The Lord Expands on the Commandments
The Book of Deuteronomy is the last book in the Old Testament written by Moses and in it the Prophet reviews instructions for the Children of Israel from the Lord. He talks about statutes and judgements and then gives promises if they are kept. He states first and foremost "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish it" the reason for this is simple so that "ye may keep the commandments". How can you keep the commandments if they change? He follows that with "Fear the Lord and keep His Commandments" so that your days may be prolonged. The logic of these two together is inescapable, but He follows with reasons, its not just 'do this because I said so as some would have you think'. By following these statutes and commandments He promises "that you may live, and go in and posses the land which the the Lord God of your fathers giveth you", "by cleaving to the statutes you will be known as a wise and understanding people". So following the commandment helps us not only to retain the promised land, but to be wise and understanding. That is a worthy goal.
One of the goals that we have is to let other people know of the truth, however one thing that happens sometimes is people end up falling in love and marrying people who don't share their beliefs. The Lord warns about this. Marrying outside of the covenant can bring conversion to other gods however as we are either enticed by the faith of our spouse or not given support in our own faith by our spouse. The Lord did more than warn against marriage outside the covenant for the Children of Israel, he prohibited it and gave the reason why at the same time. In Deuteronomy 7: 3-4 “ Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.” When you marry outside your religion it is harder to stay faithful to your beliefs, it is not impossible, but it is harder because depending on your position you have anywhere from less support to outright opposition. What you don’t have is your partner working with you to help you grow and understand and walk the path, something each and every child of God deserves. We must be joined in a covenant marriage to enter the Celestial Kingdom, a marriage must be bound in the Temple to last for eternity. If Satan can make us forget this then we think that marriage in the Temple and making our marriage work is not important.
When that marriage produces children we have even further responsibilities. "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" We have a responsibility to teach our children the word of God. The more we can teach them and not by rote, but teach them to love the Lord and love His word the better we are doing our job.
The Lord knew that to teach children the parents had to love the Word also. Its the same as if you want to raise a child who loves to read - they should see you reading. So what did He tell the Children? "And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." The Children of Israel ended up taking this command literally creating phylacteries and mezuzah. The phylacteries are tiny pieces of parchment with scripture written on them that are folded and put into leather boxes about 1 ½ inch square that are tied to the head or over the bicep. The mezuzah (Hebrew for doorpost) is similar except the scripture is inserted into a tiny, cylindrical box and attached to the door frame. They came into use when the children of Israel took the word of the Lord literally. Not taken literally you would take the word of the Lord into your mind and into your home, keeping in the front of your mind & keeping your house for the Lord.
After giving instructions to parents Moses goes on the relay the instructions about worship. Heavenly Father warns in clear and with no uncertain terms that we are not to worship anything or anyone but him. He goes even further to say that if anyone tries to entice us into doing so we are not to take pity on them and “neither shall you spare them” no matter if it be brother, sister, son, daughter or friend. Romans 1:25 elaborates on the foolishness of those who worship the things He created rather than the Creator changing the truth of God into a lie.
By reading His Word for ourselves we find out that the Lord has reasons for His rules - Keep the Commandments and grow wise, study the word and learn to love it that you may teach your children. There are reasons and promises for them all.
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