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Structure of Deuteronomy 1-11

At first sight, Deuteronomy is not easy in that it appears repetitious in the early chapters. For that reason we have provided the following detailed summary of the first 11 chapters covered by this series of meditations, and we recommend you regularly come back to this summary to see where you are in the overall structure of these chapters. These chapters, you will see, are calls to obedience set in the context of Israel's history with the Lord.

1. The Preamble (1:1-5) [Study 1]

2. The Historical Prologue (1:6-3:29) [Studies 2 -7]

    2.1 They set off from Sinai (1:6-8)

    2.2 How leaders had been established (1:9-18)

    2.3 How they had failed to enter the land originally ( 1:19 -46)

    2.4 How they had wandered for 40 years (2:1)

    2.5 How they had peacefully passed through 3 countries (2:2-23)

    2.6 How they had defeated Sihon (2:24 -37)

    2.7 How they had defeated Og (3:1-11)

    2.8 How they had divided the land east of Jordan ( 3:12 -20)

    2.9 How Moses was refused entry ( 3:21 -29)

3. Arguments for Obedience & Faithfulness (4:1-40) [Studies 8-12]

    3.1 A call to obedience (4:1-9)

    3.2 A call to remember Sinai (4:10-14)

    3.3 A call to avoid idolatry (4:15-31)

    3.4 A recognition that the Lord is God (4:32-40)

4. Brief Historical Aside (4:41-5:5) [Study 13]

    4.1 Setting up the cities of refuge east of the Jordan (4:41-43)

    4.2 Brief summary (4:44-49)

    4.3 Historical context reminder (5:1-5)

5. The Ten Commandments (Ch.5) [Study 14,15]

    5.1 The Ten Commandments restated (5:6-21)

6. The Call to love the Lord & be faithful to Him (Ch.6) [Studies 16-18]

7. The Call to Completely Clear the Land (Ch.7) [Studies 19-22]

    7.1 Call to completely destroy all that is there (7:1-6)

    7.2 Realise the wonder of the relationship you have with the Lord (7:7-10)

    7.3 Promise of blessing on obedience (7:11-15)

    7.4 Second call to destroy all that is there (7:16)

    7.5 Don't be afraid of them for the Lord will drive them out (7:17-24)

    7.6 Don't save their idols or anything else of theirs (7:25-26)

8. Further Arguments for Obedience & Faithfulness (Ch.8) [Studies 23-24]

    8.1 Obey to receive your inheritance (8:1)

    8.2 Remember how God disciplined you through the desert (8:2-5)

    8.3 Obey to receive the goodness of the land (8:6-9)

    8.4 Beware forgetting Him once you have settled (8:10-14)

    8.5 Remember how He has previously provided for you (8:14-18)

    8:6 Warning of destruction if you disobey (8:19,20)

9. Keeping it all in perspective (Ch.9 & 10) [Studies 25-28]

    9.1 Reassurance that God is going with them (9:1-3)

    9.2 It's not happening because you are righteous (9:4-6)

    9.3 For example 1, remember the golden calf incident (9:7-21)

    9.4 For example 2, remember how you rebelled going in fist time (9:22-24)

    9.5 Moses interceded on Sinai 40 days (9:25-29)

    9.6 Moses had recreated the 2 tablets (10:1-5)

    9.7 Brief historical note – Aaron dying (10:6-9)

    9.8 Moses continues – Lord responded to Moses' Intercession (10:10,11)

10. Further Call to love and obey (10:12 – 11:32) [Studies 29-32]

  10.1 Call to love and obey (10:12,13)

  10.2 They are chosen by a unique God (10:14-15)

  10.3 Stop being rebellious but obey/He's great & made you a nation (10:16-22)

  10.4 You adults obey because you saw it all (11:1-7)

  10.5 Be obedient so you can take this wonderful new land (11:8-15)

  10.6 Disobedience will bring a curse (11:16,17)

  10.7 Remember these commands and make sure you pass them on (11:18-21)

  10.8 If you obey the Lord will give you success (11:22-25)

  10.9 Summary: A blessing & a curse to be declared in the land (11:26-32)

(Focus: Deut 6:1-3)

Deut 6:1,2 These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.

There is a repetition in Deuteronomy which, for anyone less than a genuine seeker of God's truth, will appear tedious, but it only goes to show Moses strong desire to convey to Israel the importance and significance of what he is saying. Let's see this in a number of instances.

1. The laws . For instance the opening sentence in chapter six has already had a number of echoes of the same thing: “Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you.” (4:1), “keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you..” (4:2), “See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it.” (4;5), “And the LORD directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” (4:14), “Keep his decrees and commands , which I am giving you today.” (4:40), “This is the law Moses set before the Israelites. These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt .” (4:44,45), “Hear, O Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today.” (5:1), “stay here with me so that I may give you all the commands, decrees and laws you are to teach them to follow in the land I am giving them to possess.” (5:31) i.e. at least eight times in two chapters he speaks about these commands or decrees or laws that the Lord had given them to follow in their new land.

2. Pass it on. It's not only for them but also for future generations. Again the reference here to children and future generations has come before: “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” (4:9), “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.” (4:10) These laws aren't just for now; they are for the whole future of Israel.

3. The Conditional Outworking. The fruit or outworking of keeping these laws is also another subject that keeps appearing, seen in 6:2 as “so that you may enjoy long life.” and in the following verse it continues, “Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.” (6:3) We saw this previously: “Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time.” (4:40). It also appeared in the Ten Commandments: “Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” (5:16) Yet further, “Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess,” (5:33) which then brings us to chapter six: Their future blessing will be conditional on obeying these laws; that is how important they are and Israel need to realise that.

There is an additional motivating factor in our verses today: “so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live.” (6:2) Yes, we've seen that in the previous chapter as well: “Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!” (5:29) This awesome respect grew out of their experience of the Lord, seeing the things He did to deliver them out of Egypt, seeing the fire and hearing His voice at Sinai, and experiencing His discipline when they refused to enter the land originally. All of these things appear in the earlier chapters and this awesome respect which had grown through these things is now to be one of the motivating factors that helps Israel obey all the laws.

No less today, our blessing is determined by how we love and follow Jesus, obeying the instructions we find in the New Testament and responding to the prompting of his Holy Spirit. May we understand these things and follow them!

(Focus: Deut 6:4-12)

Deut 6:4,5 Hear, O Israel : The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

I did warn you that these are studies for serious seekers of the truth. You will only continue these if you really want to understand Deuteronomy, for there is such a solid repetition in this book that you'll give up unless your heart is set to learn!

In chapter 5 we found Moses spelling out the Ten Commandments again followed by, “These are the commandments the LORD proclaimed.” (5:22). Starting chapter 6 we found, “These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe.” (6:1) i.e. he keeps on focusing his listeners on the Law. It is followed by a call: “Hear, O Israel,” (6:3) and now we are followed by exactly the same refrain. It is as if Moses is saying, “ Israel , please, please, listen to me and take note of what I am saying.”

