Chapter Four
Chapter Four
See What You Are
Oliver Cromwell told the artist painting his portrait that he refused to pay even a farthing for the painting unless it truly looked like him, including “pimples, warts, and everything as you see me.” Apparently the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland was as courageous sitting for a portrait as he was leading an army on the battlefield. Most of us aren’t that brave. We’re uncomfortable looking at unretouched proofs of our photographs, and we’d certainly willingly pay for a painting that improved our appearance.
In this part of his farewell address, Moses painted the people of Israel as they really were, “warts and all.” It was important for their spiritual lives that Moses do this, for one of the first steps toward maturity is accepting reality and doing something about it. But let’s not point the finger at Israel and fail to look at ourselves, for the pictures that Moses painted apply to us today. We need to see ourselves as God sees us and then, by His grace, seek to become all that we can become in Jesus Christ.
CHILDREN IN THE WILDERNESS (8:1–5)
The three essentials for Israel’s conquest and enjoyment of the Promised Land were: listening to God’s Word, remembering it, and obeying it. They are still the essentials for a successful and satisfying Christian life today. As we walk through this world, we can’t succeed without God’s guidance, protection, and provision, and it also helps to have a good memory. Four times in these chapters Moses commands us to remember (v. 2, 18; 9:7, 27), and four more times he admonishes us to forget not (8:11, 14, 19; 9:7). The apostle Peter devoted his second letter to the ministry of reminding God’s people to remember what the apostles had taught them (2 Peter 1:12–18; 3:1–2). Moses pointed out four ministries God performed for Israel and that He performs for us today as He seeks to mature us and prepare us for what He has planned for us.
God tests us (vv. 1–2). God knows what’s in the hearts of His children, but His children don’t always know—or want to know. “And all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and the hearts” (Rev. 2:23 NKJV). Life is a school (Ps. 90:12), and we often don’t know what the lesson was until we failed the examination! People sometimes say, “Well, I know my own heart,” but the frightening fact is that we don’t know our own hearts. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9 NIV).
How we respond to the tests of life reveals what’s really in our hearts, especially when those tests involve the everyday experience of life. The people of Israel were frequently hungry and thirsty and weary from the journey, and it was on those occasions that they became fretful and critical. The Devil tempts us to bring out the worst in us, but God tests us to bring out the best in us. When God allows a difficult circumstance to test us, we will either trust Him and become more mature, or we will tempt Him and become more miserable. The difference? Believing the promises of God and relying on the Lord to care for us and bring us through for His glory and our good.
God teaches us (v. 3). Each morning during their wilderness journey, God sent the Jewish people “angels’ food” (Ps. 78:21–25) to teach them to depend on Him for what they needed. But the manna was much more than daily physical sustenance; it was a type of the coming Messiah who is “the bread of life” (John 6:35). When Satan tempted Him to turn stones into bread (Matt. 4:1–4), Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 and indicated that the Word of God is also the bread of God, for we “feed on” Jesus Christ when we “feed on” the Word of God. God was teaching the Jews to look to Him for “daily bread” (Matt. 6:11) and to begin each day meditating on the Word of God. Those who obeyed God in the daily responsibility of gathering manna would be inclined to obey the rest of His commandments. Our relationship to the Word of God (manna) indicates our relationship to the God of the Word.
God cares for us (v. 4; 29:5). Not only did God feed the Jews “miracle bread” each morning, but He also kept their clothes from wearing out and their feet from swelling. The three pressing questions of life for most people are “What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear?” (Matt. 6:25–34), and the Lord met all these needs for His people for forty years. “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7 NKJV). “For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (Matt. 6:32 NKJV). God doesn’t miraculously deliver bread, water, and clothing to our front doors each day, but He does give us jobs and the ability to earn money (Deut. 8:18) so we can purchase what we need. The same Lord who provided Israel’s needs without human means can provide our needs by using human means.
God disciplines us (v. 5). God saw the children of Israel as His own children whom He greatly loved. “Israel is my son, even my firstborn” (Ex. 4:22; see Hos. 11:1). After years of slavery in Egypt, the Jews had to learn what freedom was and how to use it responsibly. We commonly think of “discipline” only as punishment for disobedience, but much more is involved. Discipline is “child training,” the preparation of the child for responsible adulthood. A judge justly punishes a convicted criminal in order to protect society and uphold the law, but a father lovingly disciplines a child to help that child mature. Discipline is evidence of God’s love and of our membership in God’s family (Heb. 12:5–8; Prov. 3:11–12).
