Obey the Lord: Deuteronomy 6

“Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth” (Deut. 28:1, NASB).

“But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you” (Deut. 28:15, NASB).

The title for this article is taken from the words of Aaron to Pharaoh in the movie The Ten Commandments. Moses and Pharaoh go to see Pharaoh. Their message is that the God of the Hebrews commands that Pharaoh let His people go. Pharaoh, who knows Moses since childhood laughs at Moses and his words from the Lord. Pharaoh knows all the gods in Egypt by their name. He does not know anything about an unseen desert God. Aaron speaks up and says, “Obey the Lord”! In this article I want to share a few points on reasons that I believe that the most important thing that a person can do; and especially Christians, is to obey the Lord.

Obedience is not the only thing that Christians should do when it comes to their relationship with the Lord. Certainly Christians grow in their faith in God and their walk with God. Scholars have named several spiritual disciplines that Christians ought to engage in. These include, worship, bible reading and study, prayer, giving/offering, fellowship and others. However, I hope to show us that practicing these spiritual disciplines are rendered ineffective and void if there is no obedience to the commands of God.

As stated above, Pharaoh laughs at Moses. He has no intention of obeying the Lord because he does not know this unseen desert God. The same is true for every person in the world. No one obeys a God that they do not know. We live in a culture in which people are living their lives in disobedience to the laws and commandments of God. I believe that the cause of this problem is that people do not know God. There are many people that do not believe in God. They cannot see Him. God is far away in some desert. God is not above any other god known to people on earth. Sadly the philosophies of relativism, pluralism, individualism, and naturalism are in the hearts and minds of many of the people that sit in the church pews today. Churches seldom if ever teach the doctrines that teach us about God, Christ, sin, and salvation. However, in order to receive God’s blessings we must obey Him (See Deut. 28:1). On the other hand we receive curses if we disobey God (See Deut 28:15).

The necessity of obedience to the Lord is seen in Deuteronomy 6. The book of Deuteronomy gives an account of Moses giving the history of the wandering Hebrew people for forty years. The sons of Israel are now on the outskirts of the Promised Land that the Lord is giving them. Moses knows that they will not be able to defeat the natives of the land with their own strength and military strategies. They will need to depend on the Lord for knowledge, provisions, protection, and strategy to defeat the enemy. After they have taken possession of the land they will need to continue to obey the Lord if they hope to be successful and prosper in the land.

The words of the Lord are to be obeyed by the nation as a community. Each individual is responsible for her/his own behavior. “Hear O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is One” (Deut. 6:4, NASB)! The people are to hear and obey the Lord alone because their Lord is only one God. They are to teach their children at the teachable moment (vv. 7-9) so that they learn to love the Lord (v.5) and fear the Lord (v.13). In Egypt and the land that they are going to the people worship many gods. However, when the Lord gives His covenant to the Israelites, God makes it clear that He is the only God that they are to hear and obey. If the Christian church worships the same God that the Israelites worshiped, how do we give ear to the gods of the world? Why do we give place in our hearts to love the gods of the world? Why do we obey them? “‘I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images’” (Isa. 42:8, NASB). “‘Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel And His Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me’” (Isa. 44:6; See Revelation 1:8, 17-18). Christians are to obey the Lord.

Now, let us shift a little. We have said that the practice of spiritual disciplines is vital to the spiritual health of Christians. However, as stated above we must first know who God is. We must believe Him alone. If we do not obey the Lord the practice of spiritual disciplines are ineffective in bringing about the success and prosperity that the Lord offers to us. Here are some examples that demonstrate this truth.

Saul was king in Israel. Through Samuel the prophet, God gave this command. “‘Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey’” (1 Sam. 15:3, NASB). Saul captured Agag the king of the Amalekites, and he destroyed all the people” (v.8). Saul did not kill Agag and he spared the life of the best of the animals (v. 9). When Samuel confronted Saul for his failure to do exactly what the Lord had commanded, Saul explained his actions. “‘But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to the destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal’” (v. 21). Although sacrifice is basically a good thing, Saul displeased the Lord. “Samuel said, ‘Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams’” (v. 22 and See v. 23).

There is a lot of emphasis being placed on praise in many of our churches today. Worship leaders exhort the people to praise the Lord for His blessings. The people are encouraged to worship the Lord for who He is. The prophet Amos writes to those who sacrifice, worship and praise the Lord but do not obey His commandments for righteousness and justice. “‘I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream’” (Amos 5:21-24, NASB).

The words of Samuel to Saul and the words of Amos are given to the people of God. We can pray, sing, study our bibles, and fellowship with one another, but these things do not move God to act on our behalf if we refuse to obey His commandments. Hear the words of Aaron that he said to the Pharaoh in the movie: “Obey the Lord.”

You may say that these are scriptures that come from the Old Testament when the sons of Israel were under the Law. Today’s Christians often excuse their behavior. They say we are no longer under the Law; we are under grace because Jesus died on the cross. This is not what the words of Jesus say. Two texts show us plainly that Jesus too considered obedience the most important thing in our relationship with Him. As Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mountain (Matt. 5-7), He says, “‘Not everyone who says to Me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter’” (Matt. 7:21, NASB). Notice that verses 22-23 describe people that are very religious that boast about their religious services (v. 22). Jesus response to them: “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (v. 23, NASB).

Luke also records Jesus’ requirement of obedience. He compares those who obey Him and those that do not obey Him to two builders. “‘Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say’” (Lk. 6:46, NASB)? Those who obey Jesus are like the builder who builds his house on rock; the ones that do not obey Jesus are like the man that builds his house on the ground with no foundation (vv 48-49; See Matt. 7:24—28). We must obey the Lord.