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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Deu_11:1-12
Israel was to love the Lord, and manifest this by the steadfast observance of all that he had enjoined upon them.
Deu_11:1
His charge; what he has appointed to be observed and done (cf. Le 8:35; Num_1:53); more fully explained by his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments.
Deu_11:2
Knew ye; take note of, ponder, lay to heart. The words that follow, for … seen, are a parenthesis thrown in by the speaker to attract the attention especially of the older generation, who had witnessed the acts of the Lord. The words, the chastisement, etc; are to be connected with know ye, as the object of the knowing, And know ye this day the chastisement, etc. Which have not known, and which have not seen; supp. "what ye have known and seen." Your children; those born during the wandering in the wilderness. Chastisement; not punishment, but discipline, education, training (LXX; παιδεία ), including both correction and instruction (of. the use of the Hebrew word îåÌñÈø in Pro_1:2; Pro_5:12; Pro_6:23, etc.). His greatness …stretched out arm (cf. Deu_3:24; Deu_4:34).
Deu_11:3, Deu_11:4
(Cf. Deu_4:34; Deu_6:22; Exo_14:1-31.)
Deu_11:5
What he did unto yon in the wilderness. The doings of God to the people in the wilderness comprehend the manifestations of his omnipotence, both in their guidance and protection, and in the punishment of those who transgressed. One instance of the latter is expressly referred to—the destruction of those who joined in the insurrection of Korah (cf. Num_16:31-33). Moses does not mention Korah himself here, but only his accomplices Dathan and Abiram, probably, as Keil suggests, "from regard to his sons, who were not swallowed up by the earth along with their father, but had lived to perpetuate the family of Korah;" perhaps also because, though Korah was at the head of the insurrection, Dathan and Abiram were the more determined, audacious, and obdurate in their rebellion (cf. Num_16:12-15, Num_16:25, Num_16:26), so that it came to be named from them.
Deu_11:6
All the substance that was in their possession; literally, every living thing (Gen_7:4, Gen_7:23) that was at their feet, i.e. all their followers (cf. "all the people that follow, thee," Exo_11:8; "all the men that appertained unto Korah," Num_16:32).
Deu_11:7-9
Thus from what they themselves had witnessed does Moses admonish the elder members of the congregation, summoning them to recognize in that the purpose of God to discipline and train them, that so they might keep his commandments and be strengthened in soul and purpose to go in and possess the land, and to live long therein (Deu_1:38; Deu_4:26; Deu_6:3).
Deu_11:7
For but, read yea: Yea, your eyes have seen, etc.
Deu_11:10, Deu_11:11
An additional motive to fidelity and obedience is here adduced, drawn from the peculiar excellence and advantages of the land. Canaan was not like Egypt, a country that depended for its fertility on being irrigated by man's labor or by artificial processes, but was a land where the supply and distribution of water was provided for in natural reservoirs and channels, by means of which the rain which God, who cared for the land, sent plentifully on it, was made available for useful purposes. In Egypt there is little or no rain, and the people are dependent on the annual overflowing of the Nile for the proper irrigation of their fields; and as this lasts only for a short period, the water has to be stored and redistributed by artificial means, often of a very laborious kind. Wateredst it with thy foot. "The reference, perhaps, is to the manner of conducting the water about from plant to plant and from furrow to furrow. I have often watched the gardener at this fatiguing and unhealthy work. When one place is sufficiently saturated, he pushes aside the sandy soil between it and the next furrow with his foot, and thus continues to do until all are watered. He is thus knee-deep in mud, and many are the diseases generated by this slavish work. Or the reference may be to certain kinds of hydraulic machines which were turned by the feet. I have seen small water-wheels, on the plain of Acre and elsewhere, which were thus worked; and it appeared to me to be very tedious and toilsome, and, if the whole country had to be irrigated by such a process, it would require a nation of slaves like the Hebrews, and taskmasters like the Egyptians, to make it succeed. Whatever may have been the meaning of Moses, the Hebrews no doubt had learned by bitter experience what it was to water with the foot; and this would add great force to the allusion, and render doubly precious the goodly land which drank of the rain of heaven, and required no such drudgery to make it fruitful". Philo describes a machine cf. this sort as in use in Egypt; and in that country, "a garden of herbs" is still generally watered by means of a machine of simple construction, consisting of a wheel, round which revolves an endless rope to which buckets are attached; this is worked by the feet of a man seated on a piece of wood fastened by the side of the machine, labor at once monotonous and severe.
Deu_11:12
Careth for; literally, searcheth or inquireth after, i.e. thinks about and cares for (LXX; ἐπισκοπεῖται , oversees; cf. Job_3:4; Psa_142:4; Jer_30:17; Eze_34:8; Isa_62:12). The eyes of the Lord thy God; i.e. his special watchful providence (cf. Psa_33:18; Psa_34:15; Eze_4:5). It was a land on which Jehovah's regard was continually fixed, over which he watched with unceasing care, and which was sustained by his bounty; a land, therefore, wholly dependent on him, and so a fitting place for a people also wholly dependent on him, who owed to his grace all that they were and had.
Deu_11:13
Being thus wholly dependent on God, it behooved them to be careful to attend to his commandments and to obey them, that so his blessing might be continued to them and to the laud. If they would love and serve the Lord as they were bound to do, he would give them the rain of their land, i.e. rain for their land, such as it required (cf. "rain of thy seed," Psa_30:2, Psa_30:3), in the proper season, the early and the latter rain, so that they should fully enjoy the benefits of the land.
Deu_11:14
The first rain; the rain which falls from the middle of October to the end of December, which prepares the soil for the seed, and keeps it moist after the seed is sown. The latter rain; that which falls in March and April, about the time when the grain is ripening for harvest; during the time of harvest no rain falls in Palestine. But if they allowed themselves to be deceived and misled, so as to apostatize from the Lord and serve other gods and worship them, the Divine displeasure would be shown in the withholding from them of the blessing, so that they should miserably perish.
Deu_11:16
That your heart be not deceived; literally, lest your heart be enticed or seduced ( éÄôÀúÈä ). The verb means primarily to be open, and as a mind open to impressions from without is easily persuaded, moved either to good or evil, the word came to signify to induce in a good sense, or to seduce in a bad sense. Here the people are cautioned against allowing themselves to be enticed so as to be led astray by seductive representations (cf. Job_31:27; Pro_20:19 ["flattereth"]; Job_5:2 ["silly one"]; Hos_7:11).
Deu_11:17
He shut up the heaven. "The heaven conceived as a womb" (Schulz); cf. Gen_16:2. The want of rain was regarded as a sign of the Divine displeasure and as a curse (1Ki_8:35; Zec_14:17; Rev_11:6).
Deu_11:18-20
(Cf. Deu_6:7-9.)
Deu_11:21
(Cf. Deu_4:40; Deu_6:2.) As the days of heaven upon the earth; as long as the heavens continue stretched over the earth, i.e. to the end of time, forever (of. Job_14:12; Psa_89:29; Gen_8:22).
Deu_11:22-25
If they were sedulous to keep God's commandments, and faithfully adhered to him, loving him and walking in all his ways, he would drive out before them the nations of the Canaanites, and cause them to possess the territory of nations greater and mightier than themselves. Every place on which the soles of their feet should tread should be theirs, i.e. they had but to enter the land to become possessors of it. This is more exactly defined as restricted to the land the boundaries of which are given—from the Arabian desert on the south to Lebanon on the north, and from the river Euphrates on the east to the Mediterranean on the west (Deu_1:7). From the wilderness and Lebanon; read, even unto Lebanon; äÇòÆ áÈðåÉï is for òÇãÎäÇìÀÌ áÇðåÉï (cf. òãäÇéÈÌí in the end of the verse). The uttermost sea; rather, the hinder sea (Num_34:6), the sea that lay behind one looking to the east (Deu_11:26; cf. Deu_7:24; Deu_2:25; Exo_23:27).
Deu_11:26-32
Moses, in conclusion, refers to the blessing and the curse consequent on the observance or the transgression of the Law, and prescribes that when they had entered on possession of the land the blessing should be proclaimed from Mount Gerizim, and the curse from Mount Ebal.
Deu_11:26
Behold, I set before you; place for your consideration (Deu_4:8; Deu_30:15), so that you may see whither tends obedience on the one hand, and disobedience on the other.
Deu_11:28
Other gods, which ye have not known; in contradistinction to Jehovah, the revealed God, made known to them by word and deed.
Deu_11:29, Deu_11:30
(Cf. Deu_27:11.) Thou shalt put the blessing; thou shalt give ( ðÈúÇúÈÌä ), i.e. give forth, utter, announce, proclaim (cf. Gen_49:21; Job_1:22 [gave, i.e. uttered impiety to God]; Psa_1:1-6 :20, gavest, didst utter, slandered. The two mountains named stand opposite to each other, with a valley between, about two hundred yards broad at the widest part, in which stood the town of Shechem, now Nablus. They were selected for the purpose mentioned, doubtless, because of their relative position, and probably also because they stand in the center of the land both from north to south, and from east to west. It has been suggested that Ebal was appointed for the uttering of the curse, and Gerizim for the uttering of the blessing, because the former was barren and rugged, the latter fertile and smooth; but this is not borne out by the actual appearance of the two bills, both being equally barren-looking, though neither is wholly destitute of culture and vegetation. That Gerizim was selected for the blessing because of its position on the south side of the valley "towards the region of light," while Ebal was appointed for the curse because it was on the north side, can be regarded only as an ingenious fancy. In verse 30, the position of the two mountains is defined as on the other side of Jordan, i.e. on the side opposite to where the Israelites then were, the western side; and as by the way—rather, behind the way—where the sun goeth down; i.e. the road of the west, the great road which passed through the west-Jordan country, and which is still the main route from south to north in Palestine (Ritter, 4.293, etc.; Robinson, 3:127), passing Nablus and the two menu-rains on the east, so that they are behind it. Which dwell in the Champaign; in the 'Arabah (see Deu_1:1), "mentioned here as that portion of the land on the west of the Jordan which lay stretched out before the eyes of the Israelites, who were encamped in the steppes of Moab" (Keil). Over against Gilgal; i.e. not the Gilgal mentioned in Jos_4:19, which was east of Jericho (hod. Jiljulia), nor the Gilgal of Jos_12:23 (probably the modern Jiljulieh, in the plain of Sharon), but the Gilgal of Jos_9:6; Jos_10:6; and 2Ki_2:1 (hod. Jiljilia), to the north of Bethel, from which there is "a very extensive prospect over the great lower plain, and also over the sea" (Robinson, 'Bib. Res,' 3:138); so that the mountains by Nablus may be very well described as "over against it." Beside the plains of Moreh; for "plains" read oaks (cf. Gen_12:6; Gen_35:4).