What is it that he wants his listeners to be so careful to take on board? It comes in two simple parts. First, “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” This sounds so simple but it is profound in the face of what the rest of the world believed. All the surrounding nations had their gods and their idols. Moses says, “The ‘I AM' who has revealed Himself to us is one God, for there is only one God!” As a starting point for belief this sounds simple but is so significant. It rules out all idol worship, worship of many gods. The second part calls us to love this one God. Note it is love, not fear. This call to love God is to be whole-hearted, from deep within expressed with all you have. Later in this chapter we'll see descriptions of this One we are called to love and it should not be difficult to love one so described.

But then Moses does another call to hold on to these commands of the Law and he does it in a more detailed way than he has done previously: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (6:6-9). We noted in the previous meditation an earlier call along these same lines: “ “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children .” (4:9,10) That had been a call to remember and pass on “the things your eyes have seen” i.e. their testimony, and also “my words” i.e. the Law itself.

The present call is first to have these commands “upon your hearts ”. i.e. as close as possible, even within you. They are not merely to mention them to their children; they are to “Impress them on your children.”! i.e. impact your children with them; make sure they are well and truly taught these laws. They are to talk about them in all areas of their lives with their children – when sitting, walking, lying down, getting up – these are laws that impact all of life and are to be explained in the context of all of life. Then he uses language that speaks of fixing them in their very psyche – tie, bind, write – ensure they are never going to be lost, never forgotten. Whether God intended them to do this literally we don't know but conservative Jews still do this literally.

Then Moses considers the future, a future of abundant prosperity and blessing, and seeing that time he foresees a danger which is simply an extension of what he has just been saying: “When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you--a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant--then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (6:10-12). In other words, when you are settled in your new land and are prosperous, the temptation will be to forget God. You will think you are all right without Him. You are not! Don't forget the Lord and don't forget what He has done by delivering you out of Egypt and into this fruitful land.

Within these verses we have considered today there are several clear instructions which we Christians today would do well to hold on to:

1. Realise who God is . Put content to your faith! Read the Bible and understand what you can about your Lord.

2. Love this God. Love is the currency of the kingdom, not legalistic rule keeping. Our following Jesus is to be an act of love.

3. In our affluence don't forget God . In the affluent West it is so easy to think we are all right on our own. Everything is provided for us, we have so much. Who provided it? The Lord! We need Him just as much whether we have little or much.

These are simple but significant instructions and they apply as much to us today as they did to Israel thousands of years ago!

(Focus: Deut 6:13-25)

Deut 6:13-15   Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.

Our verses today point to a major truth in Scripture which almost gets lost by law-keepers. This is very natural because, as we have pointed out a number of times, Deuteronomy is all about the law but that actually ISN'T its central focus. We might think it is the Land and all that is involved in taking it, but it isn't! The central focus is having a relationship with the Lord. It is so easy to lose this fact in the midst of everything else. God, the one and only true God, has called them into a relationship with Him at Sinai and all that follows is to be about how they live out that relationship. He has called them for a purpose – to reveal Him to the rest of the world and they will do that by the way they live. Remember we saw previously, “ this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." (4:6). The ‘this' that is at the beginning of this quote is their obedience to God. That is what will reveal them and Him to the rest of the world.

Thus everything we have now is about the Lord and how they view Him and respond (or not) to Him. It starts with attitude: “Fear the LORD your God.” Hold Him in great respect. How will they show that? “Serve him only,” and if you're not sure about what that means, “do not follow other gods, the gods of the people around you .” After all that they have been through with the Lord, this might seem an unnecessary instruction, yet it is vital. It is all about their relationship with Him, and if they turn to idols that relationship will be abandoned. So Moses gives them a warning: “The LORD… is a jealous God.” Don't see that negatively. Jealousy can be a right emotion when there is a right relationship. It means God wants to protect them from other ‘suitors', false beliefs and gods who are no god, idols that are purely pieces of carved wood. The Lord wants to keep them from straying from The Truth, Himself.

In fact, if they do turn away, His anger will be expressed and He will destroy them as a nation. If they are to be representing Him to the rest of the earth, if they turn to idols they will be representing something far from the truth and the world will be led astray and God will not have that! Israel are to stick to the Lord and put their trust in Him alone. On various occasions in their desert travels they had grumbled against Him, as if He could not provide for them: “Do not test the LORD your God as you did at Massah .” (v.16.) You can see what happened there in Exodus 17. Instead of asking Moses to ask the Lord to help them and provide water, they grumbled and complained and doubted God. They had yet to learn that they could utterly trust Him. So now, whenever they think about the laws of God, they should see them as God's blessing for them and not something onerous. They should not doubt God.

So, he goes on, “Be sure to keep the commands of the LORD your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. Do what is right and good in the LORD's sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers, thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the LORD said.” (6:17-19). There are the same ‘ingredients' as before: a call to keep the laws, to enable God's blessing to be upon them as they go in and take the Land. Then comes a further ‘ingredient' that we have noted before – a stipulation to pass them on to their children and make sure future generations know about them and keep them: “In the future, when your son asks you, "What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the LORD our God has commanded you?" tell him: "We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our eyes the LORD sent miraculous signs and wonders--great and terrible--upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers. The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.” (6:20-25) When their children ask about the laws of Moses, the people are to refer them back to their origins, how God brought them out of Egypt and how He took them into the Promised Land. The purpose of the laws, he goes on, is to enable us to prosper. When we keep them, we will be living rightly in accordance with God's design (righteously) and He will bless us and we will be blessed!

Similarly today, the way we live is to reveal the Lord: “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Mt 5:16). May it be so!

(Focus: Deut 7:1-6)

Deut 7:1,2 When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations -- the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you-- and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally

Because we so often have the tendency to miss the main point, I think it is worth reiterating what I said in the previous meditation, that this book is all about Israel 's relationship with the Lord. Indeed EVERYTHING in this book flows out of that. Perhaps we need to spell it out even more simply, for many of the questions that I receive about Israel's activities, especially about their taking the Promised Land, would never need be asked if we only understood something of the significance of this and the incredible importance that is attached to it.

Let's look at the ‘big picture' – which post-moderns don't like doing – for therein is actually the truth about life. God created this whole world, the whole universe and indeed everything that is, as an expression of His love and His desire to express His love to sentient beings. He made us in His own image and He gave us free will, the ability to choose. His design was perfect. His assessment of what He had made was “very good”. Yet, nevertheless, the first true man and woman fell from innocence and sinned – they acted godlessly and in a self-centred way. Their experience of this Sin was the experience of every single human being since.

Yet, we said, God had made us to be people who lived in relationship with Him and in accordance with His design for mankind. Thus eventually He chooses Israel to demonstrate the possibility of living in relationship with God, revealing God for who He truly is. To do that, they have been given God's ‘design-rules' for them as a nation (the Law), through which they will reveal His wisdom. In addition, when they live in close relationship with Him, He will be able to guide them and help them and generally bless them. If they fail to live in close relationship with Him, none of these things will be possible. That is how crucial these things are.

