Deuteronomy 4 – 6
Verses 4:1 & 2 opens with instructions before entering the Promised Land:
1 And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.
Interesting how the Torah has been kept whole within Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It is the basic foundation of all three religions. One can see the roots all stem from Abraham and his forcing the promise of a child with God. Now I wonder if all three religions have kept this “whole” or if it’s been modified for their perspective? I assume all three have kept it whole and honor the texts as Holy.
I find it interesting that these same words are in revelations. I often wonder if it implies the book of Revelations since the only complete part of the Christian Bible at that time was the Torah. So often we get lost in the current construction from the Council of Nicaea and miss many of the other writings. The Gnostic Gospels and the Apocryphal are so often ignored. We are taught that these books are sometimes false and have many flaws. Often they are this way because the original documents were so difficult to assemble they were dismissed. Are we to explore as historical or holy documents?
Chapter 5 reiterated the Ten Commandments with verse 5:7 stating things out:
“‘You shall have no other gods before me.”
I am on three different tangents here with the first being “gods” that are worshiped are only parts of the true God. I think we are not to worship other god’s because they are only representations of parts of God. Think about it, if God is everywhere than He is thunder. So Thor is not a god, but only God that someone has made into a compartmentalized god. Second is “gods” are not real, but merely idols that are not real. Like Thor they may represent an attribute of God but are not God. Also, verse 8 covers idols so this may not be the meaning here.
Finally I want to step “into it” in saying these gods are real. I’ll continue to pick on Thor, or the god of thunder, and consider that he is real. God commanded one of his angels to manage the discharge of static electricity in rain storms. And us worshiping this angel would be missing God altogether. Another theory that ties closely into this, is the gods mentioned here are the fallen angels with Satan. Satan has created gods in this world for us to get side tracked away from the one true God. Either if they are fallen angels or angels of God, Satan is the one twisting us to worship someone other than the one true God, the only uncreated one.
Verse 6:5 lays down the greatest commandment:
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
If you look at the footnotes in Matthew 22:36 – 40 where Jesus is answering “what is the greatest commandment,” you will see this verse mentioned. Jesus of course one ups it and makes it more difficult by saying you must love others as yourself. Notice how this happens every time Jesus is asked about the Law. He makes sure that people understand how God’s standard is above the words. We are too live on a higher standard. The Law say “you shall not commit adultery.” Jesus makes sure you understand that lusting in one’s heart is the same thing. He raises the bar!! So we know it is impossible to keep the Law, but it is not an excuse for us to ignore it. We should use it as a guide for our lives! Sure Jesus fulfilled the ultimate sacrifice, so we don’t have to slaughter a herd every time we mess up, but we MUST still confess.