hear once again: “Moses proclaims: The Lord of our God is one Lord; and, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God—Israel is commanded to teach their children—Moses exhorts Israel to keep commandments and testimonies and statues of the Lord, that they may prosper.”

After Moses goes through the things that are most important for Israel to remember and to do, he reinforces: “Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be will with thee, they ye may increase mightily…” (v3) Moses continues to repeat that the Lord’s promised blessings come from obedience to His commandments, for that is what will most help the Israelites. He goes further in v’s 6-7, reminding them that they must do more than just remember and do: “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sitest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” He continues with the things that will help them: they are to write scriptures on paper and put that paper into a tiny leather box and then wear that box, and they are to write scriptures on the posts of the doors of their houses, so that they will be reminded each time they leave their home and each time they come back into their home. Moses continues “Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord, your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord: that it may be well with thee….” (v’s 17-18)

Deuteronomy 7

The land of Canaan had long been promised to the Israelites. But other groups of people had taken the land and brought in idols to worship. The Canaanites also were far away from keeping the moral commandments the Lord had given to the Israelites. Because of this, the Lord told them they were to come into the land and destroy all the people for they had fallen into so many wicked ways of living. The Lord commanded the Israelites specifically to not make covenants with these wicked people, and they are not to marry any of them, and that will be their protection in continuing to keep all the Lord’s commandments. 

V's 6 and 9 explain the Lord’s reasons: “For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” “Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he IS God, the faithful God which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;” Our living righteously, and loving the Lord, and working to stay close to Him not only helps in our own lives, but it can also be very helpful to our posterity.

From verse 11 through to verse 26 the Lord continues to tell them (and us) how to magnify our lives in ways that will bring us closer to Him and thus increase our growth and our happiness. 

Again, He promises that our keeping His commandments will also bring blessings to our children. He reminds us again that if we have faith, that the Lord WILL bless us temporally as we work toward that end with all our efforts. He continues to tells us of additional blessings that will come to us. He promises us that all things are possible when we put our faith in the Lord.

I read these chapters as the Lord helps His children who had not been taught His ways during their stay in Egypt. He is restoring blessings upon them, and He can do that best as they return to Him, and as they learn of Him, and as they change their ways toward better keeping His commandments. The Lord not only gives them specific instructions, but also an amazing amount of pep talks as the Israelites are finally able to come back to their promised home and their God.