F.E. Marsh :: 422. The New Home in Canaan

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DEUT. 6:3-15

“NO place like home!” is a refrain that finds an echo in most hearts. Rest and refreshment, comfort and company, are the characteristics of a true home.

1. The blessing of home. The home of the soul is the Lord Himself. When we are right with the Lord it is well with us. Mark the railway that may be made in the Bible in connection with the word “well.”
   • “Well with them” (Deu. 5:29).
   • “Well with you” (Deu. 5:33).
   • “Well with thee” (Deu. 6:3).
   • “Well with thee” (Deu. 6:18).
   See also the forerunners of this wellness-
   • “Keep” (Deu. 5:29).
   • “Walk” (Deu. 5:33).
   • “Observe” (Deu. 6:3).
   • “Do” (Deu. 6:18).
   The prodigal found all his trouble, want, and misery through getting away from home, and he found all the blessings of home when he came back to his father. The moral is this: if we want the blessings of home, we must keep at home (Psalm 91).
2. Provision in the home (Deu. 6:3). The land of Canaan was a land of plenty. As the Lord gave Israel plenty of earthly blessing, so He has given the believer the riches of His grace and glory. We are blest according to the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:7), supplied according to the riches in glory (Phil. 4:19), strengthened according to the riches of His glory for spiritual life (Eph. 3:16), and saved according to the riches of His mercy (Eph. 2:4). Mark the measure of the supply, not “out of” the riches of the Lord, as is often said, but “according” to the riches of His glory.
3. The head of the home. “The Lord our God is one Lord” (Deu. 6:4). These words denote the Lord’s supremacy, sovereignty, and strength, and because He is the one only Jehovah, He, therefore, claims the entire affection of the heart (Deu. 6:5). He will not allow any rival. Every Dagon must fall before the ark of His presence (1 Sam. 5), and the glory of every person must fade before the glory of Himself (Matt. 17:5-8).
4. The rules for the home (Deu. 6:6-9). The rules that God gave, were to be in the hearts of the Israelites; as Trapp says, “Bible men should get stamped in their heads and in their hearts, as David did (Psalm 119:11). Knowledge that swims in the head only, and sinks not down into the heart, does no more good than rain in the middle region doth, or than the unicorn’s horn in the unicorn’s head.” If the word of the Lord is photographed on the heart, it will give forth its impression in the life.
   Note, the mind is to observe (Deu. 6:3), the heart is to treasure up (Deu. 6:6), the tongue is to teach (Deu. 6:7), the conversation is to be saturated (Deu. 6:7), the walk is to be influenced by (Deu. 6:7), the hand is to be guided (Deu. 6:8), the eyes are to be directed (Deu. 6:8), the house is to be identified with (Deu. 6:9), and every attitude is to be controlled by (Deu. 6:7) the Word of the Lord.
5. Warning to the members of the home (Deu. 6:10-13). The children of Israel were warned not to “forget” the Lord, and charged to “fear,” “serve” and “swear by His name.” Trapp quaintly remarks, “Saturity oft breeds security, fulness, forgetfulness. The best, when full fed, are apt to wax wanton, and will be dipping their fingers in the devil’s sauce. The moon never suffers eclipse but at the full, and that by the earth’s interposition. The young mulets, when they have sucked, turn up their heels and kick at the dam. Should we with the fed hawk forget our Master? Or being full of God’s benefits, like the moon, be then most removed from the sun, from whom she hath all her light? (see Prov. 30:8-9). We are no sooner grown rich, but we are apt to utter that ugly word, ‘This I may thank myself for.’”
6. Remaining at home (Deu. 6:14-15). Israel was not permitted to go after other gods. The Lord was to be their portion. What a portion He is! We cannot be poor when we have Him. We must be poor without Him. What David said to Abiathar, “Abide thou with me, fear not; for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life; but with me thou shalt be in safeguard” (1 Sam. 22:23), the Lord says to us. Let us trust and obey, and all will be well.