Philemon Introduction & Invitation – Reconciliation in Christ

Posted on April 2, 2022 by dkoop

Series:  Philemon -Reconciliation in Christ

Description:   What has enslaved you?  Maybe it’s your past, a problem, or your biggest fear.   The good news is that we have reconciliation in Christ.  Join us as we journey through the fascinating book of Philemon and discover how we are truly free, once and for all, from the chains that bind.

Dates           Titles            Scriptures              Events

 April 3 – Forgiveness (Philemon 1-16)

April 10 – Reconciliation (Philemon 8-21)         Palm Sunday, Communion

 Philemon Introduction: 

At the foreman’s signal, the giant ball is released, and with dynamite force and a reverberating crash, it meets the wall, snapping bricks like twigs and scattering pieces of mortar. Repeatedly, the powerful pendulum works, and soon the barrier has been reduced to rubble. Then it is carted away so that construction can begin.

Life has many walls and fences that divide, separate, and compartmentalize. Not made of wood or stone, they are personal obstructions, blocking people from each other and from God. But Christ came as the great wall remover, tearing down the sin partition that separates us from God and blasting the barriers that keep us from each other. His death and resurrection opened the way to eternal life to bring all who believe into the family of God (see Ephesians 2:14-18).

Roman, Greek, and Jewish cultures were littered with barriers, as society assigned people to classes and expected them to stay in their place—men and women, slave and free, rich and poor, Jews and Gentiles, Greeks and barbarians, pious and pagan. But with the message of Christ, the walls came down, and Paul could declare, “In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us” (Colossians 3:11).

This life-changing truth forms the backdrop for the letter to Philemon. One of three personal letters in the Bible, the letter to Philemon is Paul’s personal plea for a slave. Onesimus “belonged” to Philemon, a member of the Colossian church and Paul’s friend. But Onesimus, the slave, had stolen from his master and had run away. He had run to Rome, where he had met Paul, and there he had responded to the Good News and had come to faith in Christ (1:10). So Paul wrote to Philemon and reintroduced Onesimus to him, explaining that he was sending him back, not just as a slave but as a brother (1:11, 12, 16). Tactfully he asked Philemon to accept and forgive his brother (1:10, 14, 15, 20). The barriers of the past and the new ones erected by Onesimus’s desertion and theft should divide them no longer—they are one in Christ.

This small book is a masterpiece of grace and tact and a profound demonstration of the power of Christ and of true Christian fellowship in action. What barriers stand in your home, neighborhood, and church? What separates you from fellow believers? Race? Status? Wealth? Education? Personality? As with Philemon, God calls you to seek unity, breaking down those walls and embracing your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Vital Statistics

Purpose:  To convince Philemon to forgive his runaway slave, Onesimus, and to accept him as a brother in the faith

Author: Paul

Original Audience: Philemon, who was probably a wealthy member of the Colossian church

Date Written: Approximately A.D. 60, during Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome, at about the same time Ephesians and Colossians were written

Setting: Slavery was very common in the Roman Empire, and evidently some Christians had slaves. Paul does not condemn the institution of slavery in his writings, but he makes a radical statement by calling this slave Philemon’s brother in Christ.

Key Verses: “It seems Onesimus ran away for a little while so that you could have him back forever. He is no longer like a slave to you. He is more than a slave, for he is a beloved brother, especially to me. Now he will mean much more to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord” (1:15,16).

Key People: Paul, Philemon, Onesimus

Key Places: Colosse, Rome

Special Features: This is a private, personal letter to a friend.

The Blueprint

  1. Paul’s appreciation of Philemon (1:1-7)
  2. Paul’s appeal for Onesimus (1:8-25)

Paul pleads on behalf of Onesimus, a runaway slave. Paul’s intercession for him illustrates what Christ has done for us. As Paul interceded for a slave, so Christ intercedes for us, slaves to sin. As Onesimus was reconciled to Philemon, so we are reconciled to God through Christ. As Paul offered to pay the debts of a slave, so Christ paid our debt of sin. Like Onesimus, we must return to God our Master and serve him.

MEGATHEMES
THEME EXPLANATION IMPORTANCE
Forgiveness Philemon was Paul’s friend and the legal owner of the slave Onesimus. Paul asked Philemon not to punish Onesimus but to forgive and restore him as a new Christian brother. Christian relationships must be full of forgiveness and acceptance. Can you forgive those who have wronged you?
Barriers Slavery was widespread in the Roman Empire, but no one is lost to God or beyond his love. Slavery was a barrier between people, but Christian love and fellowship are to overcome such barriers. In Christ we are one family. No walls of racial, economic, or political differences should separate us. Let Christ work through you to remove barriers between Christian brothers and sisters.
Respect Paul was a friend of both Philemon and Onesimus. He had the authority as an apostle to tell Philemon what to do. Yet Paul chose to appeal to his friend in Christian love rather than to order him what to do. Tactful persuasion accomplishes a great deal more than commands when dealing with people. Remember to exhibit courtesy and respect in your relationships.
You’re invited to join us.
Darrell

Source: Life Application Study Bible , (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1988), WORD

search CROSS e-book, 2081-2082.
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A Call to Life – Deuteronomy 30 Commentary

Posted on March 30, 2022 by dkoop

Decisions sometimes confront us that are very difficult to make. We simply do not know what to do. Difficult decisions often involve health or personal difficulty; marital, family, or employment problems; or some business, national, or world issue. There are events that happen in life that are simply impossible to predict. At other times an event occurs because we have made a wrong decision; we just could not see into the future.

This is not the case with God: the future is known by God, even the details of future events. Because He knows all things—God was able to predict the terrible apostasy of the Israelites referred to in the recent message preached by Moses.  Now, one of the most interesting and captivating prophecies in all of Scripture is to be made. Speaking through Moses, God predicts the restoration of Israel, a day when the Jews will return to the promised land, modern-day Palestine. Has this prophecy been fulfilled? Was the return of the Jews to Palestine in 1948 a fulfillment of this prophecy? Some Bible commentators say, “Yes” some say not until other conditions are met.

