Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy

July 10, 2025

Deuteronomy 6:5 You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

The events recorded in the Book of Deuteronomy provide a wealth of historical information, but in nearly every case, Moses relates these events to the spiritual lesson that they underscore. He takes the legislation which the Lord had given to Israel almost forty years before and adapts it to conditions of settled life in the land to which Israel was soon to go.

The nation of Israel was, when this book was written, in the land of Moab, to the east of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. Once before, Israel had failed, through lack of faith, to enter Canaan. Now, thirty-eight years later, Moses gathers the company together and seeks to infuse faith, which will enable the chosen people to move ahead in obedience. Before them lies their inheritance. Dangers, seen and unseen, lie ahead. With them is their God, whom they have come to know better during their experiences in the peninsula of Sinai, with its ruggedness and bleakness.

Moses sees, correctly, that their major perils will be in the area of their spiritual life; so the central thrust of his message is spiritual. "The Lord their God is One." It is He who has delivered them from bondage. He has given them the law. He has entered into a covenant relation with them. They are His people. He demands exclusive devotion and worship. His ways are known to them. By long experience, Israel has learned that the Lord honors obedience and punishes transgression. Now, in a new sense, Israel is on her own, under the Lord and in her new home.  

Moses earnestly urges the people of Israel to trust the Lord wholeheartedly and to let His law guide their lives continually. If they adhere to this law, it will shape their entire existence and set them apart as a unique nation among others. Blessings will follow, and other nations will acknowledge that their God is the Lord. However, if Israel chooses to follow the ways of the surrounding nations and turns away from their God, they will face afflictions and ultimately be scattered among the nations.

Throughout the book, the emphasis is on faith combined with obedience. The application to a new life in the land highlights the importance of loving God and obeying Him from the heart.

Scarlet Thread:

The greatest commandment

Deuteronomy 6:5 You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

Matthew 22:37 You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind—this is the greatest and most important commandment.

Jesus chose words from Deuteronomy to turn back the three temptations of Satan.

1, Deuteronomy 6:13, Fear the Lord our God, serve Him, and make your oaths in His name. Do not follow other Gods.

Luke 4:1-8 When the devil took Jesus to a high place and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant, telling Him, "I will give you all this authority, along with their glory, because it has been given to me, and I give it to anyone I please. So if you will worship me, all this will be yours. Jesus answered him with a quote from Fear the Lord your God, serve Him, and make your oaths in His name. It is written, 'You must worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.'

2. Deuteronomy 6:16 Don't test the Lord your God like you tried to do in Massah.  

Matthew 4:7, the tempter came. "Since you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread."  Jesus answered, "It is written, One must not live on bread alone, but on every word coming out of the mouth of God."

3. Deuteronomy 8:3 He humbled you, causing you to be hungry, yet He fed you with manna that neither you nor your ancestors had known, in order to teach you that human beings are not to live by food alone - instead they are to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

Matthew 4:3-4 Then the tempter came. "Since you are the Son of God," he said, "tell these stones to become loaves of bread." But He answered, "It is written, 'One must not live on bread alone, but on every word coming out of the mouth of God."

 

 

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