Deu_11:31, Deu_11:32
The assurance that they should pass over Jordan and possess the land of Canaan, is assigned as a reason and motive why they should observe to do all that God had commanded them.
I. HERE ARE STIRRING EVENTS WHICH HAD OCCURRED UNDER ISRAEL'S OWN EYES. Three of them are specially named.
1. The plagues brought on Pharaoh and the land of Egypt.
2. The overthrow of the Egyptians in the Red Sea.
3. The overthrow of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
(For remarks on these, see Exposition, and Homilies in loc. For much light on the second, see Brugsch's 'Egypt.')
II. HERE IS A SPECIFIC MEANING GIVEN TO THESE EVENTS. They are all called "chastisement" (Deu_11:2). They are not only referred to as works of greatness, deeds of power and of terror, but their moral meaning is given in the word "chastisement." It is of very much more consequence to understand the meaning of an event, than to merely have the event stored up in memory as a piece of history. In fact, it may fairly be questioned whether the latter is of any value at all. Of what value is it to a student to know that King John signed Magus Charts, unless he knows the meaning thereof, as related to the rise anti growth of the British Constitution? Even so it is not of the slightest service to know of Red Sea wonders, nor of the plagues in Egypt, unless their place and meaning in history are known. This is the case likewise with events of much greater moment. Not even the wonders of Gethsemane and Calvary are exempted. If regarded only as incidents in history, apart from their spiritual, redemptive meaning, they will serve us nothing. "As the body without the spirit is dead," so facts without their significance are dead also. Hence it is that the attention of Israel is recalled to these olden wonders as "chastisements" from the Lord their God.
III. THESE EVENTS MAT BE DIVIDED INTO TWO CLASSES; in each class a like principle is illustrated, though in a different form.
1. The first two were the chastisement of Egypt on behalf of God's oppressed people, showing them the strength of his arm and the value of his covenant love.
2. The third was the chastisement of the chosen people themselves, when they rebelled against the divinely appointed order with reference to the priesthood. In the former cases, God's jealous love on behalf of his people was proven; in the latter case, God's jealousy for his own honor, in maintaining his appointed order and ordinances unimpaired. In the former, that jealousy chastised Egypt for Israel's sake; in the latter, Israel for Jehovah's sake. Thus Israel would have before them the lesson that, as God in his love would snap the fetters that bound them, so in his purity he would remove the stains that disfigured them; that as they rejoiced in the love of God which was round them as a mighty guard, so they might also cherish a holy fear of that purity which would mark its displeasure at their waywardness and sins.
IV. SUCH EVENTS, SO FULL OF MEANING, SHOULD HAVE A CONSTANT EFFECT IN IMPELLING TO OBEDIENCE, AND IN QUICKENING AND SUSTAINING A REVERENT FEAR AND LOVE. God meant much in bringing them to pass, and they should mean much in the use they made of them (verses 8, 9). If they laid them to heart, and acted out the lessons they were designed to teach, they would continue in the land which God had assigned to them. The reference in the phrase, "that ye may prolong your days in the land," is rather to Israel's continuance as a nation, than to the long life of the individual. National continuance dependent on national obedience, is the one truth most frequently named in the exhortations of Israel's lawgiverse
V. ALL THIS HAS A PRESENT-DAY APPLICATION TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD NOW. Forms change; but principles neverse There are few passages, even in the grand old Book, that open up a wider scope or a sublimer field for the preacher's efforts than the one before us. The following enumeration of the successive links of thought may be helpful. Our pages give no space for more.
1. At the background of the Christian dispensation there are solid and substantial historical facts on which we can ever fall back.
2. Though the facts, comprised in the birth, cross-bearing, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, did not occur in our times, yet the evidence thereof has come down to us in unbroken line, and with unimpaired force.
3. The meaning of these facts is even better known now than it was at the moment of their occurrence; for their significance has been recorded for us in books which have survived fire and flood, and have reached us in all their integrity.
4. There are other sets of facts connected therewith of which we are witnesses, viz. that the gospel of Christ has been the power of God unto salvation to those who believe it, and that believers therein are the guardians of it, holding it in trust for others.
5. Those thus guarding the faith of Christ are the present "commonwealth of Israel;" taking the place in this economy of the Israel of old. They are not indeed visibly one now as in ancient days. But they form a host a hundredfold more numerous, ranged under differing names, yet guarding the ancient faith.
6. Those Churches which are faithful to their acknowledged mission, prolong their days in the land; while those which, either in faith or life, are less loyal and true to their God, die out, and "the candlestick is removed out of its place."
7. This law of Church life is a perpetual declaration of God's jealousy for his honor. "In proportion to their faithfulness or unfaithfulness," says a modern writer, "particular Churches overcome the world, or are overcome by the world." Thus God shows his care for these supreme facts of our faith, by saying to Churches, "If you guard them, you live; if you guard them not, you die." In the great redemption which is in Christ Jesus, God has broken the fetters which bound man. In his watchful jealousy, he will bring honor to the Church which holds forth and acts out his redemption, and will bring shame to one which represses it, weakens it, or turns the grace of God into lasciviousness. Just as our God cared not for Israel to remain a nation unless they preserved his honor unimpaired, so he cares not for the continued existence of any Church, unless it is "earnestly contending for the faith once delivered to the saints."
