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| 1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: |
And the judgments – Decisions as to right and wrong. R4051:1
To teach you – "They are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world (the present evil world) are come." (1 Cor. 10:11)--the very object of their R1850:2
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| 2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. |
Fear the LORD – Perfect love casteth out slavish, but not reverential fear. R2986:6, R4051:2
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| 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. |
May be well – The promises to fleshly Israel were earthly promises. R4051:3
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| 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: |
The LORD – Jehovah, not a general name but a proper name, the distinctive personal name of the Almighty Father. Like other proper names, it should not be translated. R1410:6
Our God – The word "god" signifies mighty one, but not always the All-Mighty One. R1410:2
Is one LORD – There is but one God, and he has not three names, but one--Jehovah. R4051:5; E41; CR289:3
Our Roman Catholic friends make many gods--the Father, Son, holy Spirit, Mary, and all the apostles and saints; and the Protestants, contrary to Scripture, declare we have three Gods in one or one God in three persons. R4051:4
The Jew rejects the doctrine of the Trinity as an absurdity. OV113:3
Jehovah, self-centered and self-contained, changes not. SM483:4
Scientifically proved by the unity of material, force, government and moral law throughout the universe. R3861:2*
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| 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. |
Thou shalt love – Not dread, fear or tremble. R5521:3
"Love is the fulfilling of the law." (Rom. 13:10) A246
Failure to love God and neighbor results in the time of trouble as a natural consequence. A309
The spiritual Israelite is obliged to live up to everything in the spirit that the Jew was commanded to do in the flesh. Q449:3
Love leads us to do all things in his Word. R5359:6
A law based upon justice. R5072:2
The law the whole world will be under during the Millennial age. Q172:T
The spirit of the Decalogue is today recognized as the very best statement of human obligation. OV10:1; SM380:T
The LORD – Jehovah. E41
With all thine heart – Not a mere passing sentiment of appreciation; it is all-absorbing love that God desires. R1850:4
Some might love and yet work ill, with best intentions; but perfect love worketh no ill. R4850:1
Such love does not wait for commands, but appeals for service. F124
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| 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: |
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| 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. |
Teach them diligently – Cultivate this love by meditating upon his just and holy law and upon his precepts and instructions, and by teaching them diligently. R1850:4
When thou risest up – A heart thus filled with love for God would have no time for sin or frivolity and would indeed be that of a saint. R4052:3
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| 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. |
Upon thine hand – Let the divine law affect every affair of your life. R4053:2
Between thine eyes – The memory, stored with words of revelation, is a ready weapon of defense against every attack of the Adversary. R2038:6
Misunderstanding the spirit of this exhortation, many Jews, even to this day, bind upon forehead and arm cubical leather boxes, phylacteries, containing Scriptural passages. R4053:1
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| 9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. |
Posts of thy house – Many Jews do this literally, but Moses' thought was that everything pertaining to the family of God is sacred to him and under his blessing. R4053:4
And on thy gates – The Christian who abandons the daily reading of the Word and meditation upon it is not a growing Christian. R1850:5
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| 10 And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, |
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| 11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; |
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| 12 Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. |
Lest thou forget – The light, misused, may turn to darkness; and then, "how great is that darkness." (Matt. 6:23) R1850:5
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| 13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. |
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| 14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; |
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| 15 (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth. |
And destroy thee – The application to reprobates of spiritual Israel corresponds to the faithful warnings of the Apostle Paul in Heb. 6:4-8 and Heb. 10:26-31. R1850:6
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| 16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah. |
Ye shall not tempt – With unreasonable and unnecessary requests for temporal favors or protection against legitimate results of presumptuous experiments. R1688:5
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| 17 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee. |
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| 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, |
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| 19 To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken. |
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| 20 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? |
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| 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: |
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| 22 And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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