Deuteronomy 6:4–12

The point then for the Jew was the one true God… He was the only God. To what were they always inclined? Setting up other gods in the wilderness. So this is the solemn and central truth brought in here… God revealed it as the great truth that works in practice, pressed on Israel again and again — their one true God.

"Jehovah, our Elohim is one Jehovah" — that is how the name of God is used in this verse. The verse states that the name Jehovah (the Self-existing One) belongs to Him alone. He is the one who is God in the full sense. It stands as the testimony against the polytheism (many and different gods) of the nations that surrounded Israel on every side. And so, because He is the one God, and there is no other beside Him, He must be loved with all the heart, with all the soul, with all the might. Spirit, soul and body must be devoted to Him. And we know this Jehovah as our Redeemer, who came and died in our place.

Here we are given that great, basic truth which the nation of Israel had a special duty to hold fast and confess: the unity of the Godhead… As long as they kept it, they were a happy, prosperous, fruitful people. But when they let it go, all was gone. It was their great national defence, and the thing that marked them off from all the nations of the east.

This was the great central truth that Moses, the lawgiver, pressed on Israel. Every other truth circled around it. There could be only one object of love, this one Jehovah, to whom every affection should flow (v. 5). And there could be only one object of worship and service (v. 13) — the words our Lord used when He answered Satan.

Orthodox Jews have made much of this verse, and they hold it in deep reverence. They call it the "Shema" after the first word, "Hear." Jews and Unitarians often use it to deny the three persons of the Godhead. But the Hebrew word "echod" (one) rules out that denial forever, because it means a compound unity. Hebrew has another word for what those who reject the three persons in the Godhead believe. It is the word "yochid", and it means a single one.

With this in mind, the verse reads like this: "Hear O Israel: The LORD [Jehovah, singular] our God [Elohim, plural] is one LORD [Jehovah, singular]." Here is a striking statement of the Oneness of God. Yet along with it, equal care is taken to point clearly and unmistakably to the truth of the Holy Trinity.

When he asks which is the first commandment, he clearly means the one that is first in importance. The Lord's answer comes from Deuteronomy 6:5. But notice how vital the first words here are: "Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord." This is the basis of all obedience on man's part. If people do not confess the unity of the Godhead, the very spirit of obedience is missing. This agrees with the words of the Lord Jesus, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30).

Did Israel not fail completely to keep, confess and live out the truth of the unity of the Godhead? And did their failure touch that glorious truth in the smallest degree? There were as many idol altars as there were streets in Jerusalem. Was it not still just as true that there is one God… as on the day Moses proclaimed to the whole assembly those majestic words, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord"? Blessed be God, His truth does not depend on the faithless, foolish ways of men.

"And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart" — at the very source of all that flows out in life. This is precious. Whatever is in the heart comes out through the lips, and in the life. How important, then, to fill the heart with the word of God — so full that no room is left for the empty, foolish things of this present evil world... When the word of God rules the heart, the whole character shows the blessed result. It must be so, since the heart is the mainspring of our entire moral condition.

The point for the Jew was the one true God. "The LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt" — He was the only God... "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children." They were to tie them on as a sign. They were to make much of them everywhere — outside the house and inside, and at all times... It was to be real loyalty: not merely a teaching held on paper, but something known as a fact.

It is not a book of ceremony; it is a book of moral and affectionate obedience. In almost every section it teaches one priceless lesson. The heart that loves, values and honours the word of God is ready for every act of obedience — offering a sacrifice, or keeping a day. An Israelite could end up somewhere that made careful attention to rites and ceremonies impossible. But he could never be anywhere that stopped him loving, revering and obeying the word of God.

An earnest purpose of heart is most precious to God. We may dare to call it the great regulator of our moral life. It gives the Christian character an attractive earnestness that we should all want. It is a divine antidote against coldness, deadness and formality, all of which God hates. The outward life may be very correct, and the beliefs held may be entirely sound. But if the earnest purpose of heart is missing — the affectionate clinging of the whole being to God and His Christ — it is all worthless.

Verses 4 and 5 are necessary if this is to be fulfilled: you must "love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." All that follows completes it. God first, and then His word.

