WEBVTT 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:05.759 So, Deuteronomy, let's get into it because we have a lot to cover in a short amount of time. 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:07.599 You guys are going through the New Testament. 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:09.679 Yes, you haven't gone through the New Testament. 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:13.199 I felt it was safe to choose Deuteronomy. 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:16.879 So I didn't uh just give another sermon that you've already heard before. 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:23.679 But today we're we're in a rock's so vitally important passage called the Shmah. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:31.920 If you've guys familiar with hearing that term before, the Shema, uh it's the cornerstone of the Jewish faith. 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:43.119 In fact, so much so that twice a day, Jews, faithful Jews from thousands years back to today, this very time, they'll recite this in their prayers twice a day, every day. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:50.240 This passage from Deuteronomy chapter 6, um, we're gonna read that together in this vital passage. 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:54.159 You'll uh will have application through other passages in Deuteronomy. 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:55.600 Let's start there in the Shema. 00:00:56.399 --> 00:01:00.640 It says, Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:08.719 You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your strength. 00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:13.040 And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:22.159 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up. 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:27.519 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlands between your eyes. 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:31.840 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:33.599 Let's continue. 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:39.439 A few chapters flip ahead to Deuteronomy chapter twelve, one through five. 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:44.079 So this is after the Shema. 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:48.879 And we're gonna we're gonna connect these two. 00:01:49.120 --> 00:02:00.959 These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you to possess all the days that you live on the earth. 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:11.759 You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills, and under every green tree. 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:22.800 And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, burn their wooden images with fire, you shall cut down the carved images of their gods, and destroy their names from that place. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:36.400 Continuing, you shall not worship the Lord your God with such things, but you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses out of all your tribes to put his name for his dwelling place, and there you shall go. 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:38.479 Jumping down at verse 29. 00:02:40.159 --> 00:03:04.719 When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself, take heed to yourself, take heed to ourselves, that we're not to be ensnared, or you're not to be ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:17.280 I also will do likewise, you shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abomination of the Lord which he hates, they have done to their gods, for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:20.639 Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it. 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:23.199 You shall not add to it nor take away from it. 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:24.639 Can we pray? 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:26.879 Father God, there's a lot in here. 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:33.680 Uh I feel ill-equipped to cover it all, but I pray that you'd give me uh a real direction by your Holy Spirit today. 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:41.439 Thank you that you've given us ears for a purpose that we could hear your word, help us to obey your word, help us to do your word, Lord. 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:53.039 And um, as you commanded us to love you, even through the Shema this morning, pray that it would translate very much and go deep in our hearts that we might love our precious God, that we love and serve. 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:56.560 So we pray that you would just set this time apart in Jesus' name. 00:03:56.800 --> 00:03:57.439 Amen. 00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:01.759 I ask permission if I could show you a quick Bible project video. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:08.400 If you've never watched or you're unfamiliar with Bible project, the way they summarize words in the Bible is second to none, in my opinion. 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:12.639 We at Calvary Slow have shown all these videos probably multiple times. 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:24.240 This one's about Deuteronomy, and because it's such a big book, such an important book to the Jewish people and to us, I wanted to make this summary available to you that we're gonna watch together about the book of Deuteronomy. 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:31.519 The book of Deuteronomy, the epic conclusion to the Torah, and spoiler alert, Moses is gonna die. 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:35.839 Now, in order to understand this book, we need to remember the story so far. 00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:38.720 So Israel has escaped from slavery in Egypt. 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:40.959 Then they spend one year at Mount Sinai. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:44.639 This is where they made the covenant with God to obey all of these laws. 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:51.439 Then they wander around the desert for 40 years before they make it to the Jordan River, which is right across from the land God promised them. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:52.800 They're ready to go in. 00:04:52.959 --> 00:04:54.879 This is where the book of Deuteronomy begins. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:57.680 And what this book is really is a speech. 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:04.160 Moses gives these final words, just like a pep talk, to the new generation of Israel that's about to go into the land. 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:07.439 And the speech is broken up into three large sections. 