All right, you can turn to Deuteronomy and to Byron, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, their households, their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession in the midst of all Israel.
Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 11
But your eyes have seen every great act of the Lord which he did. "'Therefore you shall keep every commandment "'which I command you today, "'that you may be strong and go in and possess the land "'which you cross over to possess, "'and that you may prolong your days in the land "'which the Lord swore to give to your fathers, "'to them and their descendants, "'a land flowing with milk and honey. "'For the land which you go to possess "'is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, "'where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot "'as a vegetable garden. But the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the Lord your God cares.
The eyes of the Lord your God are always on it from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year. And it shall be that if you earnestly obey my commandments, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season. the early rain and the latter rain that you may gather in your grain, your new wine and your oil. And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock that you may eat and be filled. Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them.
Lest the Lord's anger be aroused against you and he shut up the heavens so that there be no rain and the land yield no produce and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you. Therefore, you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up. and you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth. For if you carefully keep all these commandments, which I command you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him, then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves.
Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours, from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the Western Sea shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand against you. The Lord your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as he has said to you. Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse.
The blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today. and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known. Now it shall be, when the Lord your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, toward the setting sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the plain opposite Gilgal, beside the terebinth trees of Moreh? For you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and you will possess it and dwell in it.
And you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today. Amen.
Introduction
So several chapters along here in the book of Deuteronomy, and again, the constant and recurring emphasis and theme, and you see it very conspicuously in this chapter at verse one, you need to obey God. Verse eight, you need to obey God. Verse 13, verse 18, and again at verse 22. So the recurring emphasis is to make good on what they swore at the base of Sinai, in terms of all that the Lord has commanded we shall observe." They were in a covenant of works and blessing in the land is conditioned upon their obedience to God.
We know that they do ultimately enter into the land but eventually are vomited out by the land because of their rebellion and sin against God. So with reference to this particular chapter, again, very often along the way in these exhortations, God, through Moses, rehearses history and what the children of Israel had gone through, how God had demonstrated his faithfulness, how God had sustained and preserved them against their enemies, and how God was indeed faithful, therefore, to bring them to their destination in the promised land itself. So in the first section we see the works of God among the people of Israel in verses 1 to 7. The second section is the requirement of God for the people of Israel in verses 8 to 12.
And then the third section is the promise of blessing or curse for the people of Israel in verses 13 to 25. And the book is going to end at least this longest exhortation is going to end with an expanded and amplified version of curses and blessings predicated on the obedience or disobedience of the children of Israel. And interestingly, chapter 11 mentions these two mountains, Gerizim, the mountain of blessing, and Ebal, the mountain of cursing. And then again, you see it in chapter 27, the reference to those two mountains, Gerizim for blessing and Ebal for cursing.
So in between, you've got chapters 12 to 26, which take up the bulk of the commandment with reference to their obedience to God Almighty. So there's been lots of exhortations in terms of obedience with all your heart, with all your soul. There's a lot of emphasis on obeying the Lord and serving the Lord. But from 12 on and probably some exceptions along the way, there'll be a heavy emphasis on the law, how they are to obey or rather what they are supposed to obey in terms of the specific statutes and judgments and commandments that the Lord God had given them.
So
The Works of God in Israel's History
note first the works of God among the people of Israel in verses one to seven. Each of the sections starts off with a call to obey and then gives various illustrations or historical references as to why it is in fact the case that they must obey. So the command in verse one, therefore you shall love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his judgments and his commandments always. So we should expect that in an exhortation to covenant fidelity that we have in chapter five to 28.
And so the necessity of obedience is absolutely crucial. And now God points back to what he had done with reference to the children of Israel in the past.
The Exodus and God's Mighty Power
He refers to the Exodus in verses two to four. Notice he says, know today that I do not speak with your children, not that they are neglected, not that they are marginalized, but they were not privy to that particular time frame that he is referring to. He says, know today that I do not speak with your children who have not known and who have not seen the chastening of the Lord your God, his greatness and his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, his signs and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh, king of Egypt and to all his land, what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and their chariots, how he made the waters of the Red Sea overflow them as they pursued you and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day. So in just brief compass, he gives us basically the contents of the Book of Exodus with reference to the deliverance portion.
The Book of Exodus breaks down into three particular sections. Demand, chapters 1 to 19, God's requirement for the children of Israel. Deliverance, I'm sorry, deliverance rather, chapters 1 to 19. And then demand, chapters 20 to 24, God's command. and then dwelling chapter 25 to 40.
So in verses 2 to 4, he underscores the reality of the power of God demonstrated in the Exodus. And specifically there in verse 2, his greatness and his mighty hand and his outstretched arm. As well there in verse 2, he refers to the chastening of God. Now when we study the book of Numbers specifically we see the chastening of God, we see chastisement for sins and rebellion committed, we see judgment for that first generation that continued impenitent and disobedient to the Lord God, and as well that idea of chastening suggests to us what God had established with Old Covenant Israel.
