The Christian Home in a Modern World
CLASS 4 ISSUES
Study Scripture: Deuteronomy 6: 3 – 9, Matthew 19: 3 – 9
Background Scripture: Deuteronomy 6
Lesson 9 April 25, 2026
Key Verse
“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. And you shall repeat them diligently to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up” Deuteronomy. 6:6 – 7
INTRODUCTION
To understand the situation confronting the Christian home in the modern world we have to start with examining the instructions of Moses back in the Old Testament, for the times then are very similar to the times now.
We will examine how God tells us the Christian home can survive no matter what the environment is. If we want a wholesome life for ourselves, our children, our grandchildren, and those who will follow them, we must follow the instructions given by Moses, confirmed by the Lord Jesus Christ, and repeated by the Apostle Paul.
So do you want the best for yourself, your children, and the generations that will live after you?
Do you realize that the only One with the answers in God the Father?
The sad reality is that the modern Christian church in the modern world exists in a generation in which the basic family structure is threatened day after day. When you look around at parents they are confused about what it means to be a parent and they are overwhelmed by the problems of the modern family. The children themselves look around for moral values and guidance but they get it from their peers rather than from their parents.
The trend of today is powerful, quiet and dangerous but it is constant and ever increasing in its pace of rejection of godly family values and its moral and spiritual values. It is often pointed out that Christian morals and values are vanishing, and ideals that have been supported in the past are giving way.
So-called rational beliefs are appearing which negatively affect family life. Godly beliefs are going away and godly beliefs about marriage are going away.
The rapidly growing and commonly accepted hardcore pornography which you will find in theatres, on television and in written material is now publicly handed out, and is popular as it caters to the average believer no matter which country they are in.
This movement is designed by those who do not accept the teachings of Scripture, and sadly it has been leading to increasing misery, increasing moral problems, increasing emotional problems, increasing suicide especially among the, young and the young adult population, divorce, drug addiction and alcoholism.
Now this is not promoting the view that that is all that there is in modern society, for there are good things to be found in modern society and in the modern church. Many of the young people seem attuned to the suffering of humanity, to the damaging and destructive of environmental practices, to the hunger and food insecurity found all over the world, the terrible effects of war by powerful countries, and by the results of this counterculture Revolution which has been increasing and producing a great deal of immorality, emptiness, and darkness.
The young do not seem to have any explanation about what is going on, for they are bumbarded with warnings about the effects on them of modern technology, and the threatening aspects of the computer Revolution which will make their future employment possibilities extremely weak.
We therefore make it plain to every believer that it is time for them to think seriously about the situation that they are in, the frustrations that they experience when they try to live godly lives and bring up their children in a godly fashion, and at the same time cope with the demands of powerful people who control employment and the supply of services while collecting heavy taxex from the people.
The times of Moses was not very different from the times that we are facing today for Moses was leading the people of God out of slavery where their hearts were attuned to pagan practices, and they had forgotten the teachings of their former leaders liuke Joseph. After 400 years in Egypt this had hardened them to accept the Egyptian way of life. The influence of the pagan ways was certainly immense.
So let us now look at what Moses had to do to alter the tremendous imbalances in the spiritual life of the people. Remember that Moses had been born to an obscure family in a slave home but he was supernaturally chosen of God to deliver his people.
Note that despite the circumstances of his birth God had begun His work in the home of Moses and so Moses, even after growing up in the house of Pharaoh, was in a great position to bring us guidelines for the home.
Some will even warn about the importance of childhood by speculating that there must have been destructive parental elements in the home of Judas brought him to the point of betrayal.
In North America and in many parts of the world young people do all kinds of dangerous stunts in order to earn money on social media platforms, without considering that they have put their life in danger as well as breaking every law that exists against the activities.
Moses had led the nation out of slavery and now in Deuteronomy 6 he gives us a model of a godly family structure for a redeemed community. In this redeemed community there was to be an extended family that were committed to help each other as well as ensuring that the children walk in the ways of the Lord.
Let us understand therefore that if you say you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ you are in a redeemed community, a spiritual family, and the professing believer has to be willing to be guided into proper parenting in their family. As well there must be praying for themselves and their children as well as all the children in the spiritual family.In this extended family there must be guidance, comfort, and care for the well being of the family.
So Moses will have the problem of emphasizing the need for those in the community to become godly parents and grandparents, making sure generation after generation know the control points of foundational spiritual truth, This truth would have to be in the heart of the parents. They had to have hearts turned to fear God, love Him, be grateful to Him and be in a constant position of worshiping the Lord their God.
That was the only way they could surely live wholesome lives, and by the way they live make a deep spiritual impression on their children and grandchildren.
As we study let us not forget that the Scriptures also look at the issue of life without marriage even though it stresses that the people were to live lives based on biblical marriage principles.
We know that in the modern world there is increasing unfaithfulness and skyrocketing divorce rates. But we also know that there are probably over 20 million bachelors in the United States and Canada and almost as many on married women and girls who will probably never marry.
In our study therefore we have to also look at what has to be done to stop their slide into sexual looseness for the Scriptures do not leave them without guidance in this matter.
It will not be wise for believers to live in a dream world and ignore the harsh realities of life, and the variety of human experience.Let us not fool ourselves for the Bible speaks to every class,, every condition that exists among human beings and makes clear every basic problem of human life. It gives guidance on every circumstance.