8. While, however, the claim and demand of God upon the fidelity of his Israel now is as strong as ever, yea stronger, the mode in which that claim is presented is vastly more tender than in ancient days. In the Epistles to the seven Churches we have a kind of appeal to the Christian Israel, analogous to this of Moses to the Hebrew Israel. But, in lieu of the thunder, trembling, and flame of Sinai, we have the pathos and love of Gethsemane and Calvary. Can we resist such appeals as those which Christ presents? Can we consent to keep back from man the cross, with all its fullness of meaning; or fail to respond to it by intensest love and closest obedience? May our once suffering and now glorified Lord make us faithful, and keep us so till death!
Deu_11:10-17
1. That the land of Canaan would not require artificial irrigation, as that of Egypt had done; that it was a land specially cared for by God, who gave it the early rain after the sowing, and the latter rain before the harvest; so that there would be no occasion for them to put forth the same kind of labor that had been performed in the land of their bondage.
2. That if they were obedient and true to their vows, the fruitfulness of Canaan would be ensured through the continuance of the early and the latter rain.
3. But that if they allowed themselves to be seduced to the service of other gods, the Lord's wrath would be kindled, the heaven would be shut up, the rain would be withheld, and so from want of sustenance the people would perish. Now, it is evident that this is one of those passages with which what is called "modern thought" ventures specially to come in conflict. We do not now concern ourselves with any physical theory of the working of nature which the Hebrews may have had. Moses did not give them any. It was not his province, which was simply to teach them the moral and spiritual laws under which they were placed; to show them that these were such as to subserve their training in righteousness, and that nature itself was so regulated by Jehovah, as to be a most important factor in the educational forces which were at work on their behalf. The series of thoughts here given opens up a most important theme for pulpit teaching; viz. The order of nature subservient to moral purposes.
I. LET US INDICATE THE MAIN THOUGHTS WHICH ARE CONTAINED IN THIS PASSAGE.
1. The sending of rain from heaven is an act of God (Jer_14:22). This is a truth taught by natural religion, and recognized in the whole of Scripture.
2. The sending of the rain from heaven is an act of, and to us a proof of, the Divine benevolence (Mat_5:45).
3. There was manifest kindness to Israel, in leading them to a land so spontaneously and richly fruitful as Palestine. In Egypt, where rain falls so seldom, God had taught man to water it by artificial means, anti compensated for the want of rain by the periodical rise of the Nile. But whereas in Palestine there was no such phenomenon, and as the people would have perished therein from want, had artificial means of watering it been required ere these irrigating measures could have been carried out, it was no mean mercy that they were led to a land which did not need them. They lose very much who do not see proofs of Divine care in these natural counterpoises and compensations. Moreover, had the fruitfulness of Canaan been dependent on Israel's "watering it with the foot" they might, in their ignorance, have attributed its fertility to their own wit or wisdom; but no such self-laudation could well arise where all had been secured for them by a Power not their own.
4. Nevertheless, however richly Canaan might be blessed with the rain of heaven, that gift of God was by no means absolute or irrevocable, but would be so bestowed as to serve the purpose of a moral training. In 'Footnotes from the Page of Nature,' Dr. Macmillan clearly shows that there is a law of nature, by virtue of which each order of life exists for the sake of that which is above it. We have but to widen and generalize this principle, and we get exactly the same truth in the Word which is revealed in the world, viz. that the physical exists for the moral, and is so regulated as to be subservient thereto. All things are for man. "He giveth us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." And if thus God cares for the bodily wants, how should he but care the more for the moral growth of the creature—man?
5. From this general principle, two details naturally follow.
(1) That rain will be continued if the people are obedient.
(2) That if they disobey, and serve other gods, rainlessness and dearth will be the sad reminders of their sin (see Deu_28:23, Deu_28:24; 1Ki_8:35; 1Ki_17:1; 2Ch_6:26, 2Ch_6:27; 2Ch_7:12-14; Jer_14:1-7, Jer_14:17-22; Amo_4:6-8; Hag_1:7-11; Hos_1:8, Hos_1:9). It is no valid objection to say that there is no nexus between the obedience or disobedience of a man, and the fall of rain. For, first of all, in such a statement there is a gross petitio principii. The whole thing in question is assumed; and secondly, according to the fourth principle named above, the Scripture theory is, not only that there is a nexus, but that it is a known and intelligible and a reasonable one: viz. God gives or withholds rain. He values his people's comfort, but their virtue more. He varies the course of nature so as to subserve the latter end. Hence there is a connection between human obedience to God, and a shower of rain. The obedience is to God, the rain is from him. But let us now pass on—
II. TO SHOW HOW THESE THINKINGS SHOULD GUIDE US IN REFERENCE TO SOME OF THE PRESENT PERPLEXITIES OF HUMAN THOUGHT. And perhaps we may meet these, and clear up the passage before us, most effectually, by at once putting the question, "Is it right to pray for rain?" We must again divide this question into two; and must first ask, "What do we mean by praying for rain?" or "What is that praying for rain for which alone any devout and intelligent believer would argue?"
1. It is not meant that those who never pray at all should pray but for rain, and selfishly beg a gift from a Being to whom, except when they are in trouble, they do not care to speak.
