Deuteronomy 11)

1: Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and keep His charge, and His ordinances, and His duties and punishments, and His commandments, always.

2: And know you all this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, His greatness, and (note the "ands", vv.2,3) His mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,
3: And His miracles, and His acts (cp. Ps. 103:7, as distinguished from His "ways" shown only to Moses), which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to all his land;
4: And what He did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how He made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord has caused them to perish unto this day (cp. Ex. 14:28);
5: And what He did to you in the wilderness (cp. Ex.15. Num. 32), until you all came into this place;
6: And what He did to Dathan and Abiram (cp. Num. 16), the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:
7: But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which He did.

8: Therefore shall you all keep all the commandments which I command you this day (see 6:1,25; 7:11),

that you all may be strong, and go in and possess the land, to which place you all are going over to possess it;
9: And that you all may prolong your days in the land (= on the ground), which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their seed, a land that flows with milk and honey.
10: For the land, to which place you go in to possess it, it is not as the land of Egypt (rain very rare in Egypt. Cp. Zech. 14:18), from which place you all came out, where you sowed your seed, and watered it with your foot (referring to the system of irrigation, by which the water was turned into channels by the foot), as a garden of herbs:
11: But the land, to which place you all are going to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinks continually water of the rain of heaven:
12: A land which the Lord your God cares for: the eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

13-21 (One of the Phylacteries. See 6:4-9)

13: And it shall come to pass, if you all shall listen diligently to My commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14: That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain (= "early rain" falling in the middle of October to January, preparing ground for seeds. First occurrence of these rains) and the latter rain (falling in March and April, bringing on the harvest. Cp. Lev. 26:3,4. Joel 2:23. Jer. 5:24. Zech. 10:1. James 5:7), that you may gather in your corn, and your wine (= new wine, Heb. têrôsh), and your oil. (Love God, and He will bless you. The former rain allows seeds to germinate and grow into plants. The latter rain allows the plant to mature and produce fruit. Do things God's way, and you will always have plenty.)
15: And I will send grass in your fields for your cattle, that you may eat and be full.
16: Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and you all turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; (Notice there are conditions to receive God's blessings. Allow yourself to be pulled away to other god's and see how much rain you get.)
17: And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and He shut up the heaven (the power of the Creator thus manifested. Cp. 1 Kings 8:35. Jas. 5:17), that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest you all perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord gives you (= ground, Heb.'adamah).

18: Therefore shall you all lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul,

and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as front-lets between your eyes. (This refers to the practice of writing Scripture on sheets of paper and placing them in a box to be worn on the forehead. Make sure you bind the Word in your mind.)

19: And you all shall teach them your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. (Teach your children God's Word. Teach them about God's love for them. Teach your children that we receive God's blessings, when we love and serve Him.)

20: And you shall write them upon the door posts of your house (see Ex. 17:14), and upon your gates: (Place the power of God's Word over your life, and nothing evil we be able to enter in.)
21: That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth. (You can't claim the blessings, unless you meet the conditions. Don't ever overlook the "ifs". You must love and serve God.)

22: For if you all shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you this day (cp. the idiom of Luke 23:42), to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave to Him;
23: Then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and you all shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves. (With God's help, Israel was able was able to conquer mightier and more numerous nation. With God's help, we can conquer any enemy, including Satan.)
24: Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours (cp. Josh. 1:3-5; 23:5. Ex. 23:31): from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river (Heb. nâhâr, a flood, not nahal, a wady. Some codices read "great river"), the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.
25: There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that you all shall tread upon, as He has said to you. (The outcome isn't pleasant for those who don't do things Fathers way. Leviticus 26 also states that God can also make you run at the sound of a rustling leaf, and fall when no one pursues after you. The choice is yours.)

26-32. Blessings and Curses.

J  o  26. This day. The blessing and the curse.
    p  q  27. The blessing.
        r  28. The curse.
         s  29-. The place: "In the land."
    p  q  -29-. The blessing ((Gerizim).
        r  -29. The curse (Ebal).
         s  30,31. The place: "In the land."
   o  3. This day. Statutes and judgments.

26: Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

27: The blessing, if you all obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:

28: And the curse, if you all will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. (The choice is entirely up to you. You can have God's blessing or a curse. Why would anyone choose the latter?)

29: And it shall come to pass, when the Lord your God has brought you in unto the land to which place you go to possess it,

that you shall put the blessing upon mount Gerizim (= rocky, cut up. North of Shechem. Cp. Josh. 8:33,34 and see Deut. 27:12),

and the curse upon mount Ebal (= stone, bald, bare mountain [like the false rock Satan]. South of Shechem. Both mounts here named for the first time. Not mentioned after Judges).

30: Are they not on the other side of Jordan (these particulars connect this place with the rehearsing of the law to Abraham. Cp. Gen. 12:6), by the way where the sun goes down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the plain (Heb. ‘arabah. Cp. 1:1) over against Gilgal (= a wheel, enclosure. Not the Gilgal near Jericho), near the plains of Moreh? (hence 30 miles from Gilgal of Josh.5:9. Cp. Gen.12:6,7; 35:4)
31: For you all shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you all shall possess it, and dwell therein.

32: And you all shall observe to do all the ordinances and duties and punishments which I set before you this day.

Next page

Home