Love The Lord With All
Deuteronomy 6:3-14
Name
In the Jewish Bible the name for the fifth book of Mose writings is Haddebharim, which means, "the Words". It’s taken from the opening verse of the book: "these be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel"
The title for "Deuteronomy," is taken from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. It comes from two Greek words deuteros which means second and nomos which means law. In Deuteronomy we have a retelling of the Law which needed because the generation of Israelite he speaks to are those who have grown up in the wilderness. There is a need for the Law to be reheard and reexplain to this new generation before they cross the Jordan and enter into the Promised land.
Book Summary
Deuteronomy consists of three discourse from Moses. The first chapters 1-4:43 is history, 4:44-26:19 is an explanation of the Law, and 27-34 is about the future, both near and very far.
The book is a really 3 long lessons given by Moses to Israel the nation. Moses is now 120 years old and has been told by God that he will soon die. The book is his last and best attempt to exhort, warn and encourage the Hebrews who have been wandering for 40 years. He reviews their journeys, their time at Mt. Sinai, he repeats the law first given in Leviticus, and adds a warnings about their commitment to God and to the covenant He forged with them at Sinai.
Key Verses: Dt 6:5 - "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."
Dt 7:9 - "Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments."
Overview
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THE PENTATEUCH SUMMARIZED |
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BOOK |
KEY |
THE |
THE |
GOD'S |
GOD'S |
GOD'S |
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Genesis |
Beginnings |
Chosen |
Prepared |
Powerful |
Creator |
"Let there be!" |
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Exodus |
Redemption |
Delivered |
Redeemed |
Merciful |
Deliverer |
"Let My people go!" |
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Leviticus |
Worship |
Set Apart |
Taught |
Holy |
Sanctifier |
"Be Holy!" |
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Numbers |
Wandering |
Directed |
Tested |
Just |
Sustainer |
"Go in!" |
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Deuteronomy |
Renewed |
Made |
Retaught |
Loving |
Rewarder |
Obey |
Events and Time
Deuteronomy takes place in one location over about one month of time. Israel is camped in the central rift valley of the Promised Land to the east of the Jordan River. The Bible refers to this area as “the plains of Moab.” It had been almost 40 years since the Israelites had exited Egypt.
The book records the events that happen in the final weeks of Moses’ life. Most important was the divine revelation from Moses to the people of Israel. Also taking place during this month by the river were: 1) Moses’ recording the law, 2) his commissioning of Joshua as the new leader 3) His viewing of the land of Canaan from Mt. Nebo and this his death.
Transition
Our sermon today comes from the chapters that contain the first key verse and probably the most important verse in the Bible to Judaism. Let’s start at 6:3
Live His Commandments
Deuteronomy 6:1-3 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.
Living The Commandments of God
In chapters 1-4 of the book Moses retells the journey of the Hebrews from Mt. Sinai to where the stood that day on the far side of the Jordan River. He gives a very detailed, turn my turn, camp by camp account of their travels, battles and crises to where they stand today.
Chapter 4 is a challenge to the people to recognize the great thing Jehovah has done for them. Deuteronomy 4:32-35 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? 33 Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? 34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.
In chapter 5 he restates the 10 Commandments and the Covenant that God entered into with the Israelites. Deuteronomy 5:1-3 Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
Then we come to chapter 6 and Moses transitions from the 10 commandments and the Covenant to living these things out, doing them in their daily life.
Deuteronomy 6:2-3 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;
And we all know what happened don’t we? They didn’t do it. Oh they did pretty good for a while, Judges 2:7-11 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel. 8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. … 10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim:
As a nation they obeyed it for two generation after Joshua and the Bible tells us why. Judges 2:10 there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
That third generation hadn’t seen the miracles, hadn’t fought the battles, hadn’t known the Lord and they turned to idols. It only took 2 generation and the grandchildren of Joshua’s generation were acting like the Canaanites they had driven out. They no longer lived the commandments they have been given by God.
Living Like The Lord Commands
If you read all the law given in Leviticus and then restated in Deuteronomy, you won’t find any that aren’t good. Some are hard to figure out without some study, some are harsh, even cruel and some seem odd. This is because we are not a nation of 12 tribes who have never lived as our own nation before. But the law makes sense and it is not impossible to live by.
That is, it is not hard if you know the Lord. If you don’t then it the most important part of the law becomes impossible. The hardest laws for the Israelites were those that honored God.
Back in Deuteronomy 5:6-7 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
If you knew God, worshipped God and had a understood of your relationship with Him through the sacrifices and the Tabernacle, the feasts, then it was easy to “do” the law, but if you were only go through the motions, like so many people do, then obeying God’s laws becomes impossible, because without God they are impossible to keep.
People like this, people who know what they are supposed to do and even why they are supposed to do it, are like that 3rd generation in the Promised Land. They don’t know God. They don’t have faith in Him and therefore they can’t live as He would want them to live.
James the brother of Jesus said it this way, James 2:18-20 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
A fake faith cannot bring fruit. If you don’t know God, if your family doesn’t know God, if your nation doesn’t know God then the results is lawlessness.
