👐 Deuteronomy 6:4-5 | "Hear, O Israel ..."

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📧 In today’s email…

• 🤔 The purpose of Deuteronomy

• 💪 The power of the Shema

• ❓ Who is God?

Let’s dig in…

 🧠 Memorize

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5

Author & Audience Context: Deuteronomy✍️ 

• Author:

  • It is generally accepted that Moses was the author behind most of Deuteronomy, although there are some sections he clearly didn’t write (the account of his death, for example).

• Date:

  • The final form of Deuteronomy was written in likely the 14th or 7th century BC

• Original Audience:

  • To the people of Israel to remind them of their exclusive covenant relationship with the Lord

• Purpose:

  • Deuteronomy functions as the “founding constitution” for a new community loyal to God and God alone.

Passage context: The foundation 🏡 

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 is known as the “Shema” and it is one of the great historical creeds of both Judaism and Christianity.

It has been memorized and recited by millions of people before, during, and after the time of Jesus.

Deuteronomy is one of the foundational books of the entire Bible, and it is the fifth book in the opening section called the Torah (also known as the Pentateuch, which means “five scrolls”).

The Bible can’t be fully understood without the Torah.

The Torah can’t be fully understood without Deuteronomy.

And Deuteronomy can’t be fully understood without the Shema.

You are about to memorize one of the most important passages in all of scripture!

Did you notice how the verse starts?

It starts with who God is.

He is our one Lord.

There is no other.

Before we respond to God, we first need to recognize who He is (we’ll explore the significance of his name on Wednesday).

Once we know who the Lord is, there is only one response:

To love him with our everything.

We are to hold nothing back.

To what extent are you “all in” with God?

As we prepare for a five-day journey through this amazing text, let’s join in this prayer together:

Pray 🙏

Our great Lord, this week, reveal to me who you are.

Open my ears, eyes, and heart to you, and cause me to love you without holding back.

Amen 🙏

Read 📖

Slowly read Deuteronomy 6:1-25 today.

Listen for the heart of God to come through the text as you read.

👂️ Bonus: Listen to it on your drive to and from work.

Listen 🎵 

Ever wonder why you can remember lyrics from a song you haven’t heard in 20 years? What if we could use that to help us memorize the truths of Scripture?

Verses is a project that puts Scripture into songs to help you meditate on God’s Word.

You can listen to Deuteronomy 6:4-5 on Spotify here to help you savor Christ’s sufficiency this week! (or click here to listen on Apple music)