2. It is not meant that men should ask distrustfully, as if they thought their words would move the Most High to pity.
3. It is not meant that any request for rain should be absolute, or sent up in a spirit of querulousness or dictation.
4. It is not thought that any law of nature needs to be interfered with, or altered, or modified, in order to bring an answer to such a request. But:
(1) It is known and believed that all nature is perfectly plastic in the Creator's hands.
(2) It is contended that God can modify the course of nature without varying a law. Why, even man can do this: he can drain a morass, or carry off a lake, and change the climate and vegetation of a district forever afterwards; and if man can do this in part, surely God can do it infinitely.
(3) It is urged that those who in every thing by prayer and supplication make their requests known unto God, need not alter their course because the present trouble is a want of rain; but that they may lay this, in common with all other things, before God in prayer: reverently acknowledging his greatness, humbly acknowledging that their sins deserve his rebuke, and submitting thereto with lowliness and contrition of heart.
(4) It is asserted that any such devout souls, in any distress whatever, can, may, ought to entreat the Lord their God that he would have mercy upon them, remove his stroke, and grant them their request. This is that for which alone we contend.
Now, there are reasons for taking up such a position, which cannot be set aside, and when put together in cumulative force, they seem to us to leave no special difficulty on this point remaining.
(1) There is a God and Father of all.
(2) He loves to be approached in prayer (Psa_50:15).
(3) Whatever is a care on his children's heart is a care on his (Isa_63:9; 1Pe_5:7).
(4) God's great concern for the people is their moral training (Deu_8:2-5). He so distributes physical good that the higher end may be subserved.
(5) We are taught by our Lord himself to pray, "Give us day by day our daily bread;" and if so, it follows that we may pray for the continuance of the means on which the supply of daily bread depends. As rain is one of the very chief of these means, it follows that the children of God may pray for rain.
But it may be objected, 1: The laws of nature are fixed. Be it so. The course of nature is not (see remarks above). God may modify an order without altering a law. What man can do in limited measure, God can do in unlimited degree.
Objection 2: Prayer cannot change the mind of God. True. We neither seek nor desire to do this. We do not know what is the mind of God until he tells us. He has said, "Ask, and ye shall receive." If then it is the mind of God that his creatures should ask before receiving, it is of no use to think that the mind of God will change, and that they will receive without asking.
Objection 3: If, as is affirmed, sin is the reason for drought, then the only thing which meets such a case is putting away the sin, and not prayer! We reply, the Scriptural teaching is that there must be confession, repentance, and prayer (see 1Ki_8:35). Not one alone, but all combined. Thus all the objections fail Finally, we would conclude with one earnest inquiry, the working out of which would demand a long discourse. We can but put it, and let it drop as a seed into some hearts. Given, man as a moral being, with indefinite possibilities of development for holiness or sin, which theory of the constitution of nature most accords with the constitution of man? That which represents physical force as controlled for the purposes of his moral culture, or that which represents the nobler aspirations as hopelessly baffled by a non-moral, bare physical force? Reader, "Consider what we say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things."
Deu_11:18-21
(See Homily on Deu_6:4-9.)
Deu_11:22-25
1. Moses afresh reminds the people of their duty—to keep the commandments of the Lord their God.
2. He points out that their loyalty to God and assurance of his protection would give them irresistible strength.
3. The knowledge of this higher order of moral life, and of the promised guard of their covenant God, would so influence the other nations that they would be inspired with dread (see Jos_2:9, Jos_2:10, Jos_2:11).
4. This dread of Israel which the nations round about would feel would clear their way, would ensure their conquest, and would be a security for them in retaining their possessions. From all this we get one of the most important lessons suggested which can possibly be taught on national affairs, viz. That the kind of power over other nations, which a people may well desire the most, is that which comes from the influence of its own righteousness.
I. NATIONAL POWER IS UNIVERSALLY COVETED. Nor, provided sundry conditions are fulfilled which will be presently named, is this wrong. No nation ought to consent to be a cipher among nations. Just as really as a man may well wish to be something amongst his fellows, so should a people wish to be something in the regard of neighboring states.
II. IT IS MOST IMPORTANT THAT THE POWER OF A NATION OVER OTHERS SHOULD BE THAT OF THE HIGHEST KIND. One nation may be chiefly great in its commercial enterprise, another in its culture of art, a third in the renown of its orators or poets, a fourth in its philosophic wisdom, a fifth in its military or naval fame; but there is a power, unlike all these, after which Israel was hidden to aspire.
III. THAT IS THE POWER MOST TO BE DESIRED WHICH WOULD MAKE IT WORTH WHILE TO PERPETUATE THE NATION POSSESSING IT, FOR THE SAKE OF THE WORLD'S GOOD. Moses, under Divine direction, is continually recognizing this, by putting Israel's continuance in the land as conditioned on their loyalty to Jehovah and his laws.
IV. THE ONLY POWER WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO THE WORLD'S GOOD IS THAT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. This unites a people. This gives clear heads, strong frames, valiant hearts. A nation whose heart is soundly righteous will not fight unless it must; but if it must, it will fight grandly and for a righteous aim.
V. THIS POWER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL HAVE A MANIFOLD EFFECT WITH REGARD TO OTHER NATIONS.
1. As a rule, it will ensure their good-will.
2. Appealing as it does to man's sense of justice, it will help to ward off attacks from without.
3. Where it fails to do this, and where an attack has to be resisted, if in the hour of their need they cry unto God, they will find that he shields them in the day of battle (see 2Ch_20:1-29).
