and thou shalt impress them on thy sons, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou goest on the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign on thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes.
Moses has just told Israel to keep God's words in the heart and pass them on to their children. Now he turns to the hand and the eyes: does God want leather boxes strapped to the body, or a life shaped by His word?
The same command appears twice more, in Exodus and Deuteronomy 11. Each time the words go into the heart first, and that settles how to read the outward language.
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.
The two body parts stand for what a person does and how a person sees.
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).
Commenting on the same command in Deuteronomy 11, he adds what drives a person and where they look for help.
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.
Heart, soul, hand and eyes leave no part of a person untouched.
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.
If the sign is not worn on the body, it has to show in the home.
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.
Another writer traces each clause to a separate area of life.
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.
Here is what the phylacteries were, and where they went wrong.
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.
The failure was a reversal. A reminder of God became a display of self.
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.
- Inside first. The words go into the heart before they go onto the hand. That order shows the hand and forehead language is a picture, not a dress code.
- Hand. What is bound to the hand governs the works of the hands — service and daily dealings come under the word.
- Eyes. What sits between the eyes fixes the outlook. You see everything from God's viewpoint, and look nowhere else for guidance.
- Whole person. Heart, soul, hand and eyes together mean real work, not empty formality — the whole person given to God's word.
- Warning. Kept only on the outside, the same command produced broad phylacteries worn to be seen. A reminder meant for humble obedience became a badge for self-display.
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.
Deuteronomy 6:9 ends a chain of commands that begins in the heart and finishes on the doorframe of the house and the gate of the town. So was this an order about carpentry, or a picture of a life so shaped by God's word that no one could miss it?
The doorpost and the gate are the two places every Israelite passed each day. One writer says the signs were never meant literally, and shows what each one stands for:
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).
Read in order, the commands divide up a person's world — work, sight, waking hours — and the doorpost comes last, where private life meets the street:
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 same writer adds that verses 4 and 5 make all of this possible — loving God comes first, and His word follows.
Passers-by could read words written on a gatepost. But reading them was not the whole point:
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."
For centuries some have obeyed these verses to the letter, and one writer describes how:
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.
Another writer asks parents what their children actually see at home:
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.
The same writer warns parents of two dangers: lives that do not match the words, and teaching that becomes drudgery:
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.
Israel had no printed Bibles. We can buy one anywhere, and that raises the standard instead of lowering it:
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.
- Heart — the chain starts inside. The word is hidden in the heart first, long before it reaches a doorpost.
- Hands and eyes — the word then moves outward. It governs the work of the hands and the way the eyes see everything.
- House — the family talks about it in ordinary, relaxed conversation. It is never drilled into children like a schoolbook.
- Doorpost and gate — at the edge of the home the word goes public. Passers-by should see a life that matches the writing.
- Going out and coming in — the words sit where people move, so nothing in the day escapes them. With printed Bibles in hand, we have even less excuse than Israel had.
And it shall be, when Jehovah thy God bringeth thee into the land which he swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and good cities which thou buildedst not,
Moses speaks to a people still outside the land. He tells them what they will walk into: a country already built, stocked and planted, theirs only because God swore an oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The verse traces all of it back to a promise.
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.
A promise like that has no conditions attached to it.
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.
The nations God was driving out had done all the work.
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.
God says the same once they are living in the land. The point reaches past Canaan.
"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.
Israel had to cross into the land before any of it fed them.
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.
The warning that follows is not against poverty but against plenty.
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.
What keeps a full heart safe is obedience.
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 three names in the verse mark this blessing as an earthly one.
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.
- Sworn — The land rests on an oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; God's word was "I will give," not a bargain struck with Israel.
- Given — Cities, houses, wells and orchards stood ready before Israel arrived. Israel earned none of them.
- Entered — You take a ready-made inheritance by faith. The blessings cannot bring you in; faith brings you in to the blessings.
- Forgotten — Need keeps us aware that we depend on God. Plenty dulls that sense and turns His gifts into reasons for self-praise.
- Remembered — Israel's one task was to take the gift in faith and keep the Giver in mind, and obedience was their safeguard.
and houses full of everything good which thou filledst not, and wells digged which thou diggedst not, vineyards and oliveyards which thou plantedst not, and thou shalt have eaten and shalt be full;
Moses describes the land before Israel has set foot in it. A whole country stands ready: cities, houses, cisterns and orchards, none of them built by the people who will own them. So the verse raises a sharp question. What does such unearned abundance do to a heart?
Every item on the list carries the same note: Israel did not make it. One writer traces the whole inheritance back to a promise rather than to work:
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.
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One writer marks the point in Israel's history where these words came true:
"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.
A full house carries its own risk. One writer shows where it lies:
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).
Forgetting does not announce itself. It shows up as a quiet shift of credit:
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.
The danger is not in having riches. It is in trusting them, and letting them take the place of God Himself:
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.
One writer sets God's words about that gift beside what believers now receive:
"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.
Yet Israel still had to enter that ready-made land. The order matters:
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.
- Given — cities, houses, wells and orchards stood ready. God had promised them to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel's only task was to take possession in faith.
- Filled — God kept the promise. After Joshua's long war the land had rest, and Deuteronomy 6:10-11 came true.
- Full — the abundance is itself the risk. Possessions can fill the heart until God's goodness and His commandments drop out of sight.
- Forgetting — we credit our own power, and turn God's gifts into reasons to praise ourselves.
- Faith first — the blessings cannot carry us in. Faith brings us in. Then we own every fruit we taste as His, and keep the Giver above His gifts.
[then] beware lest thou forget Jehovah who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Israel is about to live in houses they did not build and drink from wells they did not dig. Moses hangs a warning over that comfort: the danger is not enemy armies but forgetting the God who brought them out of slavery, just when His gifts are richest.
The cities, wells and vineyards named just before this warning came ready-made. Israel had to remember who gave 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.
The warning is tied to the moment they eat and are full.
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.
The same pull works in us today.
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.
The verse points them back to where they came from: the "house of slavery," which older translations call the "house of bondage." Keeping that memory alive is what makes possession safe.
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.
Forgetting is rarely announced. It shows up as wanting to look like the people around us.
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.
Forgetting God never leaves the heart empty. Something else moves in.
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.
So what keeps the memory alive? Mackintosh points to a settled sense of who is watching.
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.
The verses just before this one give the remedy.
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.
- Gift — Israel received cities, houses, wells and vineyards ready-made. Nothing in the land was earned. Everything in it pointed back to the Giver.
- Danger — Need keeps us conscious of dependence; fullness quietly erases it. The richer the possession, the greater the risk.
- Drift — Forgetting rarely looks like open rebellion. It looks like resting in the stream instead of the Fountain, and going after the gods of the nations around us.
- Memory — Remembering the house of slavery makes grace more precious and keeps us humble. Never separate the blessing from the deliverance that brought us into it.
- Guard — Live in the sense of God's presence, and keep His words in daily conversation and family teaching.