In Exodus chapter 4 he refers to the children of Israel as his as his son, his firstborn son. So the way that a father sustains a relationship to a son is not to indulge the son, it's not to always allow the son to get away with murder, but rather it is to discipline and to chasten the son for the son's well-being. So when you look at the book of Numbers, and it seems at times as if all they're undergoing is chastening and hardship and difficulty and affliction, remember that's the way God deals with His Son. And I think the Apostle draws that particular analogy in Hebrews chapter 12, and he refers to the fact that if we are not disciplined by the Father, then we're illegitimate.
Whereas the old King James has it, we're bastards. If we don't know the chastening hand of God, it is the case that we are not in a loving relationship with God. And then the apostle there in Hebrews 12 appeals to the conduct of earthly fathers. Of course, earthly fathers, you know, chasten their sons.
They don't do it perfectly. They don't do it consistently. They don't do it always and obediently, but they do it because they know that foolishness is bound up in the heart of the child and that the rod of correction will drive it far from him. Well, God deals with us as a father deals with his son and Exodus tells us in Exodus chapter 4 that Israel is God's firstborn son.
I suggest that's the use of firstborn by the Apostle Paul in Colossians 1. not to sort of indicate the way the Jehovah's Witnesses teaches that He was the first among the creatures of God, but no, as the true Israel of God, He is the firstborn Son of God in His preeminence, in His majesty, and in His glory. And so,
God's Chastening as Fatherly Discipline
specifically, the chastening of the Lord is given here, and it's surrounded by references to His perfections, the greatness and the mighty hand and His outstretched arm. And then again, verses 3 and 4, his signs and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt. Consider the 10 plagues and the way that God brought liberty or deliverance to the children of Israel by breaking the back of Egyptian oppression. And then notice, going on in verse 4, what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and their chariots, how he made the waters of the Red Sea overflow them as they pursued you, and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day.
Remember that particular scene and the crushing of the Egyptian army by the waters that had been walled up by God such that the children of Israel could cross through there on dry land. But as soon as the Egyptians give chase and they're in the midst of that, God troubles them, their chariot wheels start to fall off, and then eventually the waters collapse and consume them. And then notice as well, he refers to the time in the wilderness, verse five, what he did for you in the wilderness until you came to this place. I know we've looked at it before, but if you look at Deuteronomy chapter one, we see that father-son relationship and a proper interpretation of what happens in the wilderness.
If you asked old covenant Israelites, what was life in the wilderness like, they would say it was miserable. We always had this longing to go back to Egypt. We always wanted to go back to where they gave us food. We wanted to go back to slavery because as slaves, we got the meals that they provided for us.
We'd rather be slaves getting free food than free men trusting in the living and true God, toughing it out for a time in the wilderness, but going to the land that flows with milk and honey. But notice in Deuteronomy 129, Then I said to you, do not be terrified or afraid of them. The Lord your God goes before you. He will fight for you according to all he did for you in Egypt before your eyes and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son and all the way that you went until you came to this place.
Yet for all that you did not believe the Lord your God who went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go in the fire by night and in the cloud by day. So back to chapter 11, when he refers to these things positively, there is certainly a negative undertone as well. And I think you see that in spades in the next reference to the rebellion under the sons of Korah, or by the sons of Korah. The rebellion of Korah against Aaron, and then Dathan and Abiram against Moses.
Now, this particular reference doesn't come up a whole lot. We haven't seen it yet in terms of Deuteronomy and the rehearsal of their covenantal history, but it's certainly a passage that bears great attention. The two lessons Israel needed desperately to internalize in order to comply with verse one are set forth in the Exodus, in the wilderness, but in the rebellion of Korah as well. God is absolutely holy.
And God does bring judgment upon those rebel sinners who abuse and desecrate his covenant law. And so that's the reference that you see in verse six and what he did to Dathan and to Byron, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, their household, their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession in the midst of all Israel. But your eyes have seen every great act of the Lord, which he did. Again, the reference there specifically to their rebellion and specifically to the judgment consequent upon that rebellion seems to indicate in this particular exhortation a bit of pressure or a bit, dare I say, of a negative edge.
Positively, God delivered you. The ones delivered didn't always trust, didn't always believe, and didn't always walk by faith. God sustained you in the wilderness. That's a blessed privilege and demonstrates the faithfulness of God.
Nevertheless, in the midst of that wilderness wandering, the people grumbled, they complained, they whined, they murmured, and God ultimately brought judgment upon that first generation. When he mentions the rebellion of Dathan and Abiram, he specifically indicating a judgment that transpired there in the wilderness. And
The Rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram
you can turn to Numbers chapter 16. As I said, it doesn't get a lot of airtime at this portion in the exhortation. Looking around, I don't know how many of you were here when we went through Numbers. No, it's a pretty new group.