VI. THIS POWER MAY EVEN BE DEVELOPED AND STRENGTHENED BY REPEATED AND ARDUOUS CONFLICT. (See 2Ch_20:29.) When a people are with one heart loyal to God, and do with one voice cry unto him, they will find out that Jehovah hears, and that God speeds the right. And may we not appeal fearlessly to every one of our readers, and say, Is not this power of righteousness pre-eminently that which the world wants? This being so, we may bring this series of remarks to a close by observing—
VII. THAT THE GREAT GOD OF NATIONS WILL SET HIS SEAL OF APPROVAL ON PEOPLES THAT SO CLEAVE TO THE RIGHT, BY GIVING AGAIN AND AGAIN THE VICTORY TO THAT WHICH, HUMANLY SPEAKING, IS THE WEAKER SIDE. Scripture cases of this abound: Israel and Pharaoh; Gideon and the Midianites; Hezekiah and Sennacherib; Jehoshaphat and the Ammonites; and (in another sense) Elijah and the priests and prophets of Baal. The Word of God is continually showing us that power is not always where it seems to be, but very often where it seems not to be: Joseph, Daniel, Peter, etc. From all these considerations, there may be drawn out an earnest appeal to men, even if they aim at naught higher than to be the true lovers and guardians of their country and nation, to seek for the sake of their own dear land, to love and to practice righteousness. Nor let it be supposed that this statement is at all affected by the fact that we are "not under the Law but under grace." Grace reigns through righteousness, and only through righteousness. Infinite grace has offered a Sacrifice which has done away with the need of continuing the sacrifices of the ceremonial law. But grace never has and never will abate one jot or tittle of the demands for righteousness which mark the moral law. Never! And if we are rescued from condemnation, if we are made sons of God, it is not that we may be absolved from the obligation to righteousness; but that "the righteousness of the Law may be fulfilled in us" from the spontaneity of personal choice, without the need of any command to enforce or pressure to constrain. And inasmuch as only in a perfectly righteous people can there be an absolute guarantee of permanence, it follows that only the people in the commonwealth of Israel will constitute "the eternal city." For there" the people shall be all righteous," and then "they shall inherit the land forever." Righteousness and permanence are thus linked together in the prophetic outlook of Isaiah, as really as in the legislation of Moses (see Isa_61:1-11 :21). In this new and nobler world, righteousness will come into being, not as a response to a Divine command, but as the product of a Divine creation. And then around it there shall be an eternal guard. No enemy from without shall dare to attack; no foe from within shall weaken. "Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks."
Deu_11:26-28
I. MAN HAS A MORAL NATURE. The denial of this by some, and the baseness of the lives of others, no more interfere with the general truth of this, than cases which are abnormal in the physical world do with well-ascertained truth in the physical departments. Man has a συνείδησις , a power of discerning moral distinctions. If he fails to give proof of that, he is a perishing man.
II. THE POSSESSION OF A MORAL NATURE INDICATES THE EXISTENCE OF MORAL LAW. This is, in fact, the objectivity which is before the moral sense, and perceived by it.
III. THE EXISTENCE OF A LAW IMPLIES THAT OF A LAWGIVER; the existence of a moral law, that of a moral Lawgiver, who is himself the Lord of right, the God, "with whom is our account." The moral sense of man postulates this; the all but universal conviction of mankind affirms it; the sense of sin is its constant demonstration. The experience of men like Enoch, who in the olden time "walked with God," is proof that at any rate some human spirits lean on the Eternal One, as really as the body depends on air and food.
IV. THE MORAL LAWGIVER REVEALS HIMSELF. Not only do previously mentioned facts show that he is, but we know also what he is. The Law given by Moses, and the proclamation of Jehovah's Name to him, disclose the greatness of the Divine being; the fuller word of prophet and psalmist likewise. The Incarnate Son revealed him. The Holy Ghost unveils him to the watchful eye and yearning heart. "The Lord your God."
V. THE GREAT LAWGIVER HAS GIVEN DEFINITE COMMANDS. Chiefly, as Lawgiver, in the Law. Chiefly, as also a great Benefactor, in the gospel. In the one aspect his Law is "do;" in the other his Law is "receive." In the former a course of life is marked out in detail; in the latter, a redemption by infinite grace is made known for "the obedience of faith" So that, as it speaks to us, Law says (for we are under Law to Christ), "Receive in loving faith the redemption, even the forgiveness of sins, and then, by the renewed energies of a God-inspired life, walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.'
VI. THE DIVINE LAWGIVER REGARDS MEN ACCORDING TO THEIR MEASURE OF LOYALTY TO THE RIGHT AND THE TRUE, i.e. as far as they have the opportunity of knowing what is right and true; for some nations may even as yet not have any written law. In such case Peter's words apply (Act_10:34, Act_10:35). We can suppose others who have the Law only. We have the revelation of God both in Law and in gospel; to us is the word of salvation sent (cf. Joh_6:29). According as we receive it or no, God approves or disapproves, accepts or disowns. Is it possible to suppose it otherwise? Can any one think that a holy Lawgiver should give forth a perfect Law, and then be unconcerned as to whether men obey it? Can it be imagined that he should send his only begotten Son into the world, and then leave it optional with men as to how they should treat him to whom is given all power in heaven and on earth? There is indeed (see Homily on De 10:17-11:1) no respect of persons as to rank, or caste, or color, or clime. The wide world over, right and equity are the Divine delight; but since right is right, and God is God, there must eternally remain the great gulf fixed between the loyalty of heart which he approves, and the disloyalty of soul which the Most High cannot but condemn. The throne of the Eternal is established in righteousness.
