|
Deuteronomy Chapter 11 "Motives and Reasons: Therefore, Love and Obey." This
Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location Deuteronomy 11:1 "Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep His charge, and His statutes, and His judgments, and His commandments, alway." God commanded that the children of Israel love the Lord, and as we keep His charge, and commandments, yet He told us to fear or revere Him. This was given to us also in the prior chapter. Reverence is the expression of that love that we have for our heavenly Father. Deuteronomy 11:2 "And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, His greatness, His mighty hand, and His stretched out arm," Moses is telling the Israelite people standing before him during this second message that that these words are directed to them personally. Each of them have witnessed the power and love of God through His mighty hand, and have seen personally the protection and help that God has given to them. God has chastised them when they went against God's instructions, and they know as a matter of fact that what Moses was saying is true. We see our heavenly Father just as these Israelites had seen Him in the wilderness. This is not talking about people that must live by faith alone, but these people saw the work of the Father; they witnessed God speaking to them from the mountain, and they personally heard His voice. There is no room for doubt here by these Israelites, nor even room for faith, for faith requires a belief in something that is unseen. Faith requires an action on your part which shows your confidence in your unseen belief. Let me put it another way, If you need a cane to walk, than that cane will not allow you to walk unless you put the force of your weight upon that cane. You put your faith in that cane to support the weight of your body because you know that it will not fail you. You do this sight unseen. These children of Israel have witnessed first hand the might hand of the Lord in His protection and provisions that he supplied while they were completely dependent upon Him. there was no faith required of them for they saw the Father's works first hand, and faith was not required of them. The witnessed the miracles, and saw the water flowing freely from the rock. Deuteronomy 11:3 "And His miracles, and His acts, which He did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;" Moses is reminding these children of Israel that they were there in Egypt when the plagues fell on Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and all the land of Egypt. Moses is saying that I even told you before hand of the events that the Lord would bring on the Egyptians. All the events were called beforehand and God did exactly as He told Moses that they would. This is a type of our Messiah, for everything that will happen in our generation has also been foretold in His Word. The nations of the world have come together and the ten agencies of power do sit over the nations of the world through the United Nations. Everything is coming to pass as the Lord has spoken it, and we can count on it. Just as the events of the world are coming to pass, the protection that God promised each of His people that prepare themselves for the events of the final days will also be there. This is why we put on the Armor of God, which is His Word placed within our minds, for the purpose that we will not be deceived and fear as those events take place. If God tells you what is going to happen, and that when they do happen He will protect you, then why would you worry and be afraid when they come to pass before your eyes? Those things should strengthen you, not scare you, for it points out to us that God does have control of the events of this earth age. Deuteronomy 11:4 "And what He did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how He made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord hath destroyed them unto this day;" Moses is reminding the people that all of those events were foretold, even when the Red sea was opened to allow you to pass through on dry ground, and then closed in on the Egyptian army after you passed to destroy them. God so destroyed the Egyptians that they lost their power even to this day of entry into the promise land. Deuteronomy 11:5 "And what He did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;" This includes all those things that happened out there in the wilderness, to provide you with food and help you overcome your enemies. You observed how God provided for you and you witnessed those things happening after God told you that they would. Deuteronomy 11:6 "And what He did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:" Moses is reminding these people of what they witnessed when God caused those that worshipped Baal to be taken from right in the middle of their camp. God caused an earthquake to literally open the earth and swallow those that defied Him, while the rest of the camp was left untouched. Deuteronomy 11:7 "But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which He did." Again Moses is calling attention this is a reminder to those that have actually seen these events come to pass before their own eyes. It is reality to them, and a type to our generation. Deuteronomy 11:8 "Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;" Moses knew that he was not going with them over the river Jordan to take and possess the land. This is why he was demanding of them that they keep all the commandments which God gave to them, and keep them fresh in their minds all the days of their lives. Where ever you go to posses your lands, you follow these commandments that he has given to you at this time. This is a warning to them, and a faith builder to us living in our generation. Even though Moses will not be around, His instructions through God's Word is very much around today. Deuteronomy 11:9 "And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the Lord sware unto your father to give unto them and to their seed, a land, that floweth with milk and honey." God keeps His Word, for they did go in and possess the land. Even after the scattering of the "house of Israel" by the Assyrians, our people migrated to another promise land to where our land is flowing with milk and honey. God is providing for the needs of not only our nation, but to the entire world, as God promised Abraham. Even though the world is moving into position for Satan's rule, and there is much violence in the world, we still have the assurance given to us of God's strong of protection over us. We have a surplus of everything, and we still have our rights of freedom to take part in the wealth that God has provided our nation. You have the choice of which way you will follow. Deuteronomy 11:10 "For the land, whether thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:" In the land of Egypt, the crops came when you took the water from the Nile river, and you carried the water to your fields and watered the crops to make