Deuteronomy 11-12 - by Ray Viola

Deuteronomy 11-12 by Ray Viola

Series: Deuteronomy

Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.

The command to love God is grounded upon His gracious rescue of the nation out of then land of Egypt.
- Deut 10:20 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. 21 He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.
Chapter 11 is a remarkable reminder of the biblical priority of loving God first and foremost in life.
In Hebrew the command to love the Lord means to choose Him for one’s most intimate relationship and then to express that choice in obedience to His revealed will. Bible Knowledge Commentary
In all that God is commanding Israel to perform, the central focus He always returns to is His desire to see them love Him as He loves them. Therefore, throughout this chapter the exhortations to love God and the rewards for loving Him are repeated (verses 1,13 & 22).
In this verse, the first result of a true love relationship with God that is specifically named is that we will obey His commandments:
- John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
- John 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

2 And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,

3 And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;

The Lord did all these things to reveal that there is none like unto the LORD our God- Ex 8.10

4 And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day;

5 And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;

6 And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:

The Lord uses Dathan and Abiram as examples of men who had seen His mighty power and still hardened their hearts and rebelled against Him, and who had experienced judgment as a result (Num. 16).
Those men fought against the leadership of God's chosen representative (Moses) by claiming that Moses had led them out of Egypt and into the wilderness in order to destroy them and their children.

7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did.

8 ¶ Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;

9 And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

By obeying God, they would be given the strength to go in and possess the land in spite of the opposition.

10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:

11 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.

As there was very little rainfall in Egypt, the Egyptians used the water of the Nile River to irrigate their crops year by year. When it overflowed, water was plentiful; but for the majority of the year it needed to be pumped out of the river manually and fed into irrigation ditches. To accomplish this, the ancient Egyptians devised an ingenious device, which resembled a stationary bicycle that dipped buckets into the river and poured them out into the ditches. Unfortunately for Israel, this was done by the labor of the slaves, which the Hebrews were in Egypt for over 400 years.
The Lord assures them that the Land to which He was leading them was a land which received much rainfall and that they would not need to be watered through the use of other human beings as they did in Egypt.
- Jer 14:22 Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.
The Lord sets His eyes upon the land of Israel, but Who else does The Lord set His eyes upon?
- Ps 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy.
- Isa 66.2 but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

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.

The Promised Land would receive rainfall twice a year, so that the beginning and the end of the growing season were both provided for.
The early rain fell in our month of October, which would provide water right after seed-time so that the crops would take root and spring up. The latter rain fell in our month of March, ensuring that the crops would ripen as well.

15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full (blessed).

16 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.

Starting in verse 13, the Lord inspired Moses to change to the "first person" speaking point of view, indicating that the Lord is now speaking directly through Him to Israel. Here, God claims to be the One responsible for the sending of rain in the Promised Land, and the One Who could withhold it if Israel were to turn their backs on Him.
It is interesting that He had allowed the rain to fall on the Land even before Israel entered it, causing it to flourish and become a land of milk and honey before He led His people in. This reminds us that God allows the "rain to fall on the just and the unjust" (Matthew 5:45).
However, because Israel is a nation which has entered into covenant relationship with Him, if they were to rebel against Him, He would cause the rain to cease. This would be part of the "chastisement" which God has warned them about repeatedly in the book of Deuteronomy: that if Israel were to give themselves over to disobedience, He would chastise them as a father chastens his children.
The writer to the Hebrews picks up this theme and applies it to our lives as Christians in Hebrews 12:5-11.

18 ¶ Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul (remember and obey them), and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

This command was meant to remind the Jews of the grace and mercy of God, but over a period of time, it slowly turned into a duty and routine. Oh how easy it is so for us to turn the exhortations to read and study the Scripture or worship The Lord into a heartless and meaningless routine.
When we no longer sense the grace and love of God in reading Scripture or worshipping Him, the form of godliness has replaced the reality of experiencing the grace and love of God.

19 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.

Parents should take measures not only to become acquainted with the Word of God themselves, but to have them deeply impressed on the hearts minds of their children as well. This takes effort and sacrifice of self on the part of parents.

22 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 (the south border of Canaan) and Lebanon (the north border), from the river, the river Euphrates (the east border), even unto the uttermost sea (the Mediterranean, the west border of Canaan) shall your coast be.

Walking through a piece of property was the equivalent of taking ownership of it in those days. When God told Abraham to walk the length and width of Canaan (Gen. 13:17), He was promising to give Abraham's descendants that land which he walked. Here, God is promising to fulfill that vow as Israel walks the length and width of the Promised Land, thus taking ownership of it.
God told Joshua these same words: Josh 1.2 now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.
Had Israel obeyed God faithfully, her boundaries would have been enlarged to fulfill the promise made to Abraham in Gen 15.18. But because of Israel’s disobedience, the complete promise of the whole land still remains to be fulfilled in the kingdom reign of Messiah Jesus Christ.