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:16.560 Moses begins the first part of the speech with a somber tone because it's highlighting Israel's rebellion and resistance, which has been going on for the last 40 years. 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:27.920 And that sets up the rest of this opening section, which is Moses' challenge to this new generation to be different from their parents and to respond to God's grace with love and obedience. 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:38.879 So he reminds them of the Ten Commandments, like the basics of the covenant, and then he gives them this very famous line: Listen, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:44.079 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:51.600 Now, in Jewish tradition, this is called the Shema, because the first Hebrew word in this line is Shema Yisrael. 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:56.560 And this became a very important prayer in Judaism, said twice a day. 00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:04.079 And it emphasizes the Israelites' exclusive commitment to their God, the one true God who loved them and who rescued them from slavery. 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:08.720 Right, because they're about to go into a land where people are worshiping many other gods. 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:13.759 And Moses thinks that loyalty to the Lord their God is the only way to life. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:17.839 Now, notice these key words in the Shema, listen and love. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:21.439 You're going to find these words all over this opening section of the speech. 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:26.319 The word listen in Hebrew means more than just let sound waves come into your ears. 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:29.680 It includes the idea of responding to what you hear. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:34.720 So for Israel, this means responding to God's grace by obeying the laws of the covenant. 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:37.120 And then listen is always followed by love. 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:41.360 Yeah, so love is the true motivation for obeying the laws. 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:46.480 Israel won't obey without love, and they don't truly love if they don't obey. 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:51.920 So there's this tight connection between loving and listening that runs through the entire book. 00:06:52.160 --> 00:07:04.560 And so Moses tells them that if they do listen and love, they will fulfill their original calling as the family of Abraham, to show all of the nations the wisdom and justice of God and still become a blessing to them. 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:08.959 The second big section in Deuteronomy is a large block of lots of commands. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:10.959 And this is where the book gets its name. 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:13.680 Deuteronomy means a second law. 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:16.399 And it's because many of these laws we've heard before. 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:22.319 In fact, in the first line of the book, we're told that Moses is here explaining or clarifying the laws. 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:27.439 So he's repeating and expanding on the laws, making them relevant to this new generation. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:36.800 There's laws about how Israel is to worship God, laws about their leadership structure, laws about social justice, and then some more laws about their worship. 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:46.240 Now, after all of the laws, Moses warns Israel of the consequences of their obedience or disobedient, or in his words, the blessing or the curse. 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:51.040 If they listen and love, they will experience blessing and abundance in the land. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:56.720 And if they don't, there's going to be famine and plagues, and they'll be forced off their land in the ecile. 00:07:56.959 --> 00:07:59.360 And that brings us to the final section of his speech. 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:05.759 Yeah, here Moses says, I step before you today, life or death, blessing or curse. 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:07.360 So life. 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:14.480 But then things get really interesting because after 40 years with these people, Moses knows they're not going to obey. 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:19.439 And so he predicts their failure and even their future exile from the promised land. 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:25.600 And he focuses on what he thinks is the true source of the problem, that they have hard and selfish hearts. 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:31.279 It's as if Israel is incapable of truly loving God in a way that brings about obedience. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:33.919 But this problem isn't unique to Israel. 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:44.559 Yeah, in fact, Moses, when he's using this language about blessing and curse, he's tying Israel's story all the way back to all of humanity's story from Genesis 1 through 3. 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:50.960 So Adam and Eve, they were blessed by God just like Israel, and given a choice to trust and obey God like Israel. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:56.639 And then they rebelled and brought a curse on the land like Moses knows Israel is going to do. 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:04.320 And so these stories, they're about Israel's heart, but they're actually a window into the universal human condition. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:06.879 But Moses doesn't give up hope entirely. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:07.600 That's right. 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:17.759 He does that somehow on the other side of Israel's exile, God promises to transform their heart so that one day they truly can listen and love. 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:20.559 Awesome. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:25.759 There's so much that saved me tons of time just by showing you that video. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:27.759 We're going to break down the schmah real quick. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:30.799 So let's look at some of these key words. 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:36.159 And that whole theme of God's patience is what we're really camping in today. 