30:1-2  A day was coming when the Israelites would turn away from God and turn to idolatry and false worship. As a result, the judgment of God would fall upon their heads. A foreign nation was to conquer the Israelites and enslave them.

But now, Moses predicted that a glorious day of restoration would come. After suffering the terrible judgment and curses of God, the people would fulfill the conditions of the covenant.

  1. The people must sense the need for repentance (Deut. 30:1). They must come to their senses and recall the blessings and curses of God. Note the great hope laid out by Moses: eventually the people would recall the blessings of God as well as the curses for disobedience. By meditating upon the blessings and judgments of God, they would begin to sense their need for repentance. A deep sense of need would grip their hearts but, tragically, only after they had been enslaved by the world and suffered a broken heart.
  2. The people must repent, return to the Lord (Deut. 30:2). They must turn away from their hypocrisy and from engaging in idolatry and false worship. They must turn away from their lives of sin and shame and return to God.
  3. The people must obey the Lord, obey Him with their whole hearts and souls. Obedience is an absolute essential for restoration and forgiveness.

If the people were going to rededicate their lives to God, if they were going to renew their commitment and covenant with God, the people must repent and obey the Lord.

  • A renewal or rededication of life involves two things: repentance and obedience to the Lord. No matter how terrible a sin we have committed, God will forgive us and restore us. But we must sense the need for repentance and actually repent. True repentance is an absolute essential. So is obedience. To be forgiven and restored before God, we must repent and obey God.
  • Repentance is necessary.
  • Obedience—obeying God will all of one’s heart and soul—is necessary to be restored to God.

30:3-10  This is the great promise of restoration given to Israel, and through Israel, given to every person who ever repents and turns to the Lord to follow Him wholeheartedly. Note the wonderful promise given by God:

  1. The Lord will have compassion and restore His people (Deut. 30:3-5). He will restore the Israelites from all nations, even the most distant lands (Deut. 30:4). He will restore them to the promised land (Deut. 30:5). Once they have repented of their sins, they will again lay claim to their inheritance and walk victoriously in the promised land of God.
  2. The Lord will make His people more prosperous and numerous than ever before (Deut. 30:5).
  3. The Lord will circumcise or cut away the sins of their hearts and forgive them (Deut. 30:6). He will chisel away at their hard, stubborn hearts. He will enable them to love Him completely and to live forever before Him.
  4. The Lord will actually transfer all the curses of His judgment upon the enemies of His people (Deut. 30:7). The very people who had ridiculed, mocked, enslaved, and persecuted His people will suffer the terrible curses of God’s judgment.
  5. The Lord will stir His people to obey all His commandments (Deut. 30:8). At long last—sometime in the future—the people of God will become obedient. They will keep the commandments of God, obey His Holy Word.
  6. The Lord will pour out His blessings upon His people. He will bless their lives, work, and property (Deut. 30:9). The Lord will make His people prosperous and successful, causing Him to joy and rejoice in them.
  7. But note: the warning is again issued. The promises of the new covenant are conditional; the restoration and blessings are conditional (Deut. 30:10). Standing before the people and preaching his heart out, Moses declared: to be forgiven and restored before God…
  • you must obey the Lord and His commandments
  • you must repent, turn to the Lord with your whole heart and soul

*This Scripture covers one of the great promises of God, the promise of forgiveness. But note: the promise is conditional. If we confess and repent of our sins, God will forgive us. He will restore us before His face.

*The restoration of Israel is one of the great prophecies of the Bible. Scripture after Scripture predicted that the Jews, the Israelites, would someday return to the land promised them by God, the land that is known today as Palestine.

 30:11-16   Moses now turned away from prediction and prophecy and focused upon the audience before him. As he faced them, he knew that they desperately needed to rededicate their lives to the Lord. They had a dire need to renew their covenant, their commitment to the Lord. With a strong sense of urgency burning within his heart, he challenged the people to love and obey the Lord:

  1. The call to obey God is not unreasonable nor impossible (Deut. 30:11-14). The commandments of God are not in some distant, inaccessible place (Deut. 30:12-13). They are not up in heaven, still unrevealed and hidden in the heart of God. The commandments are not beyond the sea in a foreign land (Deut. 30:13). No! The Word of God is near us. It has been revealed by God so that we can obey it (Deut. 30:14).

God has demonstrated His love to us in a most wonderful way. He has not left us in the dark, groping, grasping, and stumbling about, seeking the answers to life on our own. No! God has revealed His Holy Word to us, telling us how to live life, how to find God, and how to have the assurance of living forever. The Word of God is near, very near, right at our fingertips.

  1. All of a sudden, with passion burning in his soul, Moses called upon the people to make a decision (Deut. 30:15)…
  • between life and death
  • between good and evil
  1. Moses spelled out exactly what he meant by the call of the covenant (Deut. 30:16). The call was…
  • to love the Lord
  • to walk in His ways
  • to obey His commandments
  1. The decision to love and obey the Lord will result in the most wonderful life. A person will live a full and fruitful life and be wonderfully blessed in the promised land (Deut. 30:16).

*The call to us is direct and forceful: we must love and obey the Lord. We who live today are without defense, totally without excuse. For God has not only given us the Written Word but also the Living Word. The Written Word is the Holy Bible, the Scriptures that have been written down for us to obey. The Living Word is the Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest witness to the truth that could ever be conceived by the mind of man. Yes, God did a marvelous thing in giving us the Written Word of God. But God did a far more marvelous thing by giving us the Living Word of God. Jesus Christ actually lived out the Written Word of God. He obeyed every commandment in the Holy Scripture, and by obeying, showed us how to obey God. By living upon this earth, Jesus Christ showed us how to live life. But not only this: being the Perfect Man—obeying all of the commandments of God and being sinless—He became the Ideal Man. As the Ideal Man, He was able to bear all our sins and pay the penalty of our condemnation. He was able to take the judgment that was due us—take it and bear it for us.

