1Miluj Hospodina, svého Boha, a zachovávej jeho řád, jeho ustanovení, jeho nařízení a jeho příkazy po všechny dny. 2Rozumějte tedy dnes, že to nebyli vaši synové, kteří by poznali a viděli kázeň Hospodina, vašeho Boha, — jeho velikost, jeho mocnou ruku a vztaženou paži, 3jeho znamení a skutky, které učinil uprostřed Egypta faraonovi, egyptskému králi, i celé jeho zemi, 4to, co učinil egyptskému vojsku, jeho koňům a jeho vozbě, jak nad nimi nechal proudit vodu Rákosového moře, když vás pronásledovali a Hospodin je zničil, jak je tomu až dodnes, 5to, co učinil v pustině vám, než jste přišli až na toto místo, 6to, co učinil Dátanovi a Abíramovi, synovi Elíaba, syna Rúbenova, když uprostřed celého Izraele země otevřela svá ústa a pohltila je i jejich rodiny, jejich stany i vše živé v jejich šlépějích, — 7ale vaše oči viděly všechny ty velké Hospodinovy skutky, které učinil. 8Zachovávejte každý příkaz, který ti dnes přikazuji, abyste byli silní, vešli a obsadili zemi, do které procházíte Jordánem, abyste ji obsadili, 9a aby se prodloužily dny v zemi, o které Hospodin přísahal vašim otcům, že ji dá jim a jejich potomstvu, zemi oplývající mlékem a medem. 10Neboť země, do které přicházíš, abys ji obsadil, není jako egyptská země, z níž jste vyšli, kde zaseješ semeno a musíš šlapat a zavlažovat ji jako zelinářskou zahradu. 11Země, do které procházíte Jordánem, abyste ji obsadili, je zemí hor a údolí; pije vodu deště z nebe. 12Zemí, o kterou se stará Hospodin, tvůj Bůh. Oči Hospodina, tvého Boha, jsou na ni stále upřeny, od počátku až do konce roku. 13I stane se, jestliže budete opravdu poslouchat mé příkazy, které vám dnes přikazuji, budete milovat Hospodina, svého Boha, a sloužit mu celým svým srdcem a celou svou duší, 14že dám vaší zemi ve svůj čas déšť podzimní i jarní a sklidíš své obilí, nové víno i svůj olej. 15Dám také zeleň na tvé pole pro tvůj dobytek, najíš se a nasytíš. 16Mějte se na pozoru, aby se vaše srdce nedalo svést a neodvrátili jste se, nesloužili jiným bohům a neklaněli se jim. 17Nebo proti vám vzplane Hospodinův hněv, uzavře nebesa, nebude déšť, země nevydá svou úrodu a z té dobré země, kterou vám Hospodin dává, rychle vyhynete. 18Vložte tato má slova do svého srdce a do své duše. Přivažte si je jako znamení na ruku, ať jsou značkou mezi vašima očima. 19Učte je své syny — mluv o nich, když pobýváš ve svém domě, i když chodíš po cestě, když ležíš i když vstáváš. 20Napište je na veřeje svého domu a na své brány, 21aby se rozmnožily vaše dny a dny vašich synů v zemi, o které Hospodin přísahal vašim otcům, že jim ji dá, tak jako dny nebes nad zemí. 22Jestliže budete bedlivě zachovávat každý tento příkaz, který vám přikazuji, budete-li jej plnit, milovat Hospodina, svého Boha, chodit po všech jeho cestách a přilnete k němu, 23Hospodin před vámi vyžene všechny tyto národy a obsadíte národy větší a mocnější, než jste vy. 24Každé místo, na které šlápne vaše noha, bude patřit vám; od pustiny až k Libanonu, od Řeky, řeky Eufratu, až k Západnímu moři bude vaše území. 25Nikdo se proti vám nepostaví. Hospodin, váš Bůh, dá strach a bázeň z vás na povrch celé země, na kterou šlápnete, tak jak vám řekl. 26Pohleď, kladu dnes před vás požehnání a kletbu. 27Požehnání, když budete poslouchat příkazy Hospodina, svého Boha, které vám dnes přikazuji, 28a kletbu, jestliže nebudete poslouchat příkazy Hospodina, svého Boha, a odvrátíte se od té cesty, kterou vám dnes přikazuji, a půjdete za jinými bohy, které jste neznali. 29I stane se, až tě Hospodin, tvůj Bůh, přivede do země, kterou jdeš obsadit, že budeš dávat požehnání na hoře Gerizímu a kletbu na hoře Ébalu. 30Jsou přece za Jordánem, směrem na západ slunce, v zemi Kenaanců sídlících v Arabě, naproti Gilgálu, blízko dubů v Móre. 31Až projdete Jordánem, abyste vešli a obsadili zemi, kterou vám dává Hospodin, váš Bůh, obsadíte ji a usídlíte se v ní, 32zachovávejte a plňte všechna ustanovení a nařízení, která před vás dnes kladu.