First, the word taught must be in the parent's own heart. He must own it and love it. No one can teach a truth whose power he has not felt himself. Second, the responsibility is personal, and no one else can carry it: the parent himself must be the teacher. Third, he must be diligent. He must seize every passing opportunity to press God's word on his children's hearts.

"And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live" (Deut. 30:6). This verse looks on to the future... The terms of the New Covenant come to mind here: "I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts" (Jer. 31:33).

Strictly speaking, a frontlet is something worn on the forehead and, as the passages say, between the eyes. Israel's deliverance from Egypt and the law were to be constantly before them as a token on their hand and frontlets between their eyes (Exodus 13:16; Deuteronomy 6:8; Deuteronomy 11:18). The passages also say they were to store these words in their hearts. So it seems clear that wearing them as frontlets was meant as a picture. It was always to be before them that they were a redeemed people. In the New Testament we find that people took it literally, and the things they wore were called phylacteries.

Binding these laws as a sign on Israel's hand is not literal. It speaks of applying these laws to the works of their hands. As frontlets between their eyes speaks of their seeing everything from God's viewpoint, all the time (v.8).

Having the words in their hearts would mean they were the motivating power, while binding them on their hand speaks of the control of their actions. As frontlets before their eyes shows that they were to keep their eyes centred on the truth of God. They were not to look in other directions for help or guidance.

The "heart" — the "soul" — the "hand" — the "eyes" — all engaged with the precious word of God. This was real work. It was to be no empty formality, no barren routine. The whole person was to be given up, in holy devotion, to the statutes and judgements of God.

Are our children taught in this way? Do they see the word of God shining out in our daily life? Do they see its influence on our habits, our temper, our family life, our business dealings? This is what we understand by binding the word as a sign on the hands, having it as a frontlet between the eyes, writing it on the doorposts and on the gates.

Deuteronomy says, "bind them as a sign on your hand" — what you read in the word of God is to govern your service. "They shall be as frontlets between your eyes" — the word of God is to govern what you look at. … "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house, and on your gates" — there is to be a testimony to those outside, that the people in this home love the word of God.

Phylacteries were short portions of the law written on strips of parchment. They were placed in a case made of calf skin and worn on the forehead and the left arm, in what was supposed to be obedience to Deuteronomy 6:8 and Deuteronomy 11:18. The Pharisees and scribes made them large to attract attention; it was their being made "broad" that the Lord condemned. Matthew 23:5. In later times people wore them as a kind of charm.

God set this up to lead them to remember the Lord and to obey His precious word humbly. Instead they turned it into an occasion of self-exaltation and religious pride. Instead of thinking of God and His word, they thought of themselves, and of the place they held in the opinion of others. … Let us make sure we do not turn the heavenly memorial into an earthly badge. Let us not turn what ought to lead to humble obedience into an occasion of self-exaltation.

Binding these laws as a sign on Israel's hand is not literal. It speaks of applying these laws to the works of their hands. Wearing them as frontlets between the eyes speaks of seeing everything from God's viewpoint, always (v.8). Writing them on the doorposts of the house and on the gates was meant to keep the law in Israel's mind, going out or coming in (v.9).

Deuteronomy says, "bind them for a sign upon your hand"; your service is to be governed by what you read in the word of God. "Bind them… be as frontlets between your eyes"; what you look upon is to be governed by the word of God. "And you 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 up"; your whole day is to be governed by the word of God. "And you shall write them upon the posts of your house, and on your gates"; there is to be a testimony to those outside, that the people in this home love the word of God, they are governed by it, they follow it, they believe that this is the most important instruction that they can have.

The words were not there only for passers-by to read. In their light, those same passers-by were to see a life that matched them. It is what the world expects from the Christian, and rightly so. May it never be said, truly, of anyone who claims to know Christ and to keep His word, "They preach, but do not practice."

Verses 6-9 are literally carried out by orthodox Jews. They write these words on parchment and put them in little boxes, which they bind with strips of leather to their foreheads and upon the hand. These are the phylacteries. They also put them in tin boxes and nail them on the doors of their houses. All His words are worth remembering at every moment. The Word must be hidden in the heart. It belongs in the family. We are never to forget it, whether we sit in the house, or walk, or rest, or rise up.

