The Essence Of The Covenant Is Love For Yahweh And They Must Look To No One Else (Deuteronomy 6:4-15).
For in this is the essence of the covenant, that they might recognise Yahweh as their one God and their one Lord, their only one, so that their worshipping love might be centred totally on Him, and on no one else.
Analysis:
a ‘Hear, O Israel. Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one (Deuteronomy 6:4).
b And you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might (Deuteronomy 6:5).
c These words, which I command you this day, shall be on your heart, and 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 up (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).
d And you shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes (Deuteronomy 6:8).
d And you shall write them on the doorposts of your residence, and on your gates (entry points)' (Deuteronomy 6:9).
c And it shall be, when Yahweh your God shall bring you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities, which you did not build, and houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, and cisterns hewn out, which you did not hew, and vineyards and olive-trees, which you did not plant, and you shall eat and be full then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage (Deuteronomy 6:10-12).
b You shall fear Yahweh your God, and him shall you serve, and shall swear by his name (Deuteronomy 6:13).
a You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples that are round about you, for Yahweh your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; lest the anger of Yahweh your God be kindled against you, and He destroy you from off the face of the earth' (Deuteronomy 6:14-15).
Note than in ‘a' Yahweh is to be seen as one and in the parallel they are not to seek after other Gods because He is jealous of His oneness. In ‘b' He is to be loved and honoured, and in the parallel He is to be reverentially feared, and served, and His Name alone acknowledged. In ‘c' they are to carry Yahweh's words in their heart and teach them diligently to their children and in the parallel they are not to forget Yahweh Who had delivered them and given them such good things. In ‘d' and parallel His commands were to mark both themselves and their residences.
‘ Hear, O Israel. Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one,'
Note first the use of the covenant name, ‘Yahweh our God'. He is the One Whose covenant this is. It designates Yahweh in His uniqueness and distinctiveness, the God Who has a special relationship with Israel, the One to Whom they look, the God to Whom they have a special responsibility. Compare its use in Exodus (Exodus 3:18; Exodus 5:3; Exodus 8:10 etc.) where it is used only in solemn declarations to Pharaoh.
As the covenant title it occurs eleven times in Moses' first speech, where after its emphatic use as the opening words of Moses, having reference to His speaking to them in Horeb (Deuteronomy 1:6, compare Deuteronomy 5:2), it connects with Yahweh's personal commands to them (Deuteronomy 1:19; Deuteronomy 1:41; Deuteronomy 2:37), Yahweh's giving of the land to them (Deuteronomy 1:20; Deuteronomy 1:25; Deuteronomy 2:29), and Yahweh's power to deliver their enemies into their hands (Deuteronomy 2:33; Deuteronomy 2:36; Deuteronomy 3:3), being finally used to emphasise His special nearness to them (Deuteronomy 4:7). It occurs nine times in Deuteronomy 5-6 at the commencement of his second great speech, again to emphasise His making of a covenant with them (Deuteronomy 5:2, compare Deuteronomy 1:6), His oneness as their God (Deuteronomy 6:4), the hearing of His voice at Horeb (Deuteronomy 5:24-25; Deuteronomy 5:27 (twice)), His direct commands given to them (Deuteronomy 6:20) and with the need to fear Him and keep His commandments (Deuteronomy 6:24-25) and then not until Deuteronomy 29:15; Deuteronomy 29:18; Deuteronomy 29:29 in Moses' third covenant speech where reference is to their standing before Him in making the covenant, a warning against turning away from Him, and to His being the One to Whom secret things are known. It stresses His mightiness and uniqueness and sovereignty as their covenant God.