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary 1 Because
God has made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude (so the preceding chapter concludes),
therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God (so this begins). Those whom God has built up into families, whose beginning was small, but whose latter end greatly increases, should use that as an argument with themselves why they should serve God. Thou shalt
keep his charge, that is, the oracles of his word and ordinances of his worship, with which they were entrusted and for which they were accountable. It is a phrase often used concerning the office of the priests and Levites, for all Israel was a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. Observe the connection of these two:
Thou shalt love the Lord and
keep his charge, since love will work in obedience, and that only is acceptable obedience which flows from a principle of love.
1John 5:3.
Mention is made of the great and terrible works of God which their
eyes had seen, Deut 11:7. This part of his discourse Moses addresses to the
seniors among the people, the elders in age; and probably the elders in office were so, and were now his immediate auditors: there were some among them that could remember their deliverance out of Egypt, all above fifty, and to them he speaks this, not to the children, who knew it by hearsay only,
Deut 11:2. Note, God's mercies to us when we were young we should remember and retain the impressions of when we are old; what our eyes have seen, especially in our early days, has affected us, and should be improved by us long after. They had seen what terrible judgments God had executed upon the enemies of Israel's peace, 1. Upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians that enslaved them. What a fine country was ruined and laid waste by one plague after another, to force Israel's enlargement!
Deut 11:3. What a fine army was entirely drowned in the Red Sea, to prevent Israel's being re-enslaved!
Deut 11:4. Thus did he give
Egypt for their ransom, Isa 43:3. Rather shall that famous kingdom be destroyed than that Israel shall not be delivered. 2. Upon Dathan and Abiram that embroiled them. Remember
what he did in the wilderness (
Deut 11:5), by how many necessary
chastisements (as they are called,
Deut 11:2) they were kept from ruining themselves, particularly when those daring Reubenites defied the authority of Moses and headed a dangerous rebellion against God himself, which threatened the ruin of a whole nation, and might have ended in that if the divine power had not immediately crushed the rebellion by burying the rebels alive, them and
all that was in their possession, Deut 11:6. What was done against them, though misinterpreted by the disaffected party (
Num 16:41), was really done in mercy to Israel. To be saved from the mischiefs of insurrections at home is as great a kindness to a people, and therefore lays them under as strong obligations, as protection from the invasion of enemies abroad.
8 Still Moses urges the same subject, as loth to conclude till he had gained his point.
If thou wilt enter into life, if thou wilt enter into Canaan, a type of that life, and find it a good land indeed to thee,
keep the commandments: Keep all the commandments which I command you this day; love God, and serve him with all your heart.
I. Because this was the way to get and keep possession of the promised land. 1. It was the way to get possession (
Deut 11:8):
That you may be strong for war, and so
go in and possess it. So little did they know either of hardship or hazard in the wars of Canaan that he does not say they should go in and fight for it; no, they had nothing in effect to do but go in and possess it. He does not go about to teach them the art of war, how to draw the bow, and use the sword, and keep ranks, that they might be strong, and go in and possess the land; no, but let them keep God's commandments, and their religion, while they are true to it, will be their strength, and secure their success. (2.) It was the way to keep possession (
Deut 11:9):
That you may prolong your days in this land that your eye is upon. Sin tends to the shortening of the days of particular persons and to the shortening of the days of a people's prosperity; but obedience will be a lengthening out of their tranquillity.