So we did go through Numbers, and Numbers, by the way, is an excellent, excellent book in terms of showing us things like we find in Numbers chapter 16 in terms of rebellion. But the rebellion of Korah against Aaron, and then the rebellion of Dathan and Abiram against Moses. Now, some commentators suggest that chapter 16 reads a bit odd. They say that it was just kind of thrown together without any sort of an eye of an editor making sure that it made sense.
I don't think that's the case at all. I think you had two factions that represented a lot more people that rebelled specifically against Aaron and then against Moses. So notice in chapter 16. Now, when I say that, Aaron represents ecclesiology.
Aaron was the priest. Aaron represented the cult. Aaron represented our approach to God. Moses represented political power.
And so what you had in this uprising of the men named in chapter 16, again, they were representing several others. What we have is that there was an utter lack of confidence and a desire for usurpation of the leadership provided by Aaron and by Moses. So notice in number 16, 1. Now Korah, the son of Itzar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, And on the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men, and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown." So this wasn't, you know, some mob that was gathered behind Home Depot that were just discontents.
And these leaders said, come on, let's go launch this rebellion and try to better our lot. Now these were men of renown. These were leaders. These were representatives.
Again, the book of Numbers sets forth a pretty negative sort of a display of the faithlessness of the children of Israel. And as I mentioned, lots of chastisement, lots of judgment, lots of punishment. Lots of retributive justice along the way. And so probably the people of Israel thought, well, it's probably Moses and Aaron's fault.
If these guys would just get their act together and lead us more effectively, then all of these problems that we're facing and encountering in the wilderness would probably vanish. So notice in verse three, they gathered together against Moses and Aaron and said to them, you take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord? It's kind of interesting because if you remember the call of Moses into the service of God, Moses pretty much wanted to turn tail and run the other way.
Moses didn't offer himself up. In fact, Moses tried to argue himself out of the job. Moses was a pretty reluctant leader in Old Covenant Israel. And even prior in Numbers chapter 11, Moses prays, God, just kill me already.
I'm pretty well done. That's not typically the mindset of an egomaniac or of a political tyrant. It is usually the symptomatic of somebody that is weary in the particular work. And then notice in verse 4, so when Moses heard it, he fell on his face, probably meaning toward God, and he spoke to Korah and all his company saying, tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His and who is holy and will cause him to come near to Him.
The one whom He chooses, excuse me, that one whom He chooses, He will cause to come near to Him. Do this, take censers, Korah and all your company, put fire in them and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow. And it shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi." And now what Moses is going to do is upbraid Korah and say, Korah, you do have a privileged position.
You do have a particular job that is absolutely requisite and necessary, but it's almost as if that's not good enough for you, Cora. You are aspiring after the priesthood. You are aspiring after Aaron's job. Godly ambition, there's no problem with that. provided it's in strict confines of that which is lawful.
In this instance, it was unlawful. Then Moses said to Korah, here now, you sons of Levi, is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel to bring you near to himself to do the work of the tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to serve them? Again, privileged position, not sacrificing, not entering into the holy place, certainly not the high priest such that he could enter into the holy of holies, but nevertheless a pretty good job. And he goes on to say, and that he has brought you near to himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi with you.
And are you seeking the priesthood also? See, it wasn't enough. He wanted the priesthood. It wasn't enough to be in that particular position.
He craved more. He wanted Aaron's job, or at least one of the sons of Aaron, in terms of being a Levitical priest. And then notice verse 11. And what is Aaron that you complain against him?
So Korah's rebellion specifically is directed at God through Aaron. I want Aaron's job. I'm not gonna be happy until I get what I want. You guys are taking way too much upon your own shoulders.
You're not fit for it. You're not qualified. Look back at our history, see all of the failures, see all of the hardships, see all of the afflictions. This must be owing to bad leadership.
And we just think it's time for a change. Remember the Obama campaign, let's vote for change. How'd that all work out? Now notice in verse 12, Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab.
But they said, we will not come up. Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? That's a pretty bad read on their history, isn't it? Who brought them out of Egypt?
It was God Most High. Did God Most High bring them out of Egypt to kill them in the wilderness? Absolutely, positively not. So to make their case, they've got to sully the reputation of Moses.
They've got to suggest that this is all Moses doing. We had it so good in Egypt. Again, when you go through numbers, it is amazing that they would rather be slaves in Egypt. They would rather be in shackles.
They would rather be whipped than be free men serving the Lord God most high in the wilderness. Truly a bizarre characteristic of man and sin. But notice the last bit of verse 13, that you should keep acting like a prince over us. See, that's their problem.