Thus now Moses comes to speak about the time immediately ahead of them when they enter the Promised Land. Note, first of all, the reference to the Lord ‘driving out' the inhabitants of the Land. People so often focus on Israel destroying the inhabitants, but God's first intention, which is repeated MANY times, is to drive the inhabitants out of the land. They do NOT have to die! It is their choice if they do. If they do resist and oppose Israel, THEN, and only then, Israel are to utterly destroy them.

Now consider this for a moment. The present occupants of the Land are pagan, occultic, idol worshippers who even sacrifice their children to their idols. If these people, hearing about God (because the word DID spread ahead of Israel) and knowing Israel's intent (which became very clear) then go on to resist and refuse to leave the land, what you then have is a people utterly committed to occultic, idol worship living in the midst of Israel and being a constant temptation to them to forsake the Lord. Everything about The Plan for Israel will be threatened if this is allowed to happen. It is for this reason that the command to utterly destroy them is here. Their entire future hangs on this. (In retrospect, we see that they failed to do this and that idolatry was the downfall of Israel , revealing that even a people drawn into relationship with God cannot simply keep the rules; S in is too strong!)

To reinforce this command to destroy, Moses then covers a variety of other possibilities which might have come into the minds of the people: “Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD's anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.” (7:2-4). There is to be no alternative. No treaties, no marrying their girls. There is a very clear reason why you are not to do this: they will lead you astray from the Lord! It is as simple as that. The Lord knows the weakness of human beings and so seeks to keep us from that which will harm and destroy us.

Even more than this, when Israel go in to the Land, they are to clear out of it all remnants of the occultic idol worship that has continued there for so long: “This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.” (7:5,6) Nothing of this terrible and superstitious and occult-based religion that is there at the present is to remain, for Israel are to be holy – unique among the peoples of the earth. Remember, they are supposed to be showing the rest of the earth a viable and good alternative. THAT is the objective behind these commands and Israel fail to heed them at their cost.

(Focus: Deut 7:7-11)

Deut 7:7,8 The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt .

Remember that throughout these early chapters Moses is seeking to give Israel every opportunity and every reason and every motivation to bring about their obedience in their ongoing relationship with the Lord. Just prior to these verses he had told them how to deal with the people of the Land and the religion of the land. He concluded it with a reminder that they are “a people holy to the LORD your God” and that the Lord had “chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.” (7:6) At Sinai the Lord had said, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.” (Ex 19:5) Now that description of them might make them feel very superior and so Moses now brings perspective in the verse at the top today.

When God chose them it wasn't because they were a great nation, for in fact they were a small nation. No, there was a twofold reason behind the choice. The first one was to do with God's love and the second was to do with His faithfulness. He had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob what He would do and now He was doing it – because He had said He would! But now we start to touch on something that I believe is quite crucial to our understanding of the Lord; He also chose them because He loved them. Love, I have concluded over the years, is simply unrestrained, sacrificial, good-will expressed (think about that definition for so often we talk about ‘love; without any content to it). When we love someone we always want the best for them, we always have unrestrained good will towards them, which is then expressed and we do it at cost to ourselves.

Now previously in Chapter six we read what is called the Shema, which is Hebrew for ‘Hear', which is recited daily by devout Jews: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (6:4-9) The early part of that we might think is thus THE crucial belief in the Bible about God – He is One and we are to love Him. But we are actually touching something here that I believe is a crucial truth in the battle for truth about God in the twenty-first century, and we've just had the first hint of it – God chose Israel because He loved them, but not for any ‘size-reason'. He simply loves them.

Now the apostle John in his first letter makes an amazingly simple but staggeringly profound declaration: “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8,16) This defines God like nothing else does in the Bible. Back at Sinai, Moses had had an encounter with the lord when He had declared of Himself, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” (Ex 34:6,7). That, I suggest, had been the most profound statement about the Lord in the Old Testament. Now we find Moses making a statement about the Lord which again, I believe, possibly ranks second among the most profound statements about the Lord in the Old Testament: “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.” (7:9,10) The covenant that had been made at Sinai was a covenant of love! It was that because God is love; everything about the Lord is love. However He expresses Himself is an expression of love. He always expresses unrestrained, sacrificial good will to all human beings, anyone who is part of His Creation.

If only we could grasp this truth it would utterly transform us. We say we understand it with our minds when we read such verses as “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn 3;16) but we question it in the light of everyday life. I have concluded that the effect of sin in us, blinds us to the truth and if we could only see this wonderful truth in its clarity, we would be utterly transformed.

God set His love on Abraham, then Isaac and Jacob and then the people of Israel , i.e. He expressed it towards them in establishing them as a unique people with a unique relationship with Him. What an incredible opportunity they had but, as I said, sin blinds, and so they didn't realise it and blew it again and again. But the truth has been laid out before them and so Moses concludes with the same call as before: “Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.” (7:11). They may not be able to see the truth clearly or as the apostle Paul puts it, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror,” (1 Cor 13:12) but at least they have the rules which they can follow which will enable them to be blessed. If we can't cope with the love, we can cope with the Law, but the love is better! Think on these things.

(Focus: Deut 7:12-16)

Deut 7:12,13 If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers.

Remember the context. Drive out the inhabitants of the Land and their religion (7:1-6) for you are a holy, unique people. God chose you to be this because He loves you (7:7-11) so hold on to His laws. Note the inter-linking of Moses' argument: you are a specially chosen, holy people, so have nothing to do with the people in the Land, but instead live the lives that God lays out for you in the Law. Remember we also said that everything Moses says here is to encourage Israel to follow that Law in the centuries to come. Now he gives them an additional motivation – the good that will come if they do follow the Law that God has given them.

He starts with this general call that we have noticed before: “ If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them.” (v.12a) Paying attention means making sure they hold a central place in your life as a nation, and that means more than merely paying lip service to them; it means carefully following them. Now that is the condition for what follows and we need to remind ourselves that it IS a condition and without it the following will NOT happen!

The blessing of obedience is first simply stated generally: “then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers.” (v.12b) i.e. you do your side of the covenant and the Lord will do His. Note again it is described as a covenant of love . It is God's way of being able to express His heart of love to this people. Now when God speaks about His love these aren't just words, for God will DO specific things to bless Israel . This is so obvious when we read it, that we need to slow down and take it in.

First, “He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers.” (v.13a) Humanly speaking there is no reason why they should flourish but God is going to decree blessing for this people and its outworking is going to be clearly visible. It is NOT merely a natural thing for it could so easily be the opposite. But this ‘increasing in numbers' is going to happen in specific ways: “He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land--your grain, new wine and oil--the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you. You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young.” (v.13b,14) God's blessing, His decree of good, is going to affect the way women conceive, the harvest, and their herds and flocks, i.e. all life is going to be blessed.