So not only does Moses deal with the issues relating to marriage but he and the Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul also examine the value of the single life, making sure that professing believers are especially reassured and can give a reassuring word to any who are inclined to view singleness as subnormal or freakish.
Even it is not specifically included in our Lesson Study we should look at the advice of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 7.
We should also pay attention to the Lord Jesus Christ as He examines this matter in Matthew Chapter 19, the only time when He specifically speaks on the question of the single life. His comments relate to the single as well as to the married life.
The question that Jesus had faced came from the Pharisees who asked Him a question about divorce for they were asking whether divorce could be granted on the grounds of what we would call today “incompatibility”. They were asking Jesus whether there were grounds for a divorce based simply because people could not get along with each other. Jesus gave His answer in Verse 9 of the Matthew 19 Chapter:
“And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery”.
Jesus had previously stressed in verse 5 that God did not envision divorce at all, and Jesus made it clear that Moses allowed divorce simply because of the hardness of the heart of the people. We read this- in verses 7-8
Note the reaction of the disciples to Jesus’ teaching on this matter/ When the disciples heard it they were shocked at the idea that even though marriage had its difficulties it was still to be preserved. So they stated their opinion that if that was the case then it would be better not to marry at all.
Jesus then had to respond, “Not all men will receive this precept ( that is, about not marrying), but only those to whom it is given”. Matthew 19:11.
Then in verse 12 Jesus went on to tell us the factors that should determine who should remain single and His instruction is as follows as He talks aboutthe groupsof people to which He was referring:
“For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it”. Matthew 19: 12.
So as we study let us understand that when we talk about the Christian home in a modern world there is more to it than is often considered, because there are all kinds of people with different proclivities in the Christian home and we have to be careful not to regard them as misfits or hopeless cases for they have what one writer calls
“a special niche in God’s thinking and programming. He recognizes them as having a special function to perform.
Also under this classification of those who are single by circumstance are those who, he says, were made eunuchs by man this was a very common thing in Roman times. There were those who were physically emasculated, such as slaves and temple priests. But there are also other circumstances that demand single life: accidents, imprisonments, and perhaps we might group under this classification those who are simply never asked to be married.
Whatever the circumstances may be, something beyond their control has made it impossible for them to marry. Again this is not unanticipated in God’s thinking. He finds room and place for such, they are not excluded from his grace and his activity.
Then our Lord speaks of a third class who are not forced by circumstances to be single, but who do so wholly by choice. He says there are those who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of God. Because of commitment to some special work within the great overarching dome of God’s rule over men (the kingdom of God), there are those who choose to be single.
As with the others, this is a perfectly proper mode of life. But now our Lord gives a word of counsel to these groups. These words are important, for they are the only words He addresses specifically to the single. He says, “ he who is able to receive this, let him receive it”.
Not only does He give the basic reasons for remaining single but he says, if you fall into this classification, then be content with it, receive it, accept it. Accept your circumstances fully—do not fight them, or resent them; do not constantly battle against the solitary life and feel embittered. Accept it, receive it as men receive gifts from God everywhere”.
There is of course much to be said on this matter but that will have to be dealt with when we look at 1 Corinthians 7:- 25- 27 as the Apostle Paul devotes a complete section to expounding and developing this word of our Lord’s concerning accepting the single state.
As we examine the ideas in our Study Scripture, parents have to be aware that they are facing a situation in the modern world where many in the family, including their beloved children, will adopt lifestyles or situations that will be regarded as unconventional. But remember that the Word of God deals with all the circumstances you can encounter.
In Deuteronomy 6 however we note that Moses had finished delivering the 10 Commandments to the nation of God, and we note that these Commandments meant the difference between life and death.In Deuteronomy 5:28-29 God said to Moses,
“ I have heard what these people said to you. Everything they said was good. Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!”
Just before his death the mighty prophet and leader Moses wrote and spoke these words to the nation of Israel which by this time was comprised of a new generation of people. Their parents had died in the wilderness because of their sins. Israel was poised to enter the Promised Land and Moses gave them these last great words before he went up into Mount Nebo, looked into the Promised Land and died as God promised. He was prevented from going into the Land because of his disobedience to God at Kadesh. There the people murmured against God because they lacked water and God instructed Moses to speak to a ‘rock’ nearby from which water would flow for the people. Moses instead struck the rock twice with his rod instead of speaking to the rock. His behavior dishonored God before the people.
Moses’ task was now to recapitulate all the words of God and to show the people waiting to enter the land of Canaan what God required of them. They were only children when forty years earlier their parents stood at Kadesh Barnea on the border of Canaan and refused to enter the land. Once again they were on the threshold of Canaan and as they prepared for entry Moses discharged his final responsibility. He reminded them how God cared for them during the wilderness years, watched over them with a loving hand, protected them with a pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day, brought water from the rock to quench their thirst, gave them manna which sustained them and protected them from their enemies.
Moses had to restate their Constitution document, namely, the Ten Commandments which covered God’s laws on divorce, idolatry and sorcery and other sins, and the penalties for following the terrible and wicked practices of the tribes now living in the land of Canaan. In that Constitution God laid out all the principles, stating that He was the sovereign and they were His people
We must remember that the nation of Israel at this time consisted of a young population who were now going into a land where the people had given themselves over completely to lewd, obscene, and immoral practices. Canaan was a violent, evil and sex-saturated society and everyone indulged in the vilest of practices. God expected that His people would enter this sex- mad and idolatry craved land and yet completely keep themselves from these horrible Canaanite practices while living as holy people.
It is important to note that the events and reactions, the trials and difficulties of the people of Israel as they traveled out of Egypt through the wilderness toward Canaan, are much like our problems and obstacles. We like Israel have the same types of enemies, the same types of difficulties, and the same types of victories as we journey in our spiritual life. Therefore the great lessons to be learned in the book of Deuteronomy have a direct relationship to our life.
One of the main themes in this book revolves around man’s great weakness and ability, though he belongs to God. He cannot do anything in himself to please God. As the Apostle Paul reminds us, the mind of any man that is set on the flesh cannot please God . Hence be warned about the recurring bad attitudes in Israel, and our recurring bad attitude and problems.
However we see the beautiful Texts accompanying theme of Deuteronomy, a theme which presents us with the fact that God will always abide with His people and has provided for us the answer to the demands of His laws. He lives in us and with us to provide the strength to meet the demands of His Law.
The instructions from God through Moses were critical for the young people about to enter Canaan. Likewise, it is also relevant to us, for our situation is quite desperate as we live in a society where there are major problems facing adults and children.
Nowadays angs are proliferating, mind- altering and mind- destroying drugs are readily available and in wide use; there are unbelievable pressures to engage in illicit sex and vile and deviant sexual activities. The basic family structure is breaking down and under constant threat. Parents are confused about what it means to be a parent, and children increasingly look for moral values and guidance from their peers instead of from their parents.
In our Study we will see Moses pointing out that it is the duty of parents to assume responsibility for the teaching of their children and we will have to look at how that is supposed to be done and what has to be done in order to remind them of their responsibilities. The guidelines given are teaching how the home is to be developed so as to produce the generation that God wants.
God therefore will give the people the signs of His authority.
People who say that they are authorities in the society do not speak with one voice. Some advocate one way of behavior while others propose another. Given the conflicting schools of thought in psychology and psychiatry people are confused.
When Christians feel they are forced to set up institutions for Christian education and guard their children by keeping them in a protected environment, this doesn’t seem to work at all, for the grown up Christian children resemble those in the world. In fact, the practices in the majority of Christian schools and organizations are not so different from those of secular institutions.
Clearly in our generation the plumb line is missing. It is a sign of the times.
Many have misinterpreted the Apostle Paul’s words in the New Testament that we are “dead to the law” and so are ambivalent about the commands declared from Heaven and written on the Tables of stone on Mount Sinai many centuries ago. As a result of the desire to follow the ways of the world we have lost the foundational significance of the Commandments, the statutes, and the judgments of God declared by Moses. These Laws of God tell the nature of the world in which the people of Israel and we in our day live. It also reveals to us our nature.
It cannot be stated too often that The Ten Commandments are essential for human existence. In these Commandments we have all the great themes and issues that men and women must understand, for they deal with all the great issues of life and death, sex family, work, how to treat both our friends and neighbor and how to act and speak.
There is no other guide such as this for Christians, for it is our “tutor” to show us our sins, make us repent, be used by the Holy Spirit to change our way of thinking, so that the Holy Spirit will lead us to Christ, and bring us to acknowledge the love of our Heavenly Father.
We must never forget what we were created for, and who created us.
God the Father created us in His own ‘image’ and in many respects made us like Himself. He has given us directions as to what He is like and how we are to be, since we are made in His image.
But we can only do this if we follow His owner’s manual, for He, the manufacturer or Creator, has made us in a certain way, and we would work best if we follow the Creator’s instruction. Every mechanic or appliance repair person certainly knows that wisdom requires that he or she must follow the manufacturers’ manual.
Wisdom says we should do the same and follow God’s Ten Commandments, for that is our Constitution. All the laws of God flow from that Constitution and are consistent with the ten Commandments.
When the Pharisees asked Jesus about divorce and how the marriage relationship should be, in Matthew 19:3-6 He went right back to the beginning, to creation, pointing out to the Pharisees that they should put themselves in line with what God intended for men.
But unfortunately in Israel then, as it is today, something was missing, and Moses told Israel and tells us to go back to basics. One writer gives us some examples of how seriously we have deviated from wisdom and how we have lost the way to properly interact with neighbors and others. He states:
“The idea that marriage and parenting go together is widely disclaimed today. For many, being a parent has nothing to do with being married, and hasn’t at any point in their lifetime. The notion of family consisting of a father, mother, and children is aggressively denied today by many. The definitions have changed: families consist of whatever an individual determines.
People do not look at life with agreement, let alone act on that agreement. Not long ago it was true in this country (the U.S) that abortions were performed in secret, away from public view. They were against the law, and were viewed in shame. Now, however, it is those who rescue babies from abortion that have to meet in secret. It is they who are hounded by the courts and the law for their behavior. The world does not look the same; there is no agreement to what is right.
A similar trend is observable among educational institutions. Great universities in this country were founded by people who loved the word of God, not only to extend their knowledge of Scripture, but their knowledge of everything in the worship of God. There was a recognition that God is the Creator and that all creation is good and should be studied.