When you think of the Lord’s discipline of His children, don’t envision an angry parent punishing a child. Rather, see a loving Father challenging His children to exercise their muscles (physical and mental) so they will mature and be able to live like dependable adults. When we’re being disciplined, the secret of growth is to humble ourselves and submit to God’s will (Deut. 8:2–3; Heb. 12:9–10). To resist God’s chastening is to harden our hearts and resist the Father’s will. Like an athlete in training, we must exercise ourselves and use each trial as an opportunity for growth.
CONQUERORS IN THE LAND (8:6–20)
After being set free from Egypt, Israel’s destination wasn’t the wilderness; it was the Promised Land, the place of their inheritance. “And he [God] brought us out from thence [Egypt] that he might bring us in” (6:23). So with the Christian life: Being born again and redeemed from sin are only the beginning of our walk with Christ, a great beginning, to be sure, but only a beginning. If like Israel at Kadesh-barnea we rebel in unbelief, then we will wander through life and never enjoy what God planned for us (Eph. 2:10; Heb. 3—4). But if we surrender to the Lord and obey His will, He will enable us to be “more than conquerors” (Rom. 8:37) as we claim our inheritance in Christ and serve Him.
Enjoying God’s blessing (vv. 6–9). The “key” that opened the door to the Promised Land was simple: Obey God’s commandments, walk in His ways, and reverence Him (v. 6). If the people of Israel disobeyed God’s Word, walked in their own way, and showed no fear of the Lord, this would invite the judgment of God on the nation. But why would Israel not want to enter and enjoy the Promised Land, the good land that God had prepared for them? It was a land that offered them all that they could want or need to lead a happy life.
Since water is a precious commodity in the East, Moses mentions it first: streams, pools, and springs flowing in the hills and valleys. Later he will mention God’s promise to send the rains each year (11:14), the early rain in autumn and the latter rain in spring. With God’s blessing, an abundance of water would make possible an abundance of crops, and the Israelites would harvest grain, grapes, figs, and olives, and they would also find honey. There would be plenty of pasture for flocks and herds, and copper and iron were buried in the rocks and the hills. Indeed, it was a land of milk and honey, a land where nothing was lacking. All of this typifies for believers today the spiritual wealth we have in Christ: the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:7; 2:7), the riches of His glory (1:18; 3:16), the riches of His mercy (2:4), and “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (3:8). We are complete in Christ (Col. 2:10) in whom “all fullness dwells” (1:19), and therefore we have everything we shall ever need for living a full Christian life to the glory of God. God has a wonderful life planned for each of His children (Eph. 2:10), and He provides all we need to fulfill that plan.
Forgetting God’s goodness (vv. 10–18). There’s peril in prosperity and comfort, for we may become so wrapped up in the blessings that we forget the one who gave us the blessings. For this reason, Moses admonished the Jews to praise God after they had eaten their meals so they wouldn’t forget the Giver of every good and perfect gift (v. 10; James 1:17). When I was a lad, my Uncle Simon—my Swedish “preacher uncle”—occasionally visited our home, and I recall that he not only gave thanks at the beginning of the meal, but he always closed the meal with a prayer of thanksgiving. I didn’t know until years later that he was obeying Deuteronomy 8:10. It’s natural to give thanks for food when we’re hungry, but it’s also wise to give thanks after we’re full.
Moses spelled out the dangers involved in forgetting that God is the source of every blessing that we enjoy. If we forget God, then success has a way of making us proud (v. 14), and we forget what we were before the Lord called us. The Jews had been slaves in Egypt, and now they would be living in fine houses, watching their flocks and herds increase, gathering gold and silver, and forgetting what the Lord had done for them. They had been nomads in the wilderness, and now they would be settled down in a rich land, enjoying peace and prosperity with their children and grandchildren. How easy it would be for Israel to become proud, to forget how helpless they were before the Lord rescued them, and to think that their success was due to their own strength and wisdom—and that they deserved it! “But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth” (Deut. 8:18 NIV).
