Remember the Lord and the Past, and Teach your Children
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¶ Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments,
which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in
the land whither ye go to possess it:
.2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. .3 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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These are the commands Reference is apparently to the previous chapter.
Notice in the first verse that Moses gives three categories to remember.
In verse 2 we see two. The statutes were apparently the ceremonial, civil,
and health laws. In verse 17 there are three.
2 - Keep statutes The idea is that these principles given by God were to continue in time. Compare ps119054. 3 - That you may increase God had promised but on condition of faithfulness. The sad history which followed this time shows failure more than success. |
| .4 ¶ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: | 4 - One Lord Our Moslem friends and some Christians misunderstand this verse. From the New Testament we know that there are three individuals, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28;18) re2217. Consider first the historical setting. Pagan religions recognize a multitude of deities to be pleased. The religion of the creator God is different. There is one God although expressed in three persons. From the context, what is meant in verse 5 by serving the Lord in completeness? Do we serve Jesus at one point and the Spirit at another, and the Father at still another? No our devotion is to the one God. To deny one person of the godhead is to deny all. From God's words in Genesis 1 He refers to Himself in the plural. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. . . . So God created man in his own image. . . ." (Gen. 1:26, 27). Also ge0204 on "Lord God." |
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And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy might.
.6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: .7 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. .8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. 10 And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, .11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; |
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- Love with all your being We cannot separate one part of ourselves
and love only that way. The Greeks believed that the soul and the body
were separate and their philosophy has influenced corrupted Judaism and
corrupted Christianity.
This is a covenant in the sense that the people were to cooperate with God who would bless them v18. 7 - Teach them to your children Learning the words (Bible) and teaching love is so important. See the same charge at de1119. 8 - Bind them When using our hands, we should remember our responsibility to be faithful in all our actions. See how this command was interpreted into a works-oriented behavior in comment with ex1309. |
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Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of
the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
.13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. .14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; 15 (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth. 16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah. |
13 - Fear the Lord See Jesus' defense against temptation mt0410. |
| 17 ¶ Ye shall diligently
keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his
statutes, which he hath commanded thee.
.18 And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, 19 To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken. |
17 - Diligence How easy it is to take God's way as trivial feeling that everything will be okay as we ignore the way He has set for our feet. |
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And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies,
and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded
you?
21 Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: 22 And the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: 23 And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. .24 And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. 25 And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us. |
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- When your son asks A marvelous lesson for us today. Our spiritual
fathers came out of Egypt as we have or may come out of a life of slavery
to sin. They saw the signs (warnings) and wonders (actions) of God as presented
to the Egyptians just as we have good evidence for a life of faithfulness.
This also shows the importance of Christian education at home and at school. 24 - For our good "Happiness must be sought in the right way and from the right source. Some think they may surely find happiness in a course of indulgence in sinful pleasures or in deceptive worldly attractions. And some sacrifice physical and moral obligations, thinking to find happiness, and they lose both soul and body. Others will seek their happiness in the indulgence of an unnatural appetite, and consider the indulgence of taste more desirable than health and life. Many suffer [allow] themselves to be enchained by sensual passions, and will sacrifice physical strength, intellect, and moral powers to the gratification of lust. They will bring themselves to untimely graves, and in the judgment will be charged with self-murder." (My Life Today, p. 162.) |
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