Aaron was the priest, Korah didn't like it, Korah wanted his job. Moses was the political leader, and as far as they can tell, Dathan and Abiram, you're acting like a prince over us. But you know what's ironic? Dathan and Abiram wanted to be the princes.
It wasn't the concept of princehood. It wasn't the concept of political leadership. It wasn't the concept of the particular job or the office. It was the problem that it wasn't them.
And so they launched this rebellion against Moses and against Aaron. Verse 14, moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.
Then Moses was very angry and said to the Lord, do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them. And then I hope you know the rest of the story. God does not take these things lightly.
God opens up the earth and swallows these godless sinners, these rebels against the offices of Moses and Aaron, swallows them up. Those who survived, fire comes down out of heaven and consumes them. And I think what we learned from number 16, what I think is being communicated by the reference in Deuteronomy chapter 11, is that you children of Israel, take heed to what's happened in the past. You, children of Israel, reflect upon the lessons of your forefathers.
And you, children of Israel, do not duplicate those sins. Do not duplicate or engage in that form of rebellion. Because if obedience is the predicate for blessing in the land, The kind of activity shown forth by Korah, Dathan, and Abiram is the exact kind of activity that you will reap the curses of God for. And so the
The Pattern of Malcontent and Judgment
malcontents, according to number 16, they find each other. Even if their complaint isn't the same, they typically tend to find each other. It's a bizarre thing. Whether it's ecclesiastical or political, they find each other and they mount up their opposition.
The malcontents stir up others. Yeah, we don't like what's going on here. Yeah, we don't like the way Moses and Aaron are leading us. We don't like the way that we have experienced these griefs and these pains and these hardships in the wilderness.
As I mentioned way back when we were going through the book of Numbers, God never promised them that the wilderness would be a land flowing with milk and honey. He promised that the promised land would be a land flowing with milk and honey. Isn't that symptomatic of the believer? I think it's represented in the Sons of Thunder.
They come and they say, Lord, grant to us that we may sit at your right hand and your left when you come in your kingdom. What does Jesus say? Jesus says, I've got a cup to drink and I've got a baptism to undergo that you know nothing of. What is Jesus teaching them?
Jesus is teaching them that the cross always precedes the crown. You don't get to sit near the Son of God in glory unless you've suffered alongside the Son of God in trial and tribulation. If the son learned obedience through suffering, Hebrews 5, 8, then certainly lesser sons, sons by adoption, are most likely going to learn obedience through suffering likewise. And so the children of Israel didn't grasp that reality that the wilderness precedes the land of promise.
Just like Christians don't get at times that the cross must precede the crown. We want all our goods, we want all our benefits, we want all our blessings, we want all our glory right now. And the moment there's some little difficulty or some little hindrance or some little hardship, we do what Israel did in the wilderness. They murmured, they grumbled, they complained, they whined, they cried.
And they ultimately launched a rebellion against the leadership constituted by God for Old Covenant Israel. The malcontents appealed to true things but distort them. The malcontents assumed they are correct. I mean, there's no bargaining with these men.
There's no arguing with these men. There's no diplomacy with these men. Wait a minute, we can explain. We can set it in its theological context.
Don't you know that the cross must precede the cross? You can't argue that way with somebody who is bent on usurpation or rebellion. You couldn't have argued with Absalom. You know, your dad is a great king.
You couldn't have argued with Judas Iscariot. Yeah, he is the son of God. When a man or a sinner gets it in his head, he's going to do what he wants to do. The malcontents misrepresent the truth.
You brought us out of there in order to kill us here. And the malcontents ultimately reap the judgment of God. So back to Deuteronomy chapter 11, specifically at verses 6 and 7, I think the emphasis is You need to remember that there is judgment and chastening from the strong hand of God Most High. I think it sets the stage or sort of foreshadows the announcement of curse connected to Mount Ebal.
The chapter ends on that note of blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. By the end of chapter 11, you don't have to scratch your head and say, what do you mean by curses? Well, think Korah, think Dathan, think Abiram, think number 16. Think of that particular usurpation or attempted usurpation of Aaron's office and Moses' office.
So I think that's how it functions in this particular context. And then verse 7 says, but your eyes have seen every great act of the Lord which he did. Don't forget that. Keep that in mind.
And then
The Requirement of God for Israel
that brings us then to the requirement of God for the people of Israel. Notice in verses 8 to 12, verse 8, again, the principle of obedience, therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today that you may be strong and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess. And then specifically, the blessings are connected to the obedience to that command. And relative to that command, Meredith Klein says, success in the stipulated program of conquest would depend first and last, not on military prowess, but on religious commitment.
That's a very important principle that you get in the book of Deuteronomy, and you certainly see it reiterated to General Joshua in Joshua chapter one. You can turn there. Whenever I hear believers say, I'm so busy, I don't have time to read my Bible and pray. I'm so busy, I don't have time to get out of bed 15 minutes earlier.