Rejecting God’s authority (vv. 19–20). The climax of this spiritual declension is that the “wealthy Israelites” would turn from the Lord, the true and living God, and start worshipping the false gods of their neighbors. Idolatry begins in the heart when gratitude to the Giver is replaced by greediness for the gifts. “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful” (Rom. 1:21). An ungrateful heart can quickly become a haven for all sorts of sinful attitudes and appetites that cater to the flesh. What would the Lord do? He would treat His own people’s idolatry the way He treated the idolatry of the nations that they dispossessed, and He would destroy Israel and their false gods. Before Moses finished his speech, he outhned the terms of God’s covenant with Israel and the chastening God would send if the people persisted in worshipping idols.
Prosperity—ingratitude—idolatry: three steps toward ruin. But these aren’t ancient sins, for they’re present in hearts, homes, businesses, and churches today.
REBELS AGAINST THE LORD (9:1—10:11)
For the fifth time in his address, Moses says, “Hear, O Israel!” (See 4:1; 5:1; 6:3–4.) He was giving them the Word of God, and when God’s speaks to His people, they must listen. The word “hear” is used over fifty times in Deuteronomy, for God’s people live by faith, and “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). The Jews couldn’t see their God, but they could hear Him, while their pagan neighbors could see their gods but couldn’t hear them (Ps. 115:5). In this section, Moses reminded the people that their conduct since leaving Egypt had been anything but exemplary, in spite of His long-suffering and grace.
The grace of God (9:1–6). The phrase “this day” doesn’t mean the very day on which Moses was speaking, for Israel didn’t enter the land of Canaan until over forty days later (Deut. 1:3; 34:8; Josh. 4:19). The word “day” refers to a period of time during which God is doing a special work, such as the day of creation, which was six days (Gen. 2:4), or the “day of the LORD,” when God will judge the world (Joel 2). God reminded Israel of the unbelief of the previous generation at Kadesh-barnea, when they saw the obstacles in Canaan but forgot the power of their God (Deut. 9:1–2; Num. 13—14). God assured His people that there was no need to fear the future because He would go before them to help them defeat their enemies. He wouldn’t do it instead of them, for they had to do their part and fight the battles, nor would He do it in spite of them, for they had to be obedient and respect His laws, but He would work in them and through them to conquer the nations in the land (Phil. 2:12–13; Prov. 21:31).
Once again, Moses reminded the nation that the land was a gift from the Lord, not a reward for their righteousness. God had graciously covenanted with Abraham to give him and his descendants the land of Canaan (Gen. 12:1–3; 13:14–17; 15:7–21), and He would keep His promise. The people in the land were wicked and ripe for judgment, and even though Israel wasn’t a perfect people, God would use them to bring that judgment. The emphasis is on the grace of God and not the goodness of God’s people, and this emphasis is needed today (Titus 2:11—3:7). When we forget the grace of God, we become proud and start thinking that we deserve all that God has done for us, and then God has to remind us of His goodness and our sinfulness, and that reminder might be very painful. That’s the theme of the next part of Moses’ message.
The discipline of God (9:7—10:11). Moses was addressing a new generation, but they needed to hear this part of the message and realize that they were sinners just like their ancestors. The theme is expressed bluntly in 9:24, “You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I [the Lord] knew you [chose you]” (NKJV). God called Abraham and led him to the Promised Land, but then he fled to Egypt to escape a famine (Gen. 12:10ff.). No sooner were the Jews delivered from Egypt than they began to complain about the way God led them and fed them (Ex. 15:22ff.). The scenery in the drama of the life of faith may change, but the actors and the script are pretty much the same: God blesses, we enjoy the blessings, then we rebel against His disciplines and miss the blessing He planned for us.
In his review of Israel’s history of rebellion, Moses started with their worship of the golden calf at Mount Sinai (Deut. 9:7–21, 25—10:11; Ex. 32) and then simply mentioned the places where they rebelled on the journey from Sinai to Kadesh-barnea (Deut. 9:22). After that, he declared the nation’s unbelief and rebellion at Kadesh-barnea (vv. 23–24), followed by a second reminder of the episode of the golden calf (9:25—10:11). Moses didn’t follow a strict chronological account of all the events in Israel’s history but emphasized their two greatest sins: the worship of the golden calf at Sinai and the refusal to enter the land at Kadesh-barnea.
