Deuteronomy 11:16-32 NKJV
16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, 17 lest the Lord’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.
18 “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 20 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.
22 “For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do—to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him— 23 then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves. 24 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea, shall be your territory. 25 No man shall be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you.
26 “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; 28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known. 29 Now it shall be, when the Lord your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30 Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, toward the setting sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the plain opposite Gilgal, beside the terebinth trees of Moreh? 31 For you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and you will possess it and dwell in it. 32 And you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today.
This week’s readings from Deuteronomy have repeatedly recounted words from God to His people both warning them not to be unfaithful and promising unfathomable blessings if they obey. They were promised amazing victories over nations stronger, bigger, and mightier than they, good crops and land that would produce abundantly for them, timely rains, healthy livestock and more. It would all be theirs for as long as they kept the First Commandment, trusted God, and focused on Him… but it would all go away if they didn’t.
In vv. 18-20 God’s people were instructed almost literally to make God’s Word part of their very cell structure by constantly meditating on and talking about it. And they were to teach – catechize – their children daily and even throughout each day, “so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them…”
Here you are reminded of other portions of Holy Scripture that say similar things – verses and words that give hope, strength, and comfort – all based on God’s promises to His people. Ps 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Mt 28:20 – …teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Heb 13:5 – “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Dear saint, your good and gracious God always keeps His Word and promises. He never fails. He knows what is best for you even as He knew what was best for the Israelites through their existence and patiently taught them and welcomed them back into the fold whenever they strayed. That strength and comfort are also yours, and you can be certain of it because God the Father gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, into death to pay for all your sins and give you the certainty of everlasting life with Him through God-given faith. Receive His Word and sacramental gifts regularly which keep you in the one true faith.
Let us pray: Thank You, Jesus, for everything. Amen.