DEUTERONOMY 6
Other translations - previous - next - notes - discussion - Deuteronomy - BM Home - Full Page

Deuteronomy Chapter 6

Verses 1-3. The Law is given that the soul may keep it* and thereby attain eternal life.
* This looks like a self-evident proposition, but there are some modern theories, misnamed evangelical, which would seem rather to indicate that the Law was given to prove to the soul that it could not be kept, in direct contradiction to the Lord's own words Matt 5:17-20; 19:17, and elsewhere.
Verses 4-15. The primary commandment of the Law is that there is but one LORD, who must be enthroned as the central object of love and worship in the soul (Mark 12:29, 30).
Verses 16-25. Divine Providence must not be murmured against, for all its dealings are constantly directed for the good of the soul to lead it to heaven: it only remains for the regenerate to carry out the Divine commands.

Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgements, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land whither you go to possess it:

And the following are the instructions relating to life and to principles of action which the soul perceives from the Word to be in accordance with the Divine Love and Wisdom, and which perception is given in order that it may carry them out in those blessed states with which it is the Lord's desire to gift it:—

That you might fear the LORD your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, you, and your son, and your son's son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged.

That it may have a dread of in any way obstructing the Divine Love and Wisdom, and that it may walk in the ways taught by them, both in general principles and in each difficulty that arises, and that the interior will, and all the thoughts and intentions of the soul, and all things springing therefrom, may be entirely conformed to the Divine will in every state of life; and that thus heavenly states may be stored in the soul for the future life.

Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you, in the land that flows with milk and honey.

Let the regenerate, therefore, take heed to understand the will of the Lord, and to carry it out in the life; that it may be well with them, and that good and truth in their interior soul may be multiplied exceedingly (as promised by the Divine Love and Wisdom, which have led them in times past), and that they may be thereby brought to states abounding with celestial and spiritual good, and of felicity and delight derived therefrom.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

Understand, all you who are regenerating, that the Lord Jehovah is ONE in person and essence (and it follows of necessity with a Christian that the Lord Jesus Christ it that Jehovah) (John 10:30). [Note.—To say the Lord our God is one Lord, and to think of two or three distinct Divine persons, seems rather like saying one thing with the lips and thinking another in the heart.]

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

And you shall love Jehovah God with all your will, with all your understanding, and with all your powers.

And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart:

And the perception of His will which is given you in this state, shall be the ruling principle of all your affections:

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 liest down, and when you risest up.

You shall diligently impress it upon all your thoughts and actions; you shall ruminate on it when you enterest into the inner chamber of your mind (the interior will), and when you are transacting the duties of life; and in your alternating states of obscurity and of elevation towards more interior good.

And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

And you shall distinguish this commandment as chief above all others; it shall be manifest in all your works, and it shall be the centre of all your intelligence and wisdom.

And you shall write them upon the posts of your house, and on your gates.

And you shall inscribe it upon the truths agreeing with your inmost will, and upon all things introduced into the soul from the natural mind.

And it shall be, when the LORD your God shall have brought you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you great and goodly cities, which you buildedst not,

And it shall be when you shall have been brought by the Divine Love and Wisdom to that state which is promised in the Word to those who are in good, whether celestial, spiritual, or natural, derived from the Lord (see note, chap. i. verse 8), and when the mind is richly stored with comprehensive doctrines of truth not formulated by its own intelligence,

And houses full of all good things, which you filledst not, and wells dug, which you diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which you plantedst not; when you shall have eaten and be full;

And when the will is replenished with good, which is not from itself, and the understanding with wells of truth not explored out by yourself; and goods and truths which spring from celestial and spiritual states implanted in the soul by the Lord and not by yourself; when you have tasted all these things, and your soul is satisfied with good,

Then beware lest you forget the LORD, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Beware lest you forget the Lord in His Divine Humanity, which brought you forth out of a natural condition, in which all that is spiritual within the mind was kept in bondage by evils and falses.

You shall fear the LORD your God, and serve him, and shall swear by his name.

You shall exceedingly fear to act contrary to the will of Jehovah God, to Him shall be rendered all your service, and you shall endeavour to stamp His nature as revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ upon your life.

You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;

You shall not go after anything that will lead away from Him, or any of the falses infused by the external principles of the mind;

(For the LORD your God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and destroy you from off the face of the earth.