Israel committed a very great sin when they worshipped the golden calf (Ex. 32—34). Behind them was the history of their deliverance from Egypt, a demonstration of the grace and power of the Lord, and yet they rebelled against their Redeemer! Israel was the people of God, redeemed by His hand, and yet they manufactured a new god! Before them was Mount Sinai, where they had seen God’s glory and holiness demonstrated and from which they had received the law of the Lord. In that law, God commanded them to worship Him alone and not to make idols and worship them. They had accepted that law and twice promised to obey it (Ex. 24:3, 7), and yet they broke the first and second commandments by making and worshipping an idol, and the seventh commandment by engaging in lustful revelry as a part of their “worship.”
Impatience and unbelief prompted Israel’s great sin at Mount Sinai, for Moses had been on the mountain with the Lord for forty days and nights (vv. 1–18). Aaron should have opposed their request for a new god, but instead he compromised and went along with their demands, hoping it would bring peace to the camp. Imagine the first high priest making an idol! Moses had given his brother authority to act in his absence (v. 14), and Aaron could have rallied the tribal leaders and urged the Israelites to obey the Lord; but he wanted to please the people and avoid conflict. Centuries later, Pontius Pilate would make the same mistake when he obeyed the crowd that wanted Jesus to be crucified (Mark 15:15).
Never underestimate the importance of spiritual leadership that encourages obedience to the Word of God. Aaron failed God, who had appointed him as high priest; he failed his brother, who was depending on him to guide the nation; and he failed the people, who desperately needed strong spiritual leadership. When Moses confronted him, Aaron tried to excuse his way out of his sin by blaming the people! All he did was take their golden jewelry and throw it into the fire, and out came a calf! (See Ex. 32:22–24.) Moses spent another forty days and nights on the mountain, interceding for Aaron and the people. God was ready to slay Aaron, wipe out the nation, and begin a new nation with Moses, but Moses prayed for Aaron and the people and refused God’s offer to make him the father of a new nation. Moses faced this same test at Kadesh-barnea and again put the glory of God and the good of the people ahead of personal promotion (Num. 14:12ff.). Moses was more concerned with the glory of God and His reputation before the pagan nations, for he knew that the fear of God had to go before Israel if they were to conquer the land and claim their inheritance.
We can’t help but admire Moses as the leader of God’s people. He spent forty days on the mountain, learning how to lead the people in their worship of God, and then he spent another forty days fasting and praying, interceding for a nation that complained, resisted his leadership, and rebelled against the Lord. But leaders are tested just as followers are tested, and Moses passed the test. He showed that his great concern wasn’t his own fame or position but the glory of God and the good of the people. In fact, he was willing to die for the people rather than see God destroy them (Ex. 32:31–34). A true shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11).
After reviewing Israel’s great sin at Sinai, Moses mentioned Israel’s repeated rebellions on the way to Kadesh-barnea (Deut. 9:23). At Taberah, the people complained about their “hardships,” and God sent fire that consumed some of the people on the outskirts of the camp (Num. 11:1–3). Then the people who complained to Moses begged him to pray for them, and God listened to Moses and stopped the judgment. “Taberah” means “burning,” and the name should remind all of us that it’s a sin to complain (Phil. 2:14–15; 1 Cor. 10:10). At Massah, the Jews complained because they were thirsty, so Moses struck the rock and God provided water abundantly (Ex. 17:1–7). “Massah” means “testing” and is joined with “Meribah” which means “quarreling.” “Kibroth Hattaavah” means “graves of lust” and refers to the time Israel became weary of the manna and craved meat to eat (Num. 11:4ff.). God sent flocks of quail over the camp of Israel, and all the people had to do was knock the birds down, dress them, cook them, and eat them. It was the old “Egyptian appetite” asserting itself again, the flesh rebelling against the Spirit. While the people were eating the meat, God’s judgment fell and He sent a plague to the camp. “So he gave them what they asked for, but he sent a plague along with it” (Ps. 106:15 NLT). Sometimes God’s greatest judgment is to let us have our own way (Rom. 1:22–28).
