Deuteronomy 6:24
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 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.
God commanded Israel after rescuing them from slavery in Egypt to revere Him and keep all His statutes, the Ten Commandments including the Sabbath written by His own finger to bind all people in all ages, with a godly reverent fear ever kept before the mind. When children asked what these testimonies and judgments meant, parents were to repeat the history of His gracious deliverance and care and teach the commands from generation to generation as a people set apart for Him. The commandments were given for their good always, not as a burden, so that obedience would preserve them alive in physical, mental, and moral health and happiness, put them in harmony with God, and build a wall of defense against sin, lawlessness, and Satan's deceptions. Keeping all these commandments before God is counted as their righteousness, and because they give life they endure through time and eternity to bring the obedient into His kingdom and presence. Therefore the chapter is to be studied now while character is investigated before the final judgment, taught faithfully in the family and the pulpit from earliest childhood, and met by giving God the heart and delighting to do His will.
Words and Historical Setting
The statutes commanded are the Ten Commandments, the expression of God's will written with God's finger on tables of stone, never to be changed or erased, binding upon all people in all ages and countries. The law of ten commandments of which the Sabbath forms a part was commanded as a blessing for the benefit of mankind, for lasting good and preservation of life alive.
The fear commanded is not a servile fear but a godly, reverent fear. That fear of the Lord is to be kept ever before the mind and ever before His people.
The command was given to Israel as part of what was required of His ancient people in Deuteronomy 4-8, that they might be a holy people unto Himself. It belonged to the people God had rescued from slavery in Egypt and was bringing toward the land promised to their ancestors, connecting obedience and reverence with the life and well-being they experienced after He brought them out. Israel were in a special sense the guardians and keepers of God's law, so the significance of its precepts and the importance of obedience were to be impressed upon them. Obedience to His specified statutes brought blessing and prosperity.
When children asked what the testimonies and statutes and judgments meant, parents were to repeat the history of God's gracious dealings with them, how the Lord had wrought for their deliverance from slavery in Egypt that they might obey His law, and His continued care by which He kept them alive. The commands were to be taught to children from generation to generation together with that account of deliverance and care, declaring that the commandments were given for continual good always and preservation of life. In that teaching children were to be given the reasons for their faith and for their calling as a people set apart for God.
Goodness, Life, and Righteousness
The command was given for lasting good always, and the statutes are not a burden nor opposed to human welfare. Directions from God are to be observed carefully rather than dismissed as unimportant. Obedience to His specified statutes brings the richest blessings, prosperity, and positive assurance.
Obedience was meant to preserve the people alive. The statutes included instruction essential to physical as well as moral health and hygiene, and were intended to protect physical, mental, and moral health and to keep Israel in a happy, healthful state. Disobedience of God's law brings certain death.
Obedience puts people in harmony with God and brings His working for their highest good. It builds a wall of defense around them and shuts out the sins that curse the world. It gives life, happiness, health, and joy in this life and the life to come, with temperance, industry, economy, avoidance of evil, and preservation of virtue. Keeping its laws protects created beings from war, sin, strife, oppression, murder, theft, and other crimes, and guides so as not to be led astray by Satan's deceptive plottings, while rejecting the law leads to lawlessness.
Because they give life, the commandments endure through all time and eternity and bring obedient people into the kingdom of God into the presence of God and His holy angels. The following verse adds that keeping all these commandments before God is counted as the people's righteousness before Him. Together the two verses present revering God and keeping His statutes as serving to preserve life, with obedience as righteousness.
Studying and Teaching Today
The whole chapter stands as a lesson to be studied, and the verse with its setting is to be studied and read with profit now. The reason is that the day of God's great final review is near, when the people of this world 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. The command stands written for admonition upon those on whom the ends of the world are come, and therefore requires earnest heed.
The law is to be the means of education in the family. Parents are under most solemn obligation to understand the instruction, to walk in all the commandments, and to set their children an example of strictest integrity. They are to teach the precepts faithfully to their children from their earliest years, to teach them to fear the Lord and learn Scripture, and to speak to them words that give correct impressions of the Lord's dealings with His chosen people. They are to allow their little ones to do nothing in disregard of God's plain commandments, to impress on their minds that in obedience there is life, health, and happiness, and to require obedience from them. Neglecting God's plan in the family brings loss of blessing and leaves parents accountable for their children's wrongdoing, while keeping God's instruction is wisdom and understanding.
Ministers are to teach the command in the pulpit, and parents are to teach it to children from their earliest years in the home. Men in responsible positions of far-reaching influence are to guard well their ways and works. Those who hearken diligently to God's voice and cheerfully keep His commandments will be among those who see God. Delighting to do God's will with every entrusted power in His service is the way to be treated as righteous for Christ's sake and to have evidence of acceptance by God.
The proper response is agreement to give God the heart and to study His light and teaching so as not to depart from them.