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:37.440 Can you tell? 00:09:37.759 --> 00:09:40.480 Because Israel is all about God's patience. 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:48.799 If you read the Old Testament, you're going to read about God's patience and long suffering with his own people, his own chosen people, the Jews. 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:50.799 And likewise with us. 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:54.799 So let's take a look at these words of this critical passage. 00:09:55.039 --> 00:09:55.679 Let's start. 00:09:55.919 --> 00:09:58.000 Deuteronomy 6, Hero Israel. 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:03.279 And we just talked about in the video or heard about here being where we get the word Shema. 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:04.799 That's what it means here. 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:07.200 The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:12.240 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:14.720 The Hebrew word there is Ahava. 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:22.720 When we went to Israel a couple times, we were struck with how many billboards and businesses were using this word. 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:28.480 Ahava is all over, including lotions and Dead Sea products. 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:38.000 If you've been to the Ahava store there, if you've been fortunate enough to be there on the Dead Sea, it's all about love in Israel, and that's where we get that word is Ahava. 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:45.600 And it means to have affection for, parental love, sexual love, but it implies more than feelings. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:48.960 It implies actions that accompany those feelings. 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:49.440 Okay? 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:52.480 They're consistent with those feelings. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:11:05.279 God's love for us, as they were saying so eloquently, the that the listen goes in a direction towards love, and love propels us to obey, and it's the cyclical relationship of love. 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:13.519 The example in Jesus, and when they were asking him in Matthew chapter 22, they asked Jesus this question: What's the greatest commandment? 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:14.879 It's a fair question. 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:19.120 Jesus didn't say, Well, the whole Bible is the greatest commandment. 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:22.559 He didn't, they obviously the Torah was there for them. 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:24.799 But he actually highlights what the Shema. 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:31.600 He says straight out, he doesn't uh say anything, but he says, This is the greatest commandment. 00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:34.000 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, strength. 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:36.000 And he says, the second is like it. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:40.720 And that comes from Leviticus 19, which is you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:46.320 That love element that you listen, you hear, but you're there's obedience and action with it. 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:46.799 Okay? 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:51.840 And Jesus is obviously saying, if you want the most important thing, don't miss this. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:54.399 Your calling is to love God. 00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:57.039 And if you're loving God, you're gonna what? 00:11:57.360 --> 00:11:58.240 Obey God. 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:00.879 When you obey God, you're loving God. 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:02.799 So there's because why? 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:06.879 It's not this independent thing, like, okay, everybody, love God. 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:08.080 That's the main thing. 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:10.799 It's that you have to know why. 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:15.360 And the why is how much God, Aha, loves you. 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:17.039 That's the why. 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:18.480 That's the motivation. 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:23.360 That's where the the obedience comes from, if it's coming from the right place. 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:28.639 Is that you consider God's love, Aha, for you, and then you in turn, ahava, God. 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:31.039 Just kind of feeling? 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:31.519 No. 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:33.039 Feeling plus what? 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:34.000 Action. 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:36.879 So that's the love we're talking about. 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:39.120 There's a few key words here though, isn't there? 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:41.120 He didn't stop just saying, love your God. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:42.080 He says, How is that? 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:43.600 What does that look like? 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:45.360 And that's where these other words come from. 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:46.879 Let's start with the heart. 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:54.559 Levav or lev in the Hebrew is the equivalent of the heart, as they did not identify the brain like we do. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:13:07.200 So if I was to go to a medical doctor and want to find out more about my thinking or how my my brain is allowing my uh body to function, well, we would go to the brain as the kind of center of our intellect, right? 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:10.720 Well, they didn't have that concept, it was all internal in the heart. 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:16.879 So, what does the heart mean to a Jew, especially in the time of Moses and throughout the scripture? 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:22.320 It was basically the center of existence for humans, for humanity. 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:36.159 The heart, according to the Jews, is what they would use internally to discern their environment, to make sense of the world and where your emotions came from and your understanding and your affections and your desires. 