Finally, Moses rehearsed Israel’s great failure at Kadesh-barnea (Deut. 9:23–24; Num. 13—14). During the march from Egypt to Kadesh, the Jews had seen the hand of God at work day after day, meeting their every need, but at Kadesh, they felt that God wasn’t great enough to give them victory over the nations in Canaan. They had “an evil heart of unbelief” (Heb. 3:12), which is actually rebellion against the Lord. Unbelief is a sin of the will; it’s tempting the Lord and saying, “I will not trust the Lord and do what He commands me to do!” The ten unbelieving spies walked by sight, not by faith, and saw only the problems in the land. Moses, Aaron, Caleb, and Joshua walked by faith and believed that God could defeat any enemy and overcome every obstacle.
This review of Israel’s sins is quite an indictment, but God never forsook the people of Israel and often forgave them when He should have judged them. “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities” (Ps. 103:10 NKJV; see Ezra 9:13). God is always faithful to His promises; when we don’t allow Him to rule, He will overrule and still accomplish His purposes. However, we will miss the blessings that He planned for us.
Every believer and every Christian ministry, whether it be a local church or a parachurch ministry, must trust God to meet their needs a day at a time. If we complain along the way, we’re only giving evidence that we don’t trust God but think we know more than He does about what’s best for us. When we come to those “Kadesh-barnea” places in life, when we must claim what God has planned for us and move forward by faith, we must not rebel against God and refuse to trust and obey. If we do, we may find ourselves wandering through life, failing to accomplish what God has planned for us. Claiming our inheritance in Christ is one of the major themes of the book of Hebrews, and the writer uses Israel as the main illustration (Heb. 3—4).
“And now, Israel” (10:12) forms a transition as Moses moves into the closing section of this part of his address, a section in which he reminds the people why they should obey the Lord their God. This was not a new topic, but it was an important topic, and Moses wanted them to get the message and not forget it: Loving obedience to the Lord is the key to every blessing. Jesus often repeated truths He had already shared, and Paul wrote to the Philippians, “For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe” (Phil. 3:1 NKJV). Not everybody listening gets the message the first time, and some who do might forget it. The Jewish people didn’t carry pocket Bibles and had to depend on their memories, so repetition was important.
Obey because of God’s commandments (10:12–13). The sequence of these five imperatives is significant: fear, walk, love, serve, and keep. The fear of the Lord is that reverential awe that we owe Him simply because He is the Lord. Both in the Old Testament and the New, the life of faith is compared to a walk (Eph. 4:1, 17; 5:2, 8, 15). It starts with a step of faith in trusting Christ and yielding ourselves to Him, but this leads to a daily fellowship with Him as we walk together in the way that He has planned. The Christian walk implies progress, and it also implies balance: faith and works, character and conduct, worship and service, solitude and fellowship, separation from the world and ministry and witness to the world. Obeying Him is “for [our] own good” (Deut. 10:13 NIV), for when we obey Him, we share His fellowship, enjoy His blessings, and avoid the sad consequences of disobedience.
The central element in these five imperatives is love, a word that Moses uses six times in this section (Deut. 10:12, 15, 19; 11:1, 13, 22). Is it possible both to fear and love the Lord at the same time? Yes, it is, for the reverence we show Him is a loving respect that comes from the heart. Moses used the word “heart” five times in this section of his address (10:12, 16; 11:13, 16, 18), so he made it clear that God wants more than external obedience. He wants us to do the will of God from the heart (Eph. 6:6), a loving obedience that brings joy to our Father in heaven. Love is the fulfillment of the law (Rom. 13:10), so if we love God, serving Him and keeping His commandments will not be a burden or a battle. These five elements are like the sections of a telescope that belong together and work together.
Obey because of God’s character (10:14–22). A balanced fear of the Lord and love for the Lord is the result of a growing understanding of the attributes of God, and these attributes are described in the Scriptures. He is the Creator (Deut. 10:14); “all things were created by him, and for him” (Col. 1:16). While living in Egypt, the Jewish people saw the power of the Creator as He sent fire and hail, darkness, frogs and lice, and even death, proving that He was in control of all things. He opened the Red Sea to allow Israel to escape, and then He closed the waters so the Egyptian army couldn’t escape. He gave water from the rock and bread from heaven. When the Creator of the universe is your Father, why should you worry?
