Deuteronomy 6, Hear, O Israel!

Moses has been telling the story of the meeting with God in Sinai/Horeb.  Now he expands on the Ten Commandments, beginning with the first commandment, to worship only YHWH.

Deuteronomy 6: 1-3, Decrees for Canaan

These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.   

Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.

"Hear, O Israel", will be a steady refrain from Moses.  These are important principles that the Israelites should follow, in order to experience the beautiful land prepared for them.

Deuteronomy 6: 4-9, Shema!

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

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

The "Shema" ("Hear, O Israel") will be a refrain for all Jews for all time. The commandments of Sinai are to be internalized, meditated upon.  Moses will elaborate on these throughout this book and so one might see this paragraph as a theme of the book.

An important part of the covenant is reviewing it with the next generation, so that each generation passes on these words.

The Israelites are not to make any "form" representing YHWH.  Instead the Law itself is to be physically visible to them -- they are read it, taste it, smell it, breathe it in.

Deuteronomy 6: 10-12, What gifts you are about to receive!

When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you--

a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 

houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, 

wells you did not dig, 

and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant

--then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

The people are about to be given a rich land. The temptation, after a time, will be to take it all for granted. Note the rhythm of the four lines, each emphasizing riches given generously to the Israelites.

Moses sees these gifts as the future of Israel.  Many centuries later the Jewish leader Nehemiah will look back on these gifts as history in Nehemiah 9:25.

Deuteronomy 6: 13-17, Do not look at other gods; do not test the one God

Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.  Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.

Do not test the LORD your God as you did at Massah.

Be sure to keep the commands of the LORD your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you.

Repeated again and again (and routinely disobeyed!) is the command to follow only the One God.

The event at Massah occurs in Exodus 17: 1-7. Although YHWH is gracious and loving, the Israelites are not to "test him", that is, treat him as a servant whom they may command.

Deuteronomy 6: 18-19, The Promise

Do what is right and good in the LORD's sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers, thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the LORD said.

The commandments always come with this promise.  The eventual goal is a healthy and successful community.

Deuteronomy 6: 20-25, "What is the meaning of these things?"

In the future, when your son asks you, "What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the LORD our God has commanded you?" tell him: "We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our eyes the LORD sent miraculous signs and wonders--great and terrible--upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers.
 

The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness."

Part of remembering these commandments includes regularly reminding one's children of the reasons for these actions. "Once we were slaves..." is part of the answer.