Deuteronômio 11

Deuteronômio 11

Spurgeon - Canaan on earth Deuteronomy 11:10–12 We have come now, beloved, to the end of another year—to the threshold of another period of time, and have marched another year’s journey through the wilderness. Come, now! In reading this verse over, can you say Amen to it? “The eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon you, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.” Some of you say, “I have had deep troubles this year.” “I have lost a friend,” says one. “Ah!” says another, “I have been impoverished this year.” “I have been slandered”, cries another. “I have been exceedingly vexed and grieved”, says another. “I have been persecuted,” says another. Well, beloved, take the year altogether—the ups and the downs, the troubles and the joys, the hills and the valleys altogether, and what have you to say about it? You may say, “Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” Do not pick out one day in the year, and say it was a bad day, but take all the year round, let it revolve in all its grandeur. Judge between things that differ; and then what will you say? “Ah! Bless the Lord! He hath done all things well; my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!” And you know why all things have been well. It is because the eyes of the Lord have been upon you all the year. James Smith - Handfuls of Purpose - THE BLESSED POSSESSION Deuteronomy 11:10–17 “Wilt thou, O Lord, me holier make? Wilt Thou, O Lord, me holier keep? The power of sin within me break, Behold me as I troubled weep. Lord, I go dimly, give me light, That I may not unworthy prove; Shield me, O shield with gentle might, In the long patience of Thy love. Purge and repurge me all within, In thought and word, desire and deed; Fain would I final conquest win, Help me, as Thou for me didst bleed.” If the Lord cared for the land given to His people for a possession so much that His eyes were always upon it, “from the beginning of the year, even unto the end of the year,” surely His caretaking eye will always be upon His own inheritance and “peculiar treasure,” purchased by the blood of His own Son. Oh, how much this possession needs to “drink the rain from Heaven,” and to be cleansed and purged by the power of His own presence. How often this holy land gets defiled. Observe here— I. A Wonderful Assurance. Concerning the inheritance reserved for them in Canaan they are assured that— 1. IT IS NOT LIKE THE OLD. “The land is not like the land of Egypt, from whence-ye came out” (v. 10). A state of liberty and plenty is never like a state of bondage and poverty. “For ye were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord” (Eph. 5:8, R.V.). Once afar off, but now made nigh by the blood of Christ. 2. IT IS NOT WATERED BY WORKS. “In the land of Egypt thou wateredst it with thy foot. But the land, whither ye go to possess it, drinketh water of the rain of Heaven” (vv. 10, 11). “Watering with the foot” of course has reference to the laborious process of irrigation by which the waters of the Nile were led from place to place, or perhaps the working of a tread mill wheel for lifting up the water from the river into a cistern for watering purposes. It is a terrible task to get our inheritance refreshed while in the house of bondage; but in Christ our possession is continually refreshed by the rain of His Holy Spirit from Heaven. No self-effort is needed to make the “things freely given us of God” spring up in living beauty and reviving power before us and in us. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass. 3. IT IS WATCHED OVER BY THE LORD. “The eyes of the Lord are always upon it, from the beginn ng of the year even unto the end of the year” (v. 12). Even in midwinter, when no sign of life is visible, and when every living thing seems to have gone back to the stillness of death, and when king frost has imprisoned the earth as in iron bands. So also in the spiritual life He hath not forsaken His own, although there be no outward tokens of abundance of fresh life within. “From the beginning of the year unto the end” surely teaches us that in every season of the Christian life His carefulness over us is the same. I am the Lord, I change not (Psa. 33:18). II. A Simple Condition. God’s terms are always easy. “My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” The condition of abiding in His possession and enjoying continual blessing is threefold— 1. HEAR HIM. “Ye shall hearken diligently” (v. 13). Hear, and your soul shall live. “Hearken diligently unto Him, and ye shall eat that which is good, and your soul shall delight itself in fatness” (Isa. 55:2). 2. LOVE HIM. “Ye shall love the Lord thy God” (v. 13). He not only seeks an opened ear, but also an opened heart. As His love for us gives us an entrance into His heart, so our love to Him gives Him an entrance into our hearts. 3. SERVE HIM. “To serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul” (v. 13). All the affections of the heart and all the life and energies of the soul must go into our service if it is not to be perfunctory, fruitless, and hypocritical. III. A Solemn Warning. 1. AGAINST SELF-DECEPTION. “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived” (v. 16). The heart is easily deceived, just because it is naturally deceitful. One of the chief devices of the devil is to make men believe that there is no devil. “Watch ye therefore, lest ye be secretly enticed” (Job 31:27). 2. AGAINST FALSE WORSHIP. “Take heed lest ye turn aside and serve other gods” (v. 16). No image was to be set up in the land (Lev. 26:1). The hearts that become deceived and turn away from God will soon have other gods set up in their own imaginations whom they will secr tly worship. When Jesus Christ is dethroned in the heart some self-made god will take His place. 