Unfortunately, we live in a world today where most organized educational institutions are terrified of biblical faith and view it as intellectual poison. For example, they see public prayer in an educational setting as a menace that must be rejected.”
Our Study Scripture gives us a great model for all of life including a model of a godly family structure. Moses is exhorting this redeemed community where the people were committed to walk in the ways of God, and he wants to point them to God their Creator and encourage them to walk in obedience to the word of God. This is the only way to live.
He reminded them of who they were, and that the words of their Creator are words of life. Without them they would never succeed and be blessed and so he called for their obedience to the glory of God their Lord and Master.
We should remember that these Old Testament principles, warning, and exhortations were given to Israel to serve as examples for us. Romans 15:4 makes that abundantly clear and so we must be engaged with God’s commandments.
In addition we know that non-Christians have many questions about the issues of life and desperately need to hear the biblical answers to these questions. They might misunderstand us and reject what we’re saying but we need to present ourselves as a source of hope on these very difficult problems, including those of marriage and sexuality.
Moses pointed this new generation of Israelites and us, as one writer states:
“.. into a whole new subject: the need to become godly parents and grandparents. In doing that he will help generation after generation get a handle on some very foundational spiritual truth that all begins in the hearts of parents.
They are to fear, love, thank, and worship the Lord their God, and in so doing not only will they have wholesome lives, but they will leave a deep spiritual impression on their children and grandchildren.”
THE TEXT
Verse 1. Moses announces the Commandments which are to follow, telling Israel why he was announcing them and showing how Israel would benefit from following them. The words used describe what Jehovah commanded. Moses was not teaching his own words. This of course is an example for all the teachers of the word of God.
These commandments of course remind Israel that Yahweh was their only God, the only living God and the only righteous God.
The Hebrews words are in the emphatic form so we know that God did not give Israel the commandments simply to educate them, The commandments had been given so that they would be observed and obeyed.
The Commandments were spelled out in the books given to them by Moses; Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy. The Ten Commandments should be followed, and the decrees and laws showed the ways that these Ten Commandments were supposed to be applied in the society.
God was their one and only righteous God and God wanted them into a loving relationship with Him. If they responded in love life would be a life in harmony with Him and they would enjoy this life, and have fullness of life with God and with their neighbours as well
Verse 2. These words of God were given and communicated to them, so that they would fear God. This fear would show itself in their observance of every one of His Commandments. They should keep what they had been taught. The fear of God should be followed not only in the parents but in the sons and in every succeeding generation.
Note that the blessing of a long life was placed in front of them immediately. They were not being obedient simply for the sake of obedience. Personal blessings were promised not as an end in itself but because of the relationship with the Lord.
We must remember that in the minds of the people, God was an awesome and powerful God. He had come to them at Sinai with earthquakes, darkness, thunder and lightning which caused them great unease.
But Moses was not speaking of terror but of the “fear of God” that evoked a feeling of reverence, awe, and respect, because they knew God was a loving God that offered them a beautiful land and a land flowing with milk and honey, joy, peace and eternal happiness.
God had before promised them life. They were asked by God to love Him and be thankful to Him.
Verse 3. They should be obedient, so that they could enjoy the good things in Canaan. They were in the Covenant and God promised those in covenant with Him that they would have prosperity. God promised the patriarchs that the nation would be increased. It would go well with them and they would have many children, and their livestock and possessions would increase.
Note the call to listen and heed the words of God. Hearing would protect them from a hardening heart.
Note also that the words were addressed to people obviously in the role of parent. This was done because these young people about to enter Canaan had the responsibility of parents. They would have to make sure that the faith would be instilled in the hearts of their children.
Obviously this would be one of the greatest priorities in their life, and in the lives of their children, who would have to learn that it would be important to listen, to hear, to know the word of God and to transmit it to their own children.
This teaching, this foundational truth would be a great comfort to the people, for they would continue to live in total dependence on their God, who had proved Himself as trustworthy and faithful on many previous occasion. It is with this in mind that Jesus stated in Matthew 26:25-33
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes. O you of little faith?
So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?”
For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Fear of God produces respect. It produces worship.
Verse 4. These are the words of what is called the Shema, the classic Hebrew confession of faith.
Moses presents an exposition of the first commandment. He shows that Yahweh is the one true God and because of this all must be completely devoted to Him. Yahweh is one absolute God.
It should be pointed out here that the scholars tell us that it is possible to understand this verse in several ways. One writer comments on this as follows:
“Jehovah never denotes merely a mode in which the true God is revealed or appears, but God as the absolute, unconditioned, or God, according to the absolute independence and constancy of His actions. Hence what is predicated here of Jehovah (Jehovah one) does not relate to the unity of God, but simply states that it is to Him alone that the name Jehovah rightfully belongs, that He is the one absolute God, to whom no other Elohim can be compared.
This is also the meaning of the same expression in Zechariah 14: 9 where the words added, “and His name one” can also signify that in the future He will be acknowledged as the one absolute God, as King over all the earth.
This clause not merely precludes polytheism, but also syncretism, which reduces the one absolute God to a national deity, a Baal (Hosea 2:18), and in fact every form of theism or deism, which creates for itself a supreme God according to philosophical abstractions and ideas.
For Jehovah, although the absolute One, is not an abstract notion like “absolute being” or “the absolute idea”, but the absolutely living God, as He made Himself known in His deeds in Israel for the salvation of the whole world.”
