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FAIR Resources for Come, Follow Me – Restoration Scripture
Week 20: May 11 - 17: "Beware Lest Thou Forget the Lord"

Deuteronomy 6-8; 15; 18; 29-30; 34

Doctrinal Focus
Historical & Contextual
Apologetic Application
Practical Applications
Ideas for Teaching
Quick Reference

Doctrinal Focus

  • Key doctrines addressed in this week’s reading

Moses repeatedly warns Israel to “beware lest thou forget the Lord,” especially during times of prosperity and comfort (Deuteronomy 6:12; 8:11). Forgetting God is not merely a lapse of memory but a failure to recognize His hand in deliverance, provision, and guidance. When covenant people disconnect blessings from the Lord, pride and spiritual decline follow.

The Lord commands Israel to remember Him through obedience, gratitude, and reflection on past deliverance (Deuteronomy 8:2–3, 18). Remembrance is an active discipline—one that shapes humility, dependence on God, and continued covenant loyalty. Teaching learners how to remember the Lord helps them remain spiritually grounded in every season of life.

Deuteronomy emphasizes teaching children “diligently” and integrating gospel instruction into everyday life (Deuteronomy 6:6–7). Faith is preserved not only through formal instruction but through consistent conversation, modeling, and testimony. This doctrine highlights the sacred responsibility of families and faith communities in nurturing covenant identity.

When children ask about commandments, Israel is instructed to respond with testimony of deliverance and covenant history (Deuteronomy 6:20–23). Personal and collective remembrance transforms doctrine into a living witness. Teaching that includes testimony invites the Spirit and strengthens long-term faith retention.

The Lord presents Israel with a clear choice between life and death, blessings and curses (Deuteronomy 30:19). Obedience is not portrayed as coercive but invitational, grounded in love and trust in God’s wisdom. Choosing life reflects a willing commitment to walk in the Lord’s ways.

Through laws of compassion (Deuteronomy 15) and the promise of a prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15), the Lord shows His desire to guide and sustain His people. Even when Israel falters, the Lord invites repentance and renewal (Deuteronomy 30:1–10). This doctrine reassures learners that covenant faithfulness is supported by divine help, not human perfection.

Historical & Contextual Insights

  • Insights in this week’s study
  • The book of Deuteronomy records Moses’s final addresses to the Israelites as they camp on the plains of Moab, just east of the Jordan River, shortly before entering the promised land.

Israel is transitioning from a nomadic wilderness existence to a settled life in Canaan. A new generation has arisen—many of whom did not personally experience the Exodus or Sinai—and Moses restates the law, rehearses covenant history, and warns of spiritual dangers associated with prosperity, forgetfulness, and assimilation into surrounding cultures.

  • This moment represents a covenant crossroads. Israel must choose whether to remain faithful to the Lord without Moses’s leadership and amid abundance rather than scarcity. The repetition and urgency of Moses’s words reflect the real risk that comfort and stability could erode dependence on God.
  • Like Israel, we often face our greatest spiritual tests not during hardship but during ease and success. These chapters teach that remembering the Lord and intentionally living covenant principles are essential to enduring faith in every generation.
  • In Deuteronomy, Moses repeatedly warns Israel to “beware lest thou forget the Lord,” particularly when they are full, prosperous, and securely settled. Forgetting is not framed as open defiance but as neglect—failing to remember God’s role in deliverance, provision, and identity. This insight helps learners understand that spiritual decline often begins subtly, through inattention rather than overt sin.
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  • Moses connects forgetfulness with prosperity, noting that when Israel’s needs are met, gratitude and humility can fade (Deuteronomy 8:11–14). This pattern underscores why remembrance must be deliberate rather than assumed.
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  • The Lord counters forgetfulness by commanding visible, repetitive reminders—words on hands, doors, and daily conversations (Deuteronomy 6:6–9). These practices transform memory into a lived, embodied covenant identity.
  • Deuteronomy places extraordinary emphasis on parents and covenant members actively teaching children—not only commandments but the story of God’s saving power. The expectation is that faith will not automatically transfer; it must be intentionally preserved through testimony, explanation, and example. This reflects an intergenerational covenant model rather than an individual one.
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  • Children’s questions (“What mean the testimonies…?”) are anticipated and welcomed as teaching moments (Deuteronomy 6:20). This shows that inquiry is not a threat to faith but an opportunity to strengthen it through shared testimony.
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  • The responsibility to teach is embedded in ordinary life—walking, sitting, rising—not limited to formal worship settings. This helps modern learners see the home as a primary place of spiritual formation, aligned with Teaching in the Savior’s Way.

