mh_parser/vol_split/5 - Deuteronomy/Chapter 11.xml

<div2 id="Deu.xii" n="xii" next="Deu.xiii" prev="Deu.xi" progress="86.59%" title="Chapter XI">
<h2 id="Deu.xii-p0.1">D E U T E R O N O M Y</h2>
<h3 id="Deu.xii-p0.2">CHAP. XI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Deu.xii-p1">With this chapter Moses concludes his preface to
the repetition of the statutes and judgments which they must
observe to do. He repeats the general charge (<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.1" parsed="|Deut|11|1|0|0" passage="De 11:1">ver. 1</scripRef>), and, having in the close of the
foregoing chapter begun to mention the great things God had done
among them, in this, I. He specifies several of the great works God
had done before their eyes, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.2-Deut.11.7" parsed="|Deut|11|2|11|7" passage="De 11:2-7">ver.
2-7</scripRef>. II. He sets before them, for the future, life and
death, the blessing and the curse, according as they did, or did
not, keep God's commandments, that they should certainly prosper if
they were obedient, should be blessed with plenty of all good
things (<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.8-Deut.11.15" parsed="|Deut|11|8|11|15" passage="De 11:8-15">ver. 8-15</scripRef>), and
with victory over their enemies, and the enlargement of their coast
thereby, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.22-Deut.11.25" parsed="|Deut|11|22|11|25" passage="De 11:22-25">ver. 22-25</scripRef>. But
their disobedience would undoubtedly be their ruin, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.16-Deut.11.17" parsed="|Deut|11|16|11|17" passage="De 11:16,17">ver. 16, 17</scripRef>. III. He directs them
what means to use that they might keep in mind the law of God,
<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.18-Deut.11.21" parsed="|Deut|11|18|11|21" passage="De 11:18-21">ver. 18-21</scripRef>. And, IV.
Concludes all with solemnly charging them to choose which they
would have, the blessing or the curse, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.26-Deut.11.32" parsed="|Deut|11|26|11|32" passage="De 11:26-32">ver. 26</scripRef>, &amp;c.</p>
<scripCom id="Deu.xii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11" parsed="|Deut|11|0|0|0" passage="De 11" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Deu.xii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.1-Deut.11.7" parsed="|Deut|11|1|11|7" passage="De 11:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.11.1-Deut.11.7">
<h4 id="Deu.xii-p1.10">Persuasives to Obedience. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p1.11">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.xii-p2">1 Therefore thou shalt love the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p2.1">Lord</span> thy God, and keep his charge, and his
statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.   2
And know ye this day: for <i>I speak</i> not with your children
which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p2.2">Lord</span> 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;   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 <i>how</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p2.3">Lord</span> 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 <i>was</i> in their possession, in the midst of
all Israel:   7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p2.4">Lord</span> which he did.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xii-p3">Because <i>God has made thee as the stars
of heaven for multitude</i> (so the preceding chapter concludes),
<i>therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God</i> (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
<i>keep his charge,</i> 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:
<i>Thou shalt love the Lord</i> and <i>keep his charge,</i> since
love will work in obedience, and that only is acceptable obedience
which flows from a principle of love. <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:1John.5.3" parsed="|1John|5|3|0|0" passage="1Jo 5:3">1
John v. 3</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xii-p4">Mention is made of the great and terrible
works of God which their <i>eyes had seen,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.7" parsed="|Deut|11|7|0|0" passage="De 11:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. This part of his discourse Moses
addresses to the <i>seniors</i> 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,
<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.2" parsed="|Deut|11|2|0|0" passage="De 11:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. 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! <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.3" parsed="|Deut|11|3|0|0" passage="De 11:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>.
What a fine army was entirely drowned in the Red Sea, to prevent
Israel's being re-enslaved! <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.4" parsed="|Deut|11|4|0|0" passage="De 11:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. Thus did he give <i>Egypt for their ransom,</i>
<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.43.3" parsed="|Isa|43|3|0|0" passage="Isa 43:3">Isa. xliii. 3</scripRef>. Rather shall
that famous kingdom be destroyed than that Israel shall not be
delivered. 2. Upon Dathan and Abiram that embroiled them. Remember
<i>what he did in the wilderness</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.5" parsed="|Deut|11|5|0|0" passage="De 11:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), by how many necessary
<i>chastisements</i> (as they are called, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.2" parsed="|Deut|11|2|0|0" passage="De 11:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>) 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 <i>all that was
in their possession,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p4.8" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.6" parsed="|Deut|11|6|0|0" passage="De 11:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>. What was done against them, though misinterpreted by
the disaffected party (<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p4.9" osisRef="Bible:Num.16.41" parsed="|Num|16|41|0|0" passage="Nu 16:41">Num. xvi.
41</scripRef>), 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.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Deu.xii-p4.10" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.8-Deut.11.17" parsed="|Deut|11|8|11|17" passage="De 11:8-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.11.8-Deut.11.17">
<p class="passage" id="Deu.xii-p5">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 <i>your</i> days in the land, which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p5.1">Lord</span> sware unto your fathers to give unto them
and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.  