There are other comments that might be useful to pay attention to such as this comment that follows by one writer: “It is possible to understand verse 4 in several ways, but the most popular renderings of the final clause are:
- The Lord our God, the Lord is one (so NIV), or
- The Lord our God is one Lord.
The former stresses the uniqueness or exclusivity of Yahweh as Israel’s God and so may be paraphrased
‘Yahweh our God is the one and only Yahweh’ or the like.
This takes the noun echad (‘one’) in the sense of ‘unique’ or ‘solitary’, a meeting that is certainly well attested.
The latter translation focuses on the unity or wholeness of the Lord. This is not in opposition to the later Christian doctrine of the Trinity but rather functions here as a witness to the self -consistency of Yahweh who is not ambivalent and who has a single purpose or objective for creation and history.
The ideas clearly overlap to provide an unmistakable basis for monotheistic faith. Yahweh is indeed a unity, but beyond that he is the only God. For this reason the exhortation of verse five has practical significance.”
The foundation of our faith therefore is that Yahweh is one God, that He’s the only living God. The others who people claim to be gods are false gods. Yahweh will remain as God of Israel in the days ahead even when they are exposed to all these other false gods.
God is unique and when He promises no one can revoke that promise. When He warns nobody can provide any comfort or protection from that warning.
It is not that there are many gods and that God is simply first and the most powerful. This verse teaches us that God is the one and only God. He is therefore powerful and unique. This carries with it a profound meaning.
Verse 5. The response to this living, all powerful, unique God is laid out and it is with love coming from a pure heart, completely trusting and obedient. God is “thy God” and hence those in the covenant give complete and unrestrained love.
This command from the living God who is the Creator, and to whom we owe everything is actually an act of grace and condescension, for we should marvel that God who is so completely different from us would want us to love Him. We really have nothing else to offer Him, for we have nothing of ourselves that is valuable. Our value lies solely in the fact that He has declared that He regards us as sons and daughters who are precious to Him.
It is logical that we be taught to love the One that has given us everything and that cares for us, for in ourselves we do not even have this wisdom. One writer states:
“We must highly esteem him, be well pleased that there is such a Being, well pleased in all his attributes, and relations to us: our desire must be toward him, our delight in him, our dependence upon him, and to him we must be entirely devoted. It must be a constant pleasure to us to think of him, hear from him, speak to him, and serve him. We must love him.
- As the Lord, the best of beings, most excellent and amiable in himself.
- As our God, a God in covenant with us, our Father, and the most kind and bountiful of friends and benefactors. We are also commanded to love God with all our heart, and soul, and might; that is, we must love him.
- With a sincere love, not in word and tongue only, saying we love him when our hearts are not with him, but inwardly, and in truth, solacing ourselves in him.
- With a strong love: the heart must be carried out toward him with great ardor and fervency of affection.
- With a superlatives love; we must love God above any creature whatsoever, and love nothing beside him but what we love for him and insubordination to him.
- With an intelligent love.”
The heart was regarded as the seat of the intellect and was regarded as we regard the mind, and the rational part of man. This was the seat of the emotion and of love in particular.
The soul was the “being”, the essential person. It was the invisible part of the individual including the will and the sensibilities.
The strength was of course the physical side of man with its functions and capacities.
This therefore was a call for unreserved, wholehearted commitment. There could be no hardheartedness, a splitting of love in the heart between this thing and that. Love of God should as one writer puts it, “pervade the entire self-consciousness”.
Jesus quoted this verse in Matthew 22:37-38, Mark 12: 28-30, and Luke 10:27 as the first and greatest of all God’s Commandments, and the commandment on which hung all the law the prophets. One writer comments on this as follows:
“Even the gospel knows no higher commandment that this. The distinction between the new covenant and the old consist simply in this, that the love of God which the gospel demands of its professors, is more intensive and cordial than that which the law of Moses demanded of the Israelites according to the gradual unfolding of the love of God Himself, which was displayed in a much grander and more glorious form in the gift of His only begotten Son for our redemption, than in the redemption of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt”.
Sowhen we are told that the words which Godcommanded should be on their heart we learn that we cannot expect our children to be changed unless something has changed us. Clearly, we can only communicate something if we have discovered it.
Parents have to make sure that their life cannot be a life of boredom and a routine and humdrum existence, for if that is the case we can hardly expect, to communicate excitement, mystery and glory to our children, says one writer.
The clear idea is that parents must start with themselves and then since they are responsible to pass on to their children what they have been taught and have learned and discovered, they will be able to give their children helpful insights from their experience and from the Scriptures.
Verse 6. We will now examine how Moses pointed out to the people how all of this can be done.
Deuteronomy now forces Israel as well as believers today to face the fact that there is no substitute for the home. As important as the secular schools, Sabbath school, Sunday school, church organizations, Christian youth clubs, or any other activities are, the home is the place where the Scriptures need to be taught, where children are to be taught how to interpret, understand, and face the problems of life.
What are parents to teach children? What is the curriculum?
It had been simply stated in verses 4 and 5. That is the basis of the curriculum and it centers on the fact that God is the Creator, the beginning of life, and that men are to have a relationship of love and trustful obedience to God.
The young adults now poised on the border of Canaan, and the children they would have, are the ones that would now face choices. They would have to look around them at the place in which they lived and the divine instruction would confront them.
So what is the difference between a godly or Christian home and a secular home? You might have good understanding in the secular home about ‘good’ parenting techniques, there might be constant teaching, a recognition of the need for the development of good personal relationships there, and so on. The children there might be well adjusted, quite moral, and able to cope with life.
But the Christian home must be better for it teaches about God and man’s relationship to God. This is the beginning of wisdom according to Proverbs 9:10 and Psalm 110:10. This places the children in this home on the path to joyful eternity. The Christian home teaches about this great, perfectly intelligent Being who sits at the center of all things and who is in perfect control. He is coming one day to judge the quick and the dead. We have a responsibility to Him and we must obey and trust Him in all the affairs of life.
Unfortunately however Christian homes fall far short of what this book instructs.
A Christian home according to Scripture will teach children that God defines and reveals reality. Man cannot differentiate between illusion and the real thing without wisdom and knowledge of God. He is the only one who can show us truth so that we can understand what is real and what is not.
First note that the truth of God therefore as revealed in verses four and five must first be in the heart of the parents. The place to start is with the parents. One writer puts this unpleasant truth for parents bluntly:
“Therefore take good heed to yourselves!” That is the place to start– not with your children, with you.
That is saying a tremendous amount. And right at this very point many Christian homes go astray. The moment a child appears in their family a lot of parents succumb to the natural temptation to live for their children.
But this passage tells us that we must not do that. Marriage is not brought about in order to raise children. Marriage occurs in order that two people might learn how to relate to one another and to be persons as God intended persons to be.
The key to marriage and to a successful home is that parents must realize that children are only there temporarily, that after they are gone the father and mother remain calm and that the factor which heals and holds that home together is that they themselves become what God wants, that they learn to enjoy the privileges of being whole persons, and thus that they see to it that they are not robbed of these privileges by a mistaken enslavement to their own children. There is great wisdom in this passage. It is teaching us that parents do not exist for their children; they exist to be people before God, first of all….
The relationship taught by the Scriptures is reflected in this passage in Deuteronomy and many other places. It is God first (or Jesus first, if you like), your self next, and others third.
You cannot relate to others until you have learned how to relate to God yourself. How you act toward God is the way you will act toward others. Or, to put it another way, you will treat others exactly the way you regard yourself. You can’t treat them any differently. Therefore, if you don’t have any respect for yourself, if you haven’t learned to be a person and to understand the responsibilities and privileges of personhood before God yourself, you cannot treat anybody else as a person– including your own children. That is why it must start with you.”
Verse 7. Parents must understand who God is, and then they are to grow in the knowledge of God and continue to learn. This is quite normal and applies to everybody who are to present themselves as good models for the children to follow.
When parents are good models and treat children as gifts from God and regard young people as persons who are to become adults, being trained to move into and to live in the adult world, the children will have a good chance at success.
We are warned that children will live with us in exactly the same way we live with them. If we don’t pay attention to our own development, if the relationship between parents are not regarded as important by the parents, and if parents do not develop their own mind and emotions in the way that God wants, and fulfill their talents, the children who see us perform in that way are not very likely to do anything great either.
We are warned thereby that children follow models and not words. We can talk and tell them to do this or to do that, but if the parents do not do what God requires the child won’t either.
These principles outlined in Deuteronomy are what will defend the home from the destruction being wreaked upon it. The reality is that the children must be taught that there is one God, one Lord, and the only response to him is to love Him with all our being, for man by nature was made to love. If the children are not taught to love God they will come to love other things and become a slave to those false gods.
The central reason for the living is for human beings to learn of God and it is a tragedy when men and woman begin to love themselves and other things in the place of the Living God. As a result of this truth one writer says:
“In the gospel we learn for the first time that it is possible for man to love God. This is the central reason for living, the answer to why human beings are on earth– to learn to love God. Daniel Webster was once asked “What is the greatest thought that ever entered your mind?” And he answered immediately, “My accountability to God!” This is the great thing.
If this is true, then it follows that the man or woman who knows how to love God will never go astray in life. And the child who learns to love God will be kept through every testing, every trial, every danger.”
Verse 8 continues to reveal the steps which the Holy Spirit has taught parents, so that they can teach children the mighty secret of how to love God.
We are told that first the parent or parents are to make their hearts right with God and to bend their will so that they love God with all their hearts.
Then parents are told to diligently, not belatedly, impart information about God to their children. This is personal instruction. This clearly means that you, not they, have a job to do.
It is not the job of the church primarily, for this is your task. The church cannot be anything else but a very partial substitute, a supplement.
This responsibility of parents is not transferable.
The entire Scripture must be opened to the children, for children can learn the revelation of God.
Then the Spirit said that parents must always be on the lookout for what writers called “teachable moments”. This must not mean we must moralize all day long but we are to see life as a living visual aid for teaching.
Jesus Himself would draw illustrations for His teachings from the birds, the trees, the flowers, the process of sowing and reaping, the weather, the animals, the children who crowded around him, the timid woman who wanted to be healed but was afraid, the man who climbed up a tree to see him, and more. So we do not have to use verses of Scripture at all times to teach the lessons of Scripture and about God. God has revealed Himself in every area of life and in nature. We talk all the time, when we walk, when we sit, when we lay down. When children are ready for bed we can discuss all kinds of things with them to settle their fears, and increase their expectations about the coming blessings of God.
One writer suggests that when God tells us to talk to our children when you sit in your house (verse 7) mealtime would be a great time to have the family together for food and talk naturally go along very nicely. When families do this there should not be a dark silence around the table where people are wrapped up in their own thoughts, really wanting to get back to their smartphones, and having the intention of getting the food down as quickly as possible and getting away from the table. Mealtime can be a time when parents can bring children up to date with what is happening in their own lives so that they would make the conversation sparkling, bright, and interesting, so that the meeting is not just one of judgment and criticism of the children and condemning them but one of encouragement to have the children share what they have been experienced instead of keeping silent.
The same attitude must be displayed when the family is out of the house and into the world of nature and of social relationships
Verse 8-9. We are advised that everything we do must reflect God’s word. We do not have to take this literally as some Jews did by making little boxes in which they put Scripture verses and tied these on their hands and put them on their forehead between their eyes, also tying them to their gates and the door posts.
The language is best interpreted as figurative for God really intends by this to instruct that there must be visible signs of who you are, for you must practice what you preach. Your hands, the things you do, must reflect the fact that you love God and are in His service. Your eyes, your thought life, are to display the fact that your thoughts and attitudes are determined by the love of God. When we are in contact with the world “your door posts and your gates”, you’re watching neighbors will see the love of God displayed.
There is not necessarily anything wrong with outward spiritual symbols, but one should be cautious that these do not replace the “doing” of the word. History has shown that the temptation to replace the real with the symbol is ever present and will destroy real spiritual life.
So note God promised the fathers many great blessings for the nation of Israel.
They were warned that they should always fear the Lord their God and serve Him and not go off to the gods of the pagans. God would then become angry with them and punish them if they ever behaved presumptuously and tempted Him as their fathers had done in the wilderness.
They should always be diligent in keeping the commandments, the testimonies and the statutes of the Lord their God.
Here is a pointed warning against loving the world. It is true that when men begin to live among people who are more culturally and materially advanced than that to which they are accustomed, they invariably experience profoundly the influence of those cultures. They begin to think in a different way, accept the new philosophical ideas, and especially the religious beliefs and practices despite the fact that these would bring great harm. One writer admits:
“There is a spiritual principle here: in prosperity people tend to forget God and instead put their trust in material things. This in itself is bad enough, but another probably always results– we absorb the viewpoints and attitudes of the world around us.
This is a warning against losing sight of godly goals, a warning against failing to live purposefully for God.
We must never lose sight of why we are here. We are not simply here as earth dwellers to pursue our own selfish goals. Rather we are pilgrims. The minute we lose sight of the ‘pilgrim’ mentality, we are in danger of becoming absorbed with the world.
The result is that we fail as parents, because we have first failed as God’s children ourselves.”
When the parents constantly worked as instructed to teach the children, the interest of the children into the things of God would be awakened and they themselves would ask why God had given them the commandments, testimonies, and judgments. The children would want to know more. They would inquire what these religious observances meant.
The parents would then have the opportunity to fully explain that they were grateful for God’s favors and His mighty deliverance. They would tell the children how the conditions that their ancestors lived in were terrible beyond belief, and that they cried to God to preserve them. God had done them a great favor and had lived up to His promises to the fathers.
MATTHEW 19:3-9
The emphasis of Moses is now repeated by the Jesus Christ when the Pharisees attempt to trap Him.
Verse 3. Pharisees came to test Jesus and brought up the controversial topic of divorce. The School of Jewish teachers called the school of Rabbi Shammai was very strict and unpopular and was opposed by the school of Rabbi Hillel who was far more lax and popular
All Jews knew that marriage was a sacred institution and that all should avoid breaking the commandment of God which was to be fruitful and multiply. The people of Israel had a very high view of marriage but at the same time they had a low view of women for they regarded a wife as someone to be bought and regarded as property, used to do all the hard work in the house and dismissed whenever they wanted to get rid of her.
So at this attempt to trap Jesus the Pharisees used their belief that the Mosaic law gave them permission to divorce for any “uncleanness’, (an undefined word,) in her.
Rabbi Shammai taught that “uncleanness” meant sexual immorality and that was the only God approved reason for divorce. But Rabbi Hillel taught “uncleanness” meant any kind of indiscretion or mistake that the wife committed, a mistake which included burning a husband’s breakfast.
You can imagine therefore that this was a hot topic among the rabbis who held different positions on what a bad marriage was and what a bad wife was. One commentator even said that the Jews believed that if a man had a bad wife he would never face hell, because he had paid for his sins on earth.
So you can imagine the importance of the question to Jesus, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason”.
Just any reason was the centre of this debate for the Pharisees believed that the Mosaic law had given them permission in Deuteronomy 24:1 to divorce for any reason of the man’s choosing.
Verses 4- 6. Jesus immediately went to the Scriptures commenting on the first marriage between Adam and Eve. Therefore marriage rather than divorce was the approach used by Jesus in dealing with this question.
The only acceptable way in dealing with any social or other problems is to go back to Scripture and not to depend on the opinions of sinful human beings.
Dependence in the church to pop psychology is so common today. The advice of so-called experts who claim to understand human life and behaviour is often followed. In fact mankind and the church has ignored historyof human thought which has proved that men do not understand human behaviour properly and they do not understand the workings of the sinful heart.
