Bible Study Outline
"Moses' Second Address: The Greatest Command Of All"
Deuteronomy 6:1-25
Lesson 7

I. The Reason For The Command (vv.1-3).
1. Moses taught the Israelites what the Lord wanted them to do in the land across the Jordan (v.1).

2. The reason for this instruction is so that the Israelites and their descendants should "fear" the Lord their God throughout their lifetime (v.2a).

A. "fear," (yare') refers to piety, obedience, and service inspired by awe and reverence toward God.

1) This was based upon their derived sensation of standing in awe of God, and then of holding him in utmost reverence and respect.
2) In the wisdom literature the "fear of the Lord" becomes a distinct expression for the totality of right and devout relationship to God. The same notion is given here.

A. If the Israelites kept God's commandments and statutes then they would receive many blessings.

1) Long life (v.2b).
2) Prosperity (v.3a).
3) Children (v.3b).

Application: While these promises are not given to the Christian, we are still be reminded that all our blessings come to us because of God's eternal covenant with His Son (Heb.13:20), and because of what Jesus Christ did through His sacrificial death on the cross (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor.11:25; Heb.8-9). The Israelites were not blessed because of who they were, but because of who God was, and this is true also for Christians (Eph.1:3-14). "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding." (Prov 9:10 KJV)
 

II. The Importance Of The Command (vv.4-9).
1. Only God alone is unique (vv.4-5).

A. This verse (along with verse 5 to 9) is known as the "shema," meaning to "hear."

1) Devout Jews recite these verses daily along with 11:13-21 and Numbers 15:37-41.
2) They were to bear testimony to the truth that God alone is the only true God.

- This would give them a sense of security knowing that the gods of their neighbors could do nothing.

B. Each Israelite was to willfully and totally commit himself to God (v.5; Matt.22:37; Mark12:30; Luke 10:27).

1) The exhortation to love "with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" is a gathering of terms that indicate the totality of a person's commitment of trust and obedience toward God.
2) The words behind heart, soul, and strength basically relate to what a person is, or how a person directs himself toward another person.
3) The words taken together mean to say that the people are to love God with their whole selves.

C. Jesus taught that this constituted the first, the greatest, and the most important commandment, and that by obeying it one would live (Matt 22:37-38; Mark 12:29-30; Luke 10:27).

A. They were to "diligently," teach their children this command.
B. The moral and biblical education of children was the parents responsibility and it was to be daily, from sun up until sunset.
C. To tie and write the commands were probably to emphasize symbolically the need for the continual teaching of the Law (vv.8-9: Ex.13:9, 16).

Application: Every believer, regardless of their dispensation, must be totally devoted to God. We have a awesome responsibility to be a witness and a testimony to the fact that there is only One True and Living God. Our faith and commitment must be passed on to our children not only by our lips, but by our actions.
 

III. The Warnings Of Danger (vv.10-19).
1. Israel was warned of the danger of coming to a prosperous land, that they might forget God who delivered them from Egypt (vv.10-12).

A. Israel would be greatly blessed by God for their faithfulness to the Him (vv.10-11).
B. With the great blessings, there would also come great temptations because of the wealth that could cause them to forget the Lord who made their victories and blessings possible (v.12).

A. If the Israelites did not devote themselves to God (fear him), worship and work for him only (serve him), and speak of him in their daily relationships to one another (take oaths in his name) but instead followed other gods, his jealous anger would destroy them as a nation (vv.13-15).
B. The Israelites were not to test the Lord by the denial of His efficacious presence as they did at Massah, where they criticized him because of the lack of drinking water (v.16; Exod 17:1-7).
C. The Israelites were to adhere to the Lord so that it would "go well" with them, and so that they may drive out all their enemies from the "good land" and take it over (vv. 18-19).

Application: When we are given great material blessings we must be cautious that we do not forget who is the source of our blessings. When we forget the source of our blessings we may find that we cannot handle the temptations that follow closely behind. We must always be watchful so that the tempter will not lead us astray.

I. The Command To Be A Separate People (vv.1-6).
1. God would empower Israel to Drive out and destroy the pagan nations that occupied the promised land (vv.1-2).

A. The references to these 7 nations are meant to be general, and are representative of the pre-Israelite population (v.1).