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:39.039 All that is summarized in the heart. 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:41.840 So you can extrapolate from that what? 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:54.960 Everything internal, the core of who I am internally, how I understand the world, I'm giving that over to God and letting Him fill that and direct it as He desires. 00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:59.679 So I'm withholding nothing internal so that I can love God as He would want me to. 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:04.559 Every center of your being is afforded towards His worship. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:05.200 Okay? 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:07.840 That's what we're talking about when we say the heart. 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:17.360 So when we talk about like Proverbs 423, uh Solomon says, guard your heart with all diligence, because from it springs the issues of life. 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:18.720 That's what he's talking about. 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:20.000 It makes sense, right? 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:20.720 Guard it. 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:21.120 Why? 00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:27.679 Because that's where your emotional attachment to things, that's what you elevate and making it very practical here. 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:30.480 What are you trying to get out of this life? 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.279 What are your goals pointing towards? 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:36.240 What is the ultimate end to your life? 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:40.960 Well, he's saying here, people, let it be God. 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:42.879 Direct it towards God. 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:46.240 Let him be the ultimate, the pen ultimate in your life, okay? 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:49.600 Another one, Jeremiah 17, 9, maybe very familiar with you. 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:51.759 The heart's deceitful above all things. 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:52.960 Here's the bad news. 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:56.000 Heart's deceitful above all things, desperately wicked. 00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:56.960 Who could know it? 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:02.080 So what God's assumption uh assessment of our heart is, it needs a lot of help, doesn't it? 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:03.919 Needs a lot of change, doesn't it? 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:06.960 At least it needs transformation, doesn't it? 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:17.120 Because every core from the fall, Adam and Eve going back to that, has has we've inherited this disposition towards brokenness and pain. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:21.840 And just simply saying, I know what the sign says, I'm ignoring it and bypassing that. 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:24.159 That's called transgression, right? 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:26.480 I see the warning, don't go by the cliff. 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:32.159 I'd say, I want to see how close to the cliff I can get, and then thus, when I fall, whose fault is it? 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:33.039 God's? 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:34.080 No, mine. 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:36.159 But that's my predisposition. 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:43.360 But he still says, in God's immense wisdom and power and authority, says, I want you to love me with your desperately wicked heart. 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:43.840 Why? 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:53.679 Because the start of love is for you to bring your heart to the whole pure, holy, benevolent God creator, and ask for it to be changed. 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:59.679 So our brain, we think of our brain as being so key to that. 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:03.600 From them, it was more the heart, the internal center of everything. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:04.960 Okay, let's keep going. 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:06.000 The soul. 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:08.480 Okay, I'm supposed to worship with a soul. 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:11.120 Bless the Lord my soul. 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:12.480 We just sang it. 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:13.919 What does that mean? 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:16.080 It's Nefesh in the Hebrew. 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:17.519 It means throat. 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:19.679 Throat? 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:21.279 Well, James, what in the world? 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:22.240 Why would I worship God? 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:23.679 I'm my throat. 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:27.919 Well, it's representative of the life of a person, the whole being. 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:31.120 Over 700 times in the Old Testament. 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:41.039 It's different than the understanding we may have, where the soul is kind of like trapped in the body, and when you die, your physical body dies, and your soul is left and it and it goes with Jesus. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:42.720 It's different than that, actually. 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:48.480 For example, when they counted Jacob's family, they said there's 33 Nefeshis. 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:49.279 Okay? 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:50.000 What does that mean? 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:51.279 33 people in the family. 00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:54.480 The whole body, the whole person is what we're talking about with your soul. 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:59.840 So it's more than just the spiritual component of who you are or your emotions, like the heart would be. 00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:03.279 It's more basically your whole physical being. 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:12.880 That you want everything in your power in what God gave you as far as your faculties and your physical components working together to love and serve God. 