I don't have time to stay up 15 minutes later. I don't have time to take a bit of a lesser lunch period because I'm just so busy. I mean, the world depends on all of us, right? Someone once wisely said, when they finally discover the center of the universe, everybody's going to be surprised that they're not it.
Who had a busy job in the Old Testament? Joshua. Notice in Joshua chapter one at verse six, be strong and of good courage for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you.
Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left that you may prosper wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. Again, a busy man. But a man that would fit in meditation, a man that would fit in contemplation, a man that would understand that it wasn't his military prowess but his religious commitment to God that would bring victory to Old Covenant Israel.
And then verse 9, have I not commanded you? I'm sorry, let's read verse eight again. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success.
In other words, obedience to the Lord. is the predicate for blessing from the Lord. Again, a simple principle reiterated over and over again in the book of Deuteronomy. Verse nine, have I not commanded you be strong and of good courage, do not be afraid nor be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. So the same emphasis here in Deuteronomy chapter 11.
Verse eight, therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today that you may be strong and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess. See, if I was giving this commandment, I'd say make sure you hit the gym, make sure you're loading up on protein, make sure you're getting plenty of sleep, and make sure you're doing a bit of cardio so that your ticker doesn't crash. I wouldn't say, you know, strength is connected to obedience to God. I mean, I'd like to think I would, but.
Most guys, training people, most generals or, you know, not generals, they don't busy themselves with such things, but training instructors or drill instructors, they don't stress the fear of God as the source of strength. And that's what's happening here on the plains of Moab. Your success is not based on your ability on the battlefield, but your success is predicated on obedience to your God. God will fight for you.
God will go before you. God will dispossess the land of all your enemies. And then again, illustrations in verses nine to 12, the possession of the land, verse nine, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which the Lord swore to give to your fathers, to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. And then
Canaan's Dependence on God Versus Egypt
the contrast with Egypt in verses 10 to 12. Notice in verse 10, for the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot as a vegetable garden. Success in agriculture in Egypt depended upon man's ingenuity. It depended on good agricultural systems and methods.
You had to irrigate. You had to figure out how to get water from point A to point B. You had to figure out how to make sure your crops didn't die. Had to figure out how to cover those who couldn't have that much sun in a given day.
But, verse 11, the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of heaven. So success of agriculture in Canaan would depend upon the Lord's blessing. Multiple water sources. It's already built in.
It's already present. It's already there. It's a land flowing with milk and honey. You're not going to have the same turmoil, the same difficulty, the same hardship that you've encountered previous to this.
You fear God, and God blesses. You fear God, and you reap the benefits of the land. And then further in verse 12, a land for which the Lord your God cares. The eyes of the Lord your God are always on it from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.
It's a blessed thing. Success in Canaan would depend upon, dependence upon, the Lord Most High. Craigie says, in the promised land, therefore, they would be dependent not on human techniques, but on the provision of God. Again, closely connected to verse 8 in the exhortation to obey God.
And then
The Promise of Blessing or Curse
the third section, notice the promise of blessing or curse for the people of Israel in verses 13 to 25. You've got promise and warning in verses 13 to 25. I'm sorry, 13 to 17, verse 13, and it shall be that if you earnestly obey my commandments, which I command you today to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul. I suspect that one of the big difficulties in people today or one of the problems that we see generationally And I think about this.
I complain about the younger generation. And then I'm mindful of the fact that I'm sure my parents complained about my generation, and their parents before them, and their parents before them. And your kids are going to grow up and complain about whatever generation comes after them. It's just kind of the way it is.
But I think one of the symptomatic problems, at least if my reading of things outside of the Bible and theology are true, reading comprehension seems to be at a low ebb. The ability to internalize written communication, understand it, process it, and live in light of that. I think the most brain-dead moron could read Deuteronomy 11 and come away thinking at least this much, God wants His people to obey Him. Right?
It's just over and over and over again. You can't miss that. That's what tethers the entirety of the chapter. And again, the references to Gerizim and Ebal here in 11, and then 27, sort of being the book ends to that largest segment of the exhortation to covenant fidelity, when what is specified is the particular legislation of God that the children of Israel are going to need to show obedience unto.
And so with reference to this, you've got this promise in verses 14 and 15. Then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain that you may gather in your grain, your new wine and your oil. And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock that you may eat and be filled. But then notice as well, you've got a warning in verses 16 and 17.
And this is not the first time that a warning has appeared in the book of Deuteronomy. Take heed to yourselves. This is always there. It's always present.
The command to obey is oftentimes alongside of a warning to not disobey. And especially a chapter that is setting forth curses and blessings. Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them. Lest the Lord's anger be aroused against you, and he shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you." So they knew the terms of the covenant.