Compare its use in Joshua (only in Joshua 18:8; Joshua 22:19; Joshua 22:29; Joshua 24:17; Joshua 24:24) in solemn declarations when the covenant is being emphasised, and its only use in Judges in Judges 11:24; and in 1 Samuel in 1 Samuel 7:8 where the same applies. Compare also 1 Kings 8:57; 1 Kings 8:59; 1 Kings 8:61. These are all the uses in the former prophets (the historical writings up to Kings), save that it is exceptionally used outside of speech in 1 Kings 8:65, but that simply stresses its significance, for there the covenant emphasis is central and it is actually in the nature of a declaration. It is thus used for a distinct purpose and is not simply ‘a mark of style'. It also occurs nine times in the Psalms, and it occurs fifteen times in Jeremiah where it probably indicates the influence that Deuteronomy has had on him.
And He is different from all others. Other gods were spread around the known world, with differing gods in different countries. Their symbols could be found everywhere. They were of all varieties and viewed in all kinds of ways. They were of various levels, intermingled, synthesised, and localised. They fought, they bickered, they rose, they fell, they behaved both well and badly. They had all the good points and bad points of men, only in an exaggerated way. They were a confusing array, with a few the most prominent, and people could pick and choose among them. But men knew that while they might attain what they saw as a satisfactory arrangement with one, they could never be sure of that one, nor of what some other god might do in order to upset life, so some way had to be found of keeping all sweet. For one never knew what they would do next. They were many. But this was not to be so with Israel. Yahweh their God was not like that (compare Exodus 15:11). Yahweh was one, consistent and undivided, and totally reliable.
Let them hear now what he is saying. Yahweh is one, one in behaviour, one in action, one in being. He is not to be found in every nook and corner. He is not divided. He is not to be synthesised. He does not act contrary to Himself. He does not vary from place to place. He is not inconsistent. And while He is the Creator of all things, rules the heavens, and can act anywhere He pleases, as He has demonstrated, and can respond to prayers made anywhere by His own, and can manifest Himself in various ways, He is to be approached for atonement at the one Central Sanctuary and no other (Deuteronomy 12 - see the treatment of this subject in the introduction). He is perfect oneness, undivided, perfect and complete, and totally reliable. This is the recognition of Yahweh that flows from the first two commandments. Yahweh is one and alone.
Yet throughout the Old Testament a threeness is revealed. For He manifests Himself as the Almighty God, as the Angel of Yahweh and as the Spirit of God. And yet all three act as one in essential unity. The interpersonality within God comes out most clearly in Zechariah 1:12, but underneath it is always there. And it was always necessary. God is love and love demands reciprocation. God must have in Himself all that is required for perfect expression of Himself, and that is expressed in this threeness.
‘ And you (thou) shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.'
For these words compare Deuteronomy 11:13; Deuteronomy 11:18-22. The same thoughts begin the section here and end the section in Deuteronomy 11, demonstrating their centrality. As Yahweh is one so they are to be one in their love (‘thou') for Him. And in that oneness they are to respond totally to Him, so being one with Him in the covenant. They are to love Him with their whole being, and respond by keeping His commandments.
(From here to Deuteronomy 6:13 ‘you' is ‘thou' It is in the singular. Again this heightens and individualises the idea of command. Each one is to respond, and all are to respond as one nation).
Love was a covenant word. A similar word was used in treaties of the attitude a subject should have towards his suzerain, for men like to be loved as well as feared. Thus it involved covenant response. (‘Hated' indicated the opposite). And such love and loyalty were always rewarded. Compare 1 Kings 5:1 which has in mind covenant loyalty. But love is also a relationship word. Israel were His son, His firstborn (Exodus 4:22 compare Deuteronomy 14:1) the closest of covenant situations. As sons He had borne them in the wilderness and had chastened them (Deuteronomy 1:31; Deuteronomy 8:5; compare Deuteronomy 14:1). He looked therefore for the loyalty of a firstborn son to his Father, as well as the loyalty of a subject to his Suzerain.
And their response to Him must be total. They must love Him in the covenant relationship with their whole being, and no other. They must love Him with heart, and with soul and with might, both in inward thought and life and will, and in outward action. As far as the ultimate in life was concerned He must be their all. There was and must be no room for any other (compare Deuteronomy 10:12).
