Fathering God’s Way Series

“God” is the translation for Elohim. Elohim is a plural word. Since there is no number given with it, one can assume the number is three. In the Hebrew language a noun is singular, dual, or plural. When it is plural, but no number is given, one can assume it to be three. This is, therefore, a reference to the Trinity. It could be translated, “Hear, O Israel: Jehovah, our Trinity is one Jehovah.”(McGee, J. V. (1997). Thru the Bible commentary (electronic ed.) (Dt 6:4). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.)

He was not merely first among the gods, as Baal in the Canaanite pantheon, Amon-Re in Egypt, or Marduk in Babylon; (Yahweh) was the one and only God and as such He was omnipotent. It was this all-powerful Unique God who imposed on Israel the charge to love him, thereby revealing another aspect of his character (Craigie, P. C. (1976). The Book of Deuteronomy. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (169). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).

Only after the great confession is the great commandment given and it is in the imperative (6:5). From the great redemption from Egypt (indicative), we see the covenant with its stipulations (imperative) (Elwell, W. A. (1996). Vol. 3: Evangelical commentary on the Bible. Baker reference library (Dt 6:4–5). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House.).

As Deuteronomy 6:5 indicates, the confession of the Lord’s unique oneness leads to the demand that Israel recognize him as such by obedience to all that that implies. In language appropriate to covenant, that obedience is construed as love; that is, to obey is to love God with every aspect and element of one’s being (W. L. Moran, “The Ancient Near Eastern Background of the Love of God in Deuteronomy,” 77–87.).

This equation has already been made clear in the Decalogue itself, where the Lord said, in reference to the second commandment, that He displays covenant faithfulness (ḥesed) to the thousands who love him and keep his commandments (Deut 5:10).

In covenant terms, then, love is not so much emotive or sensual in its connotation (though it is not excluded in those respects), but it is of the nature of obligation, of legal demand. Thus because of who and what He is in regard to His people whom He elected and redeemed, the Lord rightly demands of them unqualified obedience.

Quote: Saint Augustine gave interesting advice when he said, “Love God, then do as you please.” If we love God sufficiently to want to do what is pleasing in His sight, then we need never worry about our conduct, because things which will not please God will not please us. If we lack love for God, all the rules in the world will not keep us true to Him. The law tells us what to do; love gives the power to do it (Maxwell, J. C., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1987). Vol. 5: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 5 : Deuteronomy. The Preacher’s Commentary series (116). Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Inc.).

The entire book of Deuteronomy is a commentary on the command which stands at its beginning: ‘You shall love the Lord your God …’ The command to love is central because the whole book is concerned with the renewing of the covenant with God, and although the renewal demanded obedience, that obedience would be possible only when it was a response of love to the God who had brought the people out of Egypt and was leading them into the promised land. The language of loving God, ...is one of the features of the Hebrew relationship to God which made possible the use of the treaty terminology in the first place, and also the use of the father/son analogy. The injunction to love was based on the precedent of God’s love, which had been shown to the Israelites principally in the Exodus, and, in a larger context, in their election and calling from the time of Abraham (Craigie, P. C. (1976). The Book of Deuteronomy. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (169–170). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.