The Shema: Zooming Out Deuteronomy 6
by G.S. Augustine
The Heart of Judaism
Some of the most important verses in all the Bible for any Jew and even for any Christian is Deuteronomy 6:4-6. It begins “Hear, O Israel.” The Hebrew word for “Hear” is “Shema” and hence Jews always refer to this passage by that name. The entire passage is as follows
Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul (Hebrew: “nephesh”) and all your strength. These commands I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them upon your children. Talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk on 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 doorposts of your houses and on your gates.
God is One (The Only God) So Love God
At first glance, we might see this as a feel good verse about to loving God and enjoying him forever. But something just out of reach in the verses themselves have a bit of an ominous feel to them—something desperate. The mood feels more like a warning than a celebration. Did you notice?
Moses admonishes the people to talk about God’s commands constantly, all day long, everywhere you go. But he goes further. He says: “Tie them as symbols on your hands and on your foreheads. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and gates.” In other words: Do everything you can to keep from forgetting them.
A Desperate Plea: Don’t Forget!
An appeal like this suggests two things. First, if we need to go to such lengths so that we won’t forget, it is likely that unless we do take these measures, we will forget. It’s probably unavoidable. Secondly, forgetting these commands must have dire consequences to invoke such direct and specific language. This list sounds more like a mountain guide explaining precautions you’ll need to take to survive a climb up Mount Everest. The precautions are not just something you should do—they are things you must do if you plan on coming down the mountain afterward.
Zooming Out Clarifies The Vision
When we zoom out just to the surrounding verses in the chapter, we discover this is the mood of Deuteronomy 6 as a whole. And although, the parameters of this article won’t allow for the discussion, the entirety of the book of Deuteronomy follows the same pattern.
The mood of Deuteronomy 6 becomes apparent almost immediately in the first 3 verses:
These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land 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 today so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey, so that it may go well with you and you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you. Deuteronomy 6:1-3
An Encouraging Warning
The repeating words like “observe” and “obey” conveys a mood of seriousness and warning. So does and the emphasis on “obeying all the commands and decrees. Additionally, the reason for this obedience is “so that you may live long in the land.” The author also says “so that it may go well with you” and “so that you may increase greatly in the land.” The implication is that if the Israelites don’t obey, things will not go well.
This perspective right away clarifies Moses admonition for the people to commit God’s commands and decrees to heart. They are to teach them diligently to their children all day long in every activity of life. Even write them on the doorposts of their houses! Much more is at stake than just whether or not their children have the right values and continue to go to church when they reach adulthood. Their welfare is at stake.
A Vision For Generational Faithfulness
The goal was not just for their children but for their grandchildren and someday their great, great grandchildren to follow the Lord. Moses is projecting a vision for many generations of the first hearers of this sermon. Faith will not easily continue to future generations if first generation does not “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.” And Moses gives good reasons why: there is huge obstacles to passing faith on generationally.
In Deuteronomy 6:10-19, Moses is saying something like: “This is what could easily happen not just for you but for your children after you.” God’s blessing is something we desire to receive and it is something God desires to give. But it is a double edged sword. That is the reason God sometimes seems to hold back his blessing, but more on that below. Here Moses warns of the dangers of taking for granted God’s blessing.
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. Deuteronomy 6:10-12
We Live In A Fallen World
We are fallen people. God might be where we turn when faced with trouble or danger, but when we are full and satisfied, we tend to ignore. We get to thinking that, “Hey, I’m doing alright. Look at the harvest I’ve pulled in this year from my vineyards and olive groves.” Right! We’re forgetting that God provided those vineyards and olive groves in the first place. Without God, we could easily lose them just as fast. Moses will repeat this warning again in chapter 8:
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord you God for the good land he has give you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord you God by failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you today … You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth. Deuteronomy 8:10-11, 17-18
Someone could still think, “Well once I’ve got that land and wealth, I’ll be fine without God.” But Moses clips that idea before it has a chance to sprout:
If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify to you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 8:19-20
There’s A Reason Worldly Gods Draw Us
The idols of the world promise pleasure without risk, wealth without hard work, and self-indulgence without consequence. A genuine quality life, on the other hand, requires character and discipline. It’s easy to see why wealth so often leads to idolatrous lifestyles—especially if the wealth comes by way of blessing and not work. Sometimes God has to withhold blessing from his people, in order to save them from themselves. Once however we’ve learned to trust and love the “Giver” rather than the “gift,” God is happy to provide them.
