Father’s Day 2025 - Deut 6:4-9
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Father’s Day 2025
Father’s Day 2025
Welcome and Happy Father’s Day!
Luke
Clark
Being a dad comes with some amazing joys!
It also comes with some knots.
And if I’m being honest, sometimes I make the knots worse.
Today we’re looking at a familiar Scripture, one of the most important Scriptures in all of Judaism, the first portion of the Shema. It comes from Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Let’s read.
4 “Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one!
5 “You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
6 “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
7 “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall speak 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.
8 “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as phylacteries between your eyes.
9 “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Let’s Pray
What is the Shema?
In short, it is considered the Jewish confessional of faith. It could be considered the Nicene Creed of the Old Testament.
Shema means “hear”
It’s the first word of the first part of the Shema
4 “Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one!
Jewish writing in the Midrash of the 3rd to 5th centuries traces this statement back to just before the death of Israel (Jacob). His last admonition to his children regarding Yahweh. However, this is an extra biblical text, long after the life of Jacob.
Whether or not this statement is true, it shows the importance and centrality of these passages to the Jewish faith.
It is at some point, turned into a prayer that is recited twice a day.
Working Backwards:
In the Talmud, recorded roughly 400 AD, there is much discussion on when and how the Shema should be recited as well as where its origins in prayer come from.
Taught to Jewish boys as soon as they can speak
Recited at the end of one’s life
1st Century evidence of it being reciting as a prayer
Some recognize allusions to it in the Letter of Aristeas between 150-100 BC.
Though some hold it is only the statement of Deut 6:4, or 6:4-5, most today recognize the Shema in 3 parts.
The Shema
Deut 6:4-9 - Greatest Commandment and responsibility to future generations
Deut 11:13-22 - Urgency to love and obey God
Num 15:37-41 - Reminders and Remembrance of who God is and what God has done
This first section is what we are going to focus on today. But before I go any farther, I want to remind you that not only is this a foundational element of Judaism, but it is in the authoritative Word of God. It is a foundational element of Christianity. In fact, as I’m sure you noticed at my first reading, this is what Jesus calls the greatest commandment.
4 “Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one!
Hear! - Imperative
1 Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the judgments which I am speaking today in your hearing, that you may learn them and be careful to do them.
God provides the 10 commandments
Two other times in Deuteronomy
4 “Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one!
O Israel!
Some equate this with Jacob
But Jacob’s name, Israel, is a point of identification
Moses’ use here
the Lord is our God
Two words here, Yahweh (Jehovah) and Elohim
Yahweh
13 Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am about to come to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ And they will say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”
14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 And God furthermore said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name from generation to generation.
Yahweh: Name of God
Focus on Existence
Focus on relationship to His covenant peoples
Covenant making and Covenant keeping God
Elohim
7 ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.
6 “Hear us, my lord, you are a mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our burial sites; none of us will refuse you his burial sites for burying your dead.”
When Abraham goes to bury Sarah
14 You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples.
Elohim: god as in deity
focuses on power
focuses on judgment
focuses on might
4 “Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one!
Stroll through the beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created in making it.
35 Times from Gen 1.1 to Gen 2.3
4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made earth and heaven.
Yahweh God 12 times in a row!
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which Yahweh God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
What does the serpent say?
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which Yahweh God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God said, ‘You shall not eat from it, and you shall not touch it, lest you die.’”
How does Eve refer to God here?
4 And the serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
The entirety of this conversation is Elohim
8 Then they heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God in the midst of the trees of the garden.
For the rest of the chapter it is Yahweh God
1 Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a man with the help of Yahweh.”
Coming out of the garden, Moses portrays Eve in relationship with Yahweh!
We need to bring all of this understanding and language into the text as Moses has purposefully woven it in.
4 “Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one!
Our final phrase, Yahweh is one!
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Various Translations
• “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (ESV, HCSB, NIV, NKJV).
• “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord” (KJV, RSV).
• “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God; the Lord is one” (NASB, NET).
• “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God; the Lord is unique” (LEB).
• “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God; the Lord alone” (NLT, NRSV).
Many variants of translation, as there are many layers to this text.
Is this a declaration of monotheism, or is this a declaration of loyalty to Yahweh as the only God?
Well if you’re interested in the Old Testament perspective of the Godhead, I would encourage you to watch our LC class by Justin.