1) In the promise to Abraham, Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, and Rephaites also are included, though Hivites are not (Gen 15:19-21).
2) Elsewhere, all these groups are included under Canaanites or sometimes Canaanites and Amorites.

B. The inhabitants who were not driven out of the country were to be destroyed (v.2a).
C. No treaty was to be made with them (v.2b).

1) No mercy shown to them.
2) The covenant treaty of the Lord with Israel excludes other treaties.

A. It would prevent the intermarriage of the Israelites with the pagan nations, thus preventing Israel from turning their hearts away from God to other gods which would bring God's judgment (vv.3-5).
B. Israel was to be a "separate" people (v.6).

1) They were God's "treasured possession" (segullah), i.e., something of great value owned completely by him - a personal ownership and treasured value.
2) Also note that in the NT the church is also "God's possession" (Eph 1:14; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2:9).

Application: Unbelievers often look at verses like these and don't understand how a "loving God" could be so cruel as to killing "innocent" people. But they fail to see a Holy God who judges all sins. They fail to understand that these "innocent" people are unrepentant sinners who would not turn their hearts to a Holy and Pure God. So in God's love for the Israelites, he protects and preserves them from the unholy contamination of their world, so that the world would some day receive the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant (i.e., Jesus Christ). The Lord is a Holy, Sovereign God who accomplishes what He says. He will, and uses the means He chooses whether we understand it or not, but we can rest assured that He will always do what is best for everyone.
 

II. The Blessings Of Separation (vv.7-16).
1. Israel was not to rest on or glory in the numbers of her people, but in her Lord (vv.7-8).

A. The large number of people in the Israelite community was not the reason for the Lord's choice of them as his people (v.7).
B. The reason for Israel's preservation was God's love for them and His covenant with their forefathers (v.8).

A. Because the Lord is faithful and just, He brings judgment upon the nations who do not follow him (vv.9-10).
B. Israel is to keep God's commandments so that they might be blessed by Him (vv.11-16).

1) God would keep the Abrahamic covenant with them (i.e., land, seed and blessing; vv.11-12).
2) God would make them fertile in all things (vv.13-14).
3) God would remove sickness from them (v.15).
4) God would curse their enemies and make them victorious in battle (v.16).

Application: It's the character of God rather than any excellence in the people that accounts for the God's choice. Warren Wiersbe states that, "True biblical separation is contact without contamination." The reason why separation brought blessings to the Israelites was because it prevented contamination by the world, thus bringing obedience to God's commands. God rewards those who are faithful. Colossians 3:22, "Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eye service, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ." (KJV)
 

III. The Warning About Failing To be Separate (vv.17-26).
1. The Israelites were not to be intimidated by the pagan nations (vv.17-24).

A. If they feared their enemies it would make it impossible for them to drive them out of the land (v.17).
B. Israel was commanded not to be afraid, and are told why (vv.18-24).

1) As an antidote for any fear, the Israelites were to remember what the Lord had done to Pharaoh and all Egypt (vv.18-21).

A) This was not something the Israelites had heard from others, but had witnessed themselves the Power of God (v.19).
B) The Lord would do to the Canaanites what he had done to their other enemies. He would also send the "hornet" among them so that none would escape (v.20; Exod.23:28).
C) Moses reminded the people that the great and awesome Lord was among them (v.21).

2) Israel is told that God would deliver their enemies in their hands according to God's timetable (vv.22-24).

A) The Canaanites would be driven out little by little so that the wild animals would not multiply to Israel's detriment (v.22).
B) Though the conquest was not to be immediate over the whole land, the Lord, nevertheless, would deliver the Canaanites into Israel's hand and none would be able to withstand them (vv.23-24).

A. Every part of the pagan images was detestable to the Lord, and therefore was to be destroyed by the Israelites (v.25).
B. No detestable thing was ever to be taken into an Israelite house (v.26).

- Two strong words for disapprobation - "Utterly detest and abhor it"- indicate the abhorrence the people were to hold toward the idols.

Application: It wasn't enough for the Israelites to simply obey God's command to destroy the detestable things of God, but they also had to learn to obey from their hearts. It is not a matter of our will obeying God's commands outwardly, but it is a matter of developing a heart that desires to obey God; Ephesians 6:5-6, "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eye service, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;" (KJV).