If you have questions on this week’s reading, please email your questions to us here.

Apologetic Application

  1. Claim: “Deuteronomy portrays obedience as coercive, based on curses and punishment.”
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  3. Response:
  4. Historical Evidence: In the ancient Near East, covenant treaties commonly included blessings and curses to clarify consequences of loyalty or rebellion. Deuteronomy follows this familiar structure but uniquely roots obedience in love, memory, and relationship rather than domination (see Deuteronomy 6:4–5; 30:15–20).
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  6. Eyewitness Support: Moses speaks as a firsthand witness of God’s mercy, deliverance, and patience with Israel over forty years. His repeated appeals are pastoral and urgent, not tyrannical, reflecting concern for Israel’s long-term spiritual survival.
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  8. Spiritual Confirmation: Readers consistently find that obedience motivated by love for God brings peace, clarity, and spiritual stability. The Spirit confirms that God’s commandments are invitations to life, not instruments of fear.
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  10. Logical Analysis: Consequences do not negate love; they define reality. A God who clearly explains outcomes respects moral agency and treats His people as accountable partners rather than passive subjects.
  • Claim: “Deuteronomy promotes blind tradition passed down without question.”
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  • Response:
  • Historical Evidence: Deuteronomy anticipates children asking why commandments exist (Deuteronomy 6:20), which is unusual in ancient legal texts. Rather than suppressing questions, the law invites explanations grounded in history and testimony.
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  • Eyewitness Support: Parents are instructed to teach from lived experience—what God did for Israel—not abstract ideology. This approach anchors belief in shared memory rather than coercion.
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  • Spiritual Confirmation: Teaching that includes testimony and personal witness invites the Spirit, who confirms truth in ways that deepen understanding rather than replace thought.
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  • Logical Analysis: All worldviews transmit values to children; the question is whether those values are open to explanation and reflection. Deuteronomy models transparent, reasoned faith rooted in history, not enforced conformity.
  • Claim: “Moses’s warnings are self-serving and designed to maintain power.”
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  • Response:
  • Historical Evidence: Deuteronomy is delivered when Moses knows he will not enter the promised land and will soon die (Deuteronomy 34). He gains no political or personal advantage from these teachings.
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  • Eyewitness Support: Moses openly recounts Israel’s failures—including his own—and points the people forward to future prophets rather than to himself (Deuteronomy 18:15–19).
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  • Spiritual Confirmation: True prophetic messages invite repentance, humility, and reliance on God—not allegiance to the messenger. Readers can seek personal confirmation of prophetic truth through prayer.
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  • Logical Analysis: A leader seeking control typically consolidates authority; Moses does the opposite by decentralizing leadership and emphasizing individual accountability before God.

Practical Applications

Practical solutions for someone in faith crisis:

Action Step: Establish daily reminders that acknowledge God’s hand in your life (gratitude, prayer, or scripture marking).

Moses teaches that forgetting the Lord often happens during times of comfort and success. Intentional remembrance builds humility and protects against spiritual drift by keeping God’s role in our blessings clearly in view.

  1. – Begin or end each day by writing one specific way you saw the Lord’s help.
  2. – Choose a verse from Deuteronomy 6 or 8 and revisit it throughout the week.
  3. – Use physical or digital reminders (notes, alarms, or scripture cards) to prompt gratitude.

Encouraging Thought:

“Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18). Remembering invites both gratitude and trust.