As we look at creation, we can easily see that there is a God who is powerful and wise, for only a powerful Being could create something out of nothing, and only a wise Being could make it as intricate and marvelous as it is and keep it working harmoniously. Whether you gaze through a telescope or peer through a microscope, you will agree with Isaac Watts:
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed
Where e’er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread
Creation doesn’t clearly reveal the love and grace of God, but we do see these attributes of God in the covenants He has made with His people (Deut. 10:15–16). God chose Israel because He loved them, and because of that love, He covenanted to be their God and bless them. The seal of that covenant was circumcision, given first to Abraham (Gen. 17:9–14) and commanded to be practiced on all his male descendants. So important was circumcision to the Jews that they spoke of the Gentiles as “the uncircumcised” or “the uncircumcision” (Judg. 14:3; 1 Sam. 17:26, 36; Acts 11:3; Eph. 2:11). But Israel so magnified the physical ritual that they forgot the spiritual reality, that circumcision marked them as God’s people with spiritual privileges and responsibilities. Circumcision wasn’t a guarantee that every Jewish man was going to heaven (Matt. 3:7–12). Unless there was a change in the heart, wrought by God in response to faith, the person didn’t belong to the Lord in a vital way. That’s why Moses exhorted them to let God “operate” on their hearts and do a lasting spiritual work (see Deut. 30:6), a message that was repeated by the prophets (Jer. 4:4; Ezek. 44:7, 9) and the apostle Paul (Rom. 4:9–12; see Acts 7:51).
Unfortunately, this same spiritual blindness is with us today, for many people believe that baptism, confirmation, church membership, or participation in the Lord’s Supper automatically guarantees their salvation. As meaningful as those things are, the Christian’s assurance and seal of salvation isn’t a physical ceremony but a spiritual work of the Holy Spirit in the heart (Phil. 3:1–10; Col. 2:9–12). Jewish circumcision removed but a small part of the flesh, but the Holy Spirit has put off the whole “body of the sins of the flesh” and made us new creatures in Christ (Col. 2:11). Old Testament Jews knew they were in the covenant because of a physical operation; New Testament Christians know they’re in the covenant because of the presence of the Holy Spirit within (Eph. 1:13; 4:30; Rom. 8:9, 16).
The God we worship and serve is also holy and just. “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). After they had crossed the Red Sea, the Israelites sang, “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Ex. 15:11; see also Ps. 22:3; Isa. 6:3). The love of God is so emphasized today that we tend to forget that it is a holy love and that “our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). Because God is holy, all that He does is just, for it is impossible for God to sin. People may accuse God of being unjust because circumstances didn’t work out as they expected, but a holy God cannot do anything unjust. He is impartial in His dealings and cannot be bribed by our promises or our good works. God has a special concern for the helpless, especially the widows, the orphans, and the homeless aliens (Deut. 27:19; Ex. 22:21–24; 23:9; Lev. 19:33; Ps. 94:6; Isa. 10:2). God cared for the Jews when they were aliens in Egypt, and He expected them to care for other aliens when Israel was settled in their own land.
Obey because of God’s care (10:21—11:7). The phrase “what he did” or its equivalent is used six times in this paragraph, because the emphasis is on the mighty acts of God on behalf of His people Israel, “his greatness, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm” (v. 2). What did God do for Israel? To begin with, when they were slaves in Egypt, He cared for them and multiplied them greatly. Jacob and his family journeyed to Egypt to join Joseph (Gen. 46), and seventy people became a mighty nation of perhaps two million people. God certainly kept His promise to Abraham to multiply his descendants as the stars of the heavens and the dust of the earth (13:14–16; 15:5; 22:17; 26:4).
While the Jews were in Egypt, they saw the mighty power of God unleashed against Pharaoh and the nation as God sent one judgment after another that finally led to Israel’s release. God’s power not only ruined the land and destroyed Pharaoh’s army, but it demonstrated that Jehovah was the true God and that all the gods and goddesses of Egypt were but dumb and powerless idols. Once Israel settled in the land, they would annually celebrate Passover and remember what the Lord had done for them.