Jesus pointed out that this was the first and great commandment required of all of us, for it was the commandment that by being obeyed would result in the keeping of all other commandments (Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27).
So Yahweh could not be treated as one among many. Such a Yahweh would not be the true Yahweh. Once men did that they would have lost what He essentially was. He could only be known as He really was by those who responded to Him fully. His love reached out to them (Deuteronomy 7:7-8) and required love in return. Even the thought of all other gods must be excluded. None other must even be acknowledged.
Both Moses and the prophets make clear that it is not a question of Him just being Israel's God, the reality is that no other can even be compared with Him. There are none like Him (Deuteronomy 3:24; Deuteronomy 10:14; Deuteronomy 10:17; Exodus 15:11; 1 Samuel 2:2). They are nonentities, they are powerless, they are a mockery. They can be swept aside with Yahweh's powerful arm. His activity is universal. Both history and the future are totally controlled by Him. He can give lands as He will (compare Deuteronomy 2:5; Deuteronomy 2:9; Deuteronomy 2:19). He sets the bounds of the nations (Deuteronomy 32:8). The heaven of heavens is His and the world is at His disposal (Deuteronomy 10:14). Yahweh is supreme. He is the Judge of all the earth (Genesis 18:25). Whether in Egypt or in Mesopotamia He brought about His will, and none could say Him nay. None could oppose Him. History moved at His will. The future was in His hands. Moses and the prophets were essentially, if not always philosophically (they probably never philosophised about the question), monotheistic, as were all those who loved Him fully. It was not so much a question of definition, as of reality. He alone was God. None other counted or came into the reckoning.
Jesus made this verse central to His teaching. He spoke of it as the first and great commandment (Matthew 22:38), and He spoke of the man as not far from the Kingly Rule of God who in response to Him said, ‘to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices' (Mark 12:33).
‘ And these words, which I command you (thee) this day, shall be on your heart, and 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 up.'
And because they loved Him each of them was to take His words to their hearts in such a way that they would also teach them diligently to their children (compare Deuteronomy 4:9 b; Deuteronomy 11:18-22; Deuteronomy 32:46). Note how both passages which deal with this in detail also emphasise the need to love Him (Deuteronomy 6:5-7; Deuteronomy 11:18-22), and both commence and end this section. They embrace all that is said in it. For this was not to be a series of dull lessons given to unwilling children, but a glowing testimony from a heart filled with love.
The need to pass His words on to their children is a constant Biblical theme (compare Deuteronomy 4:9 b; Deuteronomy 6:6-7; Deuteronomy 6:20-24; Deuteronomy 11:18-22; Deuteronomy 32:7; Deuteronomy 32:46; Exodus 12:26-27; Exodus 13:8-9; Exodus 13:14; Joshua 4:6; Joshua 4:21). They were also to talk of them when they were sat in their houses, and when they walked in the way, and when they lay down and when they arose. In other words His words were to pervade every part of their lives. In a day when books were not freely available, this was the only way in which such teaching could be passed on. What was remembered from the reading aloud of God's instruction at the feasts was to be conveyed at the breakfast table, and at every opportunity (Malachi 3:16), and used as a direction in their lives, until all knew it by heart and understood it and lived by it.
‘ And you shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your residence, and on your gates (entry points).'
It is questionable whether this was intended to be taken literally (compare Exodus 13:16), although it was later so taken by the Pharisees and many others. They would wear small pouches containing Scripture on their persons during the time of morning prayer and fasten them to their doors. Such pouches containing small scrolls have been discovered in the Dead Sea area. That was good when it meant something genuine, but the danger came when it became a formality, a show, producing self-righteousness and vanity.
