Deuteronomy 11

De 11:1-32.

AN

EXHORTATION TO

OBEDIENCE.

1. Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge--The

reason for the frequent repetition of the same or similar counsels is

to be traced to the infantine character and state of the church, which

required line upon line and precept upon precept. Besides, the

Israelites were a headstrong and perverse people, impatient of control,

prone to rebellion, and, from their long stay in Egypt, so violently

addicted to idolatry, that they ran imminent risk of being seduced by

the religion of the country to which they were going, which, in its

characteristic features, bore a strong resemblance to that of the

country they had left.

2-9. I speak not with your children which have not known . . . But your

eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did--Moses is

here giving a brief summary of the marvels and miracles of awful

judgment which God had wrought in effecting their release from the

tyranny of Pharaoh, as well as those which had taken place in the

wilderness. He knew that he might dwell upon these, for he was

addressing many who had been witnesses of those appalling incidents.

For it will be remembered that the divine threatening that they should

die in the wilderness, and its execution, extended only to males from

twenty years and upward, who were able to go forth to war. No males

under twenty years of age, no females, and none of the tribe of Levi,

were objects of the denunciation (see

Nu 14:28-30; 16:49).

There might, therefore, have been many thousands of the Israelites at

that time of whom Moses could say, "Your eyes have seen all the great

acts which He did"; and with regard to those the historic review of

Moses was well calculated to stir up their minds to the duty and

advantages of obedience.

10-12. For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the

land of Egypt, from whence ye came out--The physical features of

Palestine present a striking contrast to those of the land of bondage.

A widely extending plain forms the cultivated portion of Egypt, and on

the greater part of this low and level country rain never falls. This

natural want is supplied by the annual overflow of the Nile, and by

artificial means from the same source when the river has receded within

its customary channel. Close by the bank the process of irrigation is

very simple. The cultivator opens a small sluice on the edge of the

square bed in which seed has been sown, making drill after drill; and

when a sufficient quantity of water has poured in, he shuts it up with

his foot. Where the bank is high, the water is drawn up by hydraulic

engines, of which there are three kinds used, of different power,

according to the subsidence of the stream. The water is distributed in

small channels or earthen conduits, simple in construction, worked by

the foot, and formed with a mattock by the gardener who directs their

course, and which are banked up or opened, as occasion may require, by

pressing in the soil with the foot. Thus was the land watered in which

the Israelites had dwelt so long. Such vigilance and laborious industry

would not be needed in the promised land. Instead of being visited with

moisture only at one brief season and left during the rest of the year

under a withering blight, every season it would enjoy the benign

influences of a genial climate. The hills would attract the frequent

clouds, and in the refreshing showers the blessing of God would

especially rest upon the land.

12. A land which the Lord thy God careth for--that is, watering it, as

it were, with His own hands, without human aid or mechanical means.

14. the first rain and the latter rain--The early rain commenced in

autumn, that is, chiefly during the months of September and October,

while the latter rain fell in the spring of the year, that is, during

the months of March and April. It is true that occasional showers fell

all the winter; but, at the autumnal and vernal seasons, they were more

frequent, copious, and important; for the early rain was necessary,

after a hot and protracted summer, to prepare the soil for receiving

the seed; and the latter rain, which shortly preceded the harvest, was

of the greatest use in invigorating the languishing powers of

vegetation

(Jer 5:24;

Joe 2:23;

Am 4:7;

Jas 5:7).

15-17. I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle--Undoubtedly the

special blessing of the former and the latter rain

[De 11:14]

was one principal cause of the extraordinary fertility of Canaan in

ancient times. That blessing was promised to the Israelites as a

temporal reward for their fidelity to the national covenant

[De 11:13].

It was threatened to be withdrawn on their disobedience or apostasy;

and most signally is the execution of that threatening seen in the

present sterility of Palestine. MR. LOWTHIAN, an

English farmer, who was struck during his journey from Joppa to

Jerusalem by not seeing a blade of grass, where even in the poorest

localities of Britain some wild vegetation is found, directed his

attention particularly to the subject, and pursued the inquiry during a

month's residence in Jerusalem, where he learned that a miserably small

quantity of milk is daily sold to the inhabitants at a dear rate, and

that chiefly asses' milk. "Most clearly," says he, "did I perceive that

the barrenness of large portions of the country was owing to the

cessation of the early and latter rain, and that the absence of grass

and flowers made it no longer the land

(De 11:9)

flowing with milk and honey."

18-25. lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind

them--(See on

De 6:1).

24. Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be

yours--not as if the Jews should be lords of the world, but of

every place within the promised land. It should be granted to them and

possessed by them, on conditions of obedience:

from the wilderness--the Arabah on the south;

Lebanon--the northern limit;

Euphrates--their boundary on the east. Their grant of dominion

extended so far, and the right was fulfilled to Solomon.

even unto the uttermost sea--the Mediterranean.

26-32. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a

curse--(See on

De 27:11).