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.

· Once again we remember the words that The Lord spoke to Joshua:

· Josh 1:5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

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, 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.

4 times (verses 13, 22, 27 & 28) we find that big 2 letter if used in connection with Israel being blessed or being cursed. Notice that in verses 26-28, God sets blessings and curses before His children, thus to be blessed or cursed was their choice.
- Deut 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
- Josh 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

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.

As will be explained in chapter 27, God will order some of the tribes of Israel to stand upon Mount Ebal and pronounce out loud the curses which would result if His people were to disobey and forsake His Word. Others would stand on Mount Gerizim and pronounce the promised blessings that would result from obedience to the Word.

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.

DEUTERONOMY 12

Chapter 12 contains important ordinances to Israel concerning their worship of God. Here He will instruct them to destroy the pagan places of worship when they find them in Canaan, and to begin bringing all of their sacrifices and offerings to the specific place to which the Lord will direct them.

1 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:

Israel would discover that Canaan was filled with territories that the pagans had named after their gods, such as Bethshemesh, Bethpeor, and others. These cities would abound with temples and altars to false gods, and the Lord here directs Israel to tear them down and destroy them so that no trace is left of the false, demonic religions.
Many of them would be situated on the top of high mountains, as the pagans believed that their various gods could have power over any territory they could see. Others would be worshipped under shady groves of trees where the environment was more pleasant. Wherever Israel found these places devoted to false worship, they were to destroy them lest the remnants of demonic influence or false religion lead them astray.
In order for the people of God to lose interest and forget the foreign gods, everything that pointed to them or potentially reminded them of them was to be obliterated.
I find it interesting that in this chapter where God ordered the absolute eradication of those holy spots, we see today in the city of Jerusalem a pagan spot—the shrine known as the Dome of the Rock—built in a.d. 690 by the followers of Mohammed, which has proven to be a problem even now, centuries later.
Allah is not a name for the True and Living God, but the name of the moon god Mohammed chose to be his god. Allah is not the same God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

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.

5 ¶ But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

God said that He would choose a place for worship when they came into the land. This command did not mean that the tabernacle would always stay in the same place, for it would be moved at God’s command.

Once they were in the Land, God would direct them to a specific place at which they were to set up the Tabernacle and later the Temple, in order to bring their sacrifices and worship Him.
The place where the Temple would eventually be situated is the city of Jerusalem on Mt. Moriah as explained in 1 Chronicles 2. This was gloriously foreshadowed in Genesis 22, when Abraham prophesied upon Mt. Moriah, "in the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided" (v. 14) after being tested by the Lord's command to sacrifice his son.
This location would also be the place where God would provide His one sacrifice for sin forever, His own Son Jesus Christ on Mt Calvary.
The New Testament has abrogated the Law of the single sanctuary because each Christian has become a sanctuary, a “temple of the living God” (2 Cor. 6:16).
As far as the church goes, our Saviour declared, that those are accepted as true worshippers, who worship God in spirit and in truth, without regard either to this mountain or Jerusalem, John 4:20-24.

6 And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:

7 And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee.

All of these sacrifices and their particular aspects and significance are described in detail in Leviticus 1-7. Each of these sacrifices is a picture or type of the perfect and final sacrifice of God for sin, Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb.
Certain sacrifices that Israel used in their worship of God included eating a portion of the offered meat; a portion would be eaten by the worshipper and a portion by the priest who officiated over the sacrifice. It was to be eaten in the presence of God with great joy and rejoicing.

8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

Obviously at this point in time, there was some confusion or negligence on behalf of God’s people on this matter of the sacrifices.

9 For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you.

10 But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;

11 Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD:

12 And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you.

As the Levites had no territory of their own and could not own land privately, they depended on the offerings of the people during their worship for their livelihood. God constantly reminds Israel throughout the Law that the Levites depended on them for support in this way.
This will be repeated in verse 19.

13 Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest:

14 But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.

They would offer to God what they ate as a peace offering. The fat would be burned unto God as a sweet smelling savor, and then they were free to eat the meat. They would sit down and eat before God and enjoy sweet fellowship with Him.

15 Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.

Up until this point in chapter 12, God has been describing the ordained place of worship at which they were to bring their animals for sacrifice. Here, however, He informs them that as for the animals that are necessary for their food, they may slaughter and eat them anywhere they desire.
He further clarifies this by advising them that a person does not need to be ritualistically "clean" in order to eat a slaughtered animal, as long as the slaying was not in any way connected to worship. The issue is one of keeping their worship of God separate from their everyday need to slaughter animals for physical sustenance.

16 Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.

