Deuteronomy 6:15
(For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth. (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
The verse belongs to the divine instruction given through Moses in Deuteronomy 4-8 as Israel was about to enter Canaan, charging them to obey the commandments and not rebel so that they might be a holy people to the Lord, an instruction that came from Jesus Christ. It declares the Lord a jealous God among His people who requires exclusive fear, service and worship and forbids going after the gods of the surrounding peoples. Turning to those gods or offering divided worship kindles His anger to destroy the unfaithful from the land, from off the face of the earth.
The warning is set against forgetting the Lord who rescued Israel from Egypt, from the house of bondage. The danger was especially acute when brought into the promised land to enjoy great cities, houses, wells, vineyards and olive trees they did not build or plant, and eating and being full. Therefore His commandments, statutes and judgments must be kept in the heart until their principles are woven into life and character and become part of the very being, with a godly rather than servile fear. They are to be taught diligently to children from their earliest years when sitting, walking, lying down and rising, kept constantly before them as a sign on the hand and frontlets between the eyes to keep from every false way, written on the posts of houses and gates, and diligently kept without tempting Him as at Massah.
The chapter and its commands remain just as valid today as when given to Israel and must be carefully read, heeded, kept before the people and taught to children. The same sins warned against then lead modern Israel into misguided and forbidden paths, and the call to exclusive faithfulness applies to standing firm amid the Sunday-law issue. Its words are to be studied with profit now because the world is nearing the day of God's great final review when all must stand before the Judge of all the earth to answer for their deeds. The present is the time of investigation when every character will have been investigated and every case decided for eternity.