신명기 Chapter 6

Translation: ESV

1

"Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it,

Key Message

God's law is given to be practiced in the actual arena of life.

▸Deuteronomy chapter 6 is the most important chapter in all of Deuteronomy, containing the Shema ('Hear, O Israel') and the great commandment (love God).

Deuteronomy chapter 6 is the most important chapter in all of Deuteronomy, containing the Shema ('Hear, O Israel') and the great commandment (love God). Verse 1 introduces the mission of law-transmission and its purpose. The law is given to be actually practiced in the land of Canaan. The relationship between the teacher (Moses) and the learner (Israel) is clearly established.

2

that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.

Key Message

Fear of God is the root of law-keeping, and it is the foundation of a blessed life and long life.

▸Two purposes of keeping the law are presented.

3

Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

Key Message

Obedience is the path to an abundant life. Keeping God's commands is not a restriction on life but a path that enriches life.

▸This is the preparatory command before the Shema.

4

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

Key Message

The LORD God is the one and only God. This declaration is the foundation of Israelite faith and life.

▸This is the Shema ('Shema Yisrael—Hear, O Israel').

5

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Key Message

Love of God is not partial but wholehearted devotion. Loving God with all heart, soul, and might is the foundation of all law.

▸This is the greatest commandment in Scripture.

6

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

Key Message

God's word is not a rule to be memorized but a living word to be engraved on the heart.

▸The expression 'shall be on your heart' indicates that the word must not be an external obligation but an internal commitment.

7

You shall teach them diligently to your children, 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.

Key Message

Religious education must take place not only in special times but through every moment of daily life.

▸This teaches that word education must take place in all life situations.

8

You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

Key Message

The word must influence all actions (hand) and thoughts (forehead) of life.

▸This is the command to bind the word on the wrist and forehead.

9

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Key Message

The entire home must be under God's word. Every moment of entering and leaving the house must be under the governance of the word.

▸This is the command to write the word on the doorposts and gates of one's house.

10

"And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build,

Key Message

God's grace is the gift of enjoying what one has not obtained oneself.

▸The abundance after settlement in Canaan is anticipated.

11

and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full,

Key Message

God's blessing is the grace of enjoying what one has not labored for. But this blessing can become the danger of forgetting God.

▸The abundance Israel will enjoy is concretely described.

12

then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Key Message

A time of prosperity is a crisis of spiritual forgetting. One must be even more careful not to forget God when most comfortable.

▸This is a spiritual warning amidst prosperity.

13

It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.

Key Message

Fearing, serving, and swearing only by the name of the LORD God is the essence of faith.

▸This is the First Commandment in positive form.

14

You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you—

Key Message

The cultural temptations that are close at hand are the most dangerous. The values and gods of surrounding culture can appear more attractive than God.

▸A warning that after settling in Canaan there will be temptation from the gods of the surrounding nations.

15

for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

Key Message

God is jealous with a deep love for his people. The unfaithfulness that ignores this jealous love brings judgment.

▸The consequences of idolatry are warned against.

16

"You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.

Key Message

Testing God is unbelief. Demanding proof of God's presence and power breaks the relationship of trust.

▸The incident at Massah (Exod 17:1-7) is referenced.

17

You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you.

Key Message

Keeping the law requires active and conscious effort. Faith is not automatic.

▸This is a repeated emphasis to 'diligently keep' God's commands.

18

And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers

Key Message

The purpose of the law is a life that is right and good in God's sight. Beyond formal compliance, one must pursue what is right and good from God's perspective.

▸'Do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD' summarizes the spirit of the law.

19

by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has promised.

Key Message

God drives out the enemies of those who obey him.

▸This is the promise that as a result of obedience, God will drive out the enemies.

20

"When your son asks you in time to come, 'What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?'

Key Message

A child's spiritual question is the best opportunity for religious education.

▸A scene is presented where a son asks about the meaning of the law.

21

then you shall say to your son, 'We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

Key Message

Religious education takes place through concrete historical narrative. Not abstract principles but 'our' story transmits faith.

▸This is a model answer to the child's question.

22

And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes.

Key Message

God's historical actions must be transmitted to the next generation as the basis of faith.

▸The miracles of the Exodus are presented as evidence.

23

And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers.

Key Message

The law is a guide for life given after salvation. God saves and then teaches the direction for life.

▸The purpose of the Exodus is made explicit.

24

And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, and to preserve us alive, as we are this day.

Key Message

The purpose of the law is not to restrict Israel but to enable them to enjoy blessing. God's commands are for life.

▸Two purposes of the law are presented.

25

And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.'

Key Message

Those saved by grace keeping God's commands is what maintains the proper relationship with God.

▸A declaration that keeping the law is righteousness (tsedaqah).