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Scripture Reading: Deut. 11:8-32
In this message we will consider the two aspects of the general advices and warnings found in 11:8-32.
In 11:8-25 we see that if the children of Israel were willing to keep Moses' words of advice and warning, they would receive certain blessings. Today, if we keep Christ, we will receive blessings from God.
"Therefore you shall keep the whole commandment which I am commanding you today so that you may be strong and that you may go in and possess the land into which you are crossing over to possess it" (v. 8). If the children of Israel would keep the commandment, they would receive the blessing of being strong and of going in to possess the promised land. If we today keep Christ and hold fast to Christ, we will be strengthened and encouraged to go on to possess Christ. In Paul's words, we will be strengthened to "gain Christ" (Phil. 3:8). To possess Christ is to gain Him. The more we contact the Lord and enjoy Him, the more we are strengthened and encouraged to press on to gain Him.
If the children of Israel were willing to keep Moses' words, they would extend their days upon the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey, a land which God cares for and upon which His eyes are from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year (Deut. 11:9-12). For us today, the promised land is Christ, and our days may be extended not upon Christ but in Christ and with Christ.
Deuteronomy 11:12 says, "It is a land which Jehovah your God cares for; always the eyes of Jehovah your God are upon it, from the beginning of the year unto the end of the year." Literally, the Hebrew word translated "cares for" means "seeks after" (i.e., with interest and care). This verse speaks not merely of God's affection but of His care. For God's eyes to be upon us means that we are the object of His care. The reason that God puts His eyes upon us is so that we will hold fast to Christ and enjoy Christ.
First, God sets His affection upon us (7:7), and then He puts His eyes upon us. Since His eyes are upon us all the time, from the beginning of the year unto the end of the year, we can see His eyes and thereby enjoy His presence. How dear and precious is this blessing!
The third blessing is the blessing of rain, the blessing of the heavenly watering of everything in their realm. Concerning this, verses 14 and 15 say, "I will give rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the late rain, so that you may gather your grain and your new wine and your fresh oil. And I will put grass in your field for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied." Because of the rain, they would have a harvest of grain, new wine, and fresh oil. For us as believers in Christ today, the rain is the Spirit. Under the heavenly watering of the Spirit, we are not dry.
In verses 16 and 17 there is a warning. "Be careful lest your heart is deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and bow down to them. And the anger of Jehovah burns against you and He shuts up heaven, so that there is no rain and the earth does not yield its produce and you perish quickly from off the good land which Jehovah is giving to you." If the children of Israel turned away to other gods, they would no longer be under God's care. Instead, His anger would burn against them, heaven would be closed to them, and there would be no rain. We need to apply this warning to ourselves today. We should be careful lest our hearts are deceived, and we turn aside to other gods, such as education, success in business, or having our own preferences. If we turn aside from God and serve other gods, we will no longer enjoy the heavenly watering.
The children of Israel were to lay the words of Moses on their heart and on their soul, bind them on their hand as a sign, wear them as frontlets between their eyes, teach them to their children, speaking about them when they sat in their house, when they journeyed on the way, when they lay down, and when they rose up, and write them on the doorposts of their house and on their gates (vv. 18-20). They were to do these things that their days, as well as the days of their children, might be multiplied upon the promised land, as long as the days of heaven are above the earth (v. 21). We today should lay Christ on our heart and on our soul. We should bind Christ on our hand as a sign or symbol; that is, we should bind Christ to everything related to us and to everything that is an expression of us. We should also wear Christ as a frontlet between our eyes and teach Christ to others, speaking of Christ wherever we may be. This means that all the time and everywhere we should be occupied with Christ.
The blessing in these verses is the blessing of loving God. The blessing in verses 14 through 17 is the blessing of rain, which comes to us from God. The blessing in verses 18 through 21 is the blessing of the love which returns to God from us. We should love Him just as a woman loves the man to whom she is engaged to be married. In Deuteronomy, God was actually "courting" His people, loving them and setting His affection upon them. His people should then love Him in return. Today we need to love the Lord by laying Christ as the word on our heart and on our soul and by binding this word to everything related to us.
In verse 22 Moses spoke of four things: keeping the commandments which Moses commanded, loving Jehovah, walking in all His ways, and holding fast to Him. Today we should keep Christ, love God, walk in His ways, and hold fast to Him. We need to love the Lord Jesus to such an extent that we will hold fast to Him.
Moses went on to say that if the people keep the commandments, love God, walk in His ways, and hold fast to Him, "Jehovah will dispossess all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads will be yours; from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even unto the farmost sea will be your border" (vv. 23-24). The Hebrew name for the Euphrates is Parath. The "farmost sea" is the Mediterranean Sea. According to verse 24, the good land should extend from the Mediterranean Sea to today's Iraq.
Let us now review the blessings in 11:8-25. These blessings include being strengthened and encouraged to possess the promised land, extending our days in the land under God's care and in His presence, receiving the heavenly watering, loving the Lord, and holding fast to Him. It is surely a blessing to hold fast to the Lord and to walk in His ways. The greatest of these blessings is the blessing of God's presence.
In verses 26 through 28 Moses said, "See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of Jehovah your God, which I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of Jehovah your God and you turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, to go after other gods whom you have not known." Whether we have the blessing or the curse depends on whether or not we take Christ. If we take Christ, we have the blessing. If we do not take Christ, we have the curse.
In verse 29 Moses continued, "When Jehovah your God brings you into the land which you are entering to possess, you shall put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim and the curse upon Mount Ebal." Whether we receive the blessing or the curse depends on how we behave ourselves toward the Lord. If we have Christ, we will receive the blessing and be on Mount Gerizim. If we do not have Christ, we will receive the curse and be on Mount Ebal.
