Moses told the children of Israel to love God with all that they had. That was a command. However, a few verses earlier Moses gave them another command: “That you may fear the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 6:2).

Read Deuteronomy 10:12. What does it say in this text about love and fear, and how do we understand it?

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In one verse they are told to fear God, in another to love Him, and in this verse they are told to both fear and love Him at the same time. In the common understanding of the word “fear” this might seem like a contradiction, but it’s not. Instead, the fear of God — in the sense of awe and respect for who He is, His authority and power and justice and righteousness, especially in contrast to our sinfulness, weakness, and complete dependence on Him — should be a natural reaction. We are fallen beings, beings who have violated God’s law and who, but for His grace, deserve condemnation and eternal death.

Read Ephesians 2:1-10. How should these verses help us understand how we can both fear and love God at the same time?

Despite the fact that we were “children of wrath” (which is why we should fear Him), Christ died for us and thus gave us a new life in Him, which includes freedom from the sin and condemnation of the past (which is why we should love Him).

And just as this is true for us today, this same principle applied to ancient Israel: they were captives in Egypt, condemned to slavery and oppression, and it was only God’s love for them and graciousness toward them that led to their great redemption. “Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there” (Deuteronomy 5:15). No wonder, then, that they both love and fear God at the same time. And if they were to do that, how much more should we, having the great truth of Jesus’ dying on the cross for us?

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Flipping through the new quarterly, there are a number of titles that have the word ‘love’ in them – Love, to Be Loved; To Love God; He First Loved Us; To Love the Lord Your God; to name just a few. Hence, I believe a wonderful hymn to devote to as a theme will be 
Hymn 349 – God Is Love. Our first Memory Text says “for God is Love”, 1 John 4:8. As the book of Deuteronomy is the book of the covenant, it would also be good to add 
Hymn 347 – Built On the Rock as verse four tells us of God ‘Making with us His covenant”.

Oh the joy of being able to have the Everlasting Covenant which we find in 
Hymn 469 – Leaning On The Everlasting Arms of our Lord Jesus.

We are blessed to have a section in our Hymnal named “Our Love for God”. These hymns are positive reinforcement of the lesson studies for this week:
Hymn 459 – As the Bridegroom to His Chosen,
Hymn 460 – As Water to the Thirsty,
Hymn 457 – I Love to Tell the Story,
Hymn 455 – Immortal Love Forever Full,
Hymn 458 – More Love to Thee,
Hymn 456 – My Lord and I, and
Hymn 638 – The Wise May Bring Their Learning.

On searching through the hymnal, there are so many hymns that are written which give honour, respect and awe (fear), and love of our awesome God, and our love in return:
Hymn 78 – For God So Loved Us,
Hymn 349 – God Is Love,
Hymn 183 – I Will Sing of Jesus’ Love,
Hymn 190 – Jesus Loves Me,
Hymn 191 – Love Divine,
Hymn 321 – My Jesus, I Love Thee
Hymn 188 – My Song Is Love Unknown,
Hymn 148 – O Love How Deep How Broad,
Hymn 79 – O Love of God, How Strong and True!,
Hymn 77 – O Love of God Most Full,
Hymn 76 – O Love That Wilt Not let Me Go,
Hymn 179 – The Wonders of Redeeming Love,
Hymn 162 – Wondrous Love, and this list goes on. What a blessing!

The cares of this world are subdued by the peace of “Thy commandments” in 
Hymn 394 – Far From All Care as we find in studying on Wednesday and Thursday. The Ten Commandments are also sung about in 
Hymn 447 – Long Upon the Mountains. May the Lord’s scattered flock over this world be blessed by the Ten Commandments today, and until Jesus comes.

We are bound for The Promised Land! Hallelujah!! Come, Lord Jesus come – very soon.