As the Living Word of God, Jesus Christ is a far greater gift from God than even the Written Word of God. Because of living in this day and time, we are of all people without excuse. If a people were ever confronted with a decision that desperately needed to be made, it is we who live today. We must make the decision to love and obey the Lord.

30:17-18  Stressing the judgment of God would again show the people the desperate need to rededicate their lives to God, to renew their covenant and commitment to Him.

Sensing deep compassion and love for the people, Moses warned them against turning away from God and becoming disobedient. They must—absolutely must—guard against idolatry and false worship (Deut. 30:17). Moses shouted that they would “surely perish and be destroyed” if they turned away from God. They would “not live long in the promised land…not live full and victorious lives” (Deut. 30:18).

*The warning to us is as clear as it can be stated: if we do not trust the Lord—follow and obey Him—we will perish, be utterly destroyed. We will not live long in the promised land of God.

30:19-20  Urgency and immediate attention were called for. Every compelling fact Moses could impress upon the people he had preached. Only one thing remained: the decision. The people had a choice to make: life or death, blessings or curses (Deut. 30:19). Having a heart broken with compassion and a gripping sense of urgency, he appealed to the people: “Choose life! Choose life so that you and your children will live” (Deut. 30:19-20).

⇒  Choose to love God.

⇒  Choose to obey His voice, His Word.

⇒  Choose to cling, to hold fast to Him.

Note that Moses gave two strong reasons why the people must choose life, why they must rededicate their lives to God, renew their commitment and covenant with God. First, because “the Lord is your life” (Deut. 30:20). The Lord “gives life, preserves life, restores life, and prolongs life by His power.” The fullness of life that overflows with blessing after blessing, and the victorious life that conquers all the trials, temptations, and enemies of this world all come from “the Lord [who] is your life.”

But this is not the only reason to make a decision of rededication; there is a second strong reason. If you will renew your covenant and commitment, the Lord will give you a long life in the promised land. You will walk victoriously throughout all of life, conquering all the trials, temptations, and enemies that confront you. You will march victoriously through and over all, march right into the promised land of God.

*The choice is ours. A decision has to be made. We choose either life or death, either blessings or curses. The appeal of God’s Holy Word is this: Choose life! Choose life so that you and your children will live full and victorious lives over all the trials, temptations, and enemies of this world.

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Source:  The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible – Deuteronomy, (Chattanooga: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 1996), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: “E. The Strong Appeal and Hope of the Covenant: Restoration–Repentance and Forgiveness, 30:1-20”.

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A Call to Remember – Deuteronomy 8 Commentary

Posted on March 28, 2022 by dkoop

How many people forget God? How many ignore God? Neglect God? Reject God? How many atheists are there, people who say that God does not exist; therefore they seldom if ever think about God? How many agnostics are there, people who say God may or may not exist; therefore they, too, seldom if ever think about God? How many people attempt to push God out of their minds because they want to live in some sin? They want to live like they want, when they want, and not like God says.

How much time throughout the day do you personally think about God? Can it be said that you forget God? Measure yourself. How much time throughout the day do you spend in prayer, thinking about God and talking with Him? How much daily time do you spend reading and studying God’s Holy Word, thinking about Him and what He has to say? How much time do you spend in witnessing and sharing Christ with others? Prayer, Bible study, and witnessing are three strong measuring rods to show how much thought you give to God. Do you forget God? Ignore, neglect God?

How can a person guard against forgetting God? This was the great concern of Moses as he stood preaching to the people. Remember, the Israelites were camped in the plain of Moab, close to the Jordan River, right across from the great city of Jericho. They were poised to enter the promised land. But before they entered, Moses was preparing them to lay claim to their inheritance. The success of their campaign depended upon their obedience to God. Moses had to prepare the people, warn them: they must continue to follow God and keep His holy commandments. If they were faithful and obedient, God would give them the promised land. He would guide and protect them, giving them victory over all the enemies who stood opposed to them. One preparation was the message of this sermon, a message that forcefully speaks to our hearts as well. This is the message that Moses now preaches: How to Guard against Forgetting God, 8:1-20.

  1. Obey every command (v.1).
  2. Remember the wilderness wanderings (v.2-6).
  3. Praise the Lord for the promised land and its wonderful provision (v.7-10).
  4. Guard against forgetting God (v.11-20).

  (8:1) How does a person guard against forgetting God? Be careful! Observe! Follow! Obey every commandment of God. If a person obeys the commandments of God, his mind is set upon God. He is not forgetting God; rather, he is thinking about God, seeking to please and fulfill the will of God. If a person is concerned about the commandments of God, his mind and thoughts are upon God. He is meditating, fellowshipping, and communing with God. The energy and drive of his heart is to know God personally and intimately. He gains this knowledge by living in the Word of God and by obeying the commandments of God. How then does a person guard against forgetting God? By obeying every commandment of God, every single commandment.

Now note the wonderful gifts promised to the person who obeys God. First, there is the gift of life. The person who places his life into the hands of God is looked after by God. God takes care of the person, guiding and protecting him throughout all of life. Therefore, when it is time for the person to go home to heaven, God takes him. His life is under the care of God until God is ready for him. His life is not cut short by sinful behavior such as drugs, alcohol, gluttony, guilt, and a host of other emotional and health problems caused by sinful behavior. Nothing cuts his life short, for God looks after him, giving him every day he is supposed to live upon the earth.

Second, there is the increase in fruitfulness and in population growth. Common sense tells us that people who obey God’s commandments will live longer and healthier lives. And people who live longer and healthier lives will probably bear more children. Keeping God’s commandments means less adultery and divorce, less assault and murder, less stealing and bankruptcy, less lying and broken relationships, less gluttony and abuse of the body. All this means longer and healthier lives and the blessing of a larger number of children born out of fruitful lives before God.

Third, there is the gift of an inheritance in the promised land. The person who obeys God will enter and inherit the promised land.