Now we need to realise that this is God's enabling, it won't happen without Him. It doesn't take a very clever person to look at the way our world works to realise that infertility, cattle disease and poor crops are not unusual. In a Fallen World, as we so often say, things go wrong, but for Israel , if they hold fast to the Lord, things will not go wrong. To the contrary, things will go very right because God has decreed that it will be like that and when He speaks, it is done. Now we have just said that all Israel need to do is hold fast to the Lord, and the way that they do this is by holding on to and keeping all the laws and instructions that God has given them.

These laws will enable to them to live in peace and harmony within the nation and in so doing, they will be demonstrating their love for God. Keeping close to Him means that His life can be imparted to them and that is then seen in the ways we have just read. The laws in themselves will not bring about those things, but the blessing of God will come when they do live like that, demonstrating His wisdom to the rest of the world, and then revealing His blessing on them to the rest of the world. Possibly the best example of this working out is the Queen of Sheba coming to view the blessing that God has bestowed on Solomon and Israel, and we read when she saw it, “she was overwhelmed.” (1 Kings 10:5) and went on to declare, “Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel . Because of the LORD's eternal love for Israel , he has made you king, to maintain justice and righteousness.” (1 Kings 10:9) She understood the source of Solomon's blessing!

Those are the positive sides of God's blessing, but it also comes in another way: “The LORD will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt , but he will inflict them on all who hate you.” (v.15) Not only will they be fruitful but the Lord will also keep them healthy and they will not suffer the diseases that come in this Fallen World that others suffer. Those who hate and oppose them will suffer those things, but not Israel!

So, Moses returns to his original theme of obedience and especially in respect of dealing with the inhabitants of the Land: “You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God gives over to you. Do not look on them with pity and do not serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.” (v.16). This is the command and failure to keep it will mean loss of the blessing that we have just considered.

It maybe that we who are Christians today need to realise afresh the blessings that are promised us in the word of God in return for our obedience. As you read the New Testament, look for it.

(Focus: Deut 7:17-26)

Deut 7:17,18 You may say to yourselves, "These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?" But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt .

Mostly, we have been saying, Deuteronomy is all about encouraging Israel to keep the laws, commandments and instructions of the Law. Mostly we have been associating that with the Law itself, the Ten Commandments and the laws that God subsequently gave Moses at Sinai. But part of those instructions has included how to take the Land and how to deal with the people who are there at present. The beginning of the chapter spoke about the Lord driving out the inhabitants and Israel completely destroying any who resisted (v.1,2). That was followed by instructions not to intermingle with them but to destroy them and remove all signs of their religion. So now they have come to the point where they are actually facing the thought of going in and doing this. Moses seeks to reassure them by facing their potential fears.

The last time they came to this land they were sent packing and their memories may not be very good, but they can remember that! Moses reads their minds: “ You may say to yourselves, "These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?" (v.17) That is quite a normal reaction for it is the truth! But this is where they need to look at the bigger truth: “But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt .” (v.18). Don't put your eyes on the enemy, put them on the Lord and remember what you have learned of Him! “You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the miraculous signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the LORD your God brought you out.” (v.19). That's it! You need to remind yourselves what you saw the Lord do for you, and so…. “The LORD your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.” (v.19b) What the Lord did to Pharaoh He will do to the inhabitants of the Land.

“Moreover, the LORD your God will send the hornet among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished.” (v.20) God is going to act on your behalf and will do a thorough job of it! So, “Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.” (v.21). This is the truth and so you don't have to have any bad feelings about the occupants, God will sort them!

But then he spells out some more detail: “The LORD your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you.” (v.22). There it is, a second reference to the Lord DRIVING OUT the occupants. As we said previously, killing them off is not the first priority, just getting rid of them from the Land, but when they refuse to go, that's when battle ensues. It will be a slow and gradual thing so that the Land is not emptied completely and wild animals take it over. No, you will do it bit by bit. But when it comes to that, know that, “the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed. He will give their kings into your hand, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand up against you; you will destroy them.” (v.23,24) Notice four times there is this definite declaration, this WILL happen. Israel , you can be assured that these things WILL happen. Victory IS assured for you!

Having dealt with that, he returns to the theme of dealing with the religion of the occupants: “The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the LORD your God. Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.” (v.25,26) i.e. you are not to hold on to anything that was part of their religion, nothing whatsoever! If you hold on to anything, it will become a snare to you and superstition will be able to come and draw you off to follow the same ways that these people are following and that will be the death knell of the nation. You are to consider everything to do with their religion as detestable and have nothing whatsoever to do with it. There is to be no mingling with their culture lest you get enticed away to it yourselves.

There is perhaps a warning for us today, not to let anything of the enemy and the world mingle in with our faith. Superstition is to have no part in the Christian faith. What we have is to be founded on the truth revealed in the New Testament and nothing is to be added to that! May we remember that!

(Focus: Deut 8:1-5)

Deut 8:2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

A casual reading of parts of these early chapters of Deuteronomy might conclude there is just a lot of repetition, but a closer reading shows that where there is repetition it is for a different specific purpose and it usually has different elements to it. This is what we find here.

So chapter 8 starts out with something that has been said a number of times before. “ Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers.” (v.1) Note again that there is a command and a promise so the promise is conditional on the command. The command is a simple call to obey all the laws being reiterated by Moses and the promise is blessing on their lives and an enabling to go in and take the Land. Normally, previously, the promise has been to have long life in the land but the promise here is the ability to take the land. So the obedience to the Law needs to start right now for it impacts all that is going to follow.

But now it is followed by yet another call to remember the past, but this time it is a call not only to remember it, but understand it, understand what was going on and why! “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.” (v.2) The basic facts of their recent history were that God had led them while they wandered for forty years in the desert having originally failed to enter the Promised Land. But what was going on while that was happened? God was humbling them and testing them.

When you look back on the records of that time they are limited mostly to different crises that occurred – lacking water, lacking food etc. Now, says Moses, that wasn't coincidental, that was God testing you to see how you would react. The crucial issue at every crisis was would they turn to the Lord, would they stick to what they had been told about Him, would they adhere to the Law? Rather than just waste that forty year period, the Lord used it to teach and train Israel . The most important thing was that they had to learn to trust the Lord and stick to Him. Often they hadn't done very well, but a learning process is like that, you don't do very well initially but you get better as you learn.

But there was a specific aspect to this teaching: “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (v.3) When they had eventually decided to enter the land on the previous occasion it was a pure example of self-confidence, not confidence in God. They had to lose that self-confidence because it was not the thing that would see them through in the centuries to come, it was a confidence in the Lord, which is what the Sinai covenant of love was all about – about coming into a relationship of trust in God. So a number of times they had a crisis of provision and the Lord looked to see if they would turn to Him for provision – they didn't, they grumbled instead, but nevertheless the Lord DID provide for them – manna. They had to learn that their future lives did not simply depend on material provision, but also provision of the wisdom of God, every word that comes from Him!