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:21.680 So we have the heart, which is everything internal, all your emotions, all your desires, all your will, all your intellect, all your understanding of the world. 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:24.160 And now we have your soul, which is your whole being. 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:35.599 And so when we say, Bless the Lord, O my soul, you're literally saying, Bless the Lord with everything in my physical body, my whole being, my personhood is given to you in praise. 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:36.480 You with me? 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:44.799 So we have the heart, we have the soul, and by the way, the Bible doesn't, it does talk about that which remains after physical death. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:51.119 It's not totally divorced of that, but usually they don't use this word when they're talking about that, right? 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:52.799 It's more me or I. 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:58.400 For example, Psalm 119 says, Let my Nefesh live that I may praise you. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:17:58.960 Okay? 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:03.839 So it's it's it's more often the personhood that we're talking about. 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:08.160 Um when you love God with all your soul, you're using your whole physical being. 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:09.119 Let's go to the next one. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:10.640 Okay, last one here in the Shema. 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:12.000 The strength. 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:18.079 It says, You shall love the Lord God with all your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your strength. 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:19.440 Okay, your strength. 00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:24.960 That Hebrew is maod, which is one of the only places translated here strength. 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:26.319 In fact, only two times. 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:35.200 A majority, like almost 150 times, it means something very much like a um uh adverb or adjective adverb, I guess, would be more appropriate. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:37.519 It's its meaning is simply this. 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:38.880 Very. 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:42.319 Well, that's kind of weird. 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:43.519 Very or much? 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:44.319 Muchness? 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:45.279 Is that a word? 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:52.400 It's basically amplifying whatever it's uh combined with. 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:59.920 Uh when God created the heavens and the earth, six days creation, it says after each day, he saw it and it was what? 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:01.119 Good. 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:02.640 The seventh day, guess what? 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:03.920 It was mayod good. 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:06.480 Very good seventh day. 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:06.880 Okay? 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:07.920 That's what we're talking about. 00:19:08.079 --> 00:19:17.599 It's much of every circumstance or every moment or everything in infinite ways is an opportunity to love God in my muchness. 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:21.119 Which can go into strength. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:26.079 In fact, when they asked Jesus, again, he said strength as well as mind, mind and strength. 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:32.640 But those were Greek translations of the Septuagint, where we have the Greek translation of the Old Testament, they translate it into strength. 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:36.240 But moreover, like almost 150 times, it's more the very. 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:52.799 So if we take very and strength, because Jesus obviously has the authority on translating the scriptures himself, we take from that, or I at least I do, is that I'm here to muchness my heart and my soul in devoting that towards loving God. 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:56.079 It's like everything in there amplified. 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:58.799 And you could say yes in my strength. 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:03.440 So it's not a passive command here, is it? 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:05.680 You get the gist of this? 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:16.240 God is not saying, hey, just feel the chill, feel the vibes, get the get the get the sense of your love by God, and just live your life out however you want. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:21.599 There's activity here, there's passion here, there's intentionality going on with this. 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:27.920 And they recite it in their prayers twice daily to remind themselves this is how I'm to love God. 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:38.000 Because as a Jew, you would hear what those um you know, Nefesh and your Maod and you know, this lev. 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:43.279 And you're like reminded every single day, twice a day, this is what God requires of me. 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:46.640 And Jesus comes along and says, that's the greatest commandment. 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:48.880 Do that. 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:52.400 So when we worship in song, it's an opportunity for us to what? 00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:56.240 Even this morning, I was like, oh Lord, my nephesh, it's all yours. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:57.920 I'm here to worship you. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:04.960 Don't let me leave anything behind in devoting you to me to you. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:07.599 You know, don't give me the power to do that. 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:13.680 One thing I loved about last week when another thing what Pete was saying is like it's not a legalistic thing. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:14.799 Do you get this? 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:16.319 It's totally different. 