  • How can we guard against forgetting God? Be careful! Observe! Follow! Obey every commandment of God! Obey ever single commandment!

(8:2-6) How does a person guard against forgetting God? Remember God’s guidance through the wilderness wanderings. The word “remember” (zakar) means to mark out, recognize, be mindful of, recount, record, bring to remembrance, consider, recall, remind, reflect on, review. It also has the idea of keeping or observing. That is, to remember something is to keep, observe, carry it out, do it. Standing there preaching to the people, Moses wanted them to remember God’s guidance through the wilderness wanderings. He wanted them to remember and trust God’s guidance as they looked forward to entering the promised land.

  1. Remember that God humbled and tested you in the wilderness wanderings (Deut. 8:2). The desert was dry and hot, no doubt sometimes reaching temperatures over 100 degrees. Under such circumstances, perspiration flows freely, soaking a person’s clothes and dripping down his face into his eyes. Thirst then becomes a problem. Life and work become uncomfortable and sleep during hot nights almost impossible. There were also poisonous snakes, scorpions, and other dangerous animals that required a constant watch for protection. There were few trees in the desert, little grass, and no vineyards, vegetables, or fish to eat in the desert. Life in the desert was hard and strenuous. The people often experienced…
•  hunger

•  thirst

•  heat exhaustion

•  fatigue

•  exhausting work

•  strain

 •  pressure

•  tension

•  distress

•  discouragement

•  danger

•  disgust

Whatever a person would experience by living in the desert, the second generation of believers had experienced for forty years. But their parents—the first generation—had been condemned because of their sin, condemned to wander about in the desert until they had all died.  They were barred from ever entering the promised land. But not the children: the promised land was to be their inheritance. Now the children, the second generation of believers, stand before Moses as he preaches. He reminds them that the oldest among them have wandered about and suffered the hardships of the desert for forty years. But through all the hard, strenuous times God had guided them. He had been humbling and testing them to prove their character, their obedience or disobedience. Would they fail like their parents or would they follow and obey God? Would they complain, murmur, and grumble like their parents or would they praise God? Would they turn away from the promised land and suggest returning to Egypt like their parents or would they go forward and enter the promised land, laying claim to their inheritance? “God is humbling and testing you by these hard, difficult times. What is your decision?”

  1. Remember God’s provision of food (Deut. 8:3). He provided manna for you, a bread-like substance that looked like resin or coriander seed. (See outline—• Exodus 16:31-36; and note—• Exodus 16:31-36 for more discussion.) He met your need of hunger. This He did to teach one great truth: man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. The point is clear: do not forget God like your fathers before you. Do not grumble and complain about having little or no food. But trust God and obey Him. Keep every word He has spoken. And God will give you the provision of food. He will meet your need of hunger.
  2. Remember God’s provision of clothing and strength (Deut. 8:4). This is an astonishing statement: the clothes of the Israelites did not wear out and their feet did not swell during the forty years of wilderness wanderings. Obviously, this was a direct miracle of God. For believers down through the generations, the application would be that God would meet the necessities of life for His dear people. Whatever a believer needs, the Word of God declares that God will meet that need.
  3. Remember God’s discipline in the wilderness wanderings (Deut. 8:5). Just as a father loves and corrects his child, so God loves and corrects you. When the Israelites went astray, God disciplined and corrected them time and time again.
  4. Remember God’s expectation: obedience (Deut. 8:6). Throughout all the wilderness wanderings, God expected His people to obey Him. He expects no less of you. You must, therefore, walk in His ways, fear and revere Him.
  • How can we guard against forgetting God? By remembering how God guides us through the wilderness wanderings of this life. God guides us through all the dry, desert experiences of life—through all the trials, tribulations, and temptations of life.

1)  God humbles and tests us through the trials and temptations of life. By helping us to conquer the hard and troublesome experiences, He strengthens us, makes us far stronger and more able to face difficult times in the future. He proves our character, whether we will obey or disobey Him.

2)  God provides food, clothing, and strength for us. All the necessities of life are promised to the genuine believer who obeys God.

3)  God disciplines us. This too will keep us from forgetting God. Just as a father loves and corrects his child, so God loves and corrects us.

4)  God expects obedience from us. If we profess to know God, we must obey Him. We must revere Him, follow after Him and walk in His ways.

(8:7-10) How does a person guard against forgetting God? By praising the Lord for the promised land and its wonderful provisions. All the hopes of the Israelites were wrapped up in the promised land. Camped by the River Jordan, many an Israelite spent an evening walking along the shores of the Jordan, looking over into the promised land and longing for the day when they would receive their inheritance. Possessing the promised land was the longing and ache of their hearts. Moses knew this. He also knew that as long as the hope stayed alive, the people would remember God. They would obey Him and follow Him. With fire burning in his heart, he preached to the people, challenging them to praise the Lord for the promised land and its wonderful provisions.

  1. Moses describes the great provision of the promised land (Deut. 8:7-9). Note that he calls it a “good land.” It is a land that has everything to meet man’s need, a land that will provide a full and fulfilling life for man.
  2. It has an overflowing water supply: brooks or streams, fountains and pools of water, with springs flowing throughout valleys and hills. In contrast to the desert experience, the people will have a full supply of water for themselves, their livestock, and their crops.
  3. It has an abundance of food (Deut. 8:8). The land is fertile and productive, a land with wheat and barley, fig trees and pomegranates, olives and honey—anything and everything that a person could ever want for food.
  4. It is a land that has no scarcity, no insufficiency, no deficiency—nothing is in short supply. The people will lack nothing in the promised land.
  5. It has a rich deposit of minerals (Deut. 8:9). Note that iron and copper in particular are mentioned.
  6. Moses gives a strong charge to the people: always praise the Lord for the promised land and its wonderful provision. Remember the source of your prosperity in the land, God Himself. He is to be praised for the gift of the land and its abundant supplies. Thanksgiving is due Him. Without God, there would be no promised land and no abundant supply of provisions. So praise and give thanks to Him.
  • How can we guard against forgetting God? By praising the Lord for the promised land of heaven and the wonderful provisions of life. We should always be praising God and giving thanks to Him, for everything we have is from Him. God is the source of all our prosperity: the source of the overflowing water supply of the earth, the abundance of vegetation and food, the rich deposit of minerals. Praise is due God for all His wonderful provisions.

