Deuteronomy 5-7

Moses then reiterated The Lord's Ten Commandments that had been given to God's people at the time forty years earlier, for all time (see The Ten Commandments Before Sinai? and the Fact Finder question below).

"I am The Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.

You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I The Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love Me and keep My Commandments.

You shall not take The Name of The Lord your God in vain: for The Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as The Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to The Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your manservant, or your maidservant, or your ox, or your ass, or any of your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and The Lord your God brought you out thence with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore The Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Honor your father and your mother, as The Lord your God commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which The Lord your God gives you.

You shall not kill.

Neither shall you commit adultery.

Neither shall you steal.

Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor.

Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.'" (Deuteronomy 5:6-21 RSV)

Deuteronomy Chapter 6

Although the people of Judah adopted a tradition for themselves (the other tribes of Israel didn't) to use Frontlets and Phylacteries, The Lord wasn't referring merely to the symbolism; He was talking about actually living according to God's Way (ironically, people wearing phylacteries were among those who rejected the Author of them when He came i.e. "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long," Matthew 23:2-5 RSV).

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love The Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and 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. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 RSV)

Jesus Christ repeated His own words centuries later to emphasize their timeless implementation (see the Fact Finder question below):

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"

And He said to him, "You shall love The Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:36-37 RSV)

Deuteronomy Chapter 7

The Israelites were to respect the legal sovereignty of other nations (see Landmark), but they were at the same time to take total control of their own sovereignty within their own God-defined borders. Otherwise, they would know much trouble and corruption from the hostile aliens in their midst.

"When The Lord your God brings you into the land which you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites [see The Land Of Canaan], the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than yourselves, and when The Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them; then you must utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them, and show no mercy to them.

You shall not make marriages with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons. For they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods; then the anger of The Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.

But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire. "For you are a people holy to The Lord your God; The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth." (Deuteronomy 7:1-6 RSV)

Fact Finder: Why did Jesus Christ command Christians to "Think not that I am come to destroy the Law"?
How To Be A True Christian - Lesson 1
How To Be A True Christian - Lesson 2
How To Be A True Christian - Lesson 3
How To Be A True Christian - Lesson 4
How To Be A True Christian - Lesson 5
How To Be A True Christian - Lesson 6
How To Be A True Christian - Lesson 7
How To Be A True Christian - Lesson 8
How To Be A True Christian - Lesson 9
How To Be A True Christian - Lesson 10