Don't Forget Series

August 09, 2025

In Moses’ 1st speech, he focused on the importance of remembering.

In his 2nd speech, Moses will continue to emphasize “Not Forgetting” the importance of obedience to God’s laws. Even though he has been the spokesman, it is God who is the great lawgiver and the law has 2 main purposes:

• To bring the people into a right relationship with Himself.

• To regulate the conduct of the people for the benefit of the entire nation.

Moses summoned all the people…………

“Hear, O Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. Yahweh our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. It was not with our fathers that Yahweh made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.”

Moses wants to make sure this new generation understands that the covenant and the laws spoken directly from the mouth of God were not intended for their parents only. The covenant was an all-encompassing relationship between God and the people of Israel – from one generation to the next.

It was at this point that Moses repeated the 10 Commandments – originally spoken at Mount Sinai.

The first 3 and the last 6 are simple restatements of the original – with minor differences. However, in the 4th Commandment there is a significant difference:

Exodus 20:8-11 - "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy…. For in 6 days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the 7th day. Therefore, Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

Deuteronomy 5:12-15 - "Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as Yahweh your God has commanded you…. so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, Yahweh your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.”

Context is everything.

The original generation experienced the power of God in their deliverance from Egypt, so the foundation of the Exodus version is that God is Creator (Genesis 2:1-3). He took Israel back beyond their own experience. The God who had delivered them was the God who had made the earth and everything in it. It was that God who declared that the 7th day was to be holy – sacred – set apart.

40 years later, most of the people who had been at Mount Sinai were dead. This new generation had not experienced the Egyptian deliverance, so the foundation of 4th commandment was expanded to point to God as deliverer. He took Israel back beyond their own experience. The God who had made the earth and everything in it was the God who had delivered them from bondage. He is not Creator OR Deliverer – He is Creator AND Deliverer and the 4th Commandment points to both as reasons for keeping the 7th-day Sabbath and extending that same blessing to everyone within your sphere of influence.

Moses’ primary goal was to impress upon this new generation the high privilege of being in a Covenant relationship with God. The grace and faithfulness of God should not be treated lightly or be taken for granted. Their response should be unreserved devotion.

As a result of this relationship the people would prosper and enjoy long lives in the land God had promised them and through their experience, they would witness to and bless the nations.

Chapter 6:4-9 is considered to be the most important prayer in Judaism. It begins with “Hear” or “Shema” in Hebrew.

According to Rabbi Eric Moffic, “When God says, ‘shema’ it is an invitation for us to listen, to respond, to appreciate to understand, to act.”

“The Shema” is spoken daily in the Jewish tradition:

“Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one. You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Many centuries later, Jesus will use it to answer the “greatest commandment” question in the book of Mark:

Mark 12:28-30 - And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.’”