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Deuteronomy 6:3

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it - Literally, Ye shall hear, O Israel, and thou shalt keep to do them.

  1. God is to be heard; no obligation without law to found it on, and no law in religion but from God.
  • The commandment must be understood in order to be obeyed.
  • It must be observed - attentively considered, in order to be understood. And,
  • It must be performed, that the end for which it was given may be accomplished, viz., that God may be glorified, and that it may be well with the people.
  • What is here spoken applies powerfully to every part of the moral law; God has given it as a rule of life, therefore obedience to it is indispensably necessary, not to the purchase of salvation, for no human merit can ever extend to that, but it is the way by which both the justice and mercy of God choose to conduct men to heaven. But let it be fully understood that no man can walk in the way of obedience but by and under the influence of the grace of God.

    Albert Barnes
    Notes on the Whole Bible

    In the land - Better: According as the Lord the God of thy fathers promised thee a land flowing with milk and honey.

    Matthew Henry
    Concise Bible Commentary
    In this and the like passages, the "commandments" seem to denote the moral law, the "statues" the ceremonial law, and the "judgments" the law by which the judges decided. Moses taught the people all that, and that only, which God commanded him to teach. Thus Christ's ministers are to teach his churches all he has commanded, neither more nor less, Mt 28:20. The fear of God in the heart will be the most powerful principle of obedience. It is highly desirable that not we only, but our children, and our children's children, may fear the Lord. Religion and righteousness advance and secure the prosperity of any people.
    Ellen G. White
    Reflecting Christ, 61.3

    In all His lessons, Christ sought to impress upon the minds and hearts of His hearers the principles which underlie His great standard of righteousness. He taught them that if they would keep God's commandments, love for God and for their fellow men must be manifested in their daily life. He sought to instill into their hearts the love He felt for humanity. Thus He sowed the seeds of truth, the fruits of which will produce a rich harvest of holiness and beauty of character. The holy influence will not only be far-reaching while time shall last, but its results will be felt throughout eternity. It will sanctify the actions, and have a purifying influence wherever it exists. RC 61.3

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    Ellen G. White
    Prophets and Kings, 135

    Israel had had abundant occasion for rejoicing. The land to which the Lord had brought them was a land flowing with milk and honey. During the wilderness wandering, God had assured them that He was guiding them to a country where they need never suffer for lack of rain. “The land, whither thou goest in to possess it,” He had told them, “is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: but the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: a land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.” PK 135.3

    The promise of abundance of rain had been given on condition of obedience. “It shall come to pass,” the Lord had declared, “if ye shall hearken diligently unto My commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. PK 135.4

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