Love in Deuteronomy
Keeping the commandments
7:9, 7:12, 10:12, 11:1, 11:13, 11:22, 19:9, 30:16, 30:20
“For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.” Dt. 30:16 (NIV)
“And that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Dt. 30:20 (NIV)
Love of your Family
21:15-16, 28:54, 28:56
“If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love, when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love.” Dt. 21:15-16 (NIV)
Love God
6:5, 7:9, 13:3, 30:6
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Dt. 6:5 (NIV)
“The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live” Dt. 30:6 (NIV)
God’s Love Toward his people
4:37, 7:8-9, 7:13, 10:15, 23:5, 33:3, 33:12
“Because he loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength,” Dt. 4:37 (NIV)
“However, the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.” Dt. 23:5 (NIV)
Love foreigners
10:19
“And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.” Dt. 10:19 (NIV)
Theological Conclusions
The message of love as articulated by Moses in Deuteronomy is as follows: God loves us and did a great work for us therefore we as undeserving people need to respond with love toward God and the expression of this love is the keeping of God’s commandments. For this we will be blessed and continue in the promise of God.
This is expressed through God showing his love to the Israelites by delivering them from Egypt and bringing them up to the land. This translates to God saving us from our certain death and grafting us into the family of God.
It is in response to deliverance that Moses tells the people they need to love and hold fast to God. This is the requirement to stay in the promise of God and be blessed. By loving God the Jews will keep the commands and continue in the blessing. This is still true today for us. As we love and hold fast to God we desire to keep God’s commands and become more like him. This results in His glory being shown to the nations, which is what happens when the Jews follow Moses’ direction.
Application
1. 1)I will meditate on the truth that God saved me from destruction due to his Love for me (Dt. 4:37, 23:5). Meditation will consist of thinking through how these verses actually have affected my life and memorizing them.
2. 2) In addition to this meditation and internalization of the reasons I will attempt in the next two months to be conscious of how I react and interact with people. I will ask questions like am I responding out of love? Does this response show the Love of God? Am I following his commands for his people?
3. 3) I will look for the love of God manifested in my everyday life as well as think back on my life and make a list of times when God’s love and deliverance of me was evident. These times will help me to remember that God is faithful and ever present with his love. And that my response to this love can only be love in return.
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