Moses also reminded the new generation that God cared for them during their wilderness wanderings, but he mentioned only one specific event, God’s judgment of Dathan and Abiram (Deut. 11:5–6; Num. 16; Jude 11). Korah, a Levite, enlisted Dathan and Abiram and 250 leaders in Israel to stand with him in challenging the authority of Moses, because Korah wanted the Levites to have the privilege of serving as priests. This was against the will of God, so Moses and Aaron turned the matter over to the Lord. God opened the earth, which swallowed up the three rebels, and He sent fire to destroy the 250 tribal leaders. It was important for the new generation to learn to respect God’s leaders and obey His commandments concerning the priesthood. Even today, arrogant people who want to promote themselves and be “important” in the church had better beware of God’s disciplines and judgments (Acts 5:1–11; 1 Cor. 3:9–23; Heb. 13:17; 3 John 9–12).
Obey because of God’s covenant promises (11:8–25). The key word in this section is “land,” used at least a dozen times, referring to the land of Canaan, which God promised to Abraham and his descendants when He entered into a covenant relationship with him (Gen. 13:14–17; 15:7–21; 17:8; 28:13; Ex. 3:8). Canaan was not only the Promised Land because God promised it to Israel, but it was also “the land of promises” because in that land God would fulfill many of the promises relating to His great gift of salvation for the whole world. The land of Israel would be the stage on which the great drama of redemption would be enacted. There the Savior would be born and live, and there He would die for the sins of the world. He would be raised from the dead and ascend to heaven and to His born-again people in that land He would send the gift of the Holy Spirit. From that land, His people would spread out across the world and share the message of salvation.
If Israel wanted to possess the land, remain in it, and enjoy it, they had to obey the commandments of the Lord, because He owns the land of Israel (Lev. 25:2, 23, 38). Only He could open the Jordan River so Israel could enter the land, and only He could give the Jews victory over the nations already living in the land. Those nations were stronger than Israel, and the people were living in walled cities. But even after Israel entered and conquered the land, they wouldn’t remain in the land to enjoy it if they failed to listen to God’s Word and obey it. The same principle applies to believers today: In Christ we have “all spiritual blessings” (Eph. 1:3), but we can’t possess them or enjoy them unless we believe God’s promises and obey His commands.
The Promised Land was “a land of milk and honey,” but if the rain didn’t come at its appointed seasons, nothing would grow and the people would starve, and only God could send the rain. Baal was the Canaanite storm god, and often in their history, the Jews turned to this false god for help, and God had to chasten them. Elijah’s dramatic encounter on Mount Carmel with the priests of Baal proved that the Lord Jehovah was the true and living God (1 Kings 18:16ff.). Unlike the land of Egypt, which depended on irrigation from the Nile River, the land of Israel received the life-giving rains from heaven, sent by the Lord. Often in Jewish history, God shut up the heavens and disciplined His people until they confessed their sins and returned to Him (Deut. 28:23–24; 2 Chron. 7:12–14). God would watch over and care for the land and its inhabitants (Deut. 11:12). If the nation of Israel feared God, loved Him, and obeyed Him, He would send the crops in their seasons and feed the people and the flocks and herds. God wasn’t “buying” their obedience; He was rewarding their faith and teaching them the joys of knowing and serving Him.
The problem wasn’t with God or the land; it was in the hearts of the people. “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived” (v. 16). If the people turned aside from worshipping Jehovah, His anger would be kindled and He would have to discipline them. Since their idolatry polluted the land, God would have to remove them from the land and cleanse it, and this He did when He sent the Jews into captivity in Babylon. The greatest deterrent to idolatry was the Word of God (vv. 18–21; see 6:6–9), the treasure that God had given to Israel and to no other nation. That Word was supposed to govern their lives and be the topic of their conversation. As we have seen, the Jews took this commandment literally and made phylacteries for their arms and heads and mezuzahs for their houses, but they failed to receive the Word into their hearts. Christians today face the same danger. It’s much easier to wear a gold cross on our person than to bear Christ’s cross in daily life, and to hang Scripture texts on the walls of our homes than to hide God’s Word in our hearts. If we love the Lord and cleave to Him, we will want to know His Word and obey it in every area of our lives.