They knew the temptation that was idolatry. They knew the judgment spoken by God with reference to those who committed idolatry. And then on the heels of that, you've got a lengthy exhortation in verses 18 to 25. Notice
The Centrality of the Word and Covenantal Succession
the importance of the Word. This shouldn't surprise us. God reveals Himself by the Word. Turn back to Deuteronomy 4.
Deuteronomy chapter 4. specifically at verse 15, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven. And when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage." In other words, don't worship the the stars, don't worship the moon, don't worship the sun. God gave that to man in an act of general benevolence to bless man in his common grace.
But the specific emphasis in verse 15, take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb. Old covenant religion and new covenant religion is always word-centered. That's why church services should be Word-centered. That's why we pray the Word.
That's why we sing the Word. That's why we see the Word. That's why we preach the Word. That's why we sing the Word.
That's what is definitive with reference to our relationship to God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. So the emphasis is on the word, not the visible, visual representation of some sort of an idol.
So the importance of the word shouldn't surprise us, and this particular section in verses 18 to 20 picks up what we've seen previously, specifically in Deuteronomy 6, here, O Israel, the Lord our God, is one, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. You shall teach these to your children when you rise up, when you walk by the way, and when you lie down. You shall bind them as frontlets. You shall post them on the walls of the gate.
And so the necessity of internalizing the word, verse 18, and the necessity of covenantal succession, passing on that word, verses 19 to 20, and then the blessing of covenantal succession. that your days, verse 21, and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth. So this idea of the children of Israel passing on the truth to their children and their children's children, and then in succession was God's purpose and plan for old covenant Israel. Remember the promise of God to Abraham? look north, look south, look east, look west, and you own this. As well, look up into the stars and look at the sand on the seashore.
Your descendants are going to be more numerous than the stars in the heavens and the sand on the seashore. Now, ultimately, it's Abraham's seed, the Lord Jesus Christ, Galatians 3.16, and whom that promises yea and amen. The bottom line is, is Old Covenant Israel was to be prolific with reference to having children and catechizing them and bringing them up in the fear of the Lord. This carries over in the sense of the church.
The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6 tells fathers not to provoke their children, but to bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. What is he meaning there? It means to take this biblical data, law and gospel, and pass it on to your children. Catechize them, instruct them, teach them, bring them to church that preaches the truth so that they can learn these things, so that they, by grace, can call upon the name of the Lord early on and be saved.
They can heed the preacher's exhortation in the book of Ecclesiastes. Remember your Creator in your youth. So covenantal succession is built into the program, again, predicated on their obedience.
The Promise of Blessing for Obedience
The promise of blessing in verses 22 to 25. Again, nothing that is too new. It is somewhat repetitious. But the condition, verse 22, for if you carefully keep all these commandments, which I command you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to hold fast to him.
The recurring thematic emphasis in the chapter, do this. And then there's reasons or illustrations or rationale as to why they should do that. Do verse 22 and the resultant blessings of verses 23 to 25 are going to take place. This is the way God had arranged this covenant with that.
So the dispossession of the Canaanites, verse 23, the expansion of their territory in verse 24, and then the victory over their enemies in verse 25. Notice in verse 25, no man shall be able to stand against you. The Lord your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as he has said to you. Turn over to Joshua chapter two for just a moment.
Joshua chapter 2, which intriguingly doesn't need to be there. Joshua 2 does not need to be there. Joshua 1 flows very smoothly and flawlessly right into Joshua chapter 3. Joshua chapter two is a bit of a, let's just stand by and watch how glorious and gracious God is in the salvation of the shady lady from Jericho.
Let's just stand in awe for a moment. I mean, Joshua two will help explain what happens in Joshua six 25 when Rahab is numbered among the covenant children of Israel. But, but Joshua two is kind of an aside. I'm not suggesting it's not supposed to be there.
Suggesting that one to three reads, you know, fluidly. Two's a bit of a, again, let's just step back and let's watch God save this woman that is a harlot. Let's just watch God cleanse this one from her sins. Let's just watch God add this wretch to the covenant people and to bless her and to put her in the genealogy of the Messiah of Israel.
Pretty amazing when you stop and think about it. Rahab the harlot. But notice, specifically in Joshua 2.8, Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are faint-hearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt.
And what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted. Neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you. For the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.
Now, therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show me, that you also will show kindness to my father's house and give me a true token and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have and deliver our lives from death. That's kind of what we see here in Deuteronomy chapter 11. The Lord your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as he has said to you. certainly worked in the case of Rahab the harlot, certainly worked in the case of her conversion unto our Lord Jesus Christ. And so this statement, God putting the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as he has said to you, encouragement.
Obey. Obey faithfully. Believingly obey. And when you enter into that promised land, you're going to dispossess the land.