II. Because the land of Canaan, into which they were going, had a more sensible dependence upon the blessing of heaven than the land of Egypt had,
Deut 11:10-
Deut 11:12. Egypt was a country fruitful enough, but it was all flat, and was watered, not as other countries with rain (it is said of Egypt,
Zech 14:18, that it
has no rain ), but by the overflowing of the river Nile at a certain season of the year, to the improving of which there was necessary a great deal of the art and labour of the husbandman, so that in Egypt a man must bestow as much cost and pains upon a field as upon a garden of herbs. And this made them the more apt to imagine that the power of their own hands got them this wealth. But the land of Canaan was an uneven country, a land of hills and valleys, which not only gave a more pleasing prospect to the eye, but yielded a greater variety of soils for the several purposes of the husbandman. It was a land that had no great rivers in it, except Jordan, but
drank water of the rain of heaven, and so, 1. Saved them a great deal of labour. While the Egyptians were ditching and guttering in the fields, up to the knees in mud, to bring water to their land, which otherwise would soon become like the heath in the wilderness, the Israelites could sit in their houses, warm and easy, and leave it to God to water their land with the former and the latter rain, which is called
the river of God (
Pss 65:9), perhaps in allusion to, and contempt of, the river of Egypt, which that nation was so proud of. Note, The better God has provided, by our outward condition, for our ease and convenience, the more we should abound in his service: the less we have to do for our bodies the more we should do for God and our souls. 2. So he directed them to look upwards to God, who
giveth us rain form heaven and fruitful seasons (
Acts 14:17), and promised to be himself as
the dew unto Israel, Hos 14:5. Note, (1.) Mercies bring with them the greatest comfort and sweetness when we see them coming from heaven, the immediate gifts of divine Providence. (2.) The closer dependence we have upon God the more cheerful we should be in our obedience to him. See how Moses here magnifies the land of Canaan above all other lands, that the
eyes of God were always upon it, that is, they should be so, to see that nothing was wanting, while they kept close to God and duty; its fruitfulness should be not so much the happy effect of its soil as the immediate fruit of the divine blessing; this may be inferred from its present state, for it is said to be at this day, now that God has departed from it, as barren a spot of ground as perhaps any under heaven. Call it not
Naomi: call it
Marah. III. Because God would certainly bless them with an abundance of all good things if they would love him and serve him (
Deut 11:13-
Deut 11:15):
I will give you the rain of your land in due season, so that they should neither want it when the ground called for it nor have it in excess; but they should have the former rain, which fell at seed-time, and the latter rain, which fell before the harvest,
Amos 4:7. This represented all the seasonable blessings which God would bestow upon them, especially spiritual comforts, which should come
as the latter and former, rain, Hos 6:3. And the earth thus watered produced, 1. Fruits for the service of man,
corn and wine, and oil, Pss 104:13-
Pss 104:15. 2. Grass for the cattle, that they also might be serviceable to man, that
he might eat of them and be full, Deut 11:15. Godliness hath here the
promise of the life that now is; but the favour of God shall put gladness into the heart, more than the increase of corn, and wine, and oil will.
IV. Because their revolt from God to idols. would certainly be their ruin:
Take heed that your hearts be not deceived, Deut 11:16,
Deut 11:17. All that forsake God to set their affection upon, or pay their devotion to, any creature, will find themselves wretchedly deceived to their own destruction; and this will aggravate it that it was purely for want of taking heed. A little care would have prevented their being imposed upon by the great deceiver. To awaken them to take heed, Moses here tells them plainly that if they should
turn aside to other gods, 1. They would provoke the wrath of God against them; and
who knows the power of that anger? 2. Good things would be turned away from them; the heaven would withhold its rain, and then of course the earth would not yield its fruit. 3. Evil things would come upon them; they would perish quickly form off this good land. And the better the land was the more grievous it would be to perish from it. The goodness of the land would not be their security, when the badness of the inhabitants had made them ripe for ruin.
18 Here, I. Moses repeats the directions he had given for the guidance and assistance of the people in their obedience, and for the keeping up of religion among them (
Deut 11:18-
Deut 11:20), which is much to the same purport with what we had before,
Deut 6:6, etc. Let us all be directed by the three rules here given: - 1. Let our hearts be filled with the word of God:
Lay up these words in your heart and in your soul. The heart must be the treasury or store-house in which the word of God must be laid up, to be used upon all occasions. We cannot expect good practices in the conversation, unless there be good thoughts, good affections, and good principles, in the heart. 2. Let our eyes be fixed upon the word of God. Bind these words for a sign
upon your hand, which is always in view (
Isa 49:16),
and as frontlets between your eyes, which you cannot avoid the sight of; let them be as ready and familiar to you, and have your eye as constantly upon them, as if they were
written upon your door-posts, and could not be overlooked either when you go out or when you come in. Thus we must
lay God's judgments before us, having a constant regard to them, as the guide of our way, as the rule of our work,
Pss 119:30. 3. Let our tongues be employed about the word of God. Let it be the subject of our familiar discourse, wherever we are; especially with our children, who must be taught the service of God, as the one thing needful, much more needful than either the rules of decency or the calling they must live by in this world. Great care and pains must be taken to acquaint children betimes, and to affect them, with the word of God and the wondrous things of his law. Nor will any thing contribute more to the prosperity and perpetuity of religion in a nation than the good education of children: if the seed be holy, it is the substance of a land.