them grow. In Egypt you had to water the seed with your buckets after you planted, it to have a crop. However in the promise land, not only in the middle east but in the land that you will migrate, it will be different. God is telling them that everything is going to be different. Deuteronomy 11:11 "But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:" Moses is telling the people that this new land that you are going into is going to be watered by the Living God. You plant the seed and God will take care of the watering of your crops. Here in the Midwest, we see that when the rain does come, God provides the source for the nitrogen to cover the fields also through the lightning. God is promising that I am going to take care of your needs. It will rain on that soil and you don't have to carry the water. Deuteronomy 11:12 "A land which the Lord thy God careth for the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, for the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. God still cares for the land and the city of Jerusalem, and He will return to set up His earthly kingdom from that location. God is always watching Jerusalem and what is going on there. Moses is telling the people that our God is not a seasonal God, but He is with us all the year around. It doesn't matter if you are in agriculture or not, God is with you in your work or profession when you strive to follow His ways. It is up to you whether you take an advantage of God's promises and blessings to you. Deuteronomy 11:13 "And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto My commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul," This is the condition that God has placed on us before we may receive His blessings and promises. When you hearken diligently to something, you pay attention to what is said and you try your best of follow those instructions which are given in God's Word. You do it because you love the Lord your God with all your mind, thought and being. When you do your best for God in following His Word, He has promise that latter rain that brings forth the good crops that will be yours. Deuteronomy 11:14 "That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil." God is promising you and I that we will be prosperous and have plenty when we love and obey Him. Deuteronomy 11:15 "And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full." In our great nation we have the proper rainfall to make the fields lush with grass for our cattle. There is no shortage of meats for our people because God has blessed us well. This is just another area where we see that God has blessed us. Deuteronomy 11:16 "Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;" This now is going into another area, and it is taking a deeper look into the first commandment; "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." Our God is a jealous God, and He is concerned for His people. He wants to bless them, yet He knows that these people have a bad habit of chasing after all sorts of heathen forms of idolatry and tradition. God is telling them, when you see those idols and religions of other people, stay away from them. Deuteronomy 11:17 "And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and He shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly for off the good land which the Lord giveth you." This is a warning from God to them, and it is just as valid to us today as it was to them. The Lord can bring blessings upon you, or He can bring cursings upon you. It is your choice as to which it shall be. God is telling them that if they start fooling around with heathen gods, the rains are not coming, and the fruit of our vines will not be there. It doesn't take long for bad things to start happening to you, and whatever wealth you have completely disappears. The point that Moses is making here is that when you start to mess around with the things of this world, and their religious systems, God is going to take your prosperity from you. Stop and consider here, how are you doing personally? Deuteronomy 11:18 "Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand that they may be as frontlets between your eyes." Moses is telling us to lay up these things in our minds, and let the advise, council and instruction from His Word settle into our minds. The mind is the intellect of our soul, and what we think and allow ourselves to believe is what governs our soul. The soul is the inner body self that is within our flesh bodies, so when the soul has departed the body, the flesh body goes back to the dust of the earth. Many people take this verse literally, and they write little saying from the bible, and place them on themselves. You can wall paper yourself with these truths, and it has absolutely nothing to do with your mind. Your brain is between your ears, and those sayings of Moses must be registered in your mind before your hand will respond to them. The thought process starts in your mind, and it is what you believe in that thought process that causes you to do what you do. Moses is warning you that you had better take the commandments of God, and His statutes and judgment and put them in your mind and follow those instructions. The "seal" of the end times is that information that is sealed in your mind. That is what determines whether you will be deceived or not by Satan and his system. God's elect will not be deceived because they are sealed in their minds, and through this sealing we have the protection of God. God promises us protection when we read His Word, and follow the instructions in our time. When you know that Satan is coming first before the true Christ, than Satan in his role as the Antichrist will not be a temptation to you. God has instructed us that Satan will be coming with a flood of lies, and supernatural powers, and that the entire earth will be deceived by him. When you know what to expect, and the order and events of trumpets and seals of Revelation; then you know that the sixth seal must come before the seventh. It is what you know and believe that causes you to worship what you worship. In the expression, "in your right hand" is what you do and how you act on the things that you believe in. The first step is to place the truth in your mind, for the things that you think of is what causes your actions. Deteronomy 11:19 "And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." It is important that you teach your children the commandments and ways of God. Make this a way of life for them. When you sit down at the dinner table, don't forget to thank the Lord for the blessings that He has given you. When you sit around the house, or go out in public, meditate on the things that are in God's Word. When you go to bed, thank God for the blessings of the day, and ask Him to bless the day in the morning when you get up. When you place this in the mind of a child at a very young age, it will stay with them throughout their life. Deuteronomy 11:20 "And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:" The