Deuteronomy 11:1-32

Deuteronomy: God’s Law of Love

Love and Obey the *LORD your God

Deuteronomy

Philip Smith

Chapter 11

v1 ‘Therefore, love the *LORD your God. Always *keep his instructions, his rules and his *commandments. v2 Remember today the *LORD’s discipline. Your children did not see or have an experience of it. They did not see how great the *LORD is. They did not see his power v3 and his wonderful acts in Egypt. They did not see what he did to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his whole country. v4 They did not see how God completely defeated the *Egyptian army with its horses and its carts for war. They were chasing you. But the *LORD drowned them in the Red Sea. v5 Your children did not see what he did for you all the way through the *desert. v6 They did not see what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, from the *tribe of Reuben. The earth opened up and it swallowed them. It took their families, their tents and every living thing that belonged to them. All the *Israelites there saw it. v7 You saw all the great things that the *LORD has done.

v8 Therefore you must *keep all the *commandments that I order you today. Then you will be strong. You will go in and you will possess the country. You will go across the River Jordan in order to possess the country. v9 Then you will live there for a long time. The *LORD promised to your *ancestors that he would give it to them and to their *descendants. It would be a country with plenty to eat and drink.’

This chapter shows that *Israelites had a choice. Either they could obey God or they could refuse to obey him. Moses asked each *Israelite to obey God. God promised to the *Israelites a good country with plenty of crops. But they had to obey his *commandments.

This is what 1 John 5:3 says. ‘To love God means to obey his *commandments. His *commandments are not too difficult for us.’

Moses was talking to all the *Israelites. Many of them were less than 20 years old when they left Egypt. There were also the children who had been born in the *desert. Moses reminded them all how they had left Egypt. Often they had not obeyed God. So Moses reminded them what had happened as a result. Dathan, Abiram and Korah opposed Moses. Numbers chapter 16 describes what happened to those 3 men. When they refused God’s leader, they refused God himself.

People refuse God when they refuse Jesus. They might not realise that. Hebrews 12:25 says this. ‘Do not refuse the Person who speaks.’

v10 ‘The country that you will possess is not like Egypt. When you lived in Egypt, you sowed seeds in the fields. Then you had to dig channels to water them. v11 The country where you will go in order to possess it has mountains and valleys. It gets water from rain that comes from the sky. v12 The *LORD your God looks after it. The *LORD your God constantly watches it during the whole year.

v13 So obey the *commandments that I order you today. Love the *LORD your God. Serve him completely. v14 If you do, he will send rain on your land in the autumn and in the spring. So, you will have grain, wine and oil. v15 There will be grass in your fields for your *cattle. You will have enough to eat and you will be full.

v16 Do not let anything or anybody persuade you to leave the *LORD. You might serve and give honour to false gods. v17 Then, the *LORD will be angry. He will stop the rain and the crops will not grow. Then you will die very soon in the good country that the *LORD has given to you.’

Moses compared Egypt to the country that God had promised to the *Israelites. In Egypt, people had to get water from the river Nile to water their crops. They dug channels that took water from the river. These channels led water to their fields. They used their feet to send water to different fields. If people dug channels for water, they would get good crops. In their new country, the *Israelites had to depend on God for the rains. If they obeyed him, the rains would come. In autumn, it rained in October. And in spring, it rained in April. Then they would have good crops. The rain in October helped the farmers to plough the land. The rain in April helped the crops to grow. If it did not rain, the crops would not grow. Then there would be no food. The people did not follow God when Elijah was alive. As a result, there was very little food for three years.

God does not always *bless us when we obey him. Sometimes we have troubles because we trust Jesus. But we should thank God when he does *bless us. Jesus said this. ‘The *kingdom of God and his right ways must be the most important things to you. If you do that, he will provide you with all other things.’ (See Matthew 6:33.)

v18 ‘Always think about these words and remember them. Tie them on your arms. Wear them on the front of your heads to remind you. v19 Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you sit at home. Talk about them when you walk along the road. Talk about them when you lie down. And talk about them when you rise up. v20 Write them on the sides of the doors of your houses. Write them on your gates. v21 Then you and your children will live for a long time in the country. The *LORD promised to give the country to your *ancestors. You will live there as long as there is a sky above the earth.

v22 Carefully *keep all the *commandments that I have ordered you to *keep. Love the *LORD your God. Do what he asks you to do. Be loyal to him. v23 If you do those things, then the *LORD will force out all those nations ahead of you. You will force out nations that are greater and more powerful than you. v24 You will own all the ground on which you walk. Your territory will be from the *desert to the country called Lebanon. It will be from the River Euphrates to the western sea. v25 Nobody will be able to stop you. Wherever you go, the *LORD your God will make the people to be very afraid of you. He has promised that.’