I. Israel Was To Remember And Learn From Their Wilderness Experience (vv.1-10).
1. The necessity of following every command of the Lord (vv.1-5).

A. Israel needed to be ready to enter the promised land and not make the same mistakes as the older generation had made, so they were to remember the lessons from their 40 year wilderness experience (vv.1-2a).

- The word "remember" (zakar; to mark so as to be recognized, to remember, to be mindful of) is used 13 times in this book and is a common theme.

B. Learning from the 40 year old school of hard knocks (vv.2b-5)

1) The purpose of God's testing the Israelites was to teach them humility and to reveal to them what was really in their hearts (v.2b)

A) "humble," ('anah, to humble by oppression) carries the idea of bringing them by means of distress and privation to feel their need of help and their dependence upon God.
B) "testing," (nacah, to put to the test, prove, try, used of God when He tries men by afflictions) this was done by placing the Israelites in such positions in life that would force them to reveal what was in their hearts.
C) God already knew what was in their hearts, but they needed to admit to themselves that their heart wasn't in obeying God's command (God didn't fail them, they failed themselves).

2) They were to learn to depend on God for their daily needs (vv.3-4).

A) They were humbled because they could not produce their own food but had to depend on God for their food and their very lives (v.3).

- Those who would obey God by gathering the Manna daily would be more likely to obey the rest of God's commandments.
- Jesus quoted this passage (Matt.4:1-4) when He was tempted by Satan, and referred to the Word of God as the Bread of God (Matt.6:11) thus indicating that our relationship to God's Word reveals our relationship to God.

B) In the same way that God provided for their daily need for food, He could sustain them (v.4).

- Their clothing did not wear out (balah, to fail or wear out, decay), nor did their feet swell up (batseq, to swell up, blister) during all their wanderings over the 40 years.

3) They needed to learn that God would discipline (yacar, to chastise with blows or words, to instruct, chasten, correct, reprove, teach.) them like a father would his son (v.5).
4) The purpose of all these lessons was to teach them to be obedient to God's commands and to respect Him (v.6).

A. Whereas disobedience brings discipline, obedience would bring God's blessings.
B. The Israelites would lack nothing and would find satisfaction.

Application: These verses teach us important lessons about obedience to God's Word, and why we are tested. God already knows what's in our hearts, but often we fail to be honest with ourselves. When we go through trials in this life, we need to understand that God not only wants to expose our true nature, but also so that we will learn to trust more in Him and not ourselves.
 

II. The Dangers Of Forgetting Who God Is And What He Has Done (vv.11-20).
1. The exhortation not to forget the Lord (8:11-17).

A. Moses warns the Israelites to guard against forgetting Who the source was for their blessings, lest they slip into disobedience again (vv.11-13).

1) "beware," (shamar), to hedge about (as with thorns), to guard against, take heed (v.11).
2) "forget," (shakach) to mislay, to be oblivious of, forget, to leave something because of  forgetfulness (v.11).

B. Moses warns them that having pride in their prosperity would make them forget God, and to claim that the power and strength of their hands produced their wealth (vv.14-17).

1) "pride," (ruwm) to be lifted up, exalt self, haughty, proud, arrogant (v.14).
2) If they failed to remember that God is the source of all their blessings, their pride would make them forget (shakach, to mislay, to be oblivious of, forget, to leave something because of forgetfulness) all the lessons that they had to learn before, thus leading them back into the class room of God.

A. The Israelites were to remember that God was the source of their prosperity because of His covenant with their forefathers (v.18).

- Again this was a reminder that their prosperity wasn't based upon them being special, but upon God's faithfulness to His promises.

B. Moses warned the Israelites that if they forgot that God was the source of their prosperity it would lead to idolatry and to their destruction (vv.19-20).

- "perish," ('abad) to wander away, lose oneself, to perish, be void of (v.19).

Application: Success has a way of making us proud, and pride has a way of leading us away from the Lord. After all, who needs God when you can do everything by yourself! We all need to learn from God's classroom of life to avoid the same pitfalls that Israel kept falling into. It is always dangerous to leave God out of our lives, and it will lead us to our downfall also.