Leviticus 17:11 is the foundation for Israel's understanding of blood and its importance to God. There He tells them that the blood of an animal was actually given to them in order to represent life, which in turn represented the penalty owed to God for sin. The Lord says that It is blood make atonement for sin, and so blood is sacred to Him for that reason. Therefore it was not to be taken without significance by the Hebrews, and they were never to eat or drink it as part of their daily sustenance. Rather, they were to meticulously bleed the meat and pour it out on the ground before cooking or eating any of the slaughtered meat .
It was a custom in many pagans lands to drink the blood of sacrificed animals, and even the blood of sacrificed humans. So the command to the Israelites not to eat of the blood was given unto them in order to remove them completely from the pagan customs that resulted from many idolatrous and cruel customs. Thus, to eat blood was to profane or make common that sacred act of atonement by which man comes to God^.
Scripture forbids God’s people to eat or drink blood, which causes great problems with the RC doctrine of transubstantiation.

17 Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand:

18 But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto.

For a second time (cf. vv. 12-13) Moses warned the people that anything intended for use in worshiping the Lord could only be eaten at the future site of the central sanctuary. In this way purity in worship was protected.

As we saw in verse 12 and here in verse 18, Moses spoke of worship as a time of joy. The people of God were told to rejoice before The Lord Thy God is all that you put your hand unto.
Worship of The Lord and work done for God should be done with holy joy and cheerfulness. Even children and servants must rejoice before God; worshipping The Lord and ministering in His Name are to be sources of great pleasure, and not a task or drudgery. Scripture tells us we must do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to the Father through Him.
Whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we are commanded to do all that we do for the glory of God.

19 Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth.

20 When the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

Rather than living on a small piece of ground in the wilderness, without ever owning any of it, the Lord was about to lead them into a large country which they would, for the first time in their nation's history, be able to call their own. The verse goes on to say that once they are settled in the land, they would also be able to eat their fill of meat-something they had experienced very little of up until that point.

21 If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

22 Even as the roebuck (gazelle) and the hart (deer) is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.

This verse is informs the Hebrews that because the permanent Tabernacle will end up being situated too far away for most of Israel to travel to on a daily basis, it was again permissible for them to slaughter animals for food right where they live, rather than making the journey to the place of worship every time they needed food.
Gazelle and deer were considered "clean" animals, and yet they were not sacrificial animals. Thus they could be slaughtered and eaten anywhere in Israel, without being taken to the Tabernacle or Temple to be ritualistically slain.
Moses here is reiterating the fact that even animals which were considered sacrificial animals such as bulls, goats and sheep were also good for food; and therefore as long as they were not being sacrificed in worship they could be eaten by anyone in Israel anywhere that they wished, just as the gazelle and the deer were.

23 Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.

24 Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water.

25 Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.

Honoring these statutes would be an important way of ensuring that Israel walks with God and remains in His favor.

26 Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the LORD shall choose:

27 And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh.

Moses repeats the importance of taking anything which would be considered sacrificial or was dedicated to be offered up in worship to the Tabernacle and later the Temple, rather than slaughtering them there in the place in which they live. This was in contrast to the religions of the Canaanites, who would regularly hold animal sacrifices to their gods right in their own backyards.

28 Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.

29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;

30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.

The Lord issues a very important command here, and it is that of not looking into the worship of the pagans which they were about to displace. Once they were in the Promised Land and had begun to encounter all kinds of various shrines, altars and temples which the Canaanites built to honor false gods, the children of Israel could be tempted to investigate those pagan forms of worship, whether out of curiosity or the desire to incorporate other types of spirituality into their own.
The Lord in this passage cautions them, however, against inquiring at all into the worship of false gods, as they could easily be drawn away into apostasy by the demonic forces which lie behind the pagan idols (1 Cor. 10:20). Paul reiterates this same basic exhortation to us as New Testament Christians in
It’s dangerous to inquire into the realm of the spirits and false gods out of curiosity, because it can become a snare to your soul.
We cannot serve God and mammon; nor worship the true God and idols; nor depend upon Christ Jesus and upon superstitious or self-righteous confidences.

31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

This practice of burning their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices was frequently associated with the worship of the Ammonite god Molech (Lev. 18:21; 20:2-5; 2 Kings 23:10; Jer. 32:35). God’s penalty for child sacrifice was death (Lev. 20:2-5). Abortion is killing the moral conscious of our nation.
Yet despite this warning from God, Solomon built a high place for worshiping Molech on the Mount of Olives (1 Kings 11:7), and both Ahaz (2 Chron. 28:3) and Manasseh (2 Kings 21:6) sacrificed their own children in fire. The practice of child sacrifice is listed as the culminating reason for the exile of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the eighth century b.c. (2 Kings 17:17).
Thus a simple curiosity about evil religious practices eventually led to the destruction of a nation. The Apostle Paul repeats the same warning. “For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret” (Eph. 5:12) and in Romans 16:19 I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.