(8:11-20) How can a person guard against forgetting God? He must beware! Be careful! Diligently guard against forgetting God. This is an excellent message on “Forgetting God.”

  1. Note the causes of forgetting God (Deut. 8:11-14). What is it that makes a person forget God? Some people seldom think about God. Occasionally, the thought of God crosses their minds, but not often. God is not a major subject of their thoughts, neither of their lives. Their world does not include God; their lives are not focused upon God. To them God is way off, out of reach. To some people, God may exist or may not (agnostics). To other people, God does not exist (atheists). Therefore God is not a subject to occupy their minds. God is rejected and denied; thus, there is no need to give thought to God. God is forgotten.

But standing there preaching under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit, note what Moses proclaimed: Beware! Be careful! Diligently guard against forgetting God. Three things will cause you to forget God.

  1. Failing to obey God’s holy commandments will cause you to forget God (Deut. 8:11). You must obey God’s commandments, keep your mind upon obeying them. If you neglect and ignore His commandments, you will grow cold and indifferent, soon forgetting God. Your conscience and mind will become dull, insensitive, hard, callous, and dead to God. The thoughts of God will soon pass from your mind. You will forget God.

However, if you obey God’s commandments, then God will be active in your heart and life. Your mind and thoughts will focus upon God, seeking to fulfill His commandments. Step by step throughout the day, you will seek to please God by obeying Him. God will be alive in your heart and thoughts. You will not forget God. Keeping God’s holy commandments is the way to guard against forgetting God. But failing to obey God’s holy commandments will cause a person to forget God.

  1. Being prosperous, at ease, satisfied, and complacent can cause a person to forget God (Deut. 8:12-13). This was the great concern of Moses for the Israelites. Once they had conquered and settled down in the promised land, there was the danger that their prosperity would cause them to become satisfied and complacent. They would become at ease in Zion. Note how Moses warns the people against becoming complacent and satisfied with their prosperity:

⇒  They would have plenty to eat and become full, satisfied (Deut. 8:12).

⇒Comfortable housing: They would have fine housing and be settled down, be perfectly comfortable.

⇒Wealth: large herds and flocks–gold and silver–all has multiplied. They would be wealthy in the eyes of the world with large herds and flocks, gold and silver. Everything they had would be multiplied (Deut. 8:13).

In the midst of all their prosperity, God’s people must guard against becoming complacent, self-satisfied, at ease, comfortable. They must not become apathetic, lethargic, indifferent, sluggish, stagnant, cold-hearted, unresponsive to God. They must not forget God.

  1. Possessing pride and a sense of self-sufficiency can cause a person to forget God (Deut. 8:14). A person can begin to feel that his prosperity is due to his own knowledge, ability, and skill. He can easily forget that his life, health, and strength—his very existence upon this earth—are due to God. It is God who willed him to be born and who had established the laws of reproduction through which he was born. The believer must guard his heart from becoming proud and self-sufficient, from thinking that it is he himself who has produced the prosperity. He must not forget God: everything he has comes from God. God has willed for him to prosper; therefore, the believer produces the products and possesses the things he owns. God is the primary, ultimate source of everything a man is and has: his ability, skill, health, and possessions. Man does not live upon this earth unless God wills him to live. Consequently, there is no place for pride or self-sufficiency within the heart of man.
  2. Note the results of forgetting God (Deut. 8:14-17). The results of forgetfulness are tragic, most tragic. They cut the heart of God, grieve His Spirit to the depths of its core.
  3. If you forget God, you will forget your salvation (Deut. 8:14). You did not save yourself nor create the hope for the promised land within your heart. It was God who saved you and gave you the hope of salvation. He delivered you from Egypt, saved you out of the enslavement of this world. This He did to give you the hope of the promised land. But if you forget God, you will forget your salvation. You will forget the very purpose for which God saved you, the very reason why you were living in the promised land.
  4. If you forget God, you will forget the guidance and protection of God (Deut. 8:15). You will forget that it was God who led you through the wilderness wanderings, through all the terrible trials and difficulties of the wilderness. You will forget that He protected you from venomous snakes and scorpions. If you forget God, you will lose the guidance and protection of God. You will be left all alone upon this earth, left only to what you can personally do for yourself and what others are willing to do. In facing the trials of life such as disease, accident, financial difficulty, job or business problems, relationship difficulties, family and school problems—any problem or trial of life—the only help available will be the arm of flesh, only what you or some other person can do to help you. You will have lost the guidance and protection of God—if you forget God.
  5. If you forget God, you will forget His provision (Deut. 8:15). It is God who provides the necessities of life: water to drink and food to eat. But if you forget God, you lose God’s day-by-day provision, lose the assurance of having Him look after you. You have no guarantee of the necessities of life. Keep in mind that God had given the Israelites water gushing from a rock and manna to eat day by day out in the desert. They had no excuse for forgetting God.
  6. If you forget God, you will forget the humbling experiences (Deut. 8:16). You forget that God tests you in order to make you stronger and to make things go better for you. (See outline—• Deut. 8:2-6; and note, pt.1—•Deut. 8:2-6 for more discussion.)
  7. If you forget God, you will forget humility (Deut. 8:7). You develop a sense of self-sufficiency.
  • Pride and a sense of self-sufficiency will lead a person to forget God; therefore we absolutely must guard against these.
  • Note the protection against forgetting God (Deut. 8:18-20). With flaming passion, Moses declares the solution, the answer to the problem of forgetting God. Two actions will protect a person from forgetting God.  1. Remember the source of all things: the Lord your God (Deut. 8:18). It is God who gives you the ability to work and produce. Your ability is due to God, not to you. But even more than this fact, there is another fact that you must grasp: God fulfills His covenant, the gift of the promised land. It is of critical importance to remember this. No person can enter or possess the promised land apart from God. The promised land is a gift of God, not the creation of man. God alone can give the promised land to a person. God and God alone is the source of all things. This fact should keep a person from forgetting God. 2. Remember the judgment of God (Deut. 8:19-20). You must not forget God nor engage in false worship lest the judgment of God fall upon you. If you forget God, His judgment will fall upon you, destroying you just like it did the nations and peoples before you (Deut. 8:19-20).