(For the Divine goodness and truth cannot exist within you in conjunction with evil and falsity), lest you shut out from yourself the influx of His goodness, and truth, and all that is of heaven within you perish from the interiors of your mind.
[Note (verses 14, 15).—The soul's conception of God forms the keystone of the religious character, and gives a colouring to all else, because it is the ideal after which the soul is itself consciously or unconsciously striving; hence the necessity of recognising the self-denying love, the desire to serve others at all costs, and the humility displayed in the Lord Jesus Christ as the most Divine characteristics; otherwise the soul will wander far from heaven by aiming at a wrong standard of perfection, and following after a Deity which is only a creature of its own imagination.]

You shall not tempt the LORD your God, as you tempted him in Massah.

You shall not murmur against the dealings of the Divine Love and Wisdom with the soul, as prompted to do by evil in temptations.

You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you.

You shall diligently obey the will of Jehovah God both in your affections, your thoughts, and your daily life as far as it is revealed to you.

And you shall do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land which the LORD swore to your fathers.

And you shall do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord; that it may be well with you, and that you may be introduced into and have appropriated to you those heavenly states which are promised by the Lord in the Word to those who are in good,

To cast out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has spoken.

To cast out all the evils and falses from the interiors of your mind, according to the Divine will as perceived by the soul.

And when your son asks you in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgements, which the LORD our God has commanded you?

When the mind shall begin to inquire within itself in future states what is the will of the Divine Love and Wisdom for the soul (in the things that happen to it), as declared by the witness of the Word, its rules of life and its decisions when appealed to,

Then you shall say to your son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand:

Then shall the internal perception of the mind reply to the thought arising in externals, that all that was spiritual in the mind was in bondage to the natural principle in an unregenerate state; and the Lord has brought the soul out of an unregenerate state by the omnipotent power of His Providence:

And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:

And the Lord gave proofs and confirmations to the soul in its unregenerate state of an unmistakable character, and accompanied by severe temptations in the natural mind and all the affections and thoughts belonging thereto, as was clearly perceived by the spiritual man:

And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers.

And brought out the soul from its natural unregenerate condition, that He might lead it to interior things, and gift it with those heavenly states which are promised in the Word to those who are in good.

And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.

And all the revelations of the Divine will which are given to the soul are to enable it to fear to act against the Divine Love and Wisdom, and are entirely for its own good, that it may be preserved in spiritual life; as experience may convince it.

And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.

And this is the whole duty and wisdom of the regenerate, to strive to carry out into the life all the will of Jehovah God as far as revealed to it.

DEUTERONOMY 6 Other translations - previous - next - notes - discussion - Deuteronomy - BM Home - Full Page

Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgements, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land whither you go to possess it:	And the following are the instructions relating to life and to principles of action which the soul perceives from the Word to be in accordance with the Divine Love and Wisdom, and which perception is given in order that it may carry them out in those blessed states with which it is the Lord's desire to gift it:—
That you might fear the LORD your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, you, and your son, and your son's son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged.	That it may have a dread of in any way obstructing the Divine Love and Wisdom, and that it may walk in the ways taught by them, both in general principles and in each difficulty that arises, and that the interior will, and all the thoughts and intentions of the soul, and all things springing therefrom, may be entirely conformed to the Divine will in every state of life; and that thus heavenly states may be stored in the soul for the future life.
Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you, in the land that flows with milk and honey.	Let the regenerate, therefore, take heed to understand the will of the Lord, and to carry it out in the life; that it may be well with them, and that good and truth in their interior soul may be multiplied exceedingly (as promised by the Divine Love and Wisdom, which have led them in times past), and that they may be thereby brought to states abounding with celestial and spiritual good, and of felicity and delight derived therefrom.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:	Understand, all you who are regenerating, that the Lord Jehovah is ONE in person and essence (and it follows of necessity with a Christian that the Lord Jesus Christ it that Jehovah) (John 10:30). [Note.—To say the Lord our God is one Lord, and to think of two or three distinct Divine persons, seems rather like saying one thing with the lips and thinking another in the heart.]
And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.	And you shall love Jehovah God with all your will, with all your understanding, and with all your powers.
And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart:	And the perception of His will which is given you in this state, shall be the ruling principle of all your affections:
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 liest down, and when you risest up.	You shall diligently impress it upon all your thoughts and actions; you shall ruminate on it when you enterest into the inner chamber of your mind (the interior will), and when you are transacting the duties of life; and in your alternating states of obscurity and of elevation towards more interior good.
And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.	And you shall distinguish this commandment as chief above all others; it shall be manifest in all your works, and it shall be the centre of all your intelligence and wisdom.
And you shall write them upon the posts of your house, and on your gates.	And you shall inscribe it upon the truths agreeing with your inmost will, and upon all things introduced into the soul from the natural mind.
And it shall be, when the LORD your God shall have brought you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you great and goodly cities, which you buildedst not,	And it shall be when you shall have been brought by the Divine Love and Wisdom to that state which is promised in the Word to those who are in good, whether celestial, spiritual, or natural, derived from the Lord (see note, chap. i. verse 8), and when the mind is richly stored with comprehensive doctrines of truth not formulated by its own intelligence,
And houses full of all good things, which you filledst not, and wells dug, which you diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which you plantedst not; when you shall have eaten and be full;	And when the will is replenished with good, which is not from itself, and the understanding with wells of truth not explored out by yourself; and goods and truths which spring from celestial and spiritual states implanted in the soul by the Lord and not by yourself; when you have tasted all these things, and your soul is satisfied with good,
Then beware lest you forget the LORD, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.	Beware lest you forget the Lord in His Divine Humanity, which brought you forth out of a natural condition, in which all that is spiritual within the mind was kept in bondage by evils and falses.
You shall fear the LORD your God, and serve him, and shall swear by his name.	You shall exceedingly fear to act contrary to the will of Jehovah God, to Him shall be rendered all your service, and you shall endeavour to stamp His nature as revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ upon your life.
You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;	You shall not go after anything that will lead away from Him, or any of the falses infused by the external principles of the mind;
(For the LORD your God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and destroy you from off the face of the earth.	(For the Divine goodness and truth cannot exist within you in conjunction with evil and falsity), lest you shut out from yourself the influx of His goodness, and truth, and all that is of heaven within you perish from the interiors of your mind. [Note (verses 14, 15).—The soul's conception of God forms the keystone of the religious character, and gives a colouring to all else, because it is the ideal after which the soul is itself consciously or unconsciously striving; hence the necessity of recognising the self-denying love, the desire to serve others at all costs, and the humility displayed in the Lord Jesus Christ as the most Divine characteristics; otherwise the soul will wander far from heaven by aiming at a wrong standard of perfection, and following after a Deity which is only a creature of its own imagination.]
You shall not tempt the LORD your God, as you tempted him in Massah.	You shall not murmur against the dealings of the Divine Love and Wisdom with the soul, as prompted to do by evil in temptations.
You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you.	You shall diligently obey the will of Jehovah God both in your affections, your thoughts, and your daily life as far as it is revealed to you.
And you shall do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land which the LORD swore to your fathers.	And you shall do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord; that it may be well with you, and that you may be introduced into and have appropriated to you those heavenly states which are promised by the Lord in the Word to those who are in good,
To cast out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has spoken.	To cast out all the evils and falses from the interiors of your mind, according to the Divine will as perceived by the soul.
And when your son asks you in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgements, which the LORD our God has commanded you?	When the mind shall begin to inquire within itself in future states what is the will of the Divine Love and Wisdom for the soul (in the things that happen to it), as declared by the witness of the Word, its rules of life and its decisions when appealed to,
Then you shall say to your son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand:	Then shall the internal perception of the mind reply to the thought arising in externals, that all that was spiritual in the mind was in bondage to the natural principle in an unregenerate state; and the Lord has brought the soul out of an unregenerate state by the omnipotent power of His Providence:
And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:	And the Lord gave proofs and confirmations to the soul in its unregenerate state of an unmistakable character, and accompanied by severe temptations in the natural mind and all the affections and thoughts belonging thereto, as was clearly perceived by the spiritual man:
And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers.	And brought out the soul from its natural unregenerate condition, that He might lead it to interior things, and gift it with those heavenly states which are promised in the Word to those who are in good.
And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.	And all the revelations of the Divine will which are given to the soul are to enable it to fear to act against the Divine Love and Wisdom, and are entirely for its own good, that it may be preserved in spiritual life; as experience may convince it.
And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.	And this is the whole duty and wisdom of the regenerate, to strive to carry out into the life all the will of Jehovah God as far as revealed to it.