Dt 16 God's Past and Future Provisions

Intro:

We has seen in the previous lesson “What Does God Require of Us?” And we’ve seen that it is not merely law-keeping.

God’s relationship with man has never been to keep His laws. Rather it is to fear Him, follow His ways, love Him, serve Him, and cling to Him. Keeping His commandments is merely to show that we’re having these relationships with Him.

In , we’re seeing that the blessings on the Mosaic Covenant are conditional on Israel’s exclusive loyalty to Yahweh. When the conditions are not met, there’ll be curses instead.

Moses’ sermon can be divided into 3 points and the meat of the message is found in the 2nd point.

I. Lessons from Israel’s History

Deuteronomy 11:2–7 KJV 1900

2 And know ye 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, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm, 3 And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land; 4 And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto 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 hath destroyed them unto this day; 5 And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place; 6 And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, 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.

Deuteronomy 11:2–4 KJV 1900

2 And know ye 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, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm, 3 And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land; 4 And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto 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 hath destroyed them unto this day;

Dt 11:2-4

This section describes the lessons Israel should have learned from their past history. And Moses used 4 Manifestations of Divine Power to remind them of what God has done for them.

v2 The word “chastisement” in Heb can also mean “education” which is more appropriate in this context since Israel’s enemies and not only Israel herself who was “chastised.”

1) What God did to Pharaoh and Egypt v3

This recalls the 10 confrontations between Moses and Pharaoh and every time Pharaoh loses as a result of the 10 plagues.

The 10 plagues literally reduced Egypt into a wasteland as all plants, trees, animals and even the landscape are destroyed.

Israel must be blind in order not to see how God destroyed the land of Egypt in the 10 plagues. This is one of the greatest lessons of God’s power. Egypt was supposedly the world’s no. 1 superpower at that time.

2) What God did to the Army of Egypt v4

This recalls the Red Sea which allows Israel to pass on dry land but subsequently drowned the whole army of Egypt that pursued after Israel.

It also taught Israel not to panic when they are surrounded by their enemies and they had no place to run. Their hope is to look up to God for help. And God is able to help beyond their imagination.

Deuteronomy 11:5–7 KJV 1900

5 And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place; 6 And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, 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.

Dt 11:

3) What God did for the Israelites in the Desert v5

While Moses didn’t elaborate on the details, in we learned that God made Israel to hunger and thirst so that they may not just depend on food for survival but also depend on God’s Word.

Because God is able to provide for all their needs seen especially in the provision of food from heaven and water coming out of the rock.

4) What God did to Dathan and Abiram v6

This is the only chastisement done to Israel. The power God showed in this incident is to open up the earth and swallow up the rebels led by Dathan and Abiram who despised God’s Promised Land by calling Egypt a land flowing with milk and honey. And the ground closes immediately after that. This serves as a warning not to rebel against the Lord who is all-powerful.

Numbers 16:13–14 KJV 1900

13 Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us? 14 Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.

II. Land Promised to Israel

A. The Land as Gift

Deuteronomy 11:8–12 KJV 1900

8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it; 9 And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey. 10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: 11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: 12 A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

Deuteronomy 11:8–9 KJV 1900

8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it; 9 And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

Dt 11:8-9

v8 reminds the Israelites that although God is giving them the Promised Land, they still have obligations to the Lord by being loyal to Him and not seeking after other gods which is the first of all the commandments.

The land is God’s promise to Israel’s forefather Abraham that God will provide a beautiful place filled with abundance for Abraham’s descendants. It is therefore a gift of God.

Deuteronomy 11:10–12 KJV 1900

10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: 11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: 12 A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

Dt 11:10-12

The land is then compared with Egypt where there is virtually no rain and everything has to be cultivated by human beings. Although they have the Nile river as their source of water, they need to manually irrigate their fields from this river.

On the other hand, there is rain in the Promised Land (v11 - drinketh rain) and a land God cares for and watches over it the whole year round (v12). That is, no irrigation needed unlike the land of Egypt.

The land is so much being taken care of by God that the Lord lays claim to the land.

Leviticus 25:23 KJV 1900

23 The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.

Lev

B. The Land as Test

Deuteronomy 11:13–21 KJV 1900

13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto 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 and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. 15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. 16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; 17 And then the Lord’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you. 18 Therefore shall ye 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 frontlets between your eyes. 19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: 21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

Deuteronomy 11:13–17 KJV 1900

13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto 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 and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. 15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. 16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; 17 And then the Lord’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.

Dt11 13-17

In this section, the land serves as a test. And is contingent on Israel’s love for the Lord.

The opposite to loving the Lord is worshipping other gods. That is, the people look elsewhere besides the Lord to provide for their needs.

Why do the people want to look elsewhere for their needs?

Ans: because they want to go their own way and not follow the Lord. Their lack of gratitude is another reason for their lack of love for God.

So what is the test?

@@ Ans: is the land more important than God? Just as the Lord’s fulfillment of His promise to Abraham that He would give him a son provided Him an occasion to test Abraham’s faith—God asked him to sacrifice his son and tested his covenant commitment and his faith—so the Lord’s fulfillment of the land will provide an occasion to test Israel’s faith and covenant commitment to Him.

Very often we worship God with selfish motives. We just want eternal life but we don’t really want God. And when we are not willing to sacrifice any thing for God, we don’t love God at all.