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Source: The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible – Deuteronomy, (Chattanooga: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 1996), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: “G. The Safeguards to Assure Obedience to the Commandments of God: How to Guard against Forgetting God, 8:1-20”.

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A Call to Love – Deuteronomy 6 Commentary

Posted on March 23, 2022 by dkoop

What is the greatest force on earth? A military weapon? The authority of some world leader? The power of some machine? Technology? Economic power? Enormous wealth?

All these possess a dynamic force, enormous power. But they are not the greatest force on earth. The greatest force known to man is love, true love. If need be, true love drives a person to make the ultimate sacrifice, that of giving his life on behalf of the person or thing loved. Love is defined as affection, admiration, warm attachment, devotion, unselfish concern, and loyalty that seeks the good of another person or cause. It means to hold dear and cherish, to be tender and affectionate toward some person, thing, or cause.

No better description of love has ever been given than the one spelled out in 1 Cor. 13:4-8…

  • Love is patient, and is kind.
  • Love does not envy.
  • Love does not vaunt itself and is not puffed up.
  • Love does not behave itself unseemly, does not seek her own, is not easily provoked, and thinks no evil.
  • Love does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth.
  • Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
  • Love never fails.

The greatest commandment ever given by God is the commandment dealing with love. This is the great subject of the present passage: The Summary of the Commandments—the Greatest Commandment of All: Love the Lord, 6:1-25.

(6:1-3) There was the primary charge of God given to Moses: to teach believers to obey His commandments. The commandments were the very foundation of life, telling man exactly how to live. God is the great Creator, the Giver of all life; therefore, He knows exactly how life should be lived. This was the very reason He had given the commandments to man, to show man how to live a full and victorious life. If a person obeys God, he will experience the fullness of life and conquer all the enemies who oppose life, seeking to drag him down into the pit of death.

  1. The commandments will teach you to fear the Lord: you, your children, your grandchildren—all generations (Deut. 6:2). The word “fear” means to honor and reverence God to such a point that a person worships Him. The person who truly fears God surrenders his life to serve God, to obey God just as He commands. But the word means more than just reverence and honor: it means to respect the justice and judgment of God, to fear what God can do to a person if he disobeys the commandments of God. Thus the very purpose for teaching the commandments to God’s people is just this: to teach the fear of God. Believers are to fear God:

⇒  reverence and worship Him, surrendering their lives to Him, obeying His commandments and living exactly as He says

⇒  respect His holiness and justice, lest their disobedience arouse the judgment of God

2. The commandments will prolong your days, give you the enjoyment of a long life (Deut. 6:2). God has established the very laws of life to make the truth of this statement a reality. A person who obeys God will experience far less guilt, pressure, and tension. These are things that eat away at life, that cause ulcers and all kinds of other emotional and physical problems. Guilt, pressure, and tension sap the strength out of life and shorten life. One of the wisest things a person can do is to obey God, eliminating the guilt, pressure, and tension that disobedience brings into his life. Not only will obeying God prolong your days, but also it will give you a more enjoyable or abundant life.

  1. The commandments will cause all things to go well for you, give you a victorious life (Deut. 6:3). Just think for a moment: breaking the commandments of God causes all kinds of problems for a person. For example, lying, stealing, adultery, and murder cause all kinds of disturbed relationships and wreck human life. Breaking any of the commandments of God causes all kinds of problems…
•  broken relationships

•  wrecked lives

•  accidents

•  unemployment

•  disease

 •  divorce

•  bankruptcy

•  poverty

•  homelessness

•  death

The results of disobedience are terrible. The ravages of sin, of disobeying God, are seen within every community in the broken lives and families all around us. But this is the glorious message of this point: obeying God will cause all things to go far better. If people obey the commandments, there will be no lying, stealing, adultery, or murder. There will be far fewer broken lives and families. Things will go well, and people will live a far more victorious life, conquering all the enemies and evil of this world. A life of conquest and victory is solely dependent upon obeying God. This is the reason God gave His commandments, to show man how to live so that he could live a victorious life. Obeying God simply makes things go better. In fact, all things will go well if a person obeys God.

  1. The commandments will make you increase and assure a full, satisfying life (Deut. 6:3). This was a specific promise made to the Israelites, but it is also common sense for any people. As has already been seen, obeying the commandments extends life and improves the quality of that life. Just these facts alone would increase the population of a people, make them far more fruitful. Moreover, God blesses His people, assures them of a full, satisfying life. If a person obeys God, he walks throughout life conquering the temptation to lie, steal, commit adultery, and react in anger and violence when wronged by people. The point is he lives a victorious life over the temptations and trials of life. Therefore, God gives him a sense of confidence, assurance, satisfaction, and fulfillment in life. He grows in love for God and for people, experiencing the fullness of joy, peace, and strength of life.

What is the greatest commandment in the law? Remember that Jesus Christ Himself was asked this question, and He answered without hesitation or equivocation. He answered with all the authority of God Himself, and His answer was an eye-opener: He quoted this passage in Deuteronomy. (See outline—• Matthew 22:37-38; outline—• Mark 12:29-31; note—• Matthew 22:37-38; and note—• Mark 12:29-31 for more discussion.) The greatest commandment is this:

  1. Know that “the Lord our God is One Lord” (Deut. 6:4).
  2. He is the Lord (Jehovah, Yahweh). God is the great Creator, the Sovereign Majesty of the universe. Therefore, He is the Lord of all. There is not one god of the Jew (religionist) and another god of the Gentile. There are not different gods of the races and nations of the world, not a different god of Africa and a different god of India, and a different god for Arabs, and a different god for Americans and on and on. Imagine the foolishness of such an idea! Yet how common the idea is! There is only one God who created the universe and only one God who is the God of all mankind.