You're going to divide the land. And then you're going to retain the land. And it's going to be a place, according to Deuteronomy chapter 4, where the blessings of Yahweh will be mediated through old covenant Israel to the pagan nations around them. This was the grand design.
Now, obviously, Old Covenant Israel fails, but that is precisely what New Covenant Israel, Jesus Christ, does. The blessings of Yahweh are mediated to the nations of the earth through that Seed of Abraham promise that is the true vine, John 15, 1, that is the Israel Old Covenant Israel fails to do. So
Christ as the True Israel Who Obeyed
all of this Deuteronomy 11, all of this emphasis on obedience, all of this emphasis on careful obedience is fulfilled by Christ in the New Covenant. This chapter preaches Christ to us. We may not see it as vividly as we see it in Romans. We may not see it as vividly as we see it in John.
We may not see it as vividly as we see it ultimately in any of the New Testament writings. But all of this and its emphasis on obey, obey, Israel, obey, Israel, obey. Isn't that preserver? My meat is to do the will of him who sent me.
That is the ministry of our Lord Jesus. Adam fails in the garden, new covenant Israel, and the last Adam, Jesus, fulfills all that was. And then the section ends in verses 26. Choose ye this day whom you will serve.
That's how it ends. That's how the book ends. I mean, at least this largest exhortation in chapters 27 and 28. Blessings if you obey and cursings if you disobey.
Choose wisely. Now, that's not an Arminian statement. We know that God changes the heart. God grants the graces of faith and repentance.
But nevertheless, man does choose. He chooses because God's changed his heart. He chooses because God's effectually called him. But a sinner chooses to leave his sin and come to the Savior, and that by grace.
And so the passage ends with the reminder of blessings associated with obedience, specifically in verses 26 and 27. This is amplified in chapter 28, verses 1 to 14. Verse 28 in chapter 11 highlights the curses associated with disobedience. That's going to be chapter 27, 14 to 26 by way of amplification.
But there's 68 verses in Deuteronomy 28. 68 verses. 1 to 14, blessing. 15 to 68, cursing. And you know what much of the emphasis is upon? Exile. You mess up, you disobey, you don't do what God says, and you're going to be cast out of the land.
And brethren, the ministry of Jesus saw exile. What do you think the cross was? the chastening, the punishment, the judgment of God Most High. That's what happens to Old Covenant Israel. They're cast out of the land.
This is what happens to New Covenant Israel, our Lord Jesus Christ. He's cast out, he's exiled, he's cut off, as it were, for us men and for our salvation. And then the representation in the mountains in verses 29 and 30, Gerizim, blessing, Ebal, cursing. Harmon says, Israel was to conduct a ceremony of blessings and curses at the very place where the people would come into direct conflict with Canaanite religion and false prophecy.
There would be blessings if there was obedience to the voice of the Lord. If there was obedience to the idols of the Canaanites, there would be curses. It's just that simple. Go into the land, obey, blessing.
Go into the land, disobey, cursing. No difficulty in terms of, I don't understand this procedure. I don't understand this covenant. I don't know, it was all too clear.
They didn't perish because they failed to understand. They didn't perish because of a lack of reading comprehension or listening comprehension. They failed because they were rebel sinners that went a whoring away from God. They went after the idols. among the nations.
And then verses 31 to 32 speaks of conquest and commitment. For you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land, which the Lord your God has given you, and you will possess it and dwell in it. And you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments, which I set before you today. So over and over and over again, we see this emphasis on obedience.
We see, as well, the promise of blessing. And in this passage, specifically, the taking of the land, the expansion of their borders, the victory over their enemies, and the presence of and blessing of the Lord God Most High amongst them. It will be God who goes before you. You see that in the book of Joshua.
You see that in the wars of David. You see the victory belongs to the Lord Most High. And then the prohibition against idolatry. Now, when the scripture mentions it, I think there's a priority in the Ten Commandments.
I'm not suggesting that you shall not murder is not important, but you shall not commit adultery heads the list for a particular reason. And there's a close connection between first table offenses and second table offenses. I think the idea is simple. If you don't fear God, Commandment one, you don't serve God alone, commandment one.
You're not gonna be any good in these second table things either. That's why the prophets oftentimes upbraid the children of Israel. Yeah, for second table offenses, but oftentimes first table offenses. Your problems in society are a result of your lack of the fear of God.
I mean, how do we explain the world around us today? Well, they're just not smart. Well, I agree. They just can't comprehend.
Yeah, I agree. They got a problem with God. That's, you know, Romans 1, 18 to 32. Why is it that society looks the way society looks?
Whether it's Chilliwack in the 21st century or it's Old Covenant Israel back in the day. But why? Because we've gone a whoring from the true God. Idolatry is pernicious.
It is perennial. It's a problem for the people of God. John ends his epistle. My little children, keep yourselves from idols.