VII. THIS APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF GOD IS THE BLESSING OR CURSE. (cf. Psa_1:6.) And it would be well could it be impressed on every conscience that, even if there were no certainty of any visitation or punishment from God in token of his displeasure, yet that displeasure itself is so awful a curse, that to be conscious of it is the germ of hell; while, quite apart from aught that he may send to us, the consciousness of having his approval is a sufficient, a heavenly, an "exceeding great" reward! The light in which God views us is of infinitely more moment than the gifts he sends or the chastisements he inflicts. Take an illustration from a lower sphere. Let it be supposed that a man whose life and writings are corrupting the morals and helping to blight the faith of his countrymen, is admitted, in course of events, to the assembly of British senators. He is there as one of its members. But he knows that the grandest, purest, most philanthropic and self-sacrificing of human-kind regard him and his views with unutterable loathing, not because of any vindictive feeling against him, but because of the solemn interests which in his hands are imperiled and shamed. Nothing is done to him; but he knows that this is how he and his views are regarded by those whose esteem is most worth having. Would not such a state of things be intolerable torture to him? Or supposing him "past feeling," would his case be the less pitiable? Or supposing him so puffed up with pride and conceit as to regard the rest of his fellows as kept virtuous by a superstition whose elevating power he does not desire to know, would not the disapproval of the mass of the people—too deep for any words to express—be as a blighting curse upon him, even though no other penalty were imposed; and would not that disownment be a heavier penalty than any outward punishment could be? But oh! what, what is the disapproval of man, or of men, compared with the frown of God?
VIII. THIS APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL WILL, SOONER OR LATER, BE MANIFEST. It is true, in more senses than one, "Thou art a God that hidest thyself" (cf. Psa_50:21). But "though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished." The curse will show itself in nations, by their humiliation and destruction. So Egypt, Tyre, Chaldea, Jerusalem, etc. It will reveal itself in families by a "sword in the house" for many a long year (1Sa_3:13, 1Sa_3:14; 2Sa_7:14). It will be manifest in the individual. This κρίμα —yea, κατακρίμα —of God has three stages.
1. A present, though it may be a comparatively silent one, either in a stinging conscience, or one "seared as with a hot iron."
2. A further one, on the exchange of worlds, when earth and sense are thrown off, and the Great Invisible is near. "Now, Mr. T," said a departing sinner to the missionary who was by his bedside, "my judgment has just begun!"
3. A future one, at the day of judgment, when God shall judge the secrets of men (cf. Mat_25:31-46). Disobedient hearts are but treasuring up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, to be disapproved, finally, by him from whose sentence there can be no appeal. Is not a heavy curse, indeed, involved in all that?
IX. HERE IS GROUND ENOUGH FOR SOLEMN APPEAL TO MEN. "I set before you this day a blessing and a curse." Oh! if men would but take the pains to quit a while in thought this busy scene in which they live and move almost in perpetual whirl; if they would but anticipate by earnest reflection that usherment into the presence of God which their departure hence must bring; if they would but set the judgment scene, as sketched by Christ, before their view, methinks they would see the deep and solemn reason why the preacher now—even now—says, "Flee from the wrath to come." For the wrath will come, i.e. it will manifest itself. It exists now. The eternal antagonism of a holy God to ill of every kind necessitates it. And as surely as God is ever on the side of right, so surely will he have it shown, ere long, that such is the case. Then let the sinner, condemned even now by his own conscience—how much more by God!—flee for refuge from the coming storm. There is a refuge; it is ours the moment that we flee to it. But if when the storm comes we are not found there, we must perish—perish with the double disapproval of Heaven on our heads: disapproved as breakers of law; disapproved as neglecters of grace.
I. THREE PHASES OF GOD'S INSTRUCTION OF HIS CHURCH.
1. The shattering of worldly power hostile to the Church (Deu_11:3, Deu_11:4). Pharaoh, in his pride and obstinacy, is a type of world-power universally, in its opposition to God's kingdom (Rom_9:17). But though again and again the waves have thus roared, and the floods have lifted up their voice (Psa_93:3, Psa_93:4), the Lord on high has shown himself mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea (cf. Psa_83:1-18.; Isa_37:1-38.; 1 Macc. 4.; Act_4:23-34; Revelations Act_19:19; Act_20:8, Act_20:9).
2. The preservation and guidance of the Church itself (Deu_11:5). In securing the perpetuation of a godly remnant in times of greatest apostasy (1Ki_19:18; Rom_11:5; Revelations Rom_3:5; Rom_11:3; Rom_12:17); in providing her with a succession of godly teachers (Mat_28:20; Eph_4:11-14); in supplying her necessities, spiritual (Joh_6:32, Joh_6:33; 1Co_10:4; 1Co_12:13; Eph_3:16; Php_4:19) and temporal (Mat_10:9, Mat_10:10; Act_4:34; 1Co_9:14; Php_4:15, Php_4:16); in opening up the path of duty (Act_16:10; Rom_15:30, Rom_15:31; 2Co_10:13-17), in conducting her from one stage of attainment to another (Eph_4:12, Eph_4:13).
