April 26th, 2026: Distinct and Obedient | Deuteronomy 6:3-9, Matthew 19:3-9

Hear.  Observe. And Do.  God’s instructions through Moses were to be heard, not just listened to, but attended to.  God’s commands were to be observed; seasons of time and family generations were to be measured by their keeping.  In obedience they were to “walk out” the holy practices that pointed to the heart of God and His purpose for His people.  Finally, they were to be done.  His people were to do what God commanded in obedience and then to live lives founded on  the patterns and precepts garnered from the examples God gave them.  Torah means instructions, the words God spoke through Moses, those first  books in our Bible are the schoolmaster that brings us into a right understanding of who Christ the Messiah would be and what authority perfection He would possess. They introduce His holiness, His heart, and His willingness to extend help to those who will put their trust in God.  Let the words of God’s law sink in and remind us of how good it is to know Him.

Deuteronomy 6:3-9

3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.

Listen, carefully, so that you will have a benefit.  You will be blessed, mightily.  God had given them their own land, and that land was overflowing with goodness, but their blessings were based on the condition that they gave heed to the instructions of God.  As slaves in Egypt, they were powerless to create their own nation.  God intervened and sent them a deliverer, and met their every need.  God protected them from their enemies, and taught them lessons they needed in the wilderness.  He had provided manna and water, even keeping their shoes from wearing out when they wandered for forty years as a result of disobedience.  

They were now standing on the edge of the Promised Land, a generation that God had chosen to bless, and He reminded them again.  “Hear.”  His intention was to give them every good thing, beyond what they could hope for or imagine.  The only limit, they would place upon themselves, through doubt and disobedience.

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:

The Godhead.  Three in one: Father, Spirit, Son.  In God there is no division, only perfect unity.  It is God’s desire, to have unity with his people.  Because we are in Christ, through the salvation of His blood, we are in unity with God positionally.  One day, we will be in perfect unity bodily, living in His kingdom with no sin to separate. Know this, God is not ever in conflict with Himself.  He is the same “yesterday, today, and forever.”  One of the best things about having the Bible is that it doesn’t need updating and revision.  God’s word, rightly understood and applied,  works in every time and in every circumstance. God’s character is stable and trustworthy.  The rules won’t be different tomorrow or a million years from now.  The practices of the law are fulfilled in Christ.  His word in the beginning still stands in the end.  The Lord our God is One Lord.

5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

If they, or you for that matter, read those words without conviction, you are missing the point.  If we are honest, we do not love God with a perfect love.  We love Him, but we have failed Him.  We love Him, but we’ve disobeyed Him.  We desire Him, but don’t put all of our time and effort into a closer relationship.  These words are to be our inspiration, they are to be our goal, and they will be fulfilled, through Christ, when we leave this world and enter his presence.  Paul said, “For the good that I would, I do not… But then he says, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  

What He asks is impossible, unless Christ Jesus does it through you.  

7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

How do you teach your children about God?  By prioritizing your own relationship with Him and walking it out daily in front of them.  “Diligence,” requires doing things on purpose and with discipline.  Our natural man does not line up with this command unless our sinful, selfish flesh is brought under God’s authority.  Home life is sweetest, when God is the head of your household.  You teach your children to eat good food to grow strong bodies, to keep clean habits to prevent illness.  Are you teaching them to put their trust in God and to listen carefully to His word and live by it?  It’s more important than the rest.  

8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

Jewish priests sometimes  literally wore the word of God printed on a small box on their foreheads and hands.  They also printed commands over their doorways.  God intends for it to be obvious that you belong to Him.  In our weakness, we need a vivid reminder- something that can’t be missed.  As part of the family of God, it should be manifest, clearly observed, that we belong to Christ.  Paul said, “It is no longer I that live, but Christ in me.”  We are the living, breathing body of Christ, and the world shouldn’t have to guess where our loyalties lie.  

Matthew 19: 3-9

3 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

They were looking for loopholes!  Far from teaching diligently and living in covenant relationships with God and their spouses, the “religious leaders” were looking for reasons to get out of what God had commanded them to do.  In addition, they were speaking with the law giver, having no respect for the authority He carried.  

In essence, the question is, “what are the reasons that legitimately free us from obeying God’s command?”  Christ answers as the Creator and Designer of all things, with the principles that God had in mind.  

4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,

5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Our relationship with God is intended to last for eternity.  Our marriages and families are to illustrate the concept of permanence, unity, and devotion.  Commitment to those vows and promises reflects God’s character and faithfulness.  We were made in His image, our lives should be patterned after His love.  

Some have experienced the death of a spouse or the pain of divorce.  It is so painful, because it is the tearing away of part of ourselves.  Marriage was designed to be a taste of what Heaven will be, to be understood, cherished, and loved.  It is designed to be the sharing of dreams, emotions, and purpose with each placing a higher value on the happiness of the other than on themselves.  That’s why its end is so devastating and disillusioning.  God designed gender and marriage.  His design is under attack from every direction in our day, and Satan attacks marriage from without and from within, but Christ can make us able to stay and able to experience what He intended if we surrender to Him.  

7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?

8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, something innocent died, and became a covering of sin for them to wear.  God designed them for freedom, but sin brought shame.  Our sin destroys God’s perfect design, but knowing our weakness, God has provided forgiveness.  God wants you to hear His heart, to obey His commands, and to apply His example to your homes and families, that was the plan from the beginning.  However, wherever you stand in this moment, God knows you and loves you, and sent His son to redeem you.  He is not only the Creator; He is the redeemer.  He’ll take what has been broken by sin and selfishness and remake it into a new creation.  

9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

Marriage is not man made, but God made.  He is the Creator and He sets the rules.  The designer sets the boundaries for what He has made.  He takes keeping  promises very seriously and insists that His people do the same.  Fornication is any sexual activity outside of marriage, both the Old and New Testament instructions from God forbid it.  The Bible also states, that “if the unbeliever departs, let him depart,”  meaning that a believer that has been abandoned by a spouse is not bound by another’s sin.  

Remember, it’s “better not to make a vow, than to make a vow and break it.”  Single people can serve God freely, married couples can serve God together, and those who have the scars of divorce and separation can be redeemed and used by God to help others be restored. 

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23).