How do we claim God’s blessings? By stepping out by faith (11:24–25). This is what God commanded Abraham to do (Gen. 13:17) as well as Joshua (Josh. 1:3). It was this promise that Caleb claimed when he asked for his inheritance in the Promised Land (14:6–15), and it’s the promise all believers must claim if they expect to enjoy the blessings God has for them. You don’t “claim the land” by studying the map and dreaming of conquest. You claim the land by stepping out by faith, believing God’s Word, and depending on His faithfulness. J. Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, now the Overseas Missionary Fellowship, said: “Not by striving after faith, but by resting in the Faithful One.”
Obey because of God’s chastening (11:26–32). The upshot of the whole matter was that the nation had to make a choice whether to obey God and enjoy His blessing or disobey Him and experience His chastening. They could enjoy the land, endure chastening in the land (the book of Judges), or be evicted from the land (the Babylonian captivity). You would think that the choice would be an easy one, for who would want to be chastened by the Lord? But just as children defy their parents’ commands, knowing full well that their disobedience will bring punishment, so God’s people deliberately disobey God and defy His will. They have no fear of God and really think they will escape His chastening hand! This is what the Bible calls “tempting God.”
Moses had two horizons in mind when he gave this warning. The first was the nation before him that day (Deut. 11:26–28) and the second was the nation after they had entered the land (vv. 29–30). Their future victories depended on their present decision, the determination in their hearts to love the Lord and obey His Word. They would soon be on a battlefield and only the help of the Lord could give them victory over the enemy. The offer was a simple one: If they obeyed the Lord, He would bless them; if they disobeyed, He would chasten them.
After the Jews entered the land and began to conquer it, they were to conduct a special ceremony at Shechem, which is located between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. (The details are given in Deut. 27—28 and the fulfillment in Josh. 8:30–35.) At Mount Ebal, Joshua was to write the words of the law on some large plastered stones and also build an altar. Mount Ebal was to be “the mount of curses” and Mount Gerizim “the mount of blessings.” The tribes on Mount Gerizim would be Simeon, Levi, Judah, Isaachar, Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh), and Benjamin, and the remaining tribes would gather on Mount Ebal. In the valley between the two mountains Joshua, the priests and Levites, and the tribal officers would stand with the ark of the covenant, and from that location the Levites would loudly address the people and recite the curses and the blessings. After each curse was spoken, the people on Mount Ebal would shout, “Amen,” meaning, “So be it—we agree!” After each blessing was read, the tribes on Mount Gerizim would shout, “Amen!”
The priests would offer on the altar on Mount Ebal burnt offerings, symbolizing dedication to God, and peace offerings, symbolizing fellowship with God, and they would eat “before the Lord” and enjoy a covenant meal. This important ceremony would be a reaffirmation of the covenant which Israel accepted at Mount Sinai and heard a second time in the Plains of Moab in Moses’ farewell address.
Spiritually speaking, believers today live between two mounts: Mount Calvary, where Jesus died for us, and the Mount of Olives, to which Jesus will one day return (Zech. 14:4; Acts 1:11–12). But God hasn’t written the old covenant law on stones and warned us about curses; rather, He has written His new covenant on our hearts and blessed us in Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 3:1–3; Heb. 8; Eph. 1:3). “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). However, the fact that Christians are under grace and not under law doesn’t mean that we have a license to sin (6:1–14). God’s dispensations change but His principles never change, and one of those principles is that God blesses us when we obey and chastens us when we disobey. As we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, we overcome the appetites of the flesh, and God’s righteousness is fulfilled in us (8:4) and we never hear the voices from Mount Ebal.
QUESTIONS FOR PERSONAL REFLECTION OR GROUP DISCUSSION
1. Which of these is hardest for you: listening to God’s Word, remembering it, or obeying it? (Or none of the above.) Why?
2. How do our responses to the tests of life reveal something about us? What recent test in your life revealed something about you?
3. What do you think your life would be like now if God had never tested you?
4. What could the Israelites have learned through the giving of manna? What blocked their full learning?
5. How has God cared for you? How would you like Him to care for you?
6. What is the purpose of God’s discipline? Who and how does God discipline?
7. What are some of the spiritual riches that we have in Christ? How does this knowledge affect your living?
8. What danger is there in forgetting the Giver of the good gifts? How can you be more thankful to God for your many gifts?
9. Where does idolatry start? What or who tempts you toward idolatry?
10. When people walk by sight and not by faith, what are they really saying and doing?