Action Step: Create natural, consistent moments to share testimony and gospel insights with those you influence.

Deuteronomy emphasizes that faith is preserved through daily conversation, not occasional instruction. Teaching in ordinary moments helps belief become woven into identity rather than treated as a separate activity.

  1. – Look for natural questions or experiences that invite gospel discussion.
  2. – Share a brief personal testimony tied to lived experience.
  3. – Encourage questions and respond with patience and honesty.

Encouraging Thought:

“Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children” (Deuteronomy 6:7). Faith grows best where it is spoken naturally and often.

  • Action Step: Consciously align one decision each day with God’s commandments and values.

The Lord frames obedience as a choice between life and death—not merely rules, but direction and purpose. Daily choices reinforce spiritual identity and strengthen long-term commitment.

  1. – Identify one decision you face today that has moral or spiritual weight.
  2. – Ask, “Which choice leads me closer to God?”
  3. – Act with faith, trusting that blessings often follow obedience over time.

Encouraging Thought:

  • “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19). Choosing God is always choosing life.

Ideas for Teaching

Objective: Help learners recognize how intentional remembrance of the Lord protects faith during times of comfort and success.

Scriptures, small slips of paper or index cards, pens.

Activity Steps:

  1. Introduction (5 min): Ask learners to briefly list things they do to remember important dates or responsibilities. Discuss why reminders are necessary even for things that matter deeply.
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  3. Scripture Discussion (5 min): Read Deuteronomy 8:11–18 together and identify the specific dangers Moses warns about. Invite learners to mark phrases that connect prosperity with forgetfulness.
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  5. Application (5 min): Have each learner write one personal “reminder” they could use this week to remember the Lord. Invite a few to share ideas if appropriate.

Follow-Up Question: What practical reminders help you remember God most consistently in your daily life?

Objective: Encourage learners to see everyday moments as powerful opportunities to teach and testify of gospel truths.

Scriptures, whiteboard or paper.

Activity Steps:

Introduction (5 min): Ask: “Where do the most meaningful conversations in your life usually happen?” List responses and note how few occur in formal settings.

Scripture Discussion (5 min): Read Deuteronomy 6:6–7, 20–23 and discuss what these verses teach about how and when faith is taught. Emphasize ordinary, daily settings.

Application (5 min): Invite learners to think of one natural setting this week where they could share a gospel insight or testimony. Have them write it down as a quiet commitment.

Follow-Up Question: How can sharing faith in simple moments feel more authentic than formal teaching?

Objective: Help learners understand obedience as a daily, loving choice rather than a checklist of rules.

Scriptures, board or paper.

Activity Steps: 

Introduction (5 min): Present two everyday choices (e.g., instant comfort vs. long-term good). Briefly discuss how choices shape outcomes.

Scripture Discussion (5 min): Read Deuteronomy 30:15–20 and identify what the Lord associates with “life” and “death.” Discuss why God frames commandments as a choice.

Application (5 min): Invite learners to silently identify one decision they face this week and consider which option reflects “choosing life.”

Follow-Up Question: How does viewing obedience as a choice change the way you approach commandments?

QUICK REFERENCE

Prophets guide God’s people by pointing them to the Lord and His covenant.
 (Deuteronomy 18:15–19; 34:10–12)

  • Why trust modern prophets?
  • Deuteronomy teaches that God consistently leads His covenant people through prophets (Deuteronomy 18:15–19). Prophets do not replace personal agency or revelation; they clarify doctrine, warn of spiritual danger, and invite repentance. Modern prophets fulfill the same divine pattern—calling people to remember the Lord and remain faithful amid changing circumstances.
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  • Why does God allow mistakes?
  • Deuteronomy shows that God works through imperfect people while holding them accountable. Covenant history includes failure, correction, repentance, and renewal (Deuteronomy 30:1–3). God allows human weakness to preserve agency, teach humility, and keep faith centered on Him rather than on flawless individuals.
  • Gospel Topics: “Prophets” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org)

     

Gospel Topics: “Agency and Accountability” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org)