This is a statement of monotheism, but not of a modern numerical perspective.
This is a statement of the supremacy of Yahweh! The Hebrews are not concerned with a number here, they are concerned with the uniqueness of God!
This is supported by what follows in verse 5:
5 “You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
familiar
Matt 22.37, Luke 10.27, and Mark 12.30
28 And when one of the scribes came and heard them arguing, he recognized that He had answered them well and asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
This is the greatest commandment:
5 “You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
So let’s break this down
Clearly 3 aspects here: Heart, Soul, and Might
Because ancient Hebrew is a small language, words take on a broad range of meaning.
Heart - Heart, the seat of thought and emotion, the place of understanding
This is the center of decision making
Soul - Throat, breath and by extension life or soul, the essence of the whole person, the life, what you do
This is like ψυχη (psyche) in Greek
Might - Strength, Power, this is a marker of “great degree”
Most often it is translated as greatly or exceedingly
Root means burden
To the utmost degree
Love Yahweh with:
Heart - Center of Understanding
Soul - Entirety of Life
Might - the Utmost Degree
Repetition of Heart
6 “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
This shall be the center of your decision making
7 “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall speak 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.
This is the only time this word is used in Scripture!
The root word means “repeat”
προβιβασεισ - “cause to come forward”
teach them diligently - Sharpen for battle
7 “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall speak 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.
When you sit - in your rest
When you walk - in your activity
When you lie down - the last thing
When you rise up - the first thing
8 “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as phylacteries between your eyes.
What are phylacteries?
either of two small square leather boxes containing slips inscribed with scriptural passages and traditionally worn on the left arm and on the head by Jewish men during morning weekday prayers
8 “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as phylacteries between your eyes.
Let’s look at some other translations - this is difficult
8 “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
1 : of, relating to, or adjacent to the forehead or the frontal bone
That doesn’t really help me
8 And you will fasten them as a sign upon your hand, and it will be a permanent thing before your eyes.
This is helpful, it helps me understand the NASB
It should always be in front of you!
This should be the visors!
9 “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Whereas previously it was in front of you an individual, this is over your home. All of your household sees the doorpost.
Doorposts here became synonymous with a box that held Scripture hung by the “doorpost.”
I wonder if you can think of something else that was put on the doorpost in Israel’s past?
23 “And Yahweh will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and He will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and Yahweh will pass over the doorway and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you.
Not only is this a marker of reminder for the household of who Yahweh is, but it is a reminder of what Yahweh has done by the blood!
Obviously, this rings differently for us than it did for the Jews as they are looking at the Exodus and we are looking at Jesus, but they look at it no less significantly than we do. It is a marker of God’s love and deliverance!
9 “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Gates - city/community
Note the progression here:
Where are the reminders?
Phylacteries - Personal
Doorposts - Household
Gates - Community
Parents, Fathers, Believers
Do you recognize your responsibility here?
It is not just your kids, it is not just your house, it is your community as well.
What do we do with this?
We know the commandment:
4 “Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one! 5 “You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Takeaways:
How do you love Yahweh?
Love Yahweh with:
Heart - Center of Understanding
Soul - Entirety of Life
Might - the Utmost Degree
We have to know who Yahweh is!
2. Teach your children
Sharpen for Battle!
Do your kids know what you believe? How do they know?
When you sit - in your rest
When you walk - in your activity
When you lie down - the last thing
When you rise up - the first thing
3. Set up reminders
Toothbrush Idea
Where are the reminders?
Phylacteries - Personal
Doorposts - Household
Gates - Community
PERMANENCE!
4. We have responsibility
We have responsibility to God
We have responsibility to the next generations
The purpose of Children’s Ministry, Awana, Youth, Women’s Ministry, Men’s Ministry is to supplement what is happening at home.
What is happening at home?
Baby Dedications
When we come to our benediction in a few minutes, we’re going to read the entirety of our passage today. Fathers, parents, believers in Jesus.
I would ask you to read it as a recognition of your responsibility.
I would ask you to read it as a proclamation of your faith in Yahweh, the covenant making, covenant keeping God!
Let’s Pray!
Benediction Scripture
4 “Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one! 5 “You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall speak 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. 8 “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as phylacteries between your eyes. 9 “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