He reminds them of what happened: “Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.” (v.4) Not only did the Lord provide manna, quails and water. He also ensured that their clothes did not wear out. One pair of sandal for forty years!!! Then comes the key principle behind all this: “Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.” (v.5) There it is! What had been going on throughout those years had been God's disciplining. Now don't misunderstand this. So often we equate discipline with punishment but in the Bible discipline is God training His people. Yes it does involve correction and yes sometimes it is painful, but the purpose is always good. It is that the people of God learn to trust God.

When crises happen today, how do we view them? Panic? Or do we turn to the Lord to hear from Him to see what provision He wants to bring us to cope with the present? These are profound questions and they deserve some careful thought so that we may trust Him more and more.

(Focus: Deut 8:6-20)

Deut 8:6,7 Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land--a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills

Let's quickly catch the context again: at the beginning of the chapter the command had been, “ Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers,” (8:1) and we commented that this was a command and conditional promise, obedience and success in taking the land were linked.

So it now is that Moses reiterates that command and spells out the blessing of the promise: “Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land--a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills;” (8:6,7) The previous expression in verse 1 had simply referred to entering in and possessing the land, but now Moses elaborates on that, for it is a “good land” with plenty of water. How different it will be from the desert they have known for forty years!

But he doesn't leave it there; the water he has just referred to will enable them to grow crops and fruit in abundance, and where the ground will yield many minerals: “a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.” (8:8,9) Remember, this is Moses encouraging the people and the encouragement is two-sided. Here the emphasis has been on the goodness of the land that they are about to take, but that was the outworking of their obedience to the Law. Keep all the laws and God will bless you in taking this wonderful land. The Law is still there in the background.

But the very thought of the goodness and fruitfulness of this land raises a concern about the future which Moses needs to present to them: “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.” (8:10,11) There is a grave danger when they enter the land, settle it and enjoy the fruits of the land, that they will settle into apathy and neglect their relationship with the Lord. In countries that are prosperous this is always one of the greatest dangers for the church. Who needs the Lord when you have everything? How foolish!

Moses expands on this danger: “Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (8:12-14) There it is! When you are doing well and living in abundance, the danger is that you start thinking how well you have done and forget that it is the Lord's blessing that has brought all this, and thus you turn from Him and start on a downhill slope! Seven times in Deuteronomy Moses warns Israel not to forget where they have come from and who it is who is the source of all their blessings! He, has prior to this chapter warned them not to forget in 4:9,23 and 6:12. In this chapter he warns in 8:11,14 and 19, and then later in the book in 25:19.

They need these warnings! They need to be reminded of their past experiences of the Lord: “He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.” (8:15,16) Yes, these are just some of the things the Lord did, examples of His goodness to them. There are, of course, many more things that they could remember. Don't forget!

In their affluence in the future there is a very real danger: “You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 8:17) How foolish we are to so easily forget and attribute our blessings to our activities. It is all because of the Lord's goodness! So, “remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.” (8:18). This is vital. Keep a right perspective. The Lord is our provider! There is a terrible danger lurking behind all this: “If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.” (8:19,20)

If you abandon your relationship with the Lord, if you cease to rely upon Him, you will shortly become like all the other nations in their sin, and will incur the judgment of God. He seeks to deliver you from that but if you go the way of the rest of the world, why should you not be judged for your wrong doing? It is a sober warning!

(Focus: Deut 9:1-3)

Deut 9:1-3  Hear, O Israel. You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. The people are strong and tall--Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: "Who can stand up against the Anakites?" But be assured today that the LORD your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the LORD has promised you.

Moses, we have been saying, has been encouraging Israel to stick close to God and obey all His laws as they prepare to go in and take the Promised Land. He has used a variety of methods of encouraging them. He has looked back and reminded them of the wonderful things the Lord has done for them, taking them out of Egypt , meeting with them at Sinai, providing for them in the desert for forty years and recently defeating two opposing kings. That was all looking back. But he has also looked forward and spoken of the wonder of this land that they have been promised which, in comparison to the desert they have been wandering in for forty years, is going to be truly wonderful. The future looks good. Now that is all very well but there is a problem: before they can enjoy the land they have to get rid of its inhabitants, so Moses is going to eyeball this problem and, by confronting it, focus Israel well and truly on the Lord again.

Chapter 9 starts with another of these “Hear O Israel ” passages. These aren't just words, they are a strong call for Israel to pay attention – this is particularly important. Sometimes a preacher may ask a congregation to pay particular attention as he comes to a particular part of his sermon; he wants everyone to focus on a key point. What Moses is about to say is vital to Israel 's understanding.

He faces the problem full on: “You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. The people are strong and tall--Anakites!!” Yes, let's face it, the nations in this land are bigger and stronger than you – and you know it! They have got some big cities with thick, high walls and there are people in the land known to be strong and tall. Yes, all of this is true and (implied) I wouldn't try to mislead you over this. Yes, I know some of these people have a reputation – that is the truth.

Right, having got over that, let's also face the bigger truth – and THIS is THE important bit! “be assured today that the LORD your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you.” When you go into the Land you will only be following the Lord. He is going ahead of you and He is going to deal with the occupants before you. Please understand that – God will have gone ahead of you to prepare the way so all that will be left for you to do is drive them out and annihilate them quickly, Note there is a third reference to driving out the occupants. The role of Israel is to push the people out ahead of them.

When we see what happens in the book of Joshua, we see that it is the fear of the Lord that goes ahead of them, it is the fear of the Lord that takes all their strength away and subdues them. Some will have run and left the land before this terrible force that is coming (as they see it) and some come over to them (Rahab, her family [Josh 2 & 6] and the Gibeonites [Josh 9]). Others who opposed Israel, died in battle. Others remained in the Land despite the Lord's original instructions.

The big issue here is who it is who is going to be responsible for dealing with the occupants of the Land: it is first the Lord and then the people of Israel.

Remember David's words to Saul before going out to confront Goliath: “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Sam 17:37). David knew that it was going to be the Lord who was going to cause Goliath's downfall, yet it was going to be David himself who threw the stone that killed him. When Jesus came to deal with and ‘destroy' death in the case of Lazarus, he instructed the people to play a part: “Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. "Take away the stone," he said.” (Jn 11:38,39)

Again and again we find in Scripture this order: we do something at the lord's bidding and then He causes the change. He does what we cannot do but we have to do what He calls us to do. Paul referred to himself as God's fellow worker, or co-worker (1 Cor 3:9). He knew his part; he worked alongside God. Jesus indicated the same thing: “Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working….. I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” (Jn 5:17,19). THAT is how it works. The Father has the power and the wisdom; we are simply His instruments through which He wants His Holy Spirit to flow. Got the picture?

(Focus: Deut 9:4-6)

Deut 9:4 After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, "The LORD has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness." No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is going to drive them out before you.