door posts of your house is where you enter into your home and leave. The gates is where you place limits as to what enters onto you property, and what must remain off of your property. When you set the gate up for your house, you set the limits as to what you will allow it enter through the gate. When you write on the door posts and the gates of your house, you let others that enter your home what is allowed into your home, and what shall not enter onto your property. This even gets to our generation, and with television that comes into our home, and through the internet. We have a switch that limits what is allowed to enter into our homes. We still control the gates and door posts of our home, and God expects us to set those limits of those thing that we allow to enter. Today you don't have to ask if a Christian family lives here, for many times you can tell by looking at the yard, looking to see what is hanging on the walls of the home, and by what magazines and things are entering their home. Deuteronomy 11:21 "That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto you fathers it give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth." The type of life that you have while living your life on the earth can be hard and rough, or it can be peaceful. You are the one that determines which it shall be. You earn the blessings that God gives you, and the wages are paid after the work is completed. God requires that you at least try to observe and follow His Ways. Deuteronomy 11:22 "For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave unto Him;" This is the third time that Moses had given this same instruction to the Israelites, and we had better pay attention to it. It is important to us, when we expect the blessings of God to come our way. We are to diligently hearken to keep all of the commandments, do them and love the Lord our God. Then walk in the ways that the commandments and statutes instruct us to walk as we cleave or hold on to our heavenly Father's instructions. Don't allow some slick sounding person with a new religious way try to get you off the path that you know to be right. There is nothing new under the sun, and the only way to the Father is through the way of His instructions. To us living today it is through His Son, Jesus Christ, for that is the only way to the Father. God's Word does not change but it is only man that changes. There was no change at the coming of Christ, through His death and resurrection, because Christ fulfilled that part of the the law that required a covering for sin. Christ became that covering for sin, once and for all times. The need for blood sacrifices ended at the cross, and now we can go directly to the Father in Jesus name. Jesus name is our credentials to approach the throne of God. Deuteronomy 11:23 "Then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves." Deuteronomy 11:24 "Every place whereon the souls of your feet shall tread shall be yours: for the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coasts be." God told us that we did not have to put up with anything evil, especially not Sodomites. God promised us that we would own that which is ours. When you enter the promise land where every your feet walks that land will be yours. Deuteronomy 11:25 "There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as He hath said unto you." This shall be fulfilled in this generation living today. When God's people sound the alarm and move out to make things right, those that would stand in the way of the Lord will fear you. We are in the promise land and the only reason that the evil doers are getting away with their filth and evil is that God's people are sitting back and doing nothing about it. When the light of God's Word falls on their actions, and reveals truth to them, they scatter. The only way that these evil people are making any headway at all, is that God's people are taking a back seat to them and allowing them to set their agenda. Just as the people living in Palestine ran for their lives when they saw God's people coming, the people in our day will also run when the evilness of their acts, is brought to light by God's people. Deuteronomy 11:26 "Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:" It is your choice. Deuteronomy 11:27 "A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:" Our blessings come with a condition, "if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God." Deuteronomy 11:28 "And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known." There is also a condition to the curses. Even a church can become an idol if God's Word is not taught there. Men can deceive you into believing their religious forms are of God, when in fact they go against God's Word. This is the reason that it is important to know God's Word so that you can tell when someone is deceiving you or not. If you claim to be a Christian, just how much do you tolerate off of a heathen? The choice again is yours. Deuteronomy 11:29 "And it shall come to pass, when the Lord thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal." "Gerizim" in the Hebrew tongue is the prime root of #1629, it means, "to cut off, or to cut it." and you can cut it when you are under God's blessings in the promise land. This happens because God destroys your enemies. These are two mountains that stand together, and on the west side of Gerizim it is fertile land and things grow, while on the east side, we have mount Ebal, which means "Bald" and it is bare land, a desert with no rainfall. Here again God is using these two mountains to demonstrate His blessings and His cursings. One of the mountains gives life protection and promise, where as "Ebal" gives no protection, and there very little prosperity to those and that are on that side of the mount. Deuteronomy 11:30 "Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?" Moses is calling attention to the fact that these two mountains are on the other side of Jordan, they are in the promise land. The blessings and the cursings will be there no matter where you go, or what you do. It is your choice as to whether you will be under the blessings, or the cursings. Deuteronomy 11:31 "For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein." Deuteronomy 11:32 "And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day." Again Moses is reminding them that they are going in to take the land, and it is up to each of them whether they will be blessed or cursed. The condition of their lives will be by how they live their lives in the promise land. It doesn't matter which time period you are in or where you are, for the blessings and the cursings are given by those conditions that God has set for us. If you heed to the commandments, laws and statutes of God, and place them in your mind and follow them, then God will given you the blessings. If you do not love God enough to obey Him, then the curses will be on you.
Home
.~ Plough
.~ Seeds
.~ Vine
.~ Potter
.~ Seasons
.~ Sonshine
.~ Rain
.~ Field |