Hear, O Israel
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Does everyone here know what the Torah is?It’s also referred to as the Pentateuch, and it is the first 5 books of the Bible; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And it tells the story of the founding of God’s nation Israel. And specifically after we see Israel being led out of Egypt, we see how rebellious God’s own people can be.
Which is surprising when we see how God revealed himself to them. He sent them bread from Heaven, he brought water out of a Rock, he appeared as a great flame, he destroyed those who directly disobeyed him, etc. and some of the Israel people even suggested going back to their slavery in Egypt because they didn’t like the fact that their main food course was bread from the sky. So God caused them to walk in the wilderness for 40 years until the entire generation from Egypt had passed away.
It’s a fascinating story of struggle and rebellion and when we get to Deuteronomy we finally get to the point where Israel is being prepared to enter into the Promise land, so Moses is preparing the people to become a great nation, a nation that will be blessed and will prosper under God. And so we have a review of everything that Israel has been through along with new instruction, based on their past mistakes.
If you have ever read Deuteronomy the first couple chapters have this same theme, Love the Lord your God, we see it over and over again. and God had a desire for Israel to prosper, and so in order for them to prosper he gave them a great command in order for them to fear and follow the commands of God. That command is what we find in Deuteronomy 6:4-9.
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 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. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
This passage is Essential and I want you to realize that this applies just as much to us in America as it did to the Israelites. To start the reason for this command was because the nation was turning away from God. can you think of another nation that was founded on Faith in God and is now falling away? America is turning away from God and we as the church need to remember this passage from Deuteronomy.
Jonathan Cahn wrote in his book the Harbinger...
“As God was expunged from American life, idols came in to fill the void; idols of sensuality, idols of greed, of money, of success, comfort, materialism, pleasure, sexual immorality, self-worship, self-obsession. The sacred increasingly disappeared, and the profane took its place.”
America has turned to Idols and other things to fill the void in their lives. and this is true even for those in the church, we have become complacent and no longer feel the need to live out our faith. God has blessed this nation to the point that people no longer think that they need him.
Imagine you were broke, and you prayed to God that he would provide you with the money that you needed, but then you get a job so you decide that now that you managed to get a job you no longer need God, without even considering where that Job came from.
In the church we have become comfortable, no one is bothering us we aren’t bothering anyone else, let’s just keep to ourselves and allow the world to keep to themselves, and what we are doing is putting a light under a basket.
but let’s get back to what this has to do with Deuteronomy 6:4-9, what does all of this have to do with the Shema. So, we have turned away from God just like the Israelites, and therefore we need a fear that causes us to keep the commandments. but when we read the “shema” it can be a little confusing, cause theres a lot of analogy that comes with it.
The Shema
The Shema
So let’s take some time to really dissect this, and some verses are easier to understand than others, but were gonna see 6 points that are made and I’m gonna want you to write it down so be ready.
Recognize the One True Life Giving God
Recognize the One True Life Giving God
but let’s start with Deut 6:4
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Hear, O Israel, is where the name Shema comes from Shema is the Hebrew word for “hear”. Now the second part of this verse seems pretty obvious right off the bat, but I don’t want us to overlook this, God is asserting that there is one God. That all the other gods that the people have placed in their lives, Jonathan Cahn a good list of them; idols of sensuality, idols of greed, of money, of success, comfort, materialism, pleasure, sexual immorality, self-worship, self-obsession. all these things are being made into Idols and cannot fill you up, all they can do is temporarily fill the void.
So write this down in your notes, The first step, is to recognize the one true life giving God. So let’s move on to v. 5.
Know God’s Word and Hide it in your Heart
Know God’s Word and Hide it in your Heart
and that takes us to Deut 6:6
6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
So when we love god his words shall be on your heart, but what exactly does it mean for God’s words to be on your heart? Well Hebrews 4:12 tells us…
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
and we see in Proverbs 4:23, and I’m going to read the NIV version simply because I think it’s better said in the NIV, but it tells us...
Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
So If the word of God is living and active and all we do flows from our hearts, that boils things down to this idea that We hear God’s commands and desperately hold on to them as if they were life itself, and we allow it to influence our every action.
However the key to doing that is knowing God’s word. Know the commands of God, know the teachings of Jesus, Memorize them. We overlook memorization now-a-days, hardly anyone memorizes scripture anymore, thanks google.So the third step to write down, Know God’s word and Hide it in your heart.
So we start by recognizing that there is only one God, then we love God with everything we’ve got, and then we learn God’s word and keep it hidden in our heart, But now if the word of God is hidden, that means we keep it for ourselves right? let’s read v.7
Love the Lord with Everything You’ve Got
Love the Lord with Everything You’ve Got
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Now what does it mean to love something with all your heart all your soul and all your might. Can you think of something that you love with all your heart soul and might? in fact what in this world do you love more than anything? Maybe your spouse, maybe your favorite sports team or a car. Warning to the guys if you didn’t nod when I said spouse don’t nod when I list any of these other things.
All jokes aside, would you say that you love anything with all your heart soul and might? that means that you love it with every fiber of your being. It is to love something more than you could have imagined possible. It means sacrificing that which you love for it, that means seeking after it continuously.
Love is a powerful thing, I read a story the other day, it was a story about Paul that is not found in the bible, and typically I avoid those kinds of stories but this one really caught my eye, let me read it to you…
Legend has it that a wealthy merchant traveling through the Mediterranean world looking for the distinguished Pharisee, Paul, encountered Timothy, who arranged a visit. Paul was, at the time, a prisoner in Rome. Stepping inside the cell, the merchant was surprised to find a rather old man, physically frail, but whose serenity and magnetism challenged the visitor. They talked for hours. Finally the merchant left with Paul’s blessing. Outside the prison, the concerned man inquired, “What is the secret of this man’s power? I have never seen anything like it before.”“Did you not guess?” replied Timothy. “Paul is in love.” The merchant looked bewildered. “In love?”“Yes,” the missionary answered, “Paul is in love with Jesus Christ.”The merchant looked even more bewildered. “Is that all?” Smiling, Timothy replied, “That is everything.”
We need to be in love with God and allow that to shape us. add to your notes, the second step is to Love the Lord with everything you’ve got.
Share God’s Word
Share God’s Word
7 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.
So it’s not a matter of keeping it a secret, but hiding it so that no one can take it away from you. Just like a valuable treasure, you hide not so that it can never be used but that you can freely take from it and give it to others.
The word of God is meant to be shared with others. and we teach it to our kids so that the word may be hidden in their heart as well. I think that this is crucial. When children are growing up they are so moldable and it’s so easy to influence them and shape them. If we teach them the commands of God while they are in the moldable age then they will grow up knowing who God is and loving him.
Sierra and I’s baby is on the way and it scares me sometimes to look at the world that our kid is going to grow up in, and to see how so many kids are turning out today, but then I have to remind myself the difference between those kids and our kids will hopefully be a fear of the lord that is taught to them while they’re young.
But the verse continues telling us that regardless of where we are or what we’re doing we are to share the gospel. However, I don’t think this verse is necessarily telling us to share the gospel with others but also to remind ourselves, recite memorized scripture to ourselves. So the fourth step is Share God’s word.
Let the Word Guide Us
Let the Word Guide Us
Now let’s read v. 8
8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
Many Jewish people have taken this passage literally and attach leather boxes to their arms and heads that contain small scrolls of scripture inside, They call it a phylactery. But to be honest I don’t think that this was necessarily meant to be literal. Even Jesus mentions these phylacteries when talking about how the Pharisees wore these things to seem more pious.
So what do you use your hands for? (Wait for response) For just about everything that you want to do. and what do your eyes and even your mind do? (again wait) They tell you where to go and what to do. So we are to do what we feel the word guiding us to. and remember when I say that we follow where the word is guiding us, Im talking about the word that is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, Im talking about the word that became flesh, Im talking about the word that was in the beginning with God. DO YOU UNDERSTAND? Step 5, Let the word guide us.
Remind yourself of God’s Word
Remind yourself of God’s Word
Now finally Deut 6:9
9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
I think this one’s a little humorous and I’ll tell you why, Does anyone here use sticky notes? I use sticky notes quite a bit, and it’s because there are some things I just don’t remember, ask my wife. she’s always reminding me of things that I forget, and sometimes when I don’t want to look like I forgot about important things, (Sierra plug your ears) I pretend like I did remember since she just reminded me.
Like she’ll ask me “hey did you remember that you need to go to the store later today, or did you remember that you need to move the car later” and I’m no fool, so I look at her and say, “Oh yeah I totally remember in fact while i remember let me go do that.” Im willing to admit this in front of her because I think she’s onto me.
But we are forgetful people, and sticky notes work, Now doesn’t that kinda sound like what God is commanding the Israelites here? to remind themselves of the commands of God by writing it on their doorpost and the gate. Seeing stuff every day helps.
Growing up we use to have that prayer, “now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep, if i die before i wake i pray the lord my soul to take” We had that in a frame outside of our bathroom, in hindsight kind of a weird place for it, but I memorized it, cause i would read it everyday.
So this is what I’m going to say for step 6, Remind yourself of God’s word.
So to review the Shema
Recognize the one true life giving God
Know God’s Word and Hide it in your heart
Love the Lord with Everything You’ve Got
Share God’s Word
Let the Word Guide us
Remind yourself of God’s Word
Close
Close
So why did I just spend 15 minutes talking about Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Because it’s important, so important that the Jewish people consider it their confession of faith. And to be honest, and I’m saying this in general, a lot of churches and a lot of christians have become lazy, and I hope and pray that this verse is a firm reminder not to end up like the Israelites.
It can be so easy to turn away or to become complacent. but we need to remember to put God first in everything we do, and this passage the Shema both reminds us and tells us how to do that. So If you’ve ever asked yourself how to practically put God first, the Shema tells you exactly how to do that.
So this is my closing thought and a challenge to you, I think a successful way for us to get to know the word and love God deeper, so that we can share it and let it guide us, is to have a more devoted quiet time. And that’s kinda what the Shema is about, to grow close to God and love him and know his word. But a lot of Christians really struggle to have much of a quiet time, So here’s my challenge for you and it’s not an easy one.
Who here knows what a tithe is? 10%. So God ask that his people give back 10% of what he has given them, that they may remember who gave it to them in the first place, and so that they remember to rely on God in all situations. I was thinking and of the greatest gifts if not the greatest gift God has given us is life, and though we can’t give life back to God, we can manage to give him at least 10% of our day. Some struggle to give God 10 minutes of their day, but christianity is a commitment. 10% of your day is 48 minutes, and their are a lot of ways to spend that and it doesnt need to be all at once but what I’m suggesting is 48 minutes throughout your day which is strictly devoted to God.
I mean God deserves so much more than that, but I really want to see us all serve God with all our might and to love him with everything we’ve got, let’s pray.