In v17, Moses tell the people that if they worship other gods, God can shut up the heaven and bring famine to the country and people will die as a result of famine even in the Promised Land.

So the Promised Land is inextricably tied to Israel’s relationship with God.

Deuteronomy 11:18–21 KJV 1900

18 Therefore shall ye 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 frontlets between your eyes. 19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: 21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

v13-17 tells us what is the test. v18-21 Moses gives a prescription for passing the test.

The prescription is to hide God’s Word in your hearts by reading and memorizing it. Then you are to teach your children by speaking of them very often about them - described here as sitting, walking, lying down and rising up.

You are to write God’s Word on your door and gates so that when any leave the house, they will remember God’s Word.

Essentially, the way to pass the test is to meditate about God’s Word regularly. And it is still true today. Strong Christians are those that take God’s Word seriously. Weak Christians are those that neglect God’s Word.

STOP HERE ON 3/5 FOR WORKING ADULTS

C. The Land as Promise

Deuteronomy 11:22–25 KJV 1900

22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; 23 Then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves. 24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the 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 ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

In v22, you have a call for covenant commitment.

In v23-25, you have the rewards of covenant faithfulness.

Although God’s covenant with Abraham and Israel is eternal, the blessings are not automatic entitlements. Each generation, each individual, must choose the way of life and blessing, or they will find themselves on the way of death and the curse.

Since God never speaks of curses here, the blessings here constitute a promise of God if the people will remain faithful to Him.

D. The Land as Opportunity

Deuteronomy 11:26–28 KJV 1900

26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: 28 And a curse, if ye 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 land is now presented as an opportunity of blessing or a curse. Just getting into the Promise Land is by no means a guarantee of blessing.

What makes the land become a blessing or a curse all depends on who you worship.

You can either worship the gods of the land or the Creator God. We saw early in the study of Dt that the gods of the land are fertility gods which gives rain and child-bearing. They are equivalent to today’s prosperity gospel.

The reason why Israel turned to the gods of the land is because they want prosperity more than God.

Hence Moses asked Israel to make up their mind now (“this day”) if they will choose to obey God or not.

However, we must note that God did not call Israel primarily to a code of behavior; He called them to Himself.

E. The Theology of the Land

The Promise Land as we saw can be a blessing or a curse depending on Israel’s faithfulness to God.

The challenge and promise of this passage will become urgent for the Israelites within a matter of days or weeks—the moment they cross the Jordan and take their first steps in the promised land.

Within a generation of occupation, apostasy would set in, and the seduction of the gods of Canaan would prove too strong ().

While God did give Israel the land, He never promised them automatic blessing. It all depends on whether the people will claim the promises of God by faith and demonstrate that claim by loving and being faithful to God.

The supreme command in the conditions that govern the covenant is that they must not have other gods beside Him.

The land was a gracious gift, and to forget the giver, the divine Giver, and give credit to other gods for their well-being was the height of ingratitude and rebellion.

@@ Keeping the commands does not involve primarily keeping dietary laws or the proper celebration of the ancient festivals or circumcision (these external brand markers). Rather, as Jesus said, it involves the weightier matters of the law: righteous administration of justice, and compassion and faithfulness.

@@ Inasmuch as the NT equates Jesus Christ with Yahweh, the Redeemer, the God of Israel, allegiance to the God of Israel must be expressed by devotion to Christ. For salvation from sin and from the wrath of God is to be found in Christ and in Christ alone.

This means repudiating all other gods and serving Christ alone, and on the other, it serves as a solemn warning that there is no eternal security for those who live in sin. Paul may well have had texts like this in mind when he presents the options to the Romans in :

Romans 2:4–13 KJV 1900

4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? 5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds: 7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 11 For there is no respect of persons with God. 12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; 13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

The blessings associated with the covenant are not to be taken for granted or viewed as automatic rights. The covenant established by Christ involves a special relationship which demands constant investment of energy and devotion. The options open to the Israelites—the blessing and the curse—are open to us.

III. Looking Beyond the Jordan

Deuteronomy 11:29–32 KJV 1900

29 And it shall come to pass, when the Lord thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal. 30 Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh? 31 For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein. 32 And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.

In this section, Moses is looking beyond the Jordan River to the moment when the new generation enters into a covenant with God as he will not be entering the Promised Land.

The interesting thing here is the 2 mountains: Mt Gerizim and Mt Ebal. Why these 2 mountains?

First, these mountains represented the highest points of the promised land.

Second, if we draw a straight line from Dan to Beersheba … that is a proverbial expression that is used over and over and over again as the definition of the land occupied by Israel, these mountains represent the exact midpoint on that line.

Third, the expression “plains of Moreh” in v30 occurs elsewhere only in .

Genesis 12:6 KJV 1900

6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

This place marks the the place where Abraham first camped when he entered into the land of the Canaanites.

This place, Sichem, was located in the valley between Gerizim and Ebal.

This was the land that the Lord had chosen for Abraham as a gift that He would give him and his descendants. Abraham responded by erecting his first altar to the Lord in the promised land in this location.

Moses closes with one final appeal for the Israelites today (“this day”).

Dt

Deuteronomy 11:32 KJV 1900

32 And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.

For them there is no point in dreaming about the future if they do not commit themselves now to full obedience to the decrees and the laws that he is giving them.

Conclusion:

The Promise Land is a microcosm of heaven today. If we don’t commit ourselves to the Lord now, don’t dream of enjoying the blessings of heaven in future.