Key Text: These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).
Moses exhorted Israel to obey the statutes and judgments of the Lord to ward off God’s displeasure, to be respected as a wise people by other nations, and for the unique and high spiritual quality of the Law of God. Since God promised to bless generation after generation, He expected His people to follow His ways from generation to generation as well, “that it may be well with you” v 3. God instructed His people to live good lives full of meaning and peace–in “A land flowing with milk and honey,” v 3, fruitful and blessed land better than the land of Egypt to which they had wanted to return to. The basic confession of faith in Judaism starts with a command for the people to respond properly to God v 4. The Hebrew word is Shema which means to hear and the Jewish confession of faith, recited twice daily by the devout. Moses repeatedly exhorted the people to respond to God’s love with devotion and choose Him with all their being and deny all other supposed deities.
God’s revelation is central to a godly family that they should naturally talk about Him while they perform other activities. And, God’s laws should be close to the mind and hands of His people at all times. Men were instructed to wear phylacteries (boxes) containing passages of Scripture when they prayed v 8. Scriptures were written on the doorposts attached to a small vessel called a mezuzah – a small scroll containing the text of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (the Shema) 11:13-21 and God’s name Shaddai.
Matthew 19 records that there were two famous divinity and philosophical schools among the Jews: The Shamalites maintained that a man could not legally put away his wife except for whoredom–sexual immorality “for just any reason”. Sexual immorality may refer to premarital sex, extramarital sex, prostitution, homosexuality, and bestiality. The Hillelites taught that man might put away his wife indiscriminately for a multitude of causes, including sexual immorality. In a malicious intent to test Christ, the Pharisees asked, “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?” v 3. But Jesus sided with the Shammai school of interpretation “because of the hardness of your hearts” v 8 and in extreme circumstances. Jesus also included an “exception clause,” permitting the innocent party in such a divorce to remarry without incurring the stigma of one who “commits adultery”. AMEN!
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