When God calls us or blesses us, there is a temptation to think we have some merit that has caused Him to do it. I have concluded after many years of thinking about this, that the only reason the Lord saves us (apart, obviously, from His love) is because He sees what He can do for us and with us; He sees that we are people who will surrender to Him and in our place of surrender, He can take us and lead us and use us and bless us and change us more in to the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ. Your only merit is your ability to surrender! The apostle Paul wrote, “ He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him,” (1 Cor 1:28,29) and then, “ For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (1 Cor 4:7) i.e. God chose you because you were weak and you are what you are because of all that He has given you. We have absolutely no grounds for boasting!

Previously Moses had said to Israel, “The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery.” (Deut 7:7,8) No Israel, you are what you are, and chosen by God, NOT because you were big and powerful because in fact you are a small nation. It was God's love and His desire to express good-will towards a nation that He chose you and, perhaps in the light of what we have read in the New Testament, because they had been weak and desperate as slaves.

Thus now Moses seeks to put their call into perspective again. Don't say the Lord is doing this because we are a righteous people because, in fact, he will conclude this paragraph with “for you are a stiff-necked people.” Oh no, it will be despite you that you will go in and triumph! No, the primary reason that is now given for what is taking place is because God is going to deal with a bunch of very wicked nations and bring judgment on them and end their national status by either driving them out of the land or utterly destroying them – and He's going to use Israel to achieve that. In fact, as we've noted before, it goes right back to Abraham etc., ( the oath he swore to your forefathers), to promises that the Lord made to bring blessing to them, their families and their future people, and part of that included dealing with a very ungodly, unrighteous, occult-driven, pagan, idol-worshipping part of the world! (see Gen 15:12-16)

Moses presses the point: “It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you.” (9:5). One commentary declares, “Just how sinful many Canaanite religious practices were is now known from archaeological artifacts and from their own epic literature, discovered at Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit) on the north Syrian coast beginning in 1929. Their "worship" was polytheistic and included child sacrifice, idolatry, religious prostitution and divination.” That was the ‘wickedness' of the inhabitants of Canaan . It had got to such a point that it was in danger of polluting the earth and so the time had come for the Lord to deal with it. That was part of the package that involved Israel ! They were to be the instrument that dealt with this people.

If we hadn't been sure about the reference just now to “the oath that he swore to your forefathers”, Moses explains it further: “to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” (9:5) As we noted just now, this was a promise that their families would inherit this land and at the same time bring judgment on a people who were sinking deeper and deeper into sin which was reaching its peak at this time. It is now time for them to be dealt with.

So, he concludes, “Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.” This is not all about you and about how good you are, for indeed, history has shown how you are a rebellious and stubborn people who have a knack of getting it wrong! The history of the people of Israel , in a nutshell, simply reveals that sinful mankind can't get it right even when God talks to them and gives them guidance – it needs something much more to deliver the human race from its Sin; it needs the work of Jesus on the Cross and the Holy Spirit's empowering and changing power today. Nothing less than this means we keep on in our foolish and sinful ways!

(Focus: Deut 9:7-29)

Deut 9:7 Remember this and never forget how you provoked the LORD your God to anger in the desert. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against the LORD

In the previous passage Moses has just pointed out to Israel that God had chosen them, not because of their righteousness, because in fact they had been a stubborn people, and stubbornness is not righteousness.. The remainder of the chapter justifies that statement! Moses takes them back to remember all that has gone on in the past but this time it is to make this particular point: realise your very existence is down to the grace and mercy of God, not down to any merit you might think you have. So, he starts out, think about this and remember you have provoked the Lord all the way along the line from Egypt 's deliverance right through to the present day!

Let's ignore the Exodus (implied) and start with Horeb or Mount Sinai : “At Horeb you aroused the LORD's wrath so that he was angry enough to destroy you.” (v.8) He then recounts how he had gone up on the mountain for forty days and received the Ten Commandments (v.9-11) but at the end of that time, “Then the LORD told me, "Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned away quickly from what I commanded them and have made a cast idol for themselves.” (v.12) The Lord had seen the episode of the golden calf (v.16), “And the LORD said to me, "I have seen this people, and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! Let me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.” (v.13,14). Moses had pleaded for them (v.18-21) and only a limited number had died.

But then they had also grumbled at Taberah (v.22 – see Num 11:1-4) and again at Massah (v.22) over lack of water (see Ex 17:3-7) and at Kibroth Hattaavah (v.22) over lack of food (see Num 11:31-35). Those had just been some of the times when Israel had provoked the Lord by their lack of trust in Him despite having seen His miraculous power at work for them. Then he reminds them of their failure at Kadesh Barnea, where he had said , "Go up and take possession of the land I have given you." but “you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. You did not trust him or obey him.” (v.23)

Indeed, he concludes, “You have been rebellious against the LORD ever since I have known you.” (v.24) Wow, what a condemnation! But it was true. He tells again how he had laid before the Lord forty days pleading for them (v.25,26). He had reminded the Lord about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (v.27) and pleaded for Israel , “Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin. Otherwise, the country from which you brought us will say, `Because the LORD was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to put them to death in the desert.' But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.” (v.27-29) His only grounds for pleading for Israel before the Lord was the fact that the Lord had promised the Patriarchs that He would make a great people out of them, and this is what had happened. Surely God's plan had not been to then destroy them after all that had gone before!

Thus Moses came to understand the Lord's plan; as he pleaded he came to realise it. Yes, there would be discipline, yes there would be judgments, but the Lord sought to maintain most of the people, for His plan was to take them into the Promised Land and make them a light to the rest of the world.

But fundamental to all of this was the need for Israel to respond to the Lord and completely trust Him. Indeed, surely Moses is trying to convince them that the Lord is for them. After all they have given Him so many causes to destroy them or cast them off and start again with someone else, that the truth must be that He is utterly committed to them.

Isn't this the same truth today, with the fuller revelation of His love that has been revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ? Isn't that famous verse, Jn 3:16, the very proof of this: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.” God's love for the world was expressed in His sending His one and only Jesus to live here and die here for our sins. Can there be any question that God loves us and is for us, when you look at and think about this verse. That is why the apostle Paul could end Romans 8 with that declaration that is basically summed up as ‘nothing but nothing can separate from the love of God.' God is for us, totally for us and He's not going to let anything keep that love away from us. We may reject it, as many do, but it will be there for the taking – always! Hallelujah!

(Focus: Deut 10:1-29)

Deut 10:12,13 And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

Yet again Moses reminds Israel of their history with the Lord. He reminds them that after the first two stone tablets had been smashed, he had had to make two new ones and an ark or wooden chest in which to keep them (10:1-3) and the Lord wrote on them as before (10:4). Then they had travelled on and Aaron had died (10:6), then further on when the Lord set apart the Levites to carry the ark (10:7-9). On the mountain he had pleaded with the Lord not to destroy them and the Lord allowed them to go to enter the land. (10:10,11) After reminding them yet again of that, Moses calls them again to comprehensively follow the Lord (v.12,13 above). Observe the language.

