Deuteronomy 6:1-3 – The key to blessings

Deuteronomy 5 recounted the solemn moment when the Ten Commandments were given to the children of Israel at Horeb. It was so awe-inspiring that great fear of God fell on the whole assembly whom God had brought out of Egypt to be His people. The awesome, yet terrifying moment stirred within them a desire to obey God. And while there was a desire to obey God, there was also a great fear for God. So the people pled with Moses to be their mediator. They wanted him to approach God on their behalf, to hear from Him, and then relay what God wanted them to do. They also promised to obey whatever God would say to them. Moses then directly addressed the new generation of children of Israel, now poised at the edge of the promised land. He was calling on them to remember to obey the Lord in the land that they were poised to go in. This was a timely reminder for the land they were going into was a land of pagans. The people must always remember that they belonged to God and must worship and serve and obey Him alone.

Here in Deuteronomy 6, Moses began to instruct them on what God wanted them to do. They were expected to be careful to keep them as they entered in to live a new life, in the land flowing with milk and honey. The instruction was not given to them alone but also to their subsequent generations. They, their sons, and their sons’ sons were expected to fear the Lord all the days of their lives by diligently keeping the statutes and commandments of the Lord. And in obeying God, they were promised longevity in the promised land.

In verse 1, Moses told the people that the instructions he was giving them were so that they “might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it.”  The emphasis here is that they “might do them.”  In other words, the instructions must be the rule of life in the promised land for the Israelites. In much the same way, the Word of God must be the rule for our living. Like them, we must obey and live out what God has prescribed in His Word which has been given to us. Then we see from these three verses that obedience flows out as well as culminates in the fear of the Lord. This is an attitude that will enable one to keep God’s instructions. When God, who gives the commandments and instructions, is feared and revered, what He says will be respected and kept. In the same way, keeping His Word will become a delight and desire when we fear and respect God. What is underscored here in these verses is that obedience will beget blessings. They go hand in hand. If we want to stay blessed, always obey the instructions of the Lord. That is the promise of God!