Deuteronomy 11:11

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 11:11-15, “But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:[12] A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.[13] And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,[14] That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.[15] And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.” These verses give an important truth about how a given country can be blessed of God. We need our land to be blessed by God. There are two possibilities: to be blessed or not to be blessed, and so the wise person will want his land to be blessed. There is a great song about America that expresses this desire. It goes, “God bless America, land that I love. Stand Beside her, and guide her, through the night with the light from above.” How do you get this care and help from God for you land? You must love God because that is what He wants. As it says in verse 13 that God wants us to “love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Rain symbolizes blessings from heaven. That is why rain is mentioned several times in these verses, as well as the practical need for rain so that crops will grow and we will have a bountiful harvest.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 11:16-18, “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;[17] And then the LORD's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.[18] Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.” Human beings easily wander away from God. That is why God said in verse 16, “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside.” In this verse turning aside from God is associated with being deceived. One of the ways to keep from being deceived is to stay in God’s Word. Also, it is critical to stay in fellowship with Jesus because He is the Light. We need to continue in a life of faith. Once again a life of faith is only possible when we stay in the Word. And so we are reminded in verse 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.”

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 11:19-21, “And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.[20] And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:[21] That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.” The number one responsibility of Christian parents is to teach their children the Word of God. There are many reasons to learn to read. The most important reason is to be able to read the Bible, especially the New Testament. One of the problems with the school systems of today is that parents turn their responsibility over to the teachers at these schools. But the Bible says that it is the parents’ responsibility to “teach” their children. It says here in verse 19 talking about the commandments from God, “And ye shall teach them your children.” It also says in Ephesians 6:4, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” The word that is translated “nurture” means literally “the teaching of children,” and is sometimes translated “discipline,” which means to disciple someone, or to teach them. The word that is translated “admonition” means “exhortation.” To exhort someone is to encourage them. And so we see from these two passages that the primary responsibility of parents is to teach their children, not to punish them. Yes, punishments are sometimes necessary; but to punish is not the primary responsibility of parents.

These are difficult times for Christian parents. The best solution for most Christians is to do home schooling. The school systems have degraded beyond repair. They took out the Bible, and prayer, and all reference to God. They emphasize evolution and humanism in every subject. They have gone crazy with political correctness. They are now also teaching sexual deviancy as the norm. The scholastic standards have been lowered so far that kids are passed without being able to properly read and write. What is the solution to all these problems and more? Get out. Do not put your children in these systems that can result in them being brain-washed or corrupted for life. Of course, there is one big problem here: in order to not use the existing school system, your life might need to be tremendously altered. To do home schooling is a huge change to any family’s routine. And so the question for you is, “What does the Lord want you to do?”

Deuteronomy 11:19 says to teach the Word of God to the children “when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” In other words as often as you can. In every situation when you are with your children, look for an occasion to remind them of what the Word of God says about a matter. Look for teachable moments. You want your child hearing the Word of God as much as possible. How else will you counter the philosophies of the world?

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 11:22-25, “For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;[23] Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.[24] Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.[25] There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.” One of the things to notice about this passage that many people forget is exactly how large of a country Israel was meant to be. Verse 24 says that Israel’s boundary would start at the River Euphrates. That means that God’s plan was for Israel to be made up of large parts of Syria, Jordan, and even Iraq. That truth would not be politically correct. But it does show us that the current nation of Israel is not at all the final fulfillment of what God is going to do for Israel. Yes, the Jewish people failed to conquer what God said they would be able to do, and that failure happened because they turned away from God, but God will eventually accomplish His plan for Israel. When Jesus comes back to the earth and rules from Jerusalem, Jesus will establish these boundaries, and then we shall see the fulfillment of what God wanted to do on this earth all along. Man failed, but God will not fail.

The first part of Deuteronomy 11:25 is a great promise about the strength that is available for every believer. Yes, we are going to have some enemies and those who oppose us, but God promises, “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.” One person plus Jesus equals a majority. You do not have to fear others. They will fear you.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 11:26-32, “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;[27] A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:[28] And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.[29] And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.[30] Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?[31] For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.[32] And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.” This passage of scripture is a good one to use to demonstrate the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament, and the difference between law and grace. Under the law the way to get the blessings from God was to obey the law and the commandments. That is why it says very clearly in Deuteronomy 11:26, “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;[27] A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God.” You only get the blessing if you are good and obey. But we who believe in Christ are not under law, but under grace. We get the blessing through faith in Christ, not by obeying, but by believing. There is a very big difference between getting the blessing by obeying or getting the blessing by believing. It is the difference between law and grace. Under law, you must earn the blessing. But under grace, the blessing is a free gift. You cannot earn it.

Another difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament has to do with the word “curse.” Under the law, if you do not obey, then you earn a curse. As it says in Deuteronomy 11:28, “And a curse, if ye will not obey.” But in the New Testament there is never a curse for any believer. There is no curse at all: never a curse for anyone. Why is that? Because Jesus bore the curse of sin on the cross of Calvary. It says in Galatians 3:10-13, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.[11] But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.[12] And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.[13] Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” So what do you and I need to do to get the blessing in the age of grace in which we live: Believe and trust in Jesus. That is it: nothing else. Believe in Jesus and you will get the blessing.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 12:1-4, “These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.[2] Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:[3] And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.[4] Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.” There are two things that I want us to notice in this passage. The first is in verse one that tells us how long to plan for following the Lord and doing His will: “all the days that ye live upon the earth.” No matter what happens we will still follow Jesus as long as we live. No failure on our part or by anyone else, no disaster or heartbreak: nothing will result in us stopping to follow the Lord. You must make that decision and live by it. The second thing to notice is the spiritual implication of what is said in verse two, “Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods.” Christians must not compromise their core beliefs. This can be difficult because the world is all around us. But we must be faithful to the Lord and what He has revealed to us from the Word of God. Get rid of all the ideas, all the philosophies, and all the priorities of the world around us, or we risk not being faithful to our Lord and Savior. It says in Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.[2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

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