⇒  There is only one God who created all things: “One God, the Father of whom are all things and we in Him” (1 Cor. 8:6).

⇒  There is only one God who has made all men alike: “Who made of one blood every nation of men” (Acts 17:26).

⇒  There is only one God “in whom we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

Note this fact: as the Lord, God is the only living and true God, the God of salvation, deliverance, and redemption. This means a most wonderful thing: as the Lord—the only living and true God—all people are saved, redeemed in the same way. God does not play favorites or show partiality. God does not make it more difficult for some to be saved. God is the Lord—the only One—therefore He treats all equally and justly. All people can approach God and be saved in the same way.

⇒  There “is [only] one God, who shall justify the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through faith” (Romans 3:30).

⇒  “There is [only] one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).

  1. The Lord is our God (Deut. 6:4). This is a personal relationship between a worshipper and the Lord. It is a daily experience. We are related to Him; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Therefore, we should love, adore, and worship Him.
  2. The Lord is one Lord (Deut. 6:4). There is no other. Monotheism (one God) is the truth of God, of the true and living God. Polytheism (many gods) is a false belief created in the imaginations of people.
  3. Love the Lord your God with your whole being: your heart, soul and strength (Deut. 6:5). Love God as your very own God. This is a personal relationship, not a distant relationship. God is not impersonal, far out in space someplace, distant and removed. God is personal, ever so close, and we are to be personally involved with God on a face-to-face basis. The command is to “love the Lord thy God.” Loving God is alive and active, not dead and inactive. Therefore, we are to maintain a personal relationship with God that is alive and active.

Note that Jesus Christ says to love God with all your being. Christ breaks our being down into three parts: the heart, the soul, and strength.

  1. The “heart” (lebab) is the inner part, the inner man of a person. The heart is the seat of man’s affection and will (devotion). The heart attaches and focuses our will and devotion. The heart causes us to give either good things or bad things. The heart causes us to devote ourselves to either good or bad. Therefore, Christ says we are to love God “with all our heart.” We are to focus our heart, our affection, and our will (devotion) upon God. We are to love God supremely.
  2. The “soul” (nephesh) is the seat of man’s breath and life or consciousness. The soul is the life of a man, the consciousness, the breath, the essence, the being of a man. The soul is the animal life of a man. The soul is the breath and consciousness that distinguishes man and other animals from vegetation. The world of vegetation lives and man and animals live, but there is a difference in their living. Man and animals are breathing and conscious beings. The essence of their being is breath and consciousness. They are living souls. This is clearly pointed out in the Hebrew language of Genesis 1:20: “Let the waters bring forth abundantly ‘living souls‘ [nephesh] that hath life.” The “living souls” that God created were different from the vegetation He had just created. The “living souls” were creatures (fish) that breathed and possessed consciousness.

Christ said we are to love God “with all our soul,” that is, with all our life, our breath, our consciousness. We are to love God with all the breath and consciousness, all the life and awareness we have.

3. The word “strength” (meod) means the full strength, all the strength of a person. It means to use up one’s strength thoroughly, to the point of exhaustion. We are to love God with all our strength—fully, thoroughly, to the point of exhaustion.

  • The greatest commandment is clear: we must love God with all our hearts, souls, and strength.

(6:6-9) The duty of the believer is stated by Moses in clear, descriptive terms. He laid three important duties upon every believer.

  1. The believer is to place the commandments in his heart ( 6:6). The commandments are to be preeminent in the believer’s life. He is to cherish the commandments, cradle them in his heart. Simply stated, the believer is to be totally committed, wholeheartedly committed to the commandments. He is to hold them ever so near and dear to his heart.
  2. The believer is to diligently teach the commandments to his children (Deut. 6:7). The commandments are not automatically taught to children. Educating children is an absolute necessity. And note: education is not just teaching facts and principles, not just passing along information. Teaching is experiencing the truth personally, living out the truth before the children. It is applying the truth of the commandments to one’s heart and experiencing the truths within one’s own life. The children then see the truth of the commandments lived before their very eyes, and they absorb the truth, pick it up automatically. The truth becomes a part of their lives. This is exactly what Moses was preaching: the believer was constantly to talk about the commandments when he sat at home, when he walked along the road throughout the day, when he laid down, and when he got up. The whole thrust is that he was to live by the commandments, experience them, obey them, and set the dynamic example before his children.
  3.  The believer is to use the commandments as a strong witness and testimony before the public (Deut. 6:8-9). When an Israelite was out in public, he was to bind the commandments on his hands and forehead. Within the home, he was to write them on his doorposts and on his gates. This particular charge has been literally practiced by orthodox Jews down through the centuries. They have copied four sections from the law and put these passages in leather cases and tied them to their arms and on their foreheads during morning prayers (Exodus 13:1-10; Exodus 13:11-16; Deut. 6:4-9; Deut. 11:13-21). Some have also put two passages of Scripture in a metal or glass case and attached it to the right doorpost of every entrance to their homes (Deut. 6:4-5; Deut. 11:13-20).

The thrust of Moses’ preaching was that the home was to be the center for bearing testimony to the truth of the commandments. Very simply, the believer was to place the commandments in the very core of his heart and diligently teach them to his children both by example and word. Moreover, he was to bear strong testimony to the commandments both outside and inside his home. His home was to be known as a righteous home, a home where the commandments of God were taught and lived.

  (6:10-11) Moses preached the blessings of prosperity. If the Israelite believers obeyed God, God would pour out His blessings upon them, give them great prosperity. Note the blessings, the gifts God would give if they obeyed Him:

⇒  the gift of the promised land (Deut. 6:10). He would give them a place they could call their own, a permanent inheritance upon which they could settle and experience the victorious life and rest that had been promised by God.