It is exactly what is happening today, in family after family, community after community, church after church. We are seeing generations “which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done.” And our modern lawless, immoral, perverse culture is the result.
The next verse in Deut 6 contained the truth that would have kept Israel in their land and obedient to Him. The next verse tells us who God is and how we are know Him. Look at vs. 4.
Love Him With All
4 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.
Know The Lord And Love The Lord
After Moses give the law, He then tells the people who their God is. The key to obeying was to know Him. This verse is called the Shema, Hebrew word for “hear.” It is a key verse for the religion of Judaism and it is tragic that they missed God because they misinterpreted this verse.
Yes, this verse clearly states that there is one God. That Jehovah is above all. He alone is God This is the great declaration of monotheism, the worship of One God) as opposed to polytheism, the worship of many gods). But this verse does not deny the Trinity that is revealed fully in the New Testament. This is what the Pharisees and others so fatally missed.
The Hebrew word “echod” used here means a compound unity. There is another Hebrew word which expresses exactly what the Jews, Unitarians and Muslims believe that is the word “yochid”; it means a single one.
Knowing who God was, is and shall be makes all the difference, but the people of Israel missed the truth and because they missed the truth of God, therefore they could not keep the most important commandment of all in verse 5.
Deuteronomy 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
This is the one commandment above All. Love the Lord with all you have. All your heart, all your soul, all your might. Moses is telling the nation of Israel to love Jehovah with all their your emotions, their spirit and theirs body. Love Him from deep in your heart, with all that makes you a living soul and with all the physicall strength you have to serve Him.
It was a reasonable commandment, an achievably commandment if they truly knew Jehovah their God.
If You Know Then You Know
Have you heard that saying on the internet, in your feeds maybe in your conversations? If you know then you know. It is the idea of insider knowledge. Most times when I see it I ignore whatever message or meme is. But in this case it is true. If you know the Lord, then you know how wonderful it is to love Him. In fact how easy it is to love Him. It hardly seems a command at all.
You might ask as I did as a young Christian, how can I love the Lord with all and still love my parents or family or friends. If it all belongs to God, then how can there be anything left over.
I remember my sweet grandmother excusing my grandfather for not attending church or living a “front street” Christianity by saying, “He obeyed all the commandments but he just loved his kids to mush.” That kind of messed me up for a while. It was an attempt to justify a lukewarm Christian and it failed even at that.
So how can I love Him with all and still love others?
The truth is really simple and we as God’s children know it even if we can’t always express it. The truth is that love is always multiplied, never divided when it is given to God.
The truth is right there in the words of Jesus, Matthew 22:36-40 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 -- Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
When you experience the love of the Lord, you must respond with all your love back, what else can you do? But that does not mean you exhaust a limited, finite quantity of love. Love that is limited is not love at all. And God’s love flows from an endless, infinite supply because, God is love! He is the source of love and in Him my love can only spring up ceaselessly.
1 John 4:7-11 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
So, give God all your love. Love Him emotionally, spiritually and physically. If your feeling drained emotionally because this world and its sin, its people, its hardness is draining you then come to church and love the Lord. You’ll find emotionally love even for the dregs of this world.
If you’re soul is feeling weary, you can’t seem to even find a flicker of hope or faith or charity, then touch God in prayer or through His word and that spirit you thought was extinguished will flame back up into life and warm your spirit.
If you are physically worn out, and believe me this become more and more a struggle with each passing year and each weakening illness, but instead of giving up and no longer physically serving the Lord, trust him even with your old tired, overweight, bald body and find one thing you can do to show my love for the Lord. First of all come to church, yes every service, then fold a tract, paint a wall, greet a visitor, or hand out a tract or a pen next time your out eating. Invite someone to church next time you’re out walking. Show your love for the Lord with your physical body no matter what shape it’s in and the Lord will give you more strength to serve Him is some way, because remember…
When you give all your love to the Lord it is multiplied, and you will have more love. And the converse of this is true as well, If you, as a child of God, deny your love emotionally, spiritually or physically to Him, then you won’t have any left to give to anyone.
What the Lord told Haggai when the people would not go, give and serve in the rebuilt Temple, Haggai 1:5-6 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.”
Illustration: Love To God means God’s love back to you and that love is like the song chorus.
There is a river
That flows from God above,
There is a fountain
That's filled with His great love,
Come to this water
There is a vast supply,
There is a river
That never shall run dry.
Conclusion - Learn His Words Deut 6:6-9
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.
Loving The Lord Means Keeping His Word Always Before Us
In these verses Moses it telling his people hold on to these truths, keep them in your heart, teach them to the next generation, talk about them in your home, and when your walking, before you go to sleep and first then when you get up. Keep them in the forefront of your mind, focus on them like a target right between your eyes and yes write them down, hang them in your home, put them on your computer screen, post them on the internet. Keep them, teach them and pass them on to others.
And this truth above all others you must pass on. Love the Lord with All. What a difference it would make in your life, your family and our church. Love the Lord with All.
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