Attitude – fear your God , have a right respect for His awesomeness. Action – walk in all His ways . Let your daily lifestyle conform to His will for you. Heart commitment – love him. Heart expression – serve Him. Assessment of both – wholeheartedly and being obedient. Note that the complementary attitudes of fear and love and seen to be there by the willingness to serve and obey the Lord. Service and obedience are the measure of the heart. Yet, one must add, that a cold obedience and service is NOT what is being asked of Israel ; it is to be a relationship of love.

The apostle John had this in mind when he wrote, “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” (1 Jn 2:3-6) i.e. a genuine relationship of love with the Lord is expressed by obedience to all the New Testament says, and to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Failure in these areas raises questions as to the reality of the relationship.

So, Moses has appealed to the memory of the recent past to encourage Israel to be obedient to their calling by the Lord. But he wants to yet enlarge their understanding of the Lord: “To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.” (v.15). The Lord who delivered them out of Egypt and drew near to them at Sinai and who provided for them and disciplined them, is the Creator of the World. Everything in all of Creation belongs to Him. That is His greatness which makes all the more marvellous what has happened to them: “Yet the LORD set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today.” (v.15) He isn't a distant God somewhere ‘out there' but He has drawn near to them to enter into relationship with them.

But Israel have a problem that has been revealed by their past behaviour that Moses spoke about in Chapter 9 (which reaches its conclusion here): “Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.” (v.16) A little bit of mixed metaphors here! Cut out from your hearts the hardness that is there so that you will no longer be arrogant and rebellions (stiff-necked).

But there is another aspect to this particular problem: “For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.” (v.17) God is both holy (utterly different) and righteous (always behaving absolutely rightly). The implication is that He will not tolerate their rebellious attitudes any longer. He is a good God and He looks for goodness in them: “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.” (v.18,19)

So, he concludes, “Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.” (v.20,21). Stick close to God, He is the cause of all praise for He is God who has done great things for you, summed up as, “Your forefathers who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.” (v.22) God has done what He said to Abraham. He is faithful to His word and Israel are the proof of it. Now live it out!

(Focus: Deut 11:1-7)

Deut 11:2,7 Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the LORD your God: his majesty, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm ….. But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the LORD has done.

Testimony takes on responsibility. When you have seen something yourself you have a responsibility to the truth. Testimony is very powerful and many of us don't realise just how powerful it is. THIS is what happened! I often say it but it bears repeating, the blind man's testimony in John 9 is brilliant: “He replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” (Jn 9:25) You really can't challenge that sort of straight forward testimony! I think the apostle John's own testimony is equally powerful: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched --this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard .” (1 Jn 1:1-3)

So Moses starts out this chapter with a call to love God and obey Him: “Love the LORD your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always,” (11:1) and to further reinforce and encourage them he makes this long statement about their testimony which begins and ends as follows: “ Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the LORD your God: his majesty, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm ….. But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the LORD has done.” You have no excuse is that he is subtly saying, you have seen and heard all this so you know who it is you are following.

Previously Moses had said something very similar but there it had been in respect of the Sinai experience: “It was not with our fathers that the LORD made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today. The LORD spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.” (5:3,4) No, they were the ones who have seen and heard everything at mount Sinai. Now he refers them back to what had happened in Egypt .

  Moses spells this out, all that they saw: “the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country; what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots, how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea as they were pursuing you, and how the LORD brought lasting ruin on them.” (11:3,4). Note this time he does take them right back to the incredible events in Egypt . It's not just the Sinai experience but everything that went before it. You saw all that! It was one of the most incredible episodes in history – God versus a king! But is wasn't only that, it was also what followed in the desert after coming out of Egypt and after Sinai: “It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the desert until you arrived at this place, and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth right in the middle of all Israel and swallowed them up with their households, their tents and every living thing that belonged to them. But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the LORD has done.” (11:5-7)

Yes, YOU saw all these things and they should be well and truly fixed in your memories. There is absolutely no question who it is you are following. There can be no saying you didn't know who He was or what He was like. You have no excuse possible for not obeying Him now! The call to remember is a familiar call in the whole Bible. That in itself it something we may take for granted but when you are called to remember something it is a call to recollect something that actually happened in time-space history, that happened earlier in your life; it is an appeal to remember events that occurred or things that were said in your presence.

I have this feeling that many of us forget the wonder of what has happened to us and now take it for granted. We forget what we used to be like, we forget the experience we had of coming to the Lord, we forget the incredible change that took place then, and we forget the many answers to prayer or other experiences of the Lord we have had since! In our memories there are possibly hundreds of things to do with the Lord, things that have happened to us in the years of our experience of Him. Maybe we need to sit down and quietly go back over our history and bring to remembrance those many things. If we did that we would be strengthened and be given much cause to praise Him. Why not do it today!

(Focus: Deut 11:8-15)

Deut 11:8,9 Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, and so that you may live long in the land that the LORD swore to your forefathers to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.

We have commented before that Moses encourages and exhorts by looking back and by looking forward. In the first seven verses of chapter 11 he looked back to remind them of what they had seen and heard. Now he exhorts and encourages by looking forward to them going in an taking the land.

He starts it off with this intriguing instruction: observe all the commands so that “you may have the strength to go in and take over the land.” Now why should obedience to the laws bring them strength and courage? Well, first, there may be a psychological dimension to that. When you feel good about something you feel strong and capable. If they feel good about their relationship with the Lord, then that may naturally give them a good feeling that is expressed in strength and courage. The second thing, is that it may well be that when they are in a close relationship with the Lord, He is able to impart strength to them. Years later in the book of Judges we see a number of times that when the Spirit of the Lord came upon a man it brought physical strength and courage. The power and presence of the Lord did bring literal changes to a man.

But there is also a second part to the outworkings of obedience: “so that you may live long in the land” Obedience will also bring the blessing of security and long life. If they stick to God's design rules, the Law, then the Lord will look after them and protect them in the land, and grant them long healthy lives.

Now note that as soon as he starts mentioning the Land, he moves into descriptive mode, saying encouraging things about this land. First of all it is “ a land flowing with milk and honey.” Milk comes from the cattle they keep while honey comes from the bees that make it from the lushness of the plant life in the land. These are shorthand descriptions of a land that is good, fruitful and bountiful. This is a good land! Then he makes a comparison again: “The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden.” (v.10) This land, he continues, is going to be different from Egypt. There to create plant life you had to walk the land to cultivate it and water it. Water was not plentiful so you had to carry it to your plants like a vegetable garden. It was hard work, but this new land is going to be different: “the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.” (v.11,12) No, this new land is quite different. It has mountains and valleys and rainfall and that means plenty of vegetation, lush vegetation. It's a land that receives the blessing of god on it from one end of the year to the other. This is a very different land from that which they have experienced so far; it's going to be a really good land.