II. He repeats the assurances he had before given them, in God's name, of prosperity and success if they were obedient. 1. They should have a happy settlement,
Deut 11:21. Their days should be multiplied; and, when they were fulfilled, the days of their children likewise should be many, as the days of heaven, that is, Canaan should be sure to them and their heirs for ever, as long as the world stands, if they did not by their own sin throw themselves out of it. 2. It should not be in the power of their enemies to give them any disturbance, nor make them upon any account uneasy. If you will
keep God's commandments, and be careful to do your duty (
Deut 11:22), God will not only crown the labours of the husbandman with plenty of the fruits of the earth, but he will own and succeed the more glorious undertakings of the men of war. Victory shall attend your arms; which way soever they turn, God will drive out these nations, and put you in possession of their land,
Deut 11:23,
Deut 11:24. Their territories should be enlarged to the utmost extent of the promise,
Gen 15:18. And all their neighbours should stand in awe of them,
Deut 11:25. Nothing contributes more to the making of a nation considerable abroad, valuable to its friends and formidable to its enemies, than religion reigning in it; for who can be against those that have God for them? And he is certainly for those that are sincerely for him,
Prov 14:34.
26 Here Moses concludes his general exhortations to obedience; and his management is very affecting, and such as, one would think, should have engaged them for ever to God, and should have left impressions upon them never to be worn out.
I. He sums up all his arguments for obedience in two words,
the blessing and the curse (
Deut 11:26), that is, the rewards and the punishments, as they stand in the promises and the threatenings, which are the great sanctions of the law, taking hold of hope and fear, those two handles of the soul, by which it is caught, held, and managed. These two, the blessing and the curse, he set before them, that is, 1. He explained them, that they might know them; he enumerated the particulars contained both in the blessing and in the curse, that they might see the more fully how desirable the blessing was, and how dreadful the curse. 2. He confirmed them, that they might believe them, made it evident to them, by the proofs he produced of his own commission, that the blessing was not a fool's paradise, nor the curse a bugbear, but that both were real declarations of the purpose of God concerning them. 3. He charged them to choose which of these they would have, so fairly does he deal with them, and so far is he from
putting out the eyes of these men, as he was charged,
Num 16:14. They and we are plainly told on what terms we stand with Almighty God. (1.) If we be obedient to his laws, we may be sure of a blessing,
Deut 11:27. But, (2.) If we be disobedient, we may be as sure of a curse,
Deut 11:28.
Say you to the righteous (for God has said it, and all the world cannot unsay it) that
it shall be well with them: but woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with them. II. He appoints a public and solemn proclamation to be made of the blessing and curse which he had set before them, upon the two mountains of Gerizim and Ebal,
Deut 11:29,
Deut 11:30. We have more particular directions for this solemnity in
Deut 27:11, etc., and an account of the performance of it,
Josh 8:33, etc. It was to be done, and was done, immediately upon their coming into Canaan, that when they first took possession of that land they might know upon what terms they stood. The place where this was to be done is particularly described by Moses, though he never saw it, which is one circumstance among many that evidences his divine instructions. It is said be near the
plain, or
oaks, or
meadows, of
Moreh, which was one of the first places that Abraham came to in Canaan; so that in sending them thither, to hear the blessing and the curse, God reminded them of the promise he made to Abraham in that very place,
Gen 12:6,
Gen 12:7. The mention of this appointment here serves, 1. For the encouragement of their faith in the promise of God, that they should be masters of Canaan quickly. Do it (says Moses) on the other side Jordan (
Deut 11:30), for you may be confident
you shall pass over Jordan, Deut 11:31. The institution of this service to be done in Canaan was an assurance to them that they should be brought into possession of it, and a token like that which God gave to Moses (
Exod 3:12):
You shall serve God upon this mountain. And, 2. It serves for an engagement upon them to be obedient, that they might escape that curse, and obtain that blessing, which, besides what they had already heard, they must shortly be witnesses to the solemn publication of (
Deut 11:32):
You shall observe to do the statutes and judgements, that you may not in that solemnity be witnesses against yourselves.