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:26.000 When you love God, when you understand how much he loved and did for you, this is the appropriate response that God rightfully demands of his people. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:28.720 He's done everything for us. 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:35.440 It have you ever worked for an employer or a boss or a supervisor who demanded much but gave little? 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:37.359 Oh yeah. 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:40.240 Have you been that boss? 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:48.240 When I was in college, I worked for the power company on summer so I could earn money for college. 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:54.799 One of the people I was matched with that I prayed every day I'd get there, and I was just a believer for like a year at that point in my life. 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:57.119 Got saved my freshman year at Cal Poly. 00:21:57.359 --> 00:21:59.680 Went home to work, and I was matched more times than I. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:01.039 I think it was purposeful. 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:11.680 Some like the Lord wanted me to work with this crotchety old, just angry, bitter at life guy. 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:14.960 And it was just me and him in the truck all day. 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:16.400 And this was it. 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:19.359 And I don't want to spend too much time on this because he's not the point. 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:20.240 Jesus is. 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:25.039 But I I I this is not hyperbole. 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:27.279 He would say, We're going out. 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:30.160 I am old and I have deserved this. 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:32.880 You're gonna dig me a hole where I can sit down and not get dirty. 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:43.119 And mind you, we're talking about faults in the ground where I had to dig hole where he could sit and work on broken lines and repair them where he didn't get dirty. 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:45.279 He was doing this all day with his hair. 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:47.759 And I was out there. 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:53.200 Could have been helping me, and now he's reading the paper in the truck. 00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:55.359 Newspaper. 00:22:55.440 --> 00:23:01.359 For those of you who are young, he would he would, this is 30 years, 40 years, I don't know, long time ago. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:05.599 And then he would fall asleep, and I'm still digging the trench. 00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:10.799 Other guys, like, just get me in the hole, I'll hang over upside down, I'll if I can reach it, we're good. 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:11.839 He was no. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:13.039 But you know what? 00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:15.039 Obviously, you know where this is going, right? 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:16.240 Lord's all. 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:18.799 Where's your heart? 00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:23.759 See, I was leaving a lot behind of my heart. 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:26.240 And giving him just a little bit. 00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:29.279 Because he was calling me to love somebody who didn't deserve it. 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:30.640 I felt he didn't deserve it. 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:31.200 Maybe he did. 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:32.319 Maybe he was going through hard stuff. 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:33.039 He probably was. 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:34.720 He was very angry. 00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:38.079 But I've never forgotten it. 00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:45.279 Uh one of the beautiful things about being an associate pastor is you get all the hard, like yucky jobs. 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:48.160 And I'm not saying that to put myself up. 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:51.680 You know what I would say in those times where I had to clean something I didn't want to clean? 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:54.480 Is Jesus, you did this for me. 00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:55.599 Jesus, you did this for me. 00:23:55.759 --> 00:23:56.559 Jesus did this for me. 00:23:56.720 --> 00:23:57.599 Jesus, you did this for me. 00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:01.440 And it would get me through having to do what I didn't want to do. 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:03.279 So there's a free nugget for you. 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:10.160 You want to do something, just take it as an opportunity for you to give your whole being, your whole soul, your whole nefesh, and say, Jesus, I want to serve you right now. 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:12.240 You did it for me, you did it for me, you did it for me. 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:14.960 Heart changes when you do those things. 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:20.559 You can't stay in a bad place, can you? 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:25.519 Because you're coming to a God who stripped off his garments. 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:35.839 Sinful people nailed them to a cross and end a life that did not deserve that treatment at all. 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:47.920 I just want to finish with Deuteronomy 12, because I just want to, if you afford me the opportunity just to bring this home and how this looks in our lives and how we can worship God with our whole being. 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:49.599 And that is from Deuteronomy 12. 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:52.720 Again, I want to point out just something simply. 00:24:52.880 --> 00:25:01.440 You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess serve their gods. 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:03.119 Look where they're at. 00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:09.119 On the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. 00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:12.960 It's ubiquitous. 