Do You Cherish God’s Word Like This?

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Moses is preparing a new generation of Israelites to enter their promised land,

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and he emphasizes to them the importance of the commandments they have received

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from God. They are wisdom and key to a long life enjoying the promises of God.

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His children should honor and cherish His words, and their obedience to His

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commandments should be an expression of their love for God. So welcome to this

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week's Shabbat Shalom devotional when I seek to share a little inspiration and

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bring a little peace to the close of your very busy week. This week's Torah

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portion is so rich and so full of great verses, which covering Deuteronomy 3 verse

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23 through 7 verse 11. Moses is pleading with God. The name of actually this

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week's portion is Vayet Kanan. I pleaded with the eternal. Moses is pleading

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with God, but God responds and says, no, you are not to enter the Holy Land. He is

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forbidden to go in, but he is charged to encourage and strengthen Joshua, who is

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going to be the one to lead the children into the promised land. Now I don't know

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about you oftentimes when I think of Joshua. I still see this young man, this

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young man that was sent in as a spy, but that was 40 years ago. Joshua is probably

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between 70 and 80 years old now, or 65 to 75 years old. He is not young, and so

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Moses has to commission him and encourage him in the calling, not that

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he's young and inexperienced, but that he's going to be stepping into really

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big shoes, the shoes of Moses. So now Moses encourages the people that they

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need to obey the Lord and His commandments. And a very beautiful verse

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here is in chapter 4 verse 6 that the commandments are wisdom.

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Therefore, be careful to observe them, for this is your wisdom and your

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understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and

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say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. So with God's

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commandments comes wisdom and understanding. Then he explains to them

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how privileged they are to have been given those commandments. So chapter 4

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verse 7 and 8, for what great nation is there that has God so near to it as the

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Lord our God is to us? For whatever reason we may call upon him, and what great

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nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all

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of this law which I set before you today. So Moses gets it. What a privilege to know

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the Lord, to be His children, and to be able to come and call upon Him. And so how

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privilege to be given these statutes and these commandments. And then he tells

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them and be sure to teach them to your children. They are to pass on from

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generation to generation, this privileged position and knowledge. Then he

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explains to them to avoid idolatry. And why? Why does God take idolatry so

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personally? And in verse 24 it says, for the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a

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jealous God. So God loves his children so much so that he's jealous after them

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if they were to betray and turn against him. All the more reason to obey his

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commandments. Then Moses tells them, but if you do evil, you will perish from the

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land and you will be scattered among the peoples and you will be few in number

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and there you will serve them and their gods. But even in exile he tells them

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that God will bring them back to their land. So let's read verse 31. For the

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Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not forsake you nor destroy you nor

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forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore with them. So now the covenant

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was not just with their fathers. You understand? The covenant is with this

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generation as well. There is a generational continuity in Judaism. That's

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why it's so important to pass on to the next generation, the laws, the teachings,

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the wisdom. Because this covenant is for all generations of the Jewish people.

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Not just the one that had stood in Mount Sinai. It was just as much for this new

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generation that Moses was preparing. And now we come to one of the most famous

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verses in the whole Bible for the Jewish people. And this is chapter 6 verses 4

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through 9. It's called the Greatest Commandment and this is what Jesus

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quoted when he was asked what is the Greatest Commandment. So here, oh Israel,

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the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all

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your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. And these words

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which I command you today shall be in your heart and you will teach them

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diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house

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and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You

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shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between

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your eyes. You shall write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates.

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So according to Moses, obedience is a heart response. They are to love the

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Lord their God with all their heart and they are to teach their children

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diligently and then they are to bind these commandments on their very arms

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and their forehead and put them on the doorpost of their house. They are to

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cherish the commandments of God. Do you cherish the Word of God like this? Are

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you teaching them to your children? Are you holding them dear to your heart and

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to your mind and placing them on the very doorpost of your life for all to see?

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That's the closing thought this week and with that I wish you Shabbat Shalom.