The end product of their obedience will be the promise of the Lord's ongoing blessing on it: “then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.” (v.14,15) Rain in two seasons will mean it is truly a bountiful land and that for a farmer can be equated with riches and well-being. That is the promise of this new land, that is what they have got to look forward to. But of course it IS conditional on their obedience so that “you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today--to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (v.13)

Now when you consider all the wonderful pictures of the land that have just been painted, there shouldn't need to be a stick to drive them to obedience, the wonder of this provision should be adequate motivation to help them along. It is not as if the laws are difficult, for they are not. Similarly today, if people grumble about ‘having to keep rules' it simply means that they have not understood the wonder of the provision of salvation that comes through Jesus Christ. The wonder of God's love – when we have eyes to see it – should be more than enough to help us live holy and righteous lives. Indeed, the ‘rules' of the New Testament are really all different expressions of loving God and loving your fellow man, and once you see the wonder of God's love, expressing that love back and outwards to others is not difficult. it is not onerous being a child of God; it is a wonderful blessing! Hallelujah!

(Focus: Deut 11:16-25)

Deut 11:18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

In the past I have watched steel frame buildings being put up. Large concrete pads are set in the ground with a number of bolt holes set in them with long bolts set in the concrete but given a little room for play so that steel base plates are located over them and the plates are bolted down. The base plates are already welded to the bottom end of the steel column. Thus the bolts anchor the column and so the entire framework of the building so that it is utterly fixed in place and nothing can move it. I believe these early chapters of Deuteronomy are just like those anchor bolts, and they anchor Israel in their relationship with the Lord. Even as many bolts hold down the structure so many times the same things are said in these early chapters.

Thus previously we read, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (Deut 6:6-9) which finds its echo in our present verses.

Moses starts this section with a warning: “Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.” (v.16) Previously we read, “And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars--all the heavenly array--do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.” (Deut 4:19) When someone is enticed they are attracted by the lure of something. The attraction of ‘other religions' is that they are ones in which man is in command. They are self-centred and godless. God will not let His people do that: “ Then the LORD's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the LORD is giving you.” (v.17) Why will the Lord do that? To catch the people's attention afresh so that they will cry out to Him again and return to Him. We see that happening again and again in the book of Judges.

So, says Moses once more, “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.” (v.18) Anchor these words in your hearts and your mind. Let your will and your intellect be guided by them; may they be obvious and come to your attention at every point of life: “Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.” (v.19-21) The laws that Moses reiterates in this book are to form a central focus of the life of Israel both now and in all future generations. To achieve that they would need to present them to their children and show them the relevance of all the laws in every aspect of life. These aren't laws just for ‘Sundays'; they are laws that cover all of life, seven days a week and there is no area of life that is outside them.

So, again looking forward Moses declares, “If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow…. then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you. Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon , and from the Euphrates River to the western sea. No man will be able to stand against you. The LORD your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.” (v.22-25). Note the “if – then” structure, a condition and a promise. Complete obedience is the condition and complete occupation of the Land is the promise.

But we've taken some words out of those verses that come at the end of the first verse: “to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways and to hold fast to him.” This how you observe these commands, by love! We've seen it before and it is a call for heart and mind to be given over to God, a life moved by the love and wonder of the One we are called to follow. Yes, in the Old Testament the call was to follow the Law, follow the rules, but the heart of that call was still love – and it still is. The apostle John wrote, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 Jn 4:10). We love God because He loved us first. He IS love and we have received of it. THIS is why we love.

(Focus: Deut 11:26-32)

Deut 11:26-28 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse-- the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known

Actions ALWAYS have consequences. That isn't a spiritual law as such; it is just how life works. I eat too much food and I get fat. It can be applied to every facet of life: what we do has consequences. When it comes to the Lord though, it takes on a new dimension. Some people think God is a distant God who just leaves this world to get on by itself. Not so! The apostle wrote those familiar words, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Gal 6:7,8) There is the fundamental spiritual principle: you reap what you sow! What Paul's verse doesn't tell us is whether God will take action or it will just be a ‘natural' consequence.

We say this in the light of a new subject that Moses is introducing to Israel . The detail of this will not come until chapter 28 but it seems fairly obvious from a glance at that chapter that what we are now talking about is a promise of intervention by God to match the circumstances. It is very simple; there are two possibilities: “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse.” (v.26) Hullo, Israel might have thought, pricking up their ears, what is this? So he continues: “the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God.” (v.27,28a) There it is in its simplest form.

Even if we didn't know what it entailed in detail, it is fairly obvious: a blessing sounds good and a curse sounds bad! The good follows obedience and the bad follows disobedience. The disobedience is likely to have another dimension to it: “and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.” (v.28b). If they turn away from God's commands it is almost certainly because they are turning to the superstitious worship of their neighbours. If they do that God is going to act against them.

Silly and thoughtless crusading atheists and their followers of the twenty first century talk about a harsh God who acts spitefully against Israel, but nothing could be further from the truth. Whenever God acts through a curse, i.e. a decree of bad, it is part of His process to draw Israel back into a place where they can live in the good of all that He intends for the earth. It is only sin that stops us receiving this. Read the book of Judges and you see this happening again and again. In fact more often than not it is simply God stepping back from Israel when they turn from Him, and that leaves them vulnerable to the sinful desires and acts of their pagan neighbours who then come and attack them.

For the moment though, Moses is simply setting up what is to happen when they enter the Promised Land: “When the LORD your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess….” (v.29a) Yes, this is not for now but for once they are in the Land. Once you are there, “you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the curses.” (v.29b) He clarifies where this is: “As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan , west of the road, toward the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh, in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal.” (v.30) Within the land there are these two ‘mountains' that are quite close to each other and so one party will go up one and another party go up the other and the one group will declare loudly the blessings and the other party, on the other mountain top, the curses. They are sufficiently close and creating echoes so that everyone will hear. It is also like they are declaring these things over the whole land. They are declaring God's future conditional decrees over the whole land.

Yes, do note that in passing: they are decrees by God to bring either good or bad, and they are conditional on the behaviour of Israel. Be a godly people following all of God's guidance and your inheritance is guaranteed good! That is a principle that is true for every person on earth. But the opposite is also true: be a self-centred and godless individual and your inheritance is guaranteed bad. The trouble is that so many people get so used to living with the bad, that they don't even realise that it is bad or that there is a possible alternative! That is the folly of Sin!

So Moses had added yet a further command to all else that they have received and so that requires a further encouragement to be obedient: “You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you. When you have taken it over and are living there, be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.” (v.31,32) Every time there is a further instruction, there is a further encouragement to obey brought with it. Every instruction is to be seen in the context of going into and inheriting the Land. For us today, every instruction that we may find in the New Testament (and there are many) is seen in the light of all the good that God wants to bring us as the outworking of the work of Christ on the Cross. Let's not let Sin rob us of it!