Untitled Sermon (8)

Introduction

It is important to understand the context of this passage. Israel has been freed from slavery in Egypt, has traveled through the Red Sea, and has received the Law of the Lord from Moses. Moses has led the people of the Lord faithfully but an inevitable problem is on the horizon andMoses know’s it. Moses is going to die, which is the end of all of us. However, the people of Israel have been safe for a long time under the leadership of Moses, but now Moses’s attention is turning to a time when he will not longer be with the people of Israel.

Why was this important? Why was Moses so concerned with the future of this people? D.A. Carson once said that one Generation believes something, the next assumes it and the third will forget it. The reason why this was important is because the Israelites were just a few generations from forgetting their identity, who they are, and who it is that brought them out of Egypt. In fact, despite the diligence of Moses to consider the next generation, and the generation after that, they still forgot. Look at what happened after the death of Joshua, Moses protégé. Judges 2:6-10 “

When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. 7 And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. 8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. 9 And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. 10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

One generation believed, the next assumed, and the next forgot.

Intergenerational Discipleship is a Command

(Hear, O Israel)

Our text this morning begins with the Hebrew שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל “Hear O Israel! What is interesting about this phrase is that it is not merely a meant to grab the attention of the Israelites. Hearing is synonymous with obeying. I am sure many of you, when your child disobeys, has told them that they did not listen to you. Sure, they heard you. But, hearing without obedience is to not really hear at all.

When Moses uses the phrase “Hear, O Israel” what he is is really saying is, “What I am about to say is really important, so you should listen up.” One commentator has said, “to hear God without putting into effect the command is not to hear him at all.” That’s another sermon for another day. But, what I want us to see is that what Moses is about to say is not a suggestion. To hear it and not act is not ignorance, it is not even apathy, it is direct and open disobedience.

English Standard Version Chapter 6

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

The essence of the commandments of God in these verses is condensed in verse five. Obedience is to be achieved by loving God. This means that the covenant relationship between Israel and Yahweh was not going to be maintained by begrudgingly following laws and rules. Obedience was not going to be achieved by the necessity of duty. Real obedience isn’t followed by or proceeded by a groan of displeasure. It is produced out of a relationship of love with God. We obey because we find satisfaction in God!

Jesus understood obedience as something that is linked with one’s love of God.

“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. Jn 14:21.

John says in 1 John, “ By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.”

Do you love God this way? Does your love for God propel you to obey him regardless of the cost? Can you imagine the affect that Christians would have in their families, communities and in our world if we loved God with every part of who were are and that love drove us to be fervently obedient to him?

This is the type of obedience Moses had in mind in verse five. Our love for God is to be with our entire heart, soul, might. The man or woman who loves gladly and joyfully loves with their entire being.

This is what Moses had in mind in verse five. He instructed them to love with their whole heart, mind, and might. What does this mean? Love