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If you are not familiar with the Shema it contained in Deuteronomy 6
4 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
It is a great confession of faith and commandment towards homeschooling (infact the title of R.C. Sproul Jr.'s Book When You Rise Up is derived from this passage) and I could probably write all day on the command for family worship contained within this passage, but that is not my intent today.
I was recently contemplating these great verses in light of other scripture recently and it got me thinking. I was thinking about verse 9 in particular when it said to "write them on the door posts" the them they are talking about are the 10 commandments as they are given in the previous chapter, so it is talking about God's Law. It is saying we should teach meditate upon God's law all teh day and we should be dilligent to teach God's law to our children, that makes sense, but why write them on the doorposts?
Until just recently I thought the purpose was to let people that enter your house know you are under God's law, and that very well could be one purpose, but upon furtehr reflection I have come to see it as so much more.
In Exodus 12 to denote the chosen people of God the Israelites are commanded to:
"22... take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you."
So inlight of this verse I have though that writing teh word of God on your doorposts are not just a means of demarking God's chosen people but is actually a symbol of Salvation.
Much like the people of Israel recieved salvation from the bondage of Israel that day through the blood of the lamb painted upon their doors as Christians we have recieved Salvation from the Bondage of Sin through the blood of Christ.
So if for the Israelites binding the law on their doorposts was a symbol not just that they are under the law but also that the law is represntative of thier salvation. What must we bind on our doorposts.
I would contend that it is the same Law the 10 commandments. And I would contend that while it is not necessary to physically have it posted to the gates and door posts of our house it does need to out front in the way we live our lives so it is evident to all who enter our homes that we are under the law of God.
I'm not talking about a strain of Pharistical legalism but endeavouring to keep God's commandments all 10 of them not just the ones we like, the ones that don't interfere with our day to day enjoyment of life but all 10 of them. And not just parts of all 10 but all 10 completely. So over the next few days or weeks I will examine each commandment in detail so that we can explore what is required of us.
Category: Family Worship
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