Deuteronomy 11 – Blessing and Curses for Israel

A. Blessing in Israel’s past and future.

1. (1-7) Israel must remember the many ways God had already blessed them.

“Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always. Know today that I do not speak with your children, who have not known and who have not seen the chastening of the LORD your God, His greatness and His mighty hand and His outstretched arm—His signs and His acts which He did in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to all his land; what He did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and their chariots: how He made the waters of the Red Sea overflow them as they pursued you, and how the LORD has destroyed them to this day; what He did for you in the wilderness until you came to this place; and what He did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, their households, their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel—but your eyes have seen every great act of the LORD which He did.

a. Therefore you shall love the LORD your God: God commanded Israel to love Him. Love is not a matter left entirely up to the impulses or feelings of God’s people. People choose to love the LORD or to not love Him.

i. Additionally, this is a reminder of what the LORD really wants from His people – their love. We could give God a hundred other things, but none of it really matters unless we also give Him our love. As Jesus said to the Ephesian church in Revelation 2:4: I have this against you, that you have left your first love. To lose love is to lose everything.

b. Keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments: Those who love God will want to please Him, and to honor God as He has revealed in His word. To whatever extent a person fails to obey God, it can also be said that they are lacking in their love for Him.

i. As Jesus said in John 14:15: If you love Me, keep My commandments. Real love for Jesus will be seen in obedience.

c. Know today that I do not speak with your children, who have not known and who have not seen: Moses addressed the generation which saw the works of God among Israel, both in blessing and chastening. He spoke to the generation that should know and remember.

i. The LORD has destroyed them to this day: “It is a documented fact that neither Thutmose IV nor Amenhotep III, the kings of Egypt who succeeded the pharaoh of the exodus, Amenhotep II, were able to field large armies or undertake major military campaigns until after the period suggested by ‘until this very day,’ that is, about 1400 B.C.” (Merrill)

d. Dathan and Abiram: These were the two key associates in the rebellion of Korah (Numbers 16), and perhaps the instigators of the rebellion. When Korah, Dathan, and Abiram challenged the leadership of Israel, God vindicated His servant Moses.

e. Which He did…what He did…how He made…how the LORD destroyed them…what He did for you…what He did…every great act of the LORD which He did: Moses called Israel to remember what God had done in their history. The works of God were more important to think about than the works of men.

i. “A diary should be diligently kept of what God does for us (Psalm 102:18), for the help of our slippery memories, and the stirring up of our dull hearts to a contention in godliness.” (Trapp)

ii. Most of history, both social and personal, is concerned with what man has done. But God wants His people to look at history and see what He has done. There is more to learn and more to benefit when we look at the works of God instead of the works of man.

iii. Because Israel personally experienced so many great works of God, they were highly accountable. “They could not plead either ignorance or lack of personal accountability. What they had experienced should have provided the highest motivation to loving response and obedience.” (Merrill)

2. (8-15) A conditional promise of blessing in the land of Canaan.

“Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD swore to give your fathers, to them and their descendants, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’ For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden; but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.

‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’

a. Therefore you shall keep every commandment: Remembering what God had done for Israel in their past should lead Israel to greater obedience and trust, and this would equip them to take the Promised Land.

b. A land flowing with milk and honey: If Israel felt it was a sacrifice to obey God and His commandments, it was a sacrifice well rewarded. God promised them a land which was far superior to Egypt, which did not need to be artificially irrigated, but was watered by rains which God would send upon the obedient nation.

i. Calling Egypt a place where they watered by foot refers to the system of artificial irrigation that used foot-driven pumps to lift water from the Nile to nearby fields. Canaan received water from the rain of heaven and did not need to use this kind of irrigation.

ii. Watered by foot: “The technique referred to is attested in ancient texts and drawings and still exists in parts of Egypt. It consists of networks of ditches, canals, and holding tanks from and into which river water could be ‘pumped’ by means of a paddlewheel-like device called a shaduf in Arabic. This was powered by pedals or similar systems so that one could indeed say that the irrigation was done by foot.” (Merrill)

c. If you earnestly obey My commandments: God’s promise to provide for Israel had a condition. They had to earnestly obey all that He commanded. If they made God and His honor their priority, God promised to provide for them. This same principle was later stated by Jesus (Matthew 6:33).

i. The promise of the blessing of rain was important because one of the attractive Canaanite gods was Baal – the god who was said to control the weather and rain. Perhaps the Israelites would be tempted to think, “Now that we are in Canaan, if we want rain, we must worship the Canaanite god of rain.” But the LORD promised that if they would worship and obey Him, He would supply abundant rain.

d. The early rain and the latter rain: The early rain fell in October and November and was important to help soften the ground for plowing and preparing the soil for the seed. The latter rain fell about April and helped the crops come to final harvest. Both seasons of rain were helpful to successful farming.

i. “By the first or former rain we are to understand that which fell in Judea about November, when they sowed their seed, and this served to moisten and prepare the ground for the vegetation of the seed. The latter rain fell about April, when the corn was well grown up, and served to fill the ears, and render them plump and perfect. Rain rarely fell in Judea at any other seasons than these.” (Clarke)

e. A land for which the LORD your God cares: God declared His special care for the land of Israel, both then and now. He is the LORD of all the earth (Psalm 24:1) but chose the land we commonly call Israel to be the place where His work of redemption was centered. God said that His eyes are always on this land, all through the year.

i. “This is an arresting description of the Holy Land, and the place it occupies in the world geographically and historically is equally remarkable…. In light of Biblical reference, and of its own history interpreted by such reference, it is impossible to think of it without reverence. It is the land for which God careth.” (Morgan)

3. (16-17) Warning Israel of the danger of turning from God in times of prosperity.

Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, lest the LORD’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you.

a. Lest your heart be deceived: God had to warn Israel against the deceptions of prosperity. The person who turns from God in times of prosperity is deceived. They believe they are somehow responsible for the blessings received and they become proud and self-reliant.

b. He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain: Just such a judgment came upon Israel in the days of Ahab, the wicked king over Israel in the time Elijah was a prophet (1 Kings 17:1).

i. The constant need for rain kept Israel in continual dependence on the LORD. It is good for believers to have things that keep them in unbroken dependence on the LORD. God’s people should never despise those things or find themselves longing for the day when they will no longer need to depend on God as much.

4. (18-21) Blessing is gained by keeping the word of God always before you.

“Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.

a. Lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul: God called Israel to not only read and know the word of God, but to also treasure it. Valuing God’s word is a logical response to understanding who God is and how wonderful it is that He speaks through the Bible.

b. Bind them as a sign on your hand…frontlets between your eyes: From God’s first use of this idea for Israel in reference to Passover (Exodus 13:9, 16), this should be understood as a symbol, meaning to hold a truth or idea in constant prominence. The commandments of God were to be as familiar and prominent to Israel as a sign on the hand or head.

i. By the time of Jesus, the Jewish people used this passage (and Deuteronomy 6:8) as the basis for their practice of wearing phylacteries. A phylactery is a small box holding parchment with Scripture passages written on it, and the box is held to the forehead or hand with leather straps.

c. Speaking of them: God’s word was to be the constant topic of their conversation as they sat, walked, came in, or went out. It is fair for believers today to consider how much God’s word, His truth, is part of their daily conversation.

i. Like the days of the heavens: “The expression as long as the heavens are above the earth is a vivid way of saying ‘for ever’. The divine promise sworn to the fathers would never fail for men who obeyed God.” (Thompson)

B. The choice of blessing or curses.

1. (22-25) The promise of blessing.