Moses repeated what he had said in chapter 6:6-9. The *Israelites must remember to obey God’s words. If they were loyal to God’s *covenant, they would possess the country for always. God would force out all the other nations. The southern border of this country would be the *desert at Sinai. Its northern border would be the mountains in Lebanon. Its border on the east would be the River Euphrates. Its western border would be the Mediterranean Sea. The *Israelites possessed this area of land only when David was king. They did not do so before or after that time.

v26 ‘Today I am giving to you the choice between a *blessing and a *curse. v27 Obey the *commandments of the *LORD your God that I ordered you today. Then you will have a *blessing. v28 Perhaps you will not obey the *commandments of the *LORD your God. Perhaps you will *worship false gods whom you have not *worshipped before. If you do that, you will have a *curse. v29 The *LORD your God will bring you into the country that you will possess. When he does that, you must announce the *blessing from *Mount Gerizim. Then you will announce the *curse from *Mount Ebal. v30 Those mountains are across the River Jordan. They are on the west of the road near the great trees of Moreh. This is in the territory that belongs to the *Canaanites. They live in the Jordan valley near Gilgal. v31 You will soon go across the River Jordan. And you will enter and possess the country. The *LORD your God is giving it to you. You will *capture it and you will live there. v32 Make sure that you obey me. You must obey all the rules and the laws that I am giving to you today.’

The *Israelites had a choice. They could serve the *Lord. Or they could serve false gods that they had not known. The result of their choice would be either a *blessing or a *curse. *Mount Gerizim was on the south side and so it was the place of *blessing. The two hills were in the centre of the country.

Today people can choose. They can have the wonderful heavenly life that God gives. It starts now and it never stops. Christ gives it to them. But if they refuse Christ, God will be angry with them for always. John 3:18 says this. ‘God will not decide to punish anyone who believes the Son. But God has already decided that he must punish some people. Some people refuse to believe who his one and only Son is. God must punish anyone who refuses to believe that.’

Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the word ‘Adonai’ in the Hebrew language, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It is the Covenant name for God. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has always been here.

covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
keep ~ to do whatever you should do because of a promise or a law; to respect and to give honour to the law.
commandment ~ a rule or a command that God gave to the Jews; the 10 rules that God gave to Moses. That was on the mountain called Mount Sinai (or Horeb); a command from someone who has authority.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Mount ~ mountain. For example, ‘Mount Sinai’ means the mountain called Sinai.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Egyptian ~ someone from the country called Egypt; anything with a relationship with Egypt. The Israelites were *slaves in Egypt before God freed them.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
desert ~ a wild place where there are small bushes and not much water. It has poor soil and people cannot grow crops there. So, not many people live there.
tribe ~ a group of people from the same race, who all came from one person. The tribes of *Israel were the 12 large families of Jacob’s sons.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
ancestors ~ people in your family who lived before you.
descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
cattle ~ cows and bulls.

bull ~ male farm animal; (the female is called a cow). The Israelites made a metal image of a bull, which they worshipped as an idol.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a sacrifice.

idol ~ an image of a false god that people give honour to; an object of wood, stone or metal that people worship.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
kingdom ~ a country or a nation that a king or a queen rules; the kingdom of God (or heaven) means the people whom God rules.
covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
blessing ~ a good thing that God does for us; when someone asks God to do good things for a person or for people; when a person speaks good words about someone.
curse ~ the opposite of a blessing; bad things that God will do to people because they have been wicked; to say that God will curse someone.

blessing ~ a good thing that God does for us; when someone asks God to do good things for a person or for people; when a person speaks good words about someone.
worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a sacrifice.

sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.
Mount ~ mountain. For example, ‘Mount Sinai’ means the mountain called Sinai.
Canaanites ~ the people who originally lived in the country called Canaan.
capture ~ to take something and to keep it; to take people and to make them prisoners.
Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the word ‘Adonai’ in the Hebrew language, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It is the Covenant name for God. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has always been here.

covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.