Hear, O, Israel! But Forget The Tefillin and the Mezuzah!

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 is a beloved passage in Scripture for both Christians and Jews.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 (KJV)
⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
⁵ And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
⁶ And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
⁷ 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.

In a way, this passage is our statement of faith!

This is not surprising that the Jews believe this, since it is plainly addressed to Israel. However, Christians also accept this statement. Those in Replacement Theology believe that God is done with Israel, so therefore everything supposedly for Israel is now for the church, except that the Law has been fulfilled by Yeshua and is no longer applicable. This statement of faith, however, does apply. For the Dispensationalists, this is one of the few times that they will admit that the passage is for both Israel and the church, even though, again, the Law has been fulfilled and is no longer applicable.

The reason for Christians accepting this statement undoubtedly has to do with Yeshua's repetition of it in the New Testament.

Matthew 22:37 (KJV)
³⁷ Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Therefore, even though it is in the Old Testament, it is applicable to Christians. But why does the passage end with verse 7, when the topic of this statement of faith continues for at least two more verses? Let's look at those verses.

Deuteronomy 6:8-9 (KJV)
⁸ And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
⁹ And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

These verses contain commands from God Almighty. Can it be, that Christians will accept a statement of faith, but will stop at following the commands that result from that faith statement?

The reasoning is again that Yeshua has fulfilled the Law and any commands are over and done with. However, no Christian seriously believes that the commands against murder and theft are done away with even though Yeshua also fulfilled those commands. It is only those "Jewish ritual" type of commands that seem to be repugnant to the Christian.

Christians again would respond that Old Testament Law is applicable to Christians only if Yeshua repeated those commands. Therefore,  the commands against murder and theft are still in force.

Although Yeshua did not verbally repeat the commands to wear tefillin or to put up a mezuzah on one's doorpost, He would have worn tefillin in obedience to God's command and He would have lived in homes where mezuzahs were placed on the doorposts. To do any other would have disqualified Him from being the unblemished sacrifice for our sin. Why would we not want to emulate our Savior and God?

But what exactly are tefillin and mezuzahs? Stay tuned for next time! We'll also discuss the reasons for them.

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