Good morning,
The nation of Israel is preparing to go into the Promised Land. Moses is admonishing the children of Israel not to forget their God. Deuteronomy 6 points to seven principles not to be forgotten.
1) Purpose (Verses 1-2)
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: 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.
2) Hear (Verses 3-5)
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. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
3) Teach (Verses 6-9)
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 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. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
4) Beware (Verse 12)
Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
5) Fear (Verses 13-15)
Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
6) Keep (Verses 17-18)
Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee. And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers.
7) Say (Verses 20-21)
And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded you? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand:
In hindsight we see that Israel did forget. There were times when Israel clung close to God. There were other times when they forsook everything God had taught them.
So you and I need to take this seriously. If we do not continually read and study the Bible, yield to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and obey the clear teachings of Scripture, we too will forget and forsake our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
LEST WE FORGET
Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001
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