Kind of an interesting way for John, the apostle of love, the theologian of theologians who wrote us the prologue in John 1, ends on what might be called a negative Nelly sort of a note. Little children, keep yourselves from idols? Yeah, we are prone to wander and prone to leave the God that we love. I was thinking as I was going over this today, a quote by John Stott.
I think this is from his commentary on the book of Acts, but he makes this statement concerning idolatry. All idolatry, whether ancient or modern, primitive or sophisticated, is inexcusable, whether the images are metal or mental, material objects of worship or unworthy concepts in the mind. For idolatry is the attempt either to localize God, confining Him within the limits which we impose, whereas He is the creator of the universe, or to domesticate God, making Him dependent on us, taming Him, whereas He is the sustainer of human life, or to alienate God, blaming Him for His distance and silence, whereas He is the ruler of nations, and not far from any of us, or to dethrone God, demoting Him to some image of our own contrivance or craft, whereas He is our Father from whom we derive our being. In brief, all idolatry tries to minimize the gulf between the Creator and His creatures in order to bring Him under our control.
More than that, it actually reverses the respective positions of God and us so that, instead of our humbly acknowledging that God has created and rules us, we presume to imagine that we can create and rule God. There is no logic in idolatry. It is a perverse, topsy-turvy expression of our human rebellion against God. I think that's what God is communicating here through Moses to the children of Israel.
You want good things to happen in the land? Fear me, obey me, and do so faithfully. And then the final, final connection, then we'll go. I thought we'd be done at 10 to 8, and it's going to be 10 after 8.
Look at Deuteronomy 27, what ends the curse section. Chapter 28, as I said, 1 to 14 gives us the blessing section, and then 15 to 68 amplifies the curse section. But notice in 27, 26, cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by observing them. And then
Justification by Faith and the Curse of the Law
quick turn to Galatians 3. Galatians chapter three, where the Apostle Paul is arguing for justification by faith alone. And in Galatians chapter three, he makes this connection. Verse 10 for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse for it is written curse it is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do that.
That's Deuteronomy 27 26. In other words, what Paul is dealing with in terms of the Galatians is the Judaizing tendency that you must add works to faith. Paul emphasizes faith alone. If you put any trust in any works whatsoever, you're obligated to fulfill the entirety of the law perpetually, exactly, and entirely.
You don't just give it your best shot and hope God grades on a curve. Paul then continues in verse 11 to show us, to demonstrate that even the Old Testament taught justification by faith alone. But that no one is justified by the law and the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith. Yet the law is not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them.
That's from Leviticus 18. So, as I made the connection earlier between Old Covenant Israel and New Covenant Israel, we need to understand that for Jesus, the covenant of works, or the covenant of grace, what is the covenant of grace for us, was the covenant of works for Him. In other words, he obeyed the way Israel didn't. He obeyed the way that Adam didn't.
And specifically, notice in verse 13, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, curse it is everyone who hangs on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. This is a blessed, beautiful thing. The Lord Jesus, as our representative, was treated as covenant breaker, and therefore reaped the curse of the covenant.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. Old Covenant Israel broke the covenant and reaped the curse upon themselves. New Covenant Israel keeps the covenant and reaps the blessing for us by taking upon himself the curse. I think a good connection to this section is as well Genesis 15 and the covenant ratification ceremony between God and Abraham. where the animals are split in two and the parties to the covenant walk through the midst of the animals with the obvious implication being that if I renege on my obligations, then whatever happened to these animals should happen to me.
Well, we reneged on our covenant obligation. We reneged on our duty to obey God. Christ, as our representative, takes that punishment. What happened to those animals happens to the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
So as I said, Jesus is all over Deuteronomy. May God give us the eyes of faith to see that and to appreciate that in a comparison with the new covenant revelation of the Israel of God. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for this section in Deuteronomy 11. We ask God that you would give us ears to hear and hearts to receive these things. And may we see Jesus Christ as that covenant keeper.
May we see him as that true Israel of God, and may we see him as our Lord and as our Savior. We ask that you would go with us now, we pray for all the brothers and the sisters in our local church, that you would bless each one, cause us to walk in the joy of our Lord, the strength that you afford to us, and may we...
Scripture References
- Genesis 15:9
- Exodus 1:1; 4:1; 4:22; 20:1; 25:1
- Leviticus 18:5
- Numbers 11:15; 16:1; 16:3; 16:4; 16:11; 16:12; 16:13; 16:14
- Deuteronomy 1:29; 4:15; 6:4; 11:1-32; 12:1; 27:1; 27:14-26; 27:26; 28:1-68
- Joshua 1:6; 1:8; 1:9; 2:8; 6:25
- Romans 1:18-32
- Galatians 3:10; 3:11; 3:13; 3:16
- Ephesians 6:4
- Colossians 1:15
- Hebrews 5:8; 12:1; 12:8
- John 1:1; 15:1