Blessings for a wonderful week ahead.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing, but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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Key Thought: In the heart of the Hebrew Schema is the statement, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.
October 23, 2021

1. Have a volunteer read Deuteronomy 10:12. Ephesians 2:1-10..

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. How are we supposed to love and fear God at the same time? How does this make sense?
3. Personal Application: For what reason should we be telling people to “fear God” today in preparation for His coming? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “If God is love, no one should fear Him. There is no reason to be afraid of God anymore than if we believed that He doesn’t exist.” How would you respond to your friend?

2. Have a volunteer read Deuteronomy 4:37; 7:7,8,13; 10:15..

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2.  ?
3. Personal Application: What reasons do we have for wanting to love God in our hearts and minds? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Many religions teach about a god orgods that have human characteristics of love, hate, jealousy, and indifference. How is God any different than those perpetuated by other religions?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Deuteronomy 5:10, 7:9, 10:12,13..

1. a. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. ?
3. Personal Application: Should we obey God to avoid punishment? What if we don’t want to obey God? What are your motives for obedience? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “Oh, I love God, and I love my family. I tell them that all the time. But I don’t want the church or my family infringing on my time or trying to tell me what to do. I want to live my life to please me, and not to serve or wait on others.“ How would you respond to your relative?

4. Have a volunteer read Mark 12:28-30..

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. Why is obedience and love so intricately tied together? Does obedience bring love, or does love bring obedience?
3. Personal Application: How can you love God when you have never seen Him personally? How can you love the invisible, the untouchable, the intangible? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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After Moses recounted to the children of Israel their history, he began giving them instructions on what they were to do in order to take the land and to thrive on it. Indeed, one could argue that the bulk of Deuteronomy was simply that: the Lord telling the people what they needed to do in order to keep up their end of the covenant, which He graciously made with them in fulfilling His promise to their fathers.

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Deuteronomy 6 begins like this: “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, that you may fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged” ( Deuteronomy 6.1-2, NKJV).

Read  Deuteronomy 6.4-5. What command does the LORD God give to the children of Israel in verse 5? What does that mean?

Love the Lord your God with all your heart … ? How interesting that here, in the midst of the law, in the midst of all the warnings, rules, and provisions, the people are called to love God. And not just to love Him but to do so “with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength,” which points to the absolute nature of this love.

Loving God with all the heart and soul and strength means that our love for Him should be supreme over our love for everything and everyone else, because He is the foundation and ground of all our being and existence and everything else. Love for Him should put our love for everything else in proper perspective.

In the Hebrew, the word “your” for your God, your heart, your might, is in the singular. Yes, God was speaking to the people as a whole, but the whole is only as strong as the parts. The Lord wants each one of us, though part of a larger body, to be faithful to Him individually, and the foundation of that faithfulness should be our love for Him, for who He is, and for what He has done for us.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study:  Deuteronomy 6.4-5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Ephesians 2:1-10; Revelation 14.6-7; Deuteronomy 4:37; Deuteronomy 11:1; Mark 12:28-30.

Memory Text: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5).

In the Jewish religion, one of the most important prayers is taken from Deuteronomy 6. It is known as “The Shema,” based on the first Hebrew word of the prayer, from the root, shama‘, which means “to listen,” or even “to obey” — a word that appears over and over, not just in Deuteronomy but all through the Old Testament.

The first line of The Shema reads like this:

Shema Yisrael Adonai Elohenu Adonai echad.

It means: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4). Many times when Jews pray it, they cover their eyes, the idea being to let nothing distract them from thinking about God. This first line of The Shema is deemed an affirmation of the monotheistic nature of Adonai Elohenu, “the Lord our God,” and Israel’s loyalty to Him alone and to no other “god.” In fact, it could also be read as “the Lord is our God.”

This one line is part of the first speech that Moses gave to the children of Israel as they were about to enter the Promised Land. What follows that opening line, however, is a powerful expression of truth that remains as crucial now as it was then.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, October 23.

Sunday–>

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