Our God’s Plan To Thwart This
The first generation of Israelites to enter the land of promise were only children when they came out of Egypt. However, they did see and remember God’s awesome power. Their parents failed to be grateful for what God did and only grumbled about what he had not done for them yet. So they were unable to trust God enough to go into the land.
Their children saw God’s provision for forty years and likely heard the story of their parents failure at Kadesh Barnea (see Numbers 14). So they were better prepared when Joshua lead them across the Jordan. Additionally, though here in Deuteronomy, they hadn’t experienced it yet, they would see God’s willingness to fight for them in defeating their enemies in the promised land. And their children would likely see that as well.
Helping That Third Generation
However, a generation would eventually arise that had not seen any of it, but they would be the beneficiaries of God’s largess. From above, we realize this is a recipe for disaster. So how do they help the grandchildren or great grandchildren understand the great things God has done for them? Moses explains that keeping God’s laws will create curiosity in the children which the parents can use as a teaching tool for the power of God.
In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees, and laws the Lord our God hast commanded you?” Tell him: “We were slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out 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 to the land he promised on oath to our forefathers. The Lord commanded us to obey these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive as is the case today. Deuteronomy 6:20-25
Assumptions and Strategies
Several things are assumed here referring back to verses 4-6. First, the commands are on the hearts of the parents. Second they are constantly teaching these commands to their children. Thirdly, the fathers engage with their children well enough for the children to be comfortable asking questions. And lastly, that enough time has past that the history of what God has done is being overshadowed by the mundane living.
This generation somewhere down the line is in need of a clear picture of the power and love of God for his people. The father is to recount first that the people of Israel were once slaves. Life wasn’t always as it is today. The world is a place of waring powers that seek to dominate others and the Israelites were once victims of that circumstance. If fact, so much so, they were unable to extricate themselves from it on their own. But their loving God came powerfully to their rescue.
Signs and Wonders: A Critical Piece
Additionally, this God also performed “signs and wonders.” In other words, he did what is not usual in the world. The very rareness of these “signs and wonders” are what make them stand out. When they happen, you can be sure that a very powerful God is at work. But knowing they happen at important times means you can trust his care for us as well. He aimed those “signs and wonders” against the enemies and oppressors of the people raining chaos down on their rulers who scoffed at God’s power.
Secondly, the fathers are to tell their sons, “This powerful God then brought us to the place of prosperity we now experience today. And more than that, he was keeping promises he made long ago. God actually promised centuries before to the forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, this very land Israel is now in. God powerfully keeps his promises. When God promises something, we can absolutely count on it.
The fathers are then to tell their sons, “And if we keep these laws and commands, this prosperity we now enjoy, God promises it will continue. We will live long in this land of milk and honey.” They might even say, “If you keep these commands and teach them, you can be sure that your grandchildren will enjoy God’s blessings also.”
What Went Wrong?
From history though, we know that it didn’t turn out this way. Even Moses knew they wouldn’t obey God very long. He concludes his Deuteronomic Sermon in chapters 31-32, saying:
For I know that after my death, you are sure to become utterly corrupt and turn from what I have commanded you. In the days to come, disaster will fall upon you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and provoke him to anger by what your hands have made (suggesting idols and idolatry). Deuteronomy 31:29
In Jeremiah 31:31-33, God tells us that we will need a new covenant with God in which he will write his laws on our hearts. The New Testament tells us this will come through the sacrifice and high priesthood of his son, King Jesus. In giving our allegiance to King Jesus, we are committing to obeying the commands the Father now writes on our hearts. But we must consider something else if Deuteronomy 6 is going to have it’s full effect in the lives of our families.