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:43.200 They're going into a land that they're gonna, the boot of nations, God's present to them is this place flowing with milk and honey, and he's saying, you're gonna come across when you go here, when you go there, you turn left, you turn right, you go up, you go down, you're gonna find distractions and temptations and a tendency to fall prey to subtle, ubiquitous temptation that's gonna lead you away from what? 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:44.240 From me. 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:47.519 And he says, You shall utterly destroy it. 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:51.839 Okay, go down to um for sake of time, 29 again. 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:52.960 He says a few things. 00:25:53.119 --> 00:26:00.160 When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, you shall displace them and dwell in their land. 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:08.880 So you're gonna be in the land, but there's something you need to really take heed to yourself that you're not ensnared to follow them. 00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:19.119 See, when you devote your whole being to loving God, your soul, your desires, whatever, it it's gonna find opposition in what's around you. 00:26:19.839 --> 00:26:26.480 You are not gonna find congruence in the world that you're invading when you're trying to love me with everything. 00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:27.920 It's gonna find its place. 00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:33.680 But if you're not careful, you're gonna stray with those who don't know God. 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:39.279 They think they're worshiping a God, their God, but it's not the true God. 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:55.119 If you're gonna love the Lord with your whole heart, and this is only six chapters later after the Shema, which I think is in very much ways loving God, is sometimes just basically following suit of what Pete was saying last week with the mice. 00:26:55.599 --> 00:27:04.319 You don't just find the mouse in your house and just set up an apartment for it and let it multiply with other mice so that your place is inundated. 00:27:04.400 --> 00:27:05.440 None of us would do that. 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:06.720 It's kind of the same image. 00:27:06.799 --> 00:27:08.799 That's why I wanted to jump up last week and just go. 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:10.319 Can I just get a P.S. 00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:16.240 Let's go to Deuteronomy 12 because I've found that the more I let mice go, the more they multiply. 00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:17.599 They don't go away. 00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:24.559 Part of loving God with your whole self is to walk circumspectly. 00:27:24.640 --> 00:27:36.960 That's a biblical term that just means simply you've walked a path, you've fallen in a ditch, and you avoid that ditch the next time you come through it because you get it, what, a shovel out and fill it up. 00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:38.240 Right? 00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:42.799 You know they trap big tigers still, very similar the way they all have. 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:48.160 They dig a do a dig ditch and put the elements in the bottom to trap it and they cover it, right? 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:49.279 It's very subtle. 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:56.880 But if you don't, if you aren't walking circumspectly, you're late liable to, or you're likely to just walk and then fall in with the animal. 00:27:57.039 --> 00:27:58.000 That would be bad. 00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:11.119 So what we do in God is just warning that his people and saying, as you love me, as that's the launching point for your life, I want you to be careful to walk circumspectly so you aren't ensnared. 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:12.240 Insnared. 00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:16.960 And and I'm not going to go through my whole list of applications, but something, and I will end with this. 00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:19.440 If you're looking to love God, there's two parts. 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:22.559 There's loving Him with all your affections, all your desires. 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:27.200 There's also practical love of action, of looking at what ensnares you. 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:29.359 And I can't get this image out of my head. 00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:31.039 I hope it's helpful for you. 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:39.039 But it's if I'm a fish and I'm underwater, I realize this about myself, and it's been something I've been dwelling on for a few weeks now. 00:28:39.200 --> 00:28:41.279 Is I'm imagining all these hooks. 00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:43.039 If you will, the ditch for the tiger. 00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:45.279 Now it's a hook in the water, and I'm a fish. 00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:54.240 And sometimes I'm swimming around in that water and I see a hook, and it doesn't have to have bait on it for me to go and grab that hook. 00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:55.440 Do you have that in your life? 00:28:55.599 --> 00:29:06.799 You know the easy areas for you to fall or be ensnared or tempted away, or you know, lap loving God is the last thing in your mind, or your heart because you're, oh, that's a hook. 00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:09.039 It's almost like you gravitate towards that hook. 00:29:09.119 --> 00:29:11.200 You don't even the enemy doesn't even have to put bait on it. 00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:14.720 Some of it is there's a lot of bait on it because you're not so tempted. 00:29:14.960 --> 00:29:16.559 So it's gonna be made more attractive. 00:29:16.720 --> 00:29:29.759 And I'm like, I'm a fish, and the moment I go for one of those hooks, whether it's something simply, no, no bait on it, or a lot of bait on it because it's it's subtle, it's more destructive, and I don't realize the consequence of it. 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:33.440 No matter what it is, I need to be free from those hooks. 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:34.799 And they're gonna be there. 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:35.920 They're gonna be there. 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:38.240 But we do well to not be ensnared by them. 00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:39.039