Deuteronomy 6:6-9 - The Clarity of Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:6-9
6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons 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 up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Message: The Clarity of Scripture

Time: Moses wrote the Book of Deuteronomy. It is a collection of sermons given during the 40-day period prior to Israel’s entering the Promised Land. He restates the Law to a new generation and provides a discourse on how to live a blessed life in the Promised Land. The year was 1406 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:

As I have looked at and studied the doctrine of revelation, that God has provided to us this special revelation from Him, I have seen that He has spoken and we can take the Words of God as being His authoritative Word to us. It is complete and provides us what we need to live life. As we read these words we meet God. We know Him better and He becomes more real to us. They are spoken to apostles and prophets over many years and yet have a consistent message - redeeming mankind and showing us how much God loves us. God has also revealed himself in a general way through His creation. It testifies of who He is and hopefully causes us to look at ourselves and see that we are not God but that we are sinners in need of a Savior. The Bible is inerrant. It does not return void but has power. It stands above all other words that people claim to be scripture.

So why do we have so many religions? Why so many beliefs? The claim that all of these different ways lead to the same God is wrong and impossible for they all have different messages and requirements. So how do I read these words and make sense of them? Thankfully, as believers we have the Holy Spirit who is there to give us understanding into these truths.

I believe these words are meant to be clear to us. I personally think that what we struggle with is simply reading them and spending time in them. Instead we look for shortcuts or other people to do the work for us and so we then accept their interpretation, if we think it makes sense. But instead there needs to be a clarity of Scripture.

In this passage in Deuteronomy in which Moses is given a sermon to his people, a lesson about the law, he states that These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons. The Word of God is meant to reside on our hearts. It is meant to be memorized and retrieved from our memory. It is to be taught to our children and therefore it can be understood by our children, thus the content is simple and understandable. I hear often of people that have come to trust in Jesus as their Savior at a young age. My wife was 4 when she made this decision. I was 14. It is a message that is simple and can be understood. Ordinary people can have an understanding of these words. God impacts the uneducated, the unlearned. I am reminded that in Moses days people didn't carry around Bibles, but instead Words were memorized and carried through memory.

In addition, these words are not simply read or taught once a week, on a Sunday, in a church, but we are to talk about them throughout the week. It says you 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 up. Thus, throughout the day they are to be on our lips - wherever we go, with whomever we are with. To further add to this point Moses says You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. These words are not hidden, but in view. Am I proud of the word of God or do I sometimes hide it from view? It needs to be clearly laid out for all to see. It also says You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Again, for all to see.

It is true that some passages are difficult to understand, but overall one should easily be able to understand the basic message of salvation and what it is that pleases the Lord.

Promise: This is not a puzzle or a book of secret codes, but rather a book of clarity that all can understand. The Bible can be understood by anyone who puts in the basic effort to read it in its context. God's message to us is clear.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the Word of God that you have give us and its clear message to me. Thank you that I can understand how much you love us, how much you desire to spend eternity with me, that I am a sinner, in need of your grace and redemption. Lord, I pray that my life testifies of this word. Help me to write it on my life, to speak it throughout the day, to put up signs around my house, to let everyone know that I live by the Word of God. It is power for my life and not something to be hidden, but to be broadcast to everyone. Lord, forgive me for hiding it at times. I want to honor and glorify Your name continually.


Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with February being about the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve.