Chapter 11 They Face The Final Choice.
This chapter continues the themes of the previous Chapter s and brings this section to a close. In it Moses summarises what has gone before and lays emphasis on the past history which they have experienced, both of deliverance and judgment. On the basis of this he is concerned that they respond fully to the covenant, for if they do they will know the full blessing of the land and God's fullness of provision for it, and will be able to drive out its inhabitants. This is then expounded in vivid pictures of the abundance of that provision. Thus if they would enjoy His blessing they must take His words to their hearts and apply them in every part of their lives. For if they keep His covenant then they will be blessed and will be victorious in what lies ahead, while if they turn to idolatry then only judgment will await them.
The choice is therefore with them as to whether they experience blessing or cursing, and once they are in the land they must ensure that they seal this very fact at the place that He has chosen by the oaks of Moreh, the place where He had first revealed Himself to Abraham, and where Abraham first worshipped Him, on entering the land, at Shechem (compare Genesis 12:6).
Let Them Consider Their Past, Recognising God's Activity In It, and Respond To It (Deuteronomy 11:1-9).
Moses reminds them of different ways in which they have seen Yahweh at work, against Egypt, against rebels, and even against themselves, in all cases because of sin. But now that is behind them and they must therefore love Him and go forward in obedience to His commands and covenant stipulations.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
a Therefore you shall love Yahweh your God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his commandments, always (Deuteronomy 11:1).
b And know you (ye mature Israelites) this day, for I speak not with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of Yahweh your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm, and his signs, and his works, which he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to all his land (Deuteronomy 11:2-3).
c And what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Reed Sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how Yahweh has destroyed them to this day (Deuteronomy 11:4).
d And what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place (Deuteronomy 11:5).
c 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, and their households, and their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel (Deuteronomy 11:6).
b And your eyes have seen all the great work of Yahweh which he did (Deuteronomy 11:7).
a Therefore shall you keep all the commandment which I command you this day, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land, to which you go over to possess it, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give to them and to their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey (Deuteronomy 11:8-9).
Note that in ‘a' it commences ‘therefore (and) you shall love' and requires the keeping of His commandments, and in the parallel it begins ‘therefore (and) you shall keep' and promises rewards for keeping His commandment. In ‘b' he reminds them that they have seen the great works that Yahweh has done in Egypt, and in the parallel refers to their eyes having seen all the great work of Yahweh which He did. In ‘c' he refers to what He did to the Egyptians who were enemies of Israel and in the parallel to what He did to Dathan and Abiram who were (internal) enemies of Israel. And in ‘d' he refers centrally to what He did to Israel in the wilderness.
‘ Therefore you (thou) shall love Yahweh your God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his commandments, always.'
Therefore, because of what he has been saying in the previous Chapter s, and especially what He has declared about Yahweh's superlative greatness in chapter 10, and because He has demonstrated His love by multiplying them like the stars of heaven, they, as a nation and as responsible individuals (thou), are to recognise His great sovereignty and graciousness and love Him, and keep His charge, and His statutes, and His ordinances, and His commandments always.
Once again we see that loving response and appreciation comes first, to be followed by obedience (compare Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12). Unless there is that personal relationship with Yahweh the remainder will not happen. Love must come first. But then it must be followed by responsive action. And that responsive action is to be revealed by keeping His charge (compare Leviticus 8:35), in this case to possess the land, to destroy its inhabitants and to keep His commandments. This is the only use of the noun ‘charge' in Deuteronomy. That charge is now to be described in some detail in the following Chapter s.
We can compare this verse with Deuteronomy 8:1, although the pronoun is there ‘ye', which warns us about making too much of a distinction between ‘ye children of Israel' and ‘thou nation of Israel', while noting the distinction.
‘ And know you (ye mature Israelites) this day, for I speak not with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of Yahweh your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm, and his signs, and his works, which he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to all his land,'
He calls on the mature among them to recall on this day what wondrous things Yahweh has done for them in the past. For they are not like their children who have not seen His ‘chastening' as in Deuteronomy 8:5 (chastening is suffering which was intended to bring about a change of heart by a combination of love and punishment), or known in experience His greatness, His mighty hand and His outstretched arm (a sign of His personal involvement), and His signs and His works which He did in the midst of Egypt to the mighty Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and to the whole of Egypt. No, they have seen it for themselves, as young men in their teens and as children.
There is a roughness of grammar in the reference to their children which springs out of the oratorical nature of the words, another evidence that we have here a genuine speech of Moses.
‘ And what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Reed Sea to overflow them as they pursued after you (ye), and how Yahweh has destroyed them to this day.'
(The pronouns are ‘ye, your' up to Deuteronomy 11:9)
They know too how He humiliated and destroyed the army of Egypt, their horses and their chariots (compare Exodus 15:1; Exodus 15:4; Exodus 15:21). How He had made the Reed Sea overflow them when they were in pursuit of Israel, and how He had totally destroyed them. Thus can they be confident that He can deal so with all their enemies.
This is the only mention of this great incident in Deuteronomy, for Moses has concentrated more on the whole panorama of the mighty acts of God in Egypt as in Deuteronomy 11:3, but it comes out here as an outstanding individual example. The general is followed by the particular. In the same way He will now speak of God's general activities in the wilderness, followed by a particular example. In both examples their enemies were destroyed.
‘ And what he did to 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, and their households, and their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel,'
And they know too all that happened in general in the wilderness up to this time, both good and bad, and especially what happened in particular to Dathan and Abiram when the earth opened up its mouth and swallowed them up, together with their households and all their possessions (Numbers 16:30-32), and that it was done in the midst of all Israel. And they would remember that this had happened because they had challenged Yahweh's ordinances. The result had been immediate and catastrophic death. So they have seen both the positive and the negative. They have seen what happens when they obey Him, and they have seen what happens when men disobey Him.
The non-mention of Korah, the co-conspirator with Dathan and Abiram, may be due to his not having been specifically mentioned as coming out to the door of the tent, a picture rooted in Moses' memory, and thus not being seen as openly consumed (Numbers 16:27), or may be out of delicacy for the feelings of descendants of Korah who were present, or may be because his name was not to be mentioned (note how his death is not even mentioned in Numbers 16, possibly because his name was seen as blotted out).
‘ And your eyes have seen all the great work of Yahweh which he did.'
For their eyes have seen all the great work of Yahweh which He had done in defence of His covenant, destroying those in the wrong, whether outside oppressors or internal troublemakers, and in supporting His people. They are eyewitnesses! And the point he is making is that Yahweh does not change. He can and will do it again.
‘ Therefore shall you keep all the commandment which I command you this day, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land, to which you go over to possess it, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give to them and to their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey.'
So knowing that His hand is so with them, they must observe all that He commands this day, so that they may be strong and go in and possess the land, and so that they may prolong their days in the land. Both their victory and their continual presence in the land will be dependent on willingness to be obedient to His requirements. They cannot remain in His land and under His rule, if they are disobedient.
And this land is the land which Yahweh swore to give to their fathers and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. For Yahweh's gifts are subject to true response. But they may be assured that if they do respond Yahweh will fulfil His promises and give them the land, a land which is a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey (compare Deuteronomy 6:3; Deuteronomy 26:9; Deuteronomy 26:15; Deuteronomy 27:3; Deuteronomy 31:20; Joshua 5:6; Exodus 3:8; Exodus 3:17 etc.), God's adequate provision for man's need. Milk was man's staple requirement, honey pleasant to man's taste. Such a land promised all that was good.
And we too should look back on all that God has done, the death of His Son and His glorious resurrection and work amongst men, and should rejoice in it, and as a result of it commit ourselves fully to him revealing our confidence in Him (Romans 12:1-2).