10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, <i>is</i> not
as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst
thy seed, and wateredst <i>it</i> with thy foot, as a garden of
herbs:   11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it,
<i>is</i> a land of hills and valleys, <i>and</i> drinketh water of
the rain of heaven:   12 A land which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p5.2">Lord</span> thy God careth for: the eyes of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p5.3">Lord</span> thy God <i>are</i> always upon it,
from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
  13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently
unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p5.4">Lord</span> your God, and to serve him with
all your heart and with all your soul,   14 That I will give
<i>you</i> 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.   15 And I will send grass in thy fields
for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.   16 Take
heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn
aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;   17 And
<i>then</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p5.5">Lord</span>'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 <i>lest</i> ye
perish quickly from off the good land which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p5.6">Lord</span> giveth you.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xii-p6">Still Moses urges the same subject, as loth
to conclude till he had gained his point. "<i>If thou wilt enter
into life,</i> if thou wilt enter into Canaan, a type of that life,
and find it a good land indeed to thee, <i>keep the commandments:
Keep all the commandments which I command you this day;</i> love
God, and serve him with all your heart."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xii-p7">I. Because this was the way to get and keep
possession of the promised land. 1. It was the way to get
possession (<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.8" parsed="|Deut|11|8|0|0" passage="De 11:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>):
<i>That you may be strong</i> for war, and so <i>go in and possess
it.</i> 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 (<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.9" parsed="|Deut|11|9|0|0" passage="De 11:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>): <i>That you may prolong your days in this land</i>
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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xii-p8">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, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.10-Deut.11.12" parsed="|Deut|11|10|11|12" passage="De 11:10-12"><i>v.</i> 10-12</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.14.18" parsed="|Zech|14|18|0|0" passage="Zec 14:18">Zech. xiv. 18</scripRef>, that it <i>has no rain</i>),
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 <i>drank water
of the rain of heaven,</i> 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 <i>the river of God</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.65.9" parsed="|Ps|65|9|0|0" passage="Ps 65:9">Ps. lxv. 9</scripRef>), 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
<i>giveth us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.14.17" parsed="|Acts|14|17|0|0" passage="Ac 14:17">Acts xiv. 17</scripRef>), and promised to be
himself as <i>the dew unto Israel,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.5" parsed="|Hos|14|5|0|0" passage="Ho 14:5">Hos. xiv. 5</scripRef>. 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 <i>eyes of God were always
upon it,</i> 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 <i>Naomi:</i> call it <i>Marah.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xii-p9">III. Because God would certainly bless them
with an abundance of all good things if they would love him and
serve him (<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.13-Deut.11.15" parsed="|Deut|11|13|11|15" passage="De 11:13-15"><i>v.</i>
13-15</scripRef>): <i>I will give you the rain of your land in due
season,</i> 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, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Amos.4.7" parsed="|Amos|4|7|0|0" passage="Am 4:7">Amos iv.
7</scripRef>. This represented all the seasonable blessings which
God would bestow upon them, especially spiritual comforts, which
should come <i>as the latter and former, rain,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.3" parsed="|Hos|6|3|0|0" passage="Ho 6:3">Hos. vi. 3</scripRef>. And the earth thus watered
produced, 1. Fruits for the service of man, <i>corn and wine, and
oil,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.13-Ps.104.15" parsed="|Ps|104|13|104|15" passage="Ps 104:13-15">Ps. civ.
13-15</scripRef>. 2. Grass for the cattle, that they also might be
serviceable to man, that <i>he might eat of them and be full,</i>
<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.15" parsed="|Deut|11|15|0|0" passage="De 11:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. Godliness
hath here the <i>promise of the life that now is;</i> but the
favour of God shall put gladness into the heart, more than the
increase of corn, and wine, and oil will.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xii-p10">IV. Because their revolt from God to idols.
would certainly be their ruin: <i>Take heed that your hearts be not
deceived,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.16-Deut.11.17" parsed="|Deut|11|16|11|17" passage="De 11:16,17"><i>v.</i> 16,
17</scripRef>. 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 <i>turn aside to other gods,</i> 1.
They would provoke the wrath of God against them; and <i>who knows
the power of that anger?</i> 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 from 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.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Deu.xii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11" parsed="|Deut|11|0|0|0" passage="De 11" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Deu.xii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.18-Deut.11.25" parsed="|Deut|11|18|11|25" passage="De 11:18-25" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.11.18-Deut.11.25">
<p class="passage" id="Deu.xii-p11">18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in
your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your
hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.   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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p11.1">Lord</span> sware
unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the
earth.   22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these
commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p11.2">Lord</span> your God, to walk in all his ways,
and to cleave unto him;   23 Then will the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p11.3">Lord</span> 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 and Lebanon, from
the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall
your coast be.   25 There shall no man be able to stand before
you: <i>for</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p11.4">Lord</span> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xii-p12">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 (<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.18-Deut.11.20" parsed="|Deut|11|18|11|20" passage="De 11:18-20"><i>v.</i> 18-20</scripRef>), which is much to
the same purport with what we had before, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.6.6" parsed="|Deut|6|6|0|0" passage="De 6:6"><i>ch.</i> vi. 6</scripRef>, &amp;c. Let us all be
directed by the three rules here given:—1. Let our hearts be
filled with the word of God: <i>Lay up these words in your heart
and in your soul.</i> 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 <i>upon your hand,</i> which is
always in view (<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.49.16" parsed="|Isa|49|16|0|0" passage="Isa 49:16">Isa. xlix.
16</scripRef>), <i>and as frontlets between your eyes,</i> 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
<i>written upon your door-posts,</i> and could not be overlooked
either when you go out or when you come in." Thus we must <i>lay
God's judgments before us,</i> having a constant regard to them, as
the guide of our way, as the rule of our work, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.30" parsed="|Ps|119|30|0|0" passage="Ps 119:30">Ps. cxix. 30</scripRef>. 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xii-p13">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, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.21" parsed="|Deut|11|21|0|0" passage="De 11:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. 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 <i>keep God's commandments,</i> and be careful to do
your duty (<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.22" parsed="|Deut|11|22|0|0" passage="De 11:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>),
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," <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.23-Deut.11.24" parsed="|Deut|11|23|11|24" passage="De 11:23,