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shines forth in these verses of our passage. The love is to be with the heart which controls the motives and purposes of life. The motives and purposes control the de sires of the soul, and hence God is to be loved with the whole being. The desires will control the actions, and therefore we are to love God with all the might. The foundation of true religion in the home life is found in the two words: God First. II. T he C onduct of a T ruly R eligious H ome (11:18-21) The people of Israel, like Christians to day, would be tempted to turn their liberty into license and thus deny the God whom they represented. T o guard His people against this danger, God gave them His Word in order that the purposes of their hearts and the desires of their souls and the actions of their lives should all be in accord with His desire for them. That Word would be their defense and guide. It was to be in their homes, and to be con sulted continually. Children were to be instructed faith fully in the Word of God. The most pleas ant and natural topic of conversation in a God-honoring home Would be the Word of God. While sitting in the home, while walking in the way, when retiring for the night, and when arising for another day, the members of the home were to look upon the Word of God as their constant aid. The Word of God was to be upon the doorposts, indicating that all domestic rela tions would be controlled and ruled by the Word. Also, upon the gates was that Word to appear, so that all social relations would be governed by it. All the activities of life—industrial, com mercial, educational, intellectual, domestic, social—were to be controlled by the Word of God. The reason for this instruction was that the Lord desired for His people their highest welfare, and He wanted to teach them how that welfare was to be main tained. He wanted their days to be “ days of heaven upon the earth” (v. 21)—filled with song and service, with soothing balm for every sorrow, and satisfaction for the heart’s deepest yearnings. The reason for the absence of such days as these— if there should be such a lack—would be found in the believer’s want of separation unto the Lord, in his failure to surrender to Him, and in his refusal to be governed by His Word. The home in which the Word of God is read constantly and studied eagerly, and where it is the daily and common topic of conversation, will be a home in which “ days of heaven upon the earth” will be enjoyed. That home will not be immune from the common ills and sorrows of hu manity, but the trials will be eased and the sorrows assuaged by the real, however mys terious, ministrations of the Holy Spirit. III. T he C onsequence of a T ruly R eligious H ome (22-25) “If,“ the Lord declared, “ye shall dili gently keep” My words, “ then . . . ye shall possess . . .” Here is the plain promise of God who cannot lie. Enemies would be
BLACKBOARD LESSON
they appear here, for the demand that we should love God with our entire being is based squarely .upon the fact of the unity of the Godhead. If there were many gods, as polytheism teaches, then this demand would be absurd. But because there is only one God, the worshiper is assured that there can be no possible claim upon his devotion beyond or outside the claim of Jehovah. Because there is one God, and one only, we need reserve nothing for any other. How very blessed this assurance is to us who believe! 3. “ Write them upon the doorposts of thine house" (11:20). This command would seem to justify the display of Scrip ture texts and mottoes in our homes and in a public manner, a custom which some have condemned. But let us be sure that we have the Word in our “ heart’ first (v. 18). Then we shall not be as the hypo crites of Christ’s day who wore the Word of God on their foreheads and wrists, but not in their hearts. The boy was standing before the judge of a juvenile court charged with a crime that had shocked the entire community and had brought grief and misery to his par ents. “Where did you get the idea of com mitting such a deed?” asked the judge. “ I read it,” replied the lad simply. The judge hesitated a moment, then turned and addressed the boy’s father: “ Did you ever take the pains to examine the literature your boy was reading?” “Why-er, no—that is, it never occurred to me,” responded the man, cut to the quick by the question. Who was to blame? Do you—teacher, mother, father—realize the tremendous in fluence on character building that is repre sented by the literature that is falling into the hands of your boys and girls? Are you seriously and sympathetically trying to guide your boys and girls toward literature that you are certain will create clean and healthy attitudes ?— The Expositor. D euteronomy 6:1-9; 11:18-25 Memory Verse: “Even a child is known by his doings” (Prov. 20:11). Approach: God gave many laws to His people. The one we talked about last week was the law for taking care of the poor. Today we are going to talk about the way Golden Text Illustration P roverbs 22:6
subdued, possessions of vast extent would be given, ownership of all the land would be ascribed to God’s people, and no enemy would have ability to stand before them— IF. There are some unconditional promises which God has given, and these will be fulfilled assuredly and to the letter, irre spective of human conditions. The fact of whether or not God’s people desire these promises to be fulfilled will not affect the entire fulfillment of God’s Word. But there are other promises, the fulfillment of which depends upon certain conditions that must be met by God’s people themselves. The promises relating to government are wholly unconditional, because they depend for their fulfillment upon God alone; but the promises relating to experience wait, for their fulfillment, upon the meeting of con ditions by God’s people. Many Old Testa ment believers, like some Christians today, found themselves without the expected joy which they had been led to believe would be found in serving the Lord, and this lack was easily traceable to the believers’ failure to meet God-appointed conditions. “ If ye will, then I will,” God said, in effect. And those who believe Him and desire His promised blessings will fulfill His requirements. The two words in which are gathered up all God’s demands are separation and surrender. Separation from the world and surrender unto God will bring every blessing which God has prom ised—in the home and in the life. Points and Problems 1. “ The Lord our God is one Lord" (Deut. 6:4). It should be noted that the name “Lord” here represents the Hebrew “Jehovah," that sacred and memorial name which the devout Jew hesitated even to pronounce. Thus the passage would read, “Jehovah our God is one Jehovah,” or, according to another possible translation, “Jehovah our God, Jehovah is one.” In this great affirmation we have the very heart of the stern monotheistic religion of Judaism. However, even here there is a hint of a plurality of persons in the one Godhead, for the word translated “ God” is the well- known Hebrew “Elohim,” which is a plu ral in form. Thus the one Jehovah is the plural Elohim. 2. “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God viith all thine heart’ (6:5). In verse 4 we were taught the great truth of the unity of God. Now in verse 5 the writer de mands vihole-hearted love for God. It is no accident that these two important things are placed together in the order in which
He wanted people to live in their homes. Some people think that God is to be worshiped only in church. Perhaps the children of Israel felt that way, too. After God had given them a tabernacle where they were to worship Him, maybe only there were they
to worship and learn about Him. But this was not God’s plan. God’s first command ment is to “ love the Lord thy God with all they thought that
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