“For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him—then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea, shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you.

a. To love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him: All the commandments are summarized in these three phrases (love, walk, hold fast). Each of these speaks of more than a reluctant and compelled obedience; they speak of a real relationship of love between God and His people, with obedience flowing naturally from that relationship.

i. “Ceremony, ritual, and other professions of religion would count for nothing if this personal relationship with God were to be discounted.” (Merrill)

b. The LORD will drive out…and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations: God promised to fight the battles for an obedient Israel, and He did (Joshua 10:10-11, 14). There are many people who want God to fight for them, but they have little interest in obeying Him, or in cultivating the deep relationship of love which obedience grows from.

c. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads: God repeated this promise to Joshua, just when Israel was about to cross over the Jordan River into Canaan (Joshua 1:3).

i. “It is worth noting that David and Solomon created an empire that included all this (2 Samuel 8:1–14; 1 Kings 4:21–24), but it is equally significant that the Transjordan was not in the ancient promises even though it was settled by the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh’s tribe (cf. Numbers 32:33–42), even with God’s blessing (Deuteronomy 3:18–23).” (Merrill)

d. No man shall be able to stand against you: When Israel walked in love with the LORD and was obedient to Him, they were unbeatable. No man could defeat them. Greater was God who was with them than he who was in the world (1 John 4:4). God sent the Canaanites fear and dread of Israel (Joshua 2:9).

2. (26-28) The choice: Blessing or cursing?

“Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.

a. Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: The three great elements of the old covenant God made with Israel on Mount Sinai were the law, the sacrifice, and the choice. Israel had a choice – to obey and be blessed or to disobey and be cursed. This aspect of their covenant made a cause-and-effect relationship with God.

i. It is important to recognize that in Jesus Christ, believers do not have an old covenant relationship with God. They may expect to be blessed, not because of their obedience, but because of their position in Jesus. In the new covenant, the deserved curse was laid upon Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:10-14). Though there may be an inherent curse of consequences in disobedience or even in the correcting hand of God, God does not punish us or curse believers under the new covenant. This is because all that they deserved, past, present, and future, was placed upon Jesus.

b. I set before you today: Under this covenant, it was up to Israel. If they wanted to be blessed, as they were in the days of David and Solomon, then they should walk in obedience. But if they disobeyed, they would be cursed as they were in most of the days of the later kings.

i. A choice was required. There was no neutral ground. God wouldn’t just leave them alone. It would either be blessing or cursing, and God would glorify Himself through either option.

c. To go after other gods which you have not known: Inherent in Israel’s disobedience was idolatry. Those who walk in disobedience, exalt themselves against God. They declare that their rules, standards, and desires, are all more important than His. This is idolatry in its most common form.

3. (29-32) Making the choice known to the people.

Now it shall be, when the LORD your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, toward the setting sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the plain opposite Gilgal, beside the terebinth trees of Moreh? For you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and you will possess it and dwell in it. And you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today.

a. You shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal: The recitation of the blessings on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal will be detailed in later chapters and carried out in Joshua 8:30-35. God wanted this covenant to be known to all Israel because the entire nation was bound by this covenant.

i. “The covenant which was first entered into at Sinai (Exodus 19:1–8), and now renewed on the plains of Moab (Deuteronomy 29:1), would need to be renewed once Israel crossed the Jordan. That such a ceremony was eventually carried out is clear from Joshua 8:30–35.” (Thompson)

b. Mount Gerizim…Mount Ebal: The name Gerizim is supposed to be associated with fruitful harvests, and the name Ebal is supposed to be associated with barrenness. Appropriately, the blessings came from Gerizim and the curses from Ebal.

i. “Mount Gerizim lies to the south and Mount Ebal to the north of the valley through which the road passes on the way from Shechem to Samaria. Shechem lay on the shoulder between the two, hence its name (Heb. sekem means ‘shoulder’).” (Thompson)

ii. “No doubt they were chosen because of their centrality and natural adaptability for such an event. They are close to each other and are both about 3,000 feet above sea level, Ebal being about 230 feet higher than Gerizim.” (Kalland)

iii. “That Gerizim is very fruitful, and that Ebal is very barren, is the united testimony of all who have travelled in those parts.” (Clarke)

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