The descendants of Abraham were gathered east of the Jordan, standing on the threshold of the promised land, preparing to enter that land after 40 years of wandering in the desert. Not one person who had left Egypt as an adult, save for Moses, Caleb, and Joshua, remained alive.

The throngs of people standing around Moses had left Egypt as little children, or had been born during the 40 years of desert wanderings. Before they entered the promised land, Moses wanted to be sure of one thing -- that they would remember what God had done for them, and would teach their own children about how God delivered them. Moses wanted to make certain that the next generation would not be ignorant of the God who had done so much for their parents and grandparents. Moses wanted to be sure that they would know what it meant to be God's own people, and what it meant that they had been set apart to be a holy people for God's special possession.

Moses turns slowly in a circle, surveying the crowds of Hebrews, those whom God entrusted to him to teach them about God's covenant, God's commandments which were to guide their every act. He knows that this is the last address he will ever give to the people, for he will soon die. He opens his mouth and shouts:

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

Do not forget God! Do not get so occupied with your new houses and fields and happiness that you forget the God who gave you these gifts! Do not forget the Giver or the debt of obedience and loyalty that you owe Him! And above all else, don't let your children fail to know the Giver. Don't let them miss out on the best gift of all gifts God has given -- God's own self.

Moses knows that doing the acts -- obeying the commandments and doing the rituals -- will not be enough. Perhaps the Hebrews would keep doing the commandments and would keep performing the rituals, but their children needed to understand why. So Moses prepared them for this:

When your children ask you in time to come, 'What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the LORD our God has commanded you?' then you shall say to your children, 'We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. The LORD displayed before our eyes great and awesome signs and wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his household. He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land that He promised on oath to our ancestors. Then the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our lasting good, so as to keep us alive, as is now the case.'"