3. The overthrow of antichristian rebellion within the Church (Deu_11:6). The insurrection of Korah and his company may be taken as representative of antichristian movements generally. These are bound to arise, but will infallibly be crushed (2Th_2:3-13; 1Jn_2:18; Rev_17:1-18.).
II. OBLIGATIONS ARISING FROM EXPERIENCE OF GOD'S WONDERFUL WORKS. The older portion of that generation had personally witnessed the wonderful works referred to. This gave them a certain advantage, and made disobedience doubly culpable. These works of God had been:
(1) in origin, supernatural;
(2) in kind, of stupendous magnitude; and
(3) had extended over a long period of time.
Those who have lived through any period signalized by remarkable workings of God on behalf of his Church, or whose individual experiences have been remarkable, may learn a lesson. Apply to reformation times, times of religious revival, of deliverance from persecutions, of the forth-putting of God's power in missions, etc. (2Ch_31:1-21 :25, 26; Ezr_3:10-13; Ezr_6:22; Est_9:27; Psa_40:10; Psa_116:6-9; Act_15:12). Such experiences:
1. Furnish peculiar evidences of God's grace and power, of the reality of his working in salvation and judgment. These evidences, while not losing their value to later generations, are necessarily of greatest force to those who witness the events.
2. Create impressions of God's character and attributes not so readily created by report. It is much to hear of the wonderful works of God from credible witnesses, but hearing with the ear cannot equal, in impressiveness and force, seeing with the eye (Job_42:5).
3. Imply a personal discipline which others have not had the benefit of. The lessons of our experiences may be conveyed to posterity, but the results of them in personal character remain with ourselves. All this lays on those who have had such experiences very special responsibilities. These relate
(1) to personal obedience (Deu_11:8); and
(2) to the education of children (Deu_11:18-21).
How are our children to know of God's mighty works in former days, or get the benefit of our own experiences; how are they to be convinced, moved, or instructed by these things, save as the result of diligent parental teaching?—J.O.
Deu_11:10-18
II. THE RESULTS OF THIS CONTRAST TO THE INHABITANTS. (Deu_11:13-18.) The directness of the dependence of Canaan on God's care made it, to a greater degree than Egypt could have been, suitable for the operation of a system so intimately bound up with temporal rewards and punishments. Should the people prove obedient, God engages to bless them with rains, and make the land fruitful (Deu_11:13-16). [But should they disobey, the peculiar conditions of the land put it in his power to scourge them, as he so often did, with drought and famine (1Ki_17:1; Joe_1:1-20.; Hag_1:10, Hag_1:11). So he threatens (Deu_11:16, Deu_11:17). It is a blessed but a perilous position which God's people are called to occupy. It secures to them unwonted favors, but it exposes them also, if disobedient, to chastisements and punishments of a peculiarly direct and severe kind. The higher the position of nearness to God, the greater the responsibility which that position entails upon who enjoy it.—J.O.
Deu_11:26-29
1. His revelations lay the ground for it. "Light is come into the world" (Joh_3:19).
2. They demand it. Men would trifle, but God says, "Now" (2Co_6:2). Men would put off, but God urges to decision (Jos_24:15).
3. They shut men up to it. When light comes, decision is inevitable. We must settle what our attitude towards it will be. In decreeing not to choose, we in reality do choose.
II. THE DECISION TO WHICH GOD SUMMONS US TURNS ON A SINGLE POINT. The point is obedience. Will we obey or will we not (Deu_11:27)? It was so under the Law, and it is so under the gospel. What the gospel asks from us is" the obedience of faith" (Rom_16:26). This tests our disposition thoroughly. True faith carries with it the surrender of the will to God and Christ. It is the root and principle of all holy obedience. Men will not come to Christ; why? The reason is that they cannot bring themselves to yield up their wills to him as he requires. They "love the darkness rather than the light" (Joh_3:19-22). Refusal to decide for Christ is equivalent, for the time being, to deciding against him (Mat_12:30).
III. THE DECISION TO WHICH GOD SUMMONS US INVOLVES THE ALTERNATIVE OF A BLESSING AND A CURSE. That was what it came to then, and it is the same still. Blessing or curse; life or death. Whether God is to be our God, blessing us, renewing our inward life, enriching us with his Spirit, bestowing on us grace here and glory hereafter; or whether we are to live beneath his frown, withering up under it in body and soul, and vanishing at last into outer darkness. It is an old question whether a man can voluntarily choose what is for his hurt. Possibly he cannot without first listening to the tempter who bids him believe that the course he pursues will not be for his hurt. But none the less is every sinner taking the path which ends in destruction (Mat_7:13). His interest, did he but see it, or would he but believe it, is entirely in the line which God wishes him to follow. The terminus of the one road is death (Rom_6:21), of the other life everlasting (Rom_11:22).—J.O.
Deu_11:22-26
I. VICTORY OVER ALL ENEMIES. (Deu_11:23.) The strongest spiritual foes will go down if we cleave to God. Though greater and mightier than we, they shall be overthrown.
II. ENLARGEMENT OF BOUNDS. (Deu_11:23.) They would grow numerous, fill the land, and spread beyond it. A wider prospect is held out to the Church. Her possession is the earth. If faithful, she has the means within herself to spread abroad her conquests, and occupy from sea to sea.
III. MORAL SUPREMACY. (Deu_11:25.) Israel's power would be acknowledged—her influence felt. Men would dread her host