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Deuteronomy 6
Haystack bible commentary"Stacks and stacks of commentary...."
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==Deuteronomy 6:1-2:
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“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, 2 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.
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One might call it a miracle, but actually its just Living wisely. Living wisely prolongs lifespan. It means knowing how to live, the purpose and meaning of our life. Your life depends on wisdom for strength and vitality. Wisdom "is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who hold her fast." (Prov 3:18) "Because God is God, the absolute lord and law-giver, fear of God is the essence of sanity and common sense. To depart from a fear of God is to lack any real sense of reality." -RJ Rusdoony "Institutes of Biblical Law" |
Fearing the Lord means to be in reverent awe of His holiness, to give Him complete reverence and to honor Him as the God of great glory, majesty, purity and power. For example, when God revealed Himself to the Israelites at Mount Sinai through “thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast,” they all “trembled” in fear (Ex 19:16) because of His great power. They even begged Moses to deliver God’s message to them so they would not have to encounter God Himself (Ex 20:18-19; Dt 5:22-27). Also, when the psalm writer reflects on God as Creator, he says: “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him. For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm” (Ps 33:8-9). -Olive Tree Blog
==Deuteronomy 6:3:
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"Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey."
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The reason for the giving of these commandments is to awaken the fear of God, and that fear might prompt obedience. Because God is God, the absolute lord and law-giver, fear of God is the essence of sanity and common sense. To depart from a fear of God is to lack any sense of reality. Second, "The maintenance of the fear of God would bring prosperity, and increase of the nation promised to the fathers.....The increase of the nation had been promised to the patriarchs from the very first." It is therefore necessary to maintain this fear and obedience from generation to generation.
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==Deuteronomy 6:4-5:
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Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:
5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. |
This is what was to be impressed upon the children, to be talked about day and night, in all opportunities. When Christ was asked which was the greatest commandment, this is what he quoted. This is the beginning of any understanding of love. We begin with a love of God which we seek to increase. Loving God with our mind requires that we try to understand His will with more than emotion. It is not unjust for God to claim this from His own works and gifts, Why should not the creature love his creator who gave him the power to love at all? And since we were created for this. it is by living it that we fully exist.
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Charles Ellicott
In St. Mark's report (Mark 12:29) our Lord's answer begins with the Creed of Israel ("Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord"), and so the truth is in its right position as the foundation of the duty. It is significant (1) that the answer comes from the same chapter (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) which supplied our Lord with two out of His three answers to the Tempter (see Notes on Matthew 4:4; Matthew 4:7); and (2) that He does but repeat the answer that had been given before by the "certain lawyer" who stood up tempting Him, in Luke 10:25. In their ethical teaching the Pharisees had grasped the truth intellectually, though they did not realise it in their lives, and our Lord did not shrink, therefore, so far, from identifying His teaching with theirs. Truth was truth, even though it was held by the Pharisees and coupled with hypocrisy. --Charles Ellicott
==Deuteronomy 6:6-7:
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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 sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
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There must be heart reality, not mere external conformity or ceremony. The training of children should take place in real-life situations and settings. The goal of education is to prepare the child to glorify God in real life, so the setting for education ought to be real life. Most modern education departs from the Biblical model in that it seeks to teach children in the artificial environment of a school surrounded by the peers.
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==Deuteronomy 6:7-12:
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.
8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 “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,
11 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—
12 then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 “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,
11 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—
12 then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
==Deuteronomy 6:13:
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Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
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Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him Serve him through fear; not through slavish fear, a fear of hell and damnation; but through filial fear, a reverential affection for that God that had brought them out of a state of bondage into great and glorious liberty, out of Egypt into Canaan's land, out of a place of misery into a land of plenty; and therefore should fear the Lord and his goodness, and from such a fear of him serve him, in every part of worship, public and private, enjoined; this passage Christ refers to ( Matthew 4:10 ) and shalt swear by his name; when they made a covenant with any, or were called to bear a testimony for the decision of any controversy which could not be otherwise finished; or whenever they took an oath on any account, which should never be taken rashly or on any trivial account, and much less falsely; it should be taken not in the name of any idol, or of any other but the true and living God; the Targum of Jonathan is, in the name of the Word of the Lord, in truth ye shall swear.'' |
==Deuteronomy 6:14-23:
14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you
15 (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.
16 “You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in Massah.
17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you.
18 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,
19 to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken.
20 “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?’
21 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;
22 and the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household.
23 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.
15 (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.
16 “You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in Massah.
17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you.
18 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,
19 to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken.
20 “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?’
21 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;
22 and the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household.
23 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.
==Deuteronomy 6:24-25:
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.
25 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.’
25 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.’