⇒  the gift of prosperous cities (Deut. 6:10)

⇒  the gift of houses filled with all kinds of good things (Deut. 6:11)

⇒  the gift of wells and water (Deut. 6:11)

⇒  the gift of food (Deut. 6:11)

  • The believer who obeys God will be blessed by God, greatly blessed in this life and in the life to come. This is the strong declaration of Scripture.

(6:11-19)  Moses preached the danger of prosperity, the danger of being too comfortable, at ease, self-satisfied. The believer must beware, watch, guard against the indulgence of the flesh, the danger of becoming too comfortable or too at ease. Prosperity can ruin the believer. Having plenty can make a believer complacent. Prosperity gives rise to three particular dangers, dangers that the believer must guard against with all vigilance:

  1. Prosperity can lead to the danger of forgetting God (Deut. 6:12-13). Becoming prosperous, having plenty, and being full can easily dull a person, making him insensitive to God. He can become overly comfortable and satisfied to the point that he forgets God. He forgets that every good and perfect gift comes from God. Therefore, he owes God his life and all that he possesses. Note what Scripture says: prosperity can make the person forget his great salvation, that it was God who delivered him out of Egypt. Keep in mind that Egypt is a symbol of the world. It is God who delivers us from the enslavement of the world.

The opposite of forgetting God is to fear God and to serve God (Deut. 6:13). This is the answer to forgetting God. The believer is to fear the Lord his God and serve Him with all his heart, soul, and strength. But this is not all: the believer is to take oaths only in God’s name. He is openly to declare himself to be a follower of God, to be a strong witness of God. This would be one way to guard against forgetting God.

  1. Prosperity can lead to the danger of compromise (Deut. 6:14.). Surrounding neighbors would always be inviting God’s people to participate with them in their false worship. Unless God’s people stayed close to God and obeyed His commandments, they would end up compromising and accepting the invitations of their neighbors. They would end up participating in false worship and soon begin to follow false gods. Belief in false gods and false worship sweeps the earth—always has and always will—and is a constant temptation to God’s people. The warning of Moses to believers is forceful: prosperity can lead to the danger of compromise. You must not follow other gods, the gods of the people who are all around you.

Note the answer to compromise: the believer must know—keep ever before his mind—that the Lord is a jealous God and His anger will burn against him. If the believer participates in idolatry or false worship, he must know that God will judge him, condemn him to death.

  1. Prosperity could lead to the danger of testing God (Deut. 6:16-19). A person could test God by being too demanding or going too far in thinking that God would never judge nor chastise him. A person can go so far in his sinful behavior that he is presuming upon God’s goodness, daring God to judge or chastise him. This was what happened in Massah out in the middle of the desert: the people were forced to camp in a place where there was no water to drink. Consequently, they were gripped with a spirit of unbelief and they rebelled against Moses and God. They demanded that Moses prove his leadership and God’s guidance by producing water. They were even on the verge of stoning him. They were presuming upon God’s goodness, being too demanding and going too far, daring God’s judgment to lash out against them (see outline—• Exodus 17:1-7; and note—• Exodus 17:1-7 for more discussion).

The answer to the danger of testing God is to obey God, keep His commandments—all His laws (Deut. 6:17). The believer must do what is right and good in God’s eyes, not in his own eyes (Deut. 6:18). If he obeys God, then things will go well with him and he will inherit the promised land (Deut. 6:18).

  • The believer must guard against prosperity, against becoming overly comfortable, at ease, and self-satisfied. God does bless the believer, but with the blessings come some threatening dangers.

1)  There is the danger of forgetting God.

2)  There is the danger of compromise, of following false gods and false worship.

3)  There is the danger of testing God. The believer can be too demanding of God and go too far, thinking that God would never judge him. He can presume upon the goodness of God, going so far in sin that he is daring God to judge him.

(6:20-25)  Moses preached the duty to teach the truth of salvation and of the commandments to children. Teaching the truth to children is one of the primary duties of parents. Moses understood children: he knew that children would be asking about God and His commandments when they heard God or the commandments mentioned. This was and is particularly true when a family focuses upon the Lord and His Word or commandments. When children asked an Israelite believer about the wonderful truth of God’s deliverance from Egypt, the parents were to explain to the children what had happened. He was to explain how God had delivered His people from Egyptian slavery by miraculous signs and wonders and how God had executed judgment against the Egyptians and Pharaoh (Deut. 6:21-22). The parents were also to explain how God had brought them to the promised land, given them the great inheritance sworn to the forefathers, that is, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Deut. 6:23).

But explaining salvation was not enough: the parents had to teach the truth of God’s commandments to their children (Deut. 6:24-25). The parents were to teach the wonderful promise of God—that if they obeyed God, the most wonderful results would happen: they would prosper and be preserved.

⇒  They would be counted righteous before God. The word righteousness, tsedaqah, is taken from the root word tsadaq or sadaq which means to be righteous; to cleanse or clear oneself; to make righteous or to turn to righteousness; to be in the right; to be justified; to be just. The basic meaning of the word righteousness is exactly what the English word says: to be righteous, noble, honest, good. Moses was declaring that the person who obeyed God would be counted righteous before God. He would become acceptable to God.

  • There are two strong lessons for us in this point.

1)  Parents must teach their children the truth of salvation and the importance of God’s Holy Word or commandments.

2)  Since the coming of Jesus Christ, righteousness is by faith through Christ and not by the works of the law. No person can keep the law perfectly; therefore, God accepts a person only when he comes through the righteousness of Christ and through His righteousness alone. A person must approach God through Christ in order to be accepted by God. But once a person has been accepted by God, he must seek to obey God and to fulfill the commandments of God.

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Source:  The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible – Deuteronomy, (Chattanooga: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 1996), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: “E. The Summary of the Commandments–the Greatest Commandment of All: Love the Lord, 6:1-25”.

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