Deuteronomy 5:7 begins the ten commandments in Deuteronomy: “Thou shalt have none other gods before me.” There are at least two and maybe three stages before one arrives at that first command from God. One, God does a lot of good stuff for people. That first one could be divided into more than that one stage. He gave them mercy, He delivered them, and He blessed them physically in numerous ways. These are seen in the first four chapters of Deuteronomy, and in several other places in the Bible. A representation of these are seen, in essence a summation, in chapter 5 and verses 2 to 6:
2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. 4 The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire, 5 (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying, 6 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Reading those there, one can see at least:
- Our God — He possesses them and they Him.
- God made a covenant — He made promises to them that He always kept and would keep.
- With us, even us — He chose them out among many other people, and it could have been other people but it wasn’t.
- Alive this day — The very fact that they were alive was a testimony of multiple deliverances by God.
- The LORD talked with you face to face — God kept it personal with the people.
- I am the LORD thy God — He is the LORD their God; enough said.
- Brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage — He saved them from a very difficult situation, Egypt and bondage.
As an example of the repetition of these terms, read all of Psalm 136, and especially these verses (vv. 10-16):
10 To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever: 11 And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever: 12 With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever. 13 To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever: 14 And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever: 15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever. 16 To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever.
This is a review of a lot of good stuff from God for the same people. The assumption here is thanksgiving. Someone recognizes and acknowledges, has affection for, who God is and what He has done in comparison to as bad as it could have been. The reason these things keep getting mentioned in other places like Psalm 136 is spoken in the first few verses of Psalm 136:
1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 2 O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. 3 O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Thanksgiving could be stage two, if we wanted to give it a separate stage to make three stages. Some don’t get to thanksgiving after all that God has done. Unbelievers don’t (Romans 1:21).
Stage two is Hear or listen, which is in the first verse of chapter 5:
And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day.
Last, I’m saying is obeying God’s commands, which is the second half of verse one: “that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.” Other stages, important ones, could be inserted, namely learn and keep. I don’t want to devalue learning, but to keep it simple, the end is obey. However, for the purpose of this post, I’m parking on stage two, hear or listen, saying that stage one is thanksgiving for God’s provision.
“Hear” or “listen” is found at least 34 times in Deuteronomy. It’s a vital component of the overall message of the book. Proverbs 1:5 says, “A wise man will hear.” Then in Proverbs 1:8, “My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother.” Children, and in particular sons, hear the instruction of their father.
There is a relationship between hearing or listening and thanksgiving. Those saved on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 gladly received the Word of God. A justification for church attendance, besides praise and prayer, is listening to the preaching of the Word of God out of thanksgiving to God.
If children are thankful for their parents, they will listen to them. If they don’t listen, they aren’t thankful for them. The term, ingrate, comes to mind. Most likely they felt entitled for all the things they were given, a pride that leads to another pride of a stubborn refusal to listen to wisdom.
A humble Israel would with thanksgiving listen to the commands of God with the disposition to do them. The same God that gave them all these things had blessing embedded in the obedience to the commands. They were a better life with blessing built in and cursing with the disobedience. The same comes with godly parents who give and give and give to their children and then beg them to listen to and then obey godly instruction. In the obedience to that instruction is blessing, as a microcosm of the giving and giving and giving of God that deserves thanksgiving, hearing, and then obedience.
Those thankful to God listen to God.
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