They might sound impressive in their speech, and their viewpoints might sound attractive, but in every case you will find that the experts are contradicting the divine and Holy Scriptures.
So what Jesus made it clear to the Pharisees is that there was a Scriptural foundation for marriage and that in marriage there is a one flesh relationship. The law of God gave no support to the fact that a man should forsake his wife whenever he had a mind to do it.
Despite the fact that woman was given a different name from the man at creation, was created at a different time, was created in a different way, and came from a different sources, the husband and wife were to come together as one flesh and be a great team in the home.
There was to be one flesh.For the Hebrews physical fleshly unity was not all there was for the ideal unity for them covered the soul as well as the body. This of course prohibited polygamy and so we know what God’s intention was from the beginning.
For the people of Israel marriage was spiritually binding before God and it was not just a social contract. Men and women should honor that marriage relationship for if they were like two oxen yoked together, pulling equally in all the concerns of life.
Therefore that Jesus was speaking both to the Pharisees and to the women of his day. His view has not changed and we are therefore be careful about how we live.
Verses 7-9. The Pharisee is of course jumped at this exposition by Jesus and tried to trap Him by asking Him why then Moses had given the command to give a certificate of divorce and to put away a man’s wife if so requested.
But Jesus immediately countered with the statement that it was because of the hardness of their heart that Moses permitted them to divorce their wives. That was not God’s intention.
The Lord Jesus Christ then proclaimed whoever deviates from Scripture will commits adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery”.
Note that the Pharisees just as people in our modern world did not want to accept accept what the Scriptures taught . They wrongfully thought that God “commanded” divorce where there was uncleanness. Jesus made it clear that there was a difference between “command” and “permitted” and that God therefore never “commanded” divorce but He does ”permit” it.
It is clear that Moses was trying to control divorce and was not promoting divorce, for he well knew the bad behaviour of the sons of Jacob and Jacob himself, as well as the bad practices of the Egyptians that the people of Israel had taken unto themselves and loved.
Carefully, and all believers should be aware of this, that God in certain circumstances permits somethings because of the hardness of the human heart.
But remember that the allowance of God because of human sinfulness and hardness of heart exists does not mean that it is right.
In this case the principle applied even if there was offense by one party and the heart of the offending party as well was hard. The heart of the offended party is often hard and there is a refusal to reconcile and get past the offense.
So the only grounds for divorce if reconciliation is impossible because of hardness of heart, and the ability to get past the offense and accept contrition and repentance, might lead to the freedom to remarry without sin, for remarriage is only permitted in the case of sexual immorality.
It is of course to be noted that the word used for sexual immorality is porneia and this covers many forms of sexual impropriety. It does not mean that the person committing the offence has to actually have consummated their sin by an act of adultery. This word has a very broad meaning and one should be careful how one restricts its meaning.
We should also note that 1 Corinthians 17:15 explains how God looks at this matter. One writer therefore states:
“ To this permission for divorce, the Bible adds the case of abandonment by an unbelieving spouse (1 Corinthians 7:15). This can also include those who make a verbal profession of faith, but who live in chronic unrepentance and their actions significantly undermines the marital union., therefore the gives two grounds for divorce in the eyes of God. The application of these principles to real life marriages is a matter of godly wisdom. The Bible gives the broad principles that pastors, elders, counsellors, and others must faithfully apply, and often in the most challenging of circumstances”.
Clearly however one can give too much freedom in interpreting what Jesus says. This is a hard teaching and we know that many people today try to justify divorce that do not fulfill the needs that the Bible states has to be present for a divorce.
But note also that there are many who refuse to accept what Jesus and the apostles taught about divorce. In this respect they are going against the Word of God even though they do not want to admit it. This rather difficult situation sometimes brings to light the hardness of the human heart even in those that pretend to be godly..
It is safer to stick to the clear word of God and not argue against it in any way.
But it is also safer to think carefully about what God wants as the ideal way for His people to live. The Holy Spirit will certainly help us to maintain those high standards of God as we are transformed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Bear in mind also that divorce is not classified in Scripture as an unpardonable sin when it happens among believers.
CONCLUSION
This address to the redeemed community stresses the powerful acts of God. When we obey God’s commandments we are really marking our selves out as members of that redeemed community.
We aren’t nearly great in ourselves. We have only received the wonderful grace of God. We must therefore realize our responsibility to act appropriately, become the men and women God wants us to be, so that we will be in a position to teach our children the ways of God, so that their character will be formed in a way to please God.
We have been told that we should our selves love God and be good models for our children. We should as Psalm 1 instructs delight in the Law of the Lord. We have been called out of the world to demonstrate what the law of God teaches. Because we have the Holy Spirit within us we will by the strength of God and His guidance do what His law requires.
We must recount to ourselves the mighty acts of God in our lives and His great salvation given to us. We must tell our children of the bondage we were in, and of how God rescued us. We must not be ashamed, but must use our experiences to warn our children.
The parents in Israel were told to tell the children of their sad past, and tell them how God in His mercy and grace saved them. Should we or can we do any less?
Let us learn from the Words of Scripture. God told Israel the best way to live and to preserve succeeding generations.
The answers to the problems of life have already been revealed. Our task is to impart the good news to our children and to the rest of the world. God grant us the opportunity to correct our failures and never to repeat our mistakes with our children and grandchildren.