3. AGAINST LOOSING THE INHERITANCE. “Take heed lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (v. 17). This is a solemn truth. By allowing the heart to deceive us, by setting its affections on other than God Himself, we thereby perish from out of the practical enjoyment of the gifts of God’s grace. The Lord thy God is a jealous God. Thy sin will shut up the dew of Heaven from thee (1 Kings 8:35). The rain referred to in Amos 4:7 is most suggestive of the moving of the Holy Spirit. The attitude of the heart toward God determines where the refreshing power of His presence shall come. Where His reviving Spirit does not come everything is sure to wither, so there is experimentally a perishing from off the good land. Deuteronomy 11:11 "But the land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven, De 8:7-9 Ge 27:28 Ps 65:12,13 104:10-13 Isa 28:1 Jer 2:7 Heb 6:7 Deuteronomy 11 Resources NO NEED FOR IRRIGATION OF CROPS But the land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven - Just as Yahweh had provided manna from Heaven in the desert, here He provides water from Heaven. Love And Light The land which you cross over to possess is a land . . . for which the Lord your God cares. —Deuteronomy. 11:11-12 Today's Scripture & Insight: Deuteronomy 11:8-15 Friends are starting to plan their summer vegetable gardens. Some get an early start by planting seeds indoors where they can control the conditions and provide the best environment for sprouting. After the danger of frost has passed, they will transplant the seedlings outdoors. Once the garden is planted, the work of weeding, feeding, watering, and guarding against rodents and insects begins. Producing food is a lot of work. Moses reminded the Israelites of this before they entered the promised land. While living in Egypt, they had to do the hard work of irrigating crops by hand (Deut. 11:10), but in the place where God was taking them He promised to ease their work by sending spring and autumn rains: “I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains” (v.14 niv). The only condition was that they “faithfully obey the commands” He gave them—“to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul” (v.13 niv). The Lord was taking His people to a place where their obedience and His blessing would make them a light to those around them. Streams in the Desert - ” (Deut. 11:11, 12.) TODAY, dear friends, we stand upon the verge of the unknown. There lies before us the new year and we are going forth to possess it. Who can tell what we shall find? What new experiences, what changes shall come, what new needs shall arise? But here is the cheering, comforting, gladdening message from our Heavenly Father, “The Lord thy God careth for it.” “His eyes are upon it away to the ending of the year.” All our supply is to come from the Lord. Here are springs that shall never dry; here are fountains and streams that shall never be cut off. Here, anxious one, is the gracious pledge of the Heavenly Father. If He be the Source of our mercies they can never fail us. No heat, no drought can parch that river, “the streams whereof make glad the city of God.” The land is a land of hills and valleys. It is not all smooth nor all down hill. If life were all one dead level the dull sameness would oppress us; we want the hills and the valleys. The hills collect the rain for a hundred fruitful valleys. Ah, so it is with us! It is the hill difficulty that drives us to the throne of grace and brings down the shower of blessing; the hills, the bleak hills of life that we wonder at and perhaps grumble at, bring down the showers. How many have perished in the wilderness, buried under its golden sands, who would have lived and thriven in the hill-country; how many would have been killed by the frost, blighted with winds, swept desolate of tree and fruit but for the hill—stern, hard, rugged, so steep to climb. God’s hills are a gracious protection for His people against their foes! We cannot tell what loss and sorrow and trial are doing. Trust only. The Father comes near to take our hand and lead us on our way today. It shall be a good, a blessed new year! He leads us on by paths we did not know; Upward He leads us, though our steps be slow, Though oft we faint and falter on the way, Though storms and darkness oft obscure the day; Yet when the clouds are gone, We known He leads us on. He leads us on through all the unquiet years; Past all our dreamland hopes, and doubts and fears, He guides our steps, through all the tangled maze Of losses, sorrows, and o’erclouded days; We know His will is done; And still He leads us on. —N. L. Zinzendorf. Deuteronomy 11:12 a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year. the eyes: 1Ki 9:3 Ezr 5:5 Ps 33:18 34:15 Jer 24:6 Deuteronomy 11 Resources YAHWEH HELD CONSTANT VIGIL OVER THE PROMISED LAND! a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year - Whether summer or winter, time of sowing or time of harvesting, the omniscient eyes of Yahweh were on the Promised Land from the beginning of the year to the end. The seasons might change, but God remained the save and Israel could rest in and rely on this truth! How encouraging would this truth be to those who have just wandered 38 years in the desert wilderness! God's eyes are everywhere (Pr 15:3) but in this context speak of His special care and special oversight of His treasured possession (Ex 19:5NIV+). See Anthropomorphic Language used of God. THOUGHT - Beloved of the LORD, could we not substitute our name for the word "land" and read the rest as applicable and true in our lives? That's rhetorical! I think we definitely can! If you feel uncared for, put your name in this verse and ask the Spirit to speak to your heart. And then we recall the truth that if God will keep His eyes on the sparrow and his needs (see Mt. 10:29-31). we can rest assured that our Father will keep His eye on His special possession which has been purchased with the priceless blood of the Lamb! Keil writes it was "a land, therefore, which was dependent upon God, and in this dependence upon God peculiarly adapted to Israel, which was to live entirely to its God, and upon His grace alone." (Deuteronomy 11)