Deuteronomy 6--The Greatest Commandment

Deuteronomy 6
English Standard Version

The Greatest Commandment
6 “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and 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. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

10 “And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you-- 15 for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

16 “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. 17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. 18 And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers 19 by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has promised.

20 “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. 23 And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. 24 And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. 25 And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.’

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You may be familiar with some of these verses from the New Testament when Jesus is challenged asking Him what is The Greatest Commandment and He answers by quoting verse 5.  The second greatest commandment is found in Leviticus 19:18.  We'll find Jesus quote from the book of Deuteronomy on several important occasions, including during His temptation in the wilderness after His baptism.

Let's back up though to why Moses is retelling the Law to them, which we see at the beginning of the chapter.  The people are to make sure that they and their children and all future generations fear the LORD and obey His commandments (these two ideas are related quite often).  Only then will they experience God's blessings and not His curses (as we'll see later in the book of Deuteronomy.

For the Jewish people, verses 4-5 are a single commandments and verse 5 is not quoted without verse 4.  This is called the Shema and it is recited often by the Jewish people and is kept in phylacteries that they would wear on their foreheads and would attach to their doorposts to remind them to always say the Shema when they come in and go out of their houses (taking verses 8 and 9 quite literally).

They are warned not to forget the good things that God had done for them and to fear the LORD and worship Him only because He is a jealous God and will not let idolatry or worship of other gods go unpunished.  He will destroy those who engage in such practices, just as He did the generation that fell in the wilderness for their idolatry and rebellion.

God also says that their continued military victories will be contingent on their continued obedience.  If they disobey the Law, then they will not be successful, for the LORD must fight their battles for them.  We'll see this with the sin at Ai in the book of Joshua.

Lastly, God told the people through Moses that the Law was never to be separated from the story of their redemption.  They were to tell their children that the meaning of the LORD's laws and statutes is that the LORD through many powerful signs and wonders freed them from Pharaoh out of slavery in Egypt, so that He might fulfill the covenant that He had made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Only then were they to demand obedience, because He is worthy of our worship and our obedience because He alone is the LORD and He alone is our Redeemer and our Savior.