The verses are really simply emphasising that God's instruction was to be kept available in their minds and constantly thought of, and was to control the use of the hand, being considered when they entered and left their tents and later their houses, and when they entered and left their tent-encampments and cities. It was not to be left behind and forgotten. It was always to be in mind. However, no doubt many did leave signs and notes around, and even carry them or fasten them to their tents, and later their houses, which would remind them of their covenant responsibilities, as we might leave notes today or carry portions of His word. And while that was their true purpose it could only be encouraged.
While they were living in an encampment, that was their ‘city' (a word actually used of tent encampments in Numbers 13:19), their tents were their ‘residences' and their ‘gates' were the entry points of the camp (Exodus 32:26). ‘Doorposts' were their tent posts. The Hebrew words expanded their meaning when they arrived in built up cities.
‘And it shall be, when Yahweh your God shall bring you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you,
great and goodly cities, which you did not build,
and houses full of all good things, which you did not fill,
and cisterns hewn out, which you did not hew,
vineyards and olive-trees, which you did not plant,
and you shall eat and be full,
then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.'
Even greater reminders of God's goodness to them would be the cities which they would capture (and had already captured in Transjordan) which they did not have to build, and the houses full of spoils for them to enjoy, and the cysterns which were already there and full of water, and the vineyards and olive trees which they would take over, and the fruit that came from it which they would eat. They would enjoy the good things of the land for which they had not laboured.
Let them not then be lulled into forgetting that it was Yahweh Who had brought them into this land of freedom and plenty in accordance with the promise sworn to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that it was He Who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, a land for them of non-freedom and non-plenty, and out of the house of bondage, and had brought them under His watchful care so that they could be free and live under His Lordship.
This verse possibly contains a brief extract from a poem written by someone as they looked forward in hope to the coming land, possibly one regularly recited in the camp in order to encourage each other (possibly written by Moses or by Miriam - compare Exodus 15:21). Well and good, says Moses, but make sure that prosperity acts as a reminder of Yahweh's goodness, and does not lead to forgetfulness. The general lack of such poetic prophecy is a sign of the early date of Deuteronomy, for from Hosea onwards it was common for prophets to prophesy in poetic metre.
For us too it is important that we do not forget the Lord's mercies. Then we will not forget Him. And we have so much to give thanks for, especially for His unspeakable gift of our Lord Jesus Christ.
‘ You (thou) shall fear Yahweh your God, and him shall you (thou) serve, and shall swear by his name.'
Thus they must each (thou) be sure that they reverentially fear Yahweh their God, and serve Him and swear by His name. Men swore by the name of those who ruled over them and whom they feared, by the name of those who were most important to them as in authority over them. This was the place that Yahweh should take in each of their lives, but in their case not with a slavish fear of what He might decide to do on a whim, but with a godly fear of One whom they knew would deal justly. It was in itself a kind of reverential love. The reference to ‘swear by His name' may be to an oath of allegiance.
The fact that they were to ‘swear by His Name' indicated that as far as they were to be concerned He alone was God and there was no other.
Note the play on words. They had been delivered from the house of bondage (‘abadim) that they might serve (ta‘abod) Yahweh.
‘ You (ye) shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples that are round about you,'
Thus none of them were to go after other gods which are like those of the peoples round about them. This would always be the temptation and the danger, especially when they were assured (by the Canaanites who should not have been there) that it was the only way to ensure rain and the fruitfulness of the land. In times of testing the words of such people would be traps and snares. It would be so easy to take their eyes off Yahweh. But this would be the opposite of loving Yahweh. It would be to forsake and despise Him. Thus the exhortation to love is followed by the warning of other lovers who will clamour for their attention.
‘ For Yahweh your (thy) God in the midst of you (thee) is a jealous God; lest the anger of Yahweh your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.'
But none of them (thou) were to yield to them because Yahweh their God, the One who had delivered them and brought them to the land, and Who owned it, was there among them, and He is a jealous God, that is a God Who could not allow unworthy ‘rivals', not so much for His sake as for theirs. (It would destroy their recognition of His uniqueness). Otherwise His anger would be kindled against them like a flame, and He would destroy them off the face of the earth (adamah).