Are our children taught this way? Is it our constant aim to present the word of God, in all its heavenly attractiveness, to their young hearts? Do they see it shining out in our daily life? Do they see its influence upon our habits, our temper, our family life, our business dealings? This is what we understand by binding the word as a sign on the hands. It is what we understand by wearing it as a frontlet between the eyes, and writing it on the doorposts and the gates.

It is of little use trying to teach our children the word of God if our lives are not governed by that word. We do not believe in making the blessed word of God a mere schoolbook for our children. Doing that turns a delightful privilege into a wearisome drudgery. Our children should see that we live in the very atmosphere of Scripture. They should see that it shapes what we talk about when we sit with the family, in our relaxed moments.

They were to teach God's laws to their children, to talk of them in their houses, and to write them on their posts and gates. Here, we venture to think, is a word we need to take home to ourselves. Of course, the invention of printing has given us an enormous advantage over people 3,500 years ago. It has indeed. But if we do not study our Bibles carefully, and then teach and talk about what they say, we are guilty indeed.

God gave them the land and everything in it because of His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Cities built and houses furnished, flowing wells, fruitful vineyards and olive groves — all ready for them. It was the free gift of sovereign grace and covenant mercy. All they had to do was take possession, in simple faith, and always keep the generous Giver of it all in their hearts.

When "the God of glory appeared to Abraham" in Ur of the Chaldeans, He certainly did not speak to him in words like "you shall do this" and "you shall not do that." No, such language was not according to the heart of God. His word to Abraham was, "I WILL GIVE." The land of Canaan was not to be bought by man's doings, but given by God's grace. Clearly He had not promised the land to Abraham's descendants because of anything He foresaw in them. That would have destroyed the real nature of a promise. It would have made it a bargain and not a promise.

God was graciously bringing Israel to a land of beauty and prosperity. Israel is told to keep in mind that they did not develop this land. The people living there before them, whom God was driving out, had already prepared it. Houses, wells, vineyards and olive orchards were there for them to own and enjoy.

"I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them." We too are seated in the heavenly places in Christ. We are eating from trees we did not plant and enjoying the fruits of His grace, and we gladly acknowledge that everything is from God. Every spiritual blessing, and the appetite to enjoy it as well, is from Him.

It is the same with the fruits of the land we are now called to enter. Rich enjoyment, wonderful experiences, precious realisations belong to us there. But faith must come first and bring us into the only place where they can be ours. They cannot bring us in: we must have entered in by faith to have them.

But sadly, then as now and now as then, the very fullness of the blessing enjoyed might cause forgetfulness of the gracious hand it came from. "Fullness of bread" had long ago been the destruction of Sodom. Trial and need wake a man up to his need of God. When he lacks nothing, he can easily lose the sense that he still depends on God.

Israel was not yet in the land. They are urged not to forget the source of all their blessing when they get there, and their only safeguard would be obedience to God's commandments, judgments and statutes. Otherwise the very wealth of their blessings would lead them to pride of heart, and to forgetfulness of the Lord God their Redeemer. They would credit their prosperity to their own power and to the might of their own hand, and so bring themselves under the sure judgment of God. Nothing so proves the perversity of our hearts as the tendency to use the blessings God so graciously gives us as a means of self-exaltation.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was linked with earthly blessing. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is linked with heavenly blessings. There is an implied contrast with the promise here, which was spoken to a people about to enter the land.

In the middle of all the blessing, the mercy and the privileges of the land of Canaan, they were to remember the gracious and faithful One who had redeemed them out of the land of slavery. They were to remember, too, that all these things were His free gift. He gave them the land, with everything in it, because of His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Cities were built, houses furnished, wells flowing, vineyards and olive groves fruitful — all ready for them, the free gift of sovereign grace and covenant mercy. All they had to do was take possession, in simple faith. Every city, every house, every well, every vine, olive and fig tree spoke to their hearts of the Lord's abounding grace, and was solid proof that He never fails to keep His promise.

"And the land had rest from war" is the closing statement of the previous chapter. It came after Joshua had made war a long time with all those kings (11:18). Deuteronomy 6:10-11 was also fulfilled.

When blessed with all this abundance, Israel ought to be truly thankful to the Lord. They were to remember that they depended completely on His great goodness (v.10). But there would be a danger of forgetting the Lord because they were prospering. Material things might take such a hold that they would forget God's goodness and God's commandments (v.11).

Otherwise the very wealth of their blessings would lead them into pride of heart. They would forget the Lord God their Redeemer. Along with this, they would credit their prosperity to their own power and to the might of their own hand. So they would bring themselves under the sure judgment of God. Nothing proves how twisted our hearts are like this: we take the blessings God so freely gives us and use them to make much of ourselves.

To trust in prosperity, in earthly riches, is a danger for most if not all believers. It was so in days of old, when success in material things was a mark of God's favour. How much greater the folly of trusting them now! God has shown us that our true riches are heavenly, not material. And to boast of spiritual gifts and achievements, as if we had gained them by our own skill, offends the Lord even more. He alone gives, as it pleases Him. It is to put God's blessings and favours in the place of God Himself.

"I gave you a land on which you had not laboured, and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant." We too are seated in the heavenly places in Christ. We eat from trees we did not plant and enjoy the fruits of His grace. So we are glad to own that it all comes from God. Every spiritual blessing, and the appetite to enjoy it, is from Him.

And so it is with the fruits of the land we are now called to enter. Rich enjoyment, wonderful experiences, precious things made real belong to us there. But faith must come first and bring us in. Only there can they be ours. They cannot bring us in. We must have entered by faith to have them.

All they had to do was take possession, in simple faith. They were to keep the bountiful Giver of it all in the remembrance of their hearts. They were to think of Him, and find in His redeeming love the true motive spring of a life of loving obedience. Every city, every house, every well, every vine, olive and fig tree spoke to their hearts of the Lord's abounding grace. Each one gave solid proof of His unfailing faithfulness to His promise.

But sadly, then as now, the very fullness of the blessing they enjoyed might make them forget the gracious hand it came from. "Fullness of bread" had long ago been the destruction of Sodom. Trial and necessity awaken a man's sense of his need of God. Without want, he may easily lose the sense that he still depends on Him.

Are we not prone to forget the Lord our God, to rest in His gifts instead of Himself? Sadly, we cannot deny it. We rest in the stream, instead of getting up to the Fountain. We turn the mercies, blessings and benefits scattered so richly along our path into an occasion for self-satisfaction and congratulation. Instead, they should be the blessed ground of continual praise and thanksgiving.

Deliverance by itself will not be enough for joy. There must also be the conscious possession by faith of our heavenly place in Christ. Yet this can never safely be separated from the deliverance that was needed to bring us into it. Possession without that sense only tends to ruin — such are our poor hearts. The richer the possession, the greater the danger. The soul must keep the sense of how, and from what depths, we have been delivered. The light of the place we have been brought into shines back on what we came out of. That makes the grace which did it more precious to us. It also deepens our knowledge of ourselves, and keeps us humble before God.

How great a temptation it is for believers today also, to want to be in some measure like the nations! We see what they do and what they have. In seeing this we let our eyes wander from the Lord, and we feel the pull to imitate ungodly people. But the Lord is a jealous God, jealous of our affections.

When the heart is in this condition, the gods that man's own heart has invented are more attractive than the glorious God who is our Creator, not our creature. So Israel can go after the idols of Canaan — the idols of the nations they had seen driven out before the Lord — turning away from Him who had given them these for a possession.

Let us seek to live in the consciousness that we are in the immediate presence of God. That will keep us from a thousand forms of evil we meet day by day, and that we are already inclined toward. Remember that the eye of God rests upon us. That thought would shape our life and our words far more than the presence of all the saints on earth and all the angels in heaven.

Their danger would be forgetfulness, as the following verses show, and the same danger is ours today. That is why verses 7-12 tell them to teach God's laws to their children, to talk of them in their houses, and to write them on their doorposts and gates. Here is a word we need to take home to ourselves. We may note that the invention of printing has given us an enormous advantage compared with 3,500 years ago. It has indeed; but if we do not study our Bibles carefully, and then teach and talk about what they say, we are truly to blame.