The Law of Generations
The first generation to enter the land of promise saw God’s powerful work and for the most part followed their God. The next generation, or so, followed God as well because their parents did. Their parents would have told them of the signs and wonders that God did “before our eyes.” In other words, that first generation had direct experience with God’s power. The second generation (or so), had only second hand experience. They were listening to and enjoying the stories of their parents first hand experience, but didn’t have any of their own.
Somewhere, a generation arose that “knew not the Lord or what he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10). This generation maybe had not heard the stories (the fathers failed to tell them). Or their parents only had second hand experience with the Lord. Their children might have said, “I know you keep saying that God is powerful but you have never seen it yourself and neither have I. Sounds like stories about Santa Claus to me.”
Every Generation A First Generation
The goal is more than just to teach our children about what God does for us. We must live in such a way that we ourselves have first hand experience with God’s powerful help. Jesus said that if we believe, we could say to this mountain, “Be cast into the sea, it would obey us.” He was challenging us to take the power of God seriously throughout the whole of our lives. We will then visibly demonstrate of God’s power to our children. By seeing it, hopefully, they will to take the risk themselves to trust in the power of God.
For faith to be passed on to future generations, we certainly must have God’s word on our hearts. And we must love him with all our hearts, but it must go further. We must experience God’s power ourselves, employing the Biblical definition of faith found in Hebrews 11. And then we must encourage our children to do the same. Each generation needs to become a first generation disciple of Christ. Though second generation Christians often do ok, once third generation Christians develop, the blessing of God itself can become the means of squandering the legacy. And apart from the intervention of the Holy Spirit, third generation type Christians inevitably come from second generation ones.
A First Generation Habit
So how do we go about it? We learn to listen carefully to what the Holy Spirit is leading us to. And then count on it: eventually the Holy Spirit will lead us to something that involves risk. In order to keep from “shrinking back,” we must commit to regular and extended prayer—and not just alone “in my inner closet.” I’m going to suggest we make a regular habit of praying with others in the body of Christ. We will need their help to face any giants in the land.
When Peter and the other apostles were waiting for the Holy Spirit to give them power, they prayed constantly for ten days with 120 of God’s people (see, Acts 1). Praying for a minute on the drive to work won’t cut it. Neither will tacking on a request after blessing a meal. Whatever God calls us to will take us to the edge of our ability to trust him. If we take God’s call seriously, we will find ourselves wrestling with God in prayer because it will also take us beyond our ability to accomplish the task on our own. We will be engaging in something that requires God to show up powerfully. But when he does, we then have first hand experience with him.
Wrestling With God
Jacob wrestles with a man, we discover to be a manifestation of God in Genesis 32. He is desperate. He believes a dangerous encounter with his brother Esau is about to ensue. Jacob hangs on in this wrestling match all night long. Then our author says something surprising:
When the man saw that he could not overpower him (Jacob), he touched the socket of his hip … The man said “Let me go, for it is daybreak. But Jacob said, “I will not let you go until you bless me.”
How is it that God couldn’t overpower Jacob! But the point is, nothing could dissuade Jacob from obtaining the blessing of God—even if he had to wrestle God all night! When it comes to wrestling with God in prayer, we must have a similar attitude.
Pray Until God Shows Up
Ultimately first generation Christians are those who pray in what he is leading them to until they see God show up powerfully. I cannot emphasize this enough. If your children never see you step out on a limb with God and experience his power, they are going to have a hard time believing you when you say God in Christ can be trusted.
When all they see is the world’s goods and methods solving life’s problems, that is where they will go. And if all their solvable problems are simply solved by something tangible in the world, why would they need God? And when the world can’t solve it, they will believe it’s because the saying is true: “Life is miserable, then you die.”
You might convince them they need God for insurance after they die. But they will only turn to God in this life when they are desperate and cannot find a worldly solution. But the moment they do, they will move God to the back burner again, if not completely off the stove. And that kind of faith doesn’t have much chance of translating to future generations.
