Deuteronomy 6:16

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 6:16-19, “Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.[17] Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.[18] And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers,[19] To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken.” It is interesting that verse 16 says that we “tempt” the Lord when we break His commandments. Jesus wants to be kind to us and to shower us with blessings, but He must be true to His holiness and to His responsibilities as Judge. When we fail Him, it puts pressure on Him (if such a thing is possible) to chastise His children. Do not force the Lord’s hand. Of course, when we fail, thankfully we can run quickly to Jesus and find mercy. Our relationship with Him is always based upon mercy. It says to Christians in First John 2:1, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:”

When we see verses in the Old Testament like these in Deuteronomy 6:16-19, we need to always remember that these promises of blessing for obedience are exactly the way the old covenant worked. You had to obey to be blessed. The principle in the New Testament is different. Now the principle is that you must believe in order to be blessed. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Jesus said in Luke 8:50, “But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.” To receive this blessing of healing there was no good work or good deed that had to be done: only faith was required. That is also how you get forgiveness of sins and eternal life. There are no good deeds to perform or works to be done to earn salvation. Believe only and your soul will be made whole.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 6:20-25, “And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you?[21] Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand:[22] And the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:[23] And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.[24] And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.[25] And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.” In verse 20 a question is asked. It is a good question. What do all the commandments mean? A similar question would be: why should our goal be to obey these commandments? The biggest reason to try and obey God’s commandments is out of appreciation for what Jesus did for us when He saved us. When the Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, God gave them a salvation from bondage that symbolizes the salvation that we get when we trust in Christ as our Savior. We were slaves in Egypt (the world) also. We were saved by a mighty hand and a stretched out arm. It takes a miracle of God to save a soul when the Spirit convinces that soul of his or her need of a Savior.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 7:1-4, “When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;[2] And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:[3] Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.[4] For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.” It is important to notice in verse 1 that all of the nations who were against Israel and who were already established in the land of Canaan were “greater and mightier than thou.” That is always the case for believers. True believers are a minority in this world because most people do not turn to Christ and trust Him for salvation. But never forget this, “One person plus God is a majority.” It says in Romans 8:31, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

In Deuteronomy 7:2 God told the Israelites to perform a total destruction of the other nations. Why did God require this? First of all we are talking Old Testament times. We live under the New Testament, so things have changed. Also, God is telling the Israelites what to do as a nation. A nation’s responsibilities are different from those of an individual. God determines what happens to nations. God sets up one and casts down another. God gives life and He takes life. For everyone who dies, God determines the day of their death. “It is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment.” God had given the Canaanites hundreds of years of opportunity. What did they do with their opportunity? They became more and more wicked as the years went by, and the time came when God said, “Enough is enough.” And God brought another nation (the Israelite nation) to take their place. That same scenario has happened often in the history of the human race. In the end times it will happen to the whole world. That is why Jesus called the end times “great tribulation” because of all the suffering that will come upon all the inhabitants of the earth.

In Deuteronomy 7:3-4 God emphasized once again the important truth of separation from the unbelieving people of the world. It says, “Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.[4] For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods.” The closest human relationship of all is the marriage relationship. Therefore, marriage is the most important relationship to make absolutely sure that you do not get joined to someone who does not believe in Jesus, does not love Jesus, and does not serve Jesus Christ. It is not enough that they claim to be a Christian. Many people claim to be Christians who have never been born-again through faith in Christ. What is the problem of having too close of a connection with unbelievers of the world? That is stated very clearly in verse 4: “For they will turn away thy son from following me.” This important Bible principle needs to be stated over and over so that every Christian parent and every Christian young person understands it very well. You want to pursue true happiness, and to do that you need to find your soul-mate. Someone who does not know and serve Jesus will never be a good soulmate. They will be a source of sorrow and regret, and they just might lead you away from your service to the Lord. Abraham understood this. He said to his servant in Genesis 24:3, “And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:” The New Testament also is very clear in Second Corinthians 6:14, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?”

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 7:5-8, “But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.[6] For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.[7] The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:[8] But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” Why did God tell the Israelites to destroy all of the idols and places of false worship? God did that so that the Israelites would not be influenced by the false ideas of false religion. God wants His believers to have the purest and truest of religious beliefs. In other words He wants us to know the truth about Him and to live by that truth. Unfortunately, we live in a day when official Christianity has been corrupted in many ways by false teaching. Christians divided into the various denominations, and false teachings entered into them with a controlling and holier-than-thou clergy. A preacher is no more holy than any other Christian: the preacher and teacher simply have a different gift, but all true believers are gifted by the Holy Spirit to serve Christ according to the calling that each has. Learn the Word of God and not other people’s interpretation of the Word of God, or you will learn false teachings.

Notice the great privilege that it is to be a believer in the one true God. The Lord said in Deuteronomy 7:6, “the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” Compared to all the billions of people who are on the earth, only a small percentage are true believers in Jesus. What an honor and what a blessing to be one of the few. We will be with the Messiah forever. We will be close to Him and learn more about Him forever and ever. As we go through this life, we will always have His love and mercy towards us and His help and comfort. The other people of the world have none of these things. How sad for them, and how great for us!

How does anyone become a true believer in Jesus? What is the process that makes it happen? That is explained for us very clearly in Deuteronomy 7:7. The Lord says, “But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” Salvation starts with the love of God. God loves people. God loves every person on the earth, and therefore, God wants to give every person the greatest of all gifts. Jesus said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Concerning a person becoming a true believer, it says about God in Deuteronomy 7:7, “he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers.” Salvation is based upon a promise that God has made. God has promised to save everyone who believes in Jesus. God keeps His promises. God’s Word says in Romans 10:13, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” That is not a maybe. That is a definite promise. God always keeps His Word. If you believe in Jesus, you have eternal security because God always keeps His Word.

Notice that in Deuteronomy 7:7 God does everything to accomplish salvation for an individual. God loves you. God keeps His oath. God brings you out from the world. God redeems you. Salvation is entirely of the Lord. That is why we cannot lose it. Jesus does the work of salvation and whom He saves, He keeps. The word “redeem” is a great salvation word. It means to purchase. Jesus has purchased the believers with His own blood. Do you think God will lose that which He purchased for such a high price? Of course not: we are eternally secure in such a great salvation. If you do not have this salvation, you can bow before Jesus and believe on Him today.

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