Commandments. It’s such a big word. It seems so bold and fierce. It’s not like when I ask my friend to pass the bread… I don’t command them to do a small task. And yet it’s here that we begin to see the promise of God.
No, this word command carries heavier weight. Commanding someone to do something is bolder and comes with a level of severity that we don’t normally use in everyday language.
Undoubtedly, you remember Moses. The stuttering man who had a simple promise of God to save his people?
Aside from him being weak and stuttering, this old man heads up the mountain to hear from God. Then Moses brings down the 10 Commandments. God has spoken words to his people. He’s not like other gods who simply expect something. But this God wants to know his people. Even more intimate is the fact that he wants his people to know him.
But it is what comes later that I want you to see.
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You will 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
In these verses we have four commands that I want to break down for you.
Without a doubt I wanted to bring to you four ways that we can know God more thoroughly and make him known. As well as four ways that we can see the promises of God unfold.
The first thing that the Israelites are commanded to do is to teach.
The Hebrew word here means to cut into, like carving into a tablet. Carving isn’t an act where you can take an eraser and get rid of the words like a bad answer on a test.
It goes down into the very soul of who you are and leaves a lasting imprint. God didn’t want the Israelites forgetting how they were chosen, loved and redeemed for his purposes. The inward carving of God’s word must come first. It is only then that we can share with others.
Next, in this verse we see that God wanted the Israelites to talk.
This word means to arrange, to promise. If you are making a promise you have to arrange your thoughts so that you think about them.
Have you ever had a “word” for the year? It’s meant to be a reminder and a promise that you will focus on that one word throughout the year.
I wanted you to see here that after you carve into your heart the words of God, the character of God, the goodness of God, then you can begin to see his promises unfold.
Carving. Promises. Seeing God’s hand of provision.
Think about the Old Testament man of God, Noah. It wasn’t until after Noah stepped onto the ark that he saw the rain, saw the provision and saw the deliverance. What kind of promises have you seen Jesus fulfill in your own life that you need to begin speaking and reminding yourself that He is faithful?
Next in Deuteronomy we have a third command. To tie.
The Hebrew word is translated “as in a beacon to reach others.”
You can carve in your heart God’s truth and his character. The next step is a promise to speak of his character. Then we should be tying those words and promises to our hands and our foreheads.
Can’t we just keep it in our hearts and in our own homes? Why carry those truths to the grocery store, to school, to work? Why God, can’t we just keep those sacred truths to ourselves?
Many times I cherish the words God whispers to my heart, and I love to DWELL at his feet with Him. There’s peace and comfort there. But this is the step I struggle with.
I don’t want to step away from my home with those precious words. I don’t want to step out of the peaceful space and into the chaos and noise of this world.
Furthermore, you can relate. Taking your kid to school where you know its loud and hard to hear Jesus’ words. Going into your workplace where the chaos of the latest gossip is blowing up and it’s simply not… simple anymore.
As well as tying those words on our hands and our foreheads, we are meant to be like a beacon of light. If we haven’t sat with our creator and wondered at his promises, this world will feel overwhelming and dark. We may even begin to look much like the chaotic world itself. Lost. Scared. Anxiety ridden and so much more.
How can your hands who have God’s words bound to them show up in your workplace, on the playground or even in your marriage?
Lastly, this verse speaks another command to us. He tells us to write them on our doorposts and our gates.
Especially when thinking about this step, it is like binding up our hands and foreheads like an outward sign. Also, this step is meant to reach others who aren’t ourselves with these saving promises.
If we’ve carved them into our hearts, taken note of the promises of God to us, bound them to our hands and our heads… naturally we should be sharing loudly the gospel message. The transformational story that happens when we know Jesus loves us should be splattered on our doorposts and our gates.
Also, it should be a welcoming message to a broken world that inside we have a safe harbor for your own souls.
“We’ve been there.” “We know the rescuer.” “Welcome inside.”
Additionally, we are no longer are bound by our struggle of pain, sin, heartbreak, or loneliness.
We are changed into bold proclaimers of this Jesus who turned our pain into purpose. The One who turned our sin into righteousness. Nevertheless, the Jesus who took heartbreak and healed it completely. And the One who took our loneliness and became Immanuel, God with us.
At this time, tell me what step are you on today? Furthermore, do you need to begin with carving those character traits of God himself into who you are? Do you need promises of God to see you through?
Also its possible that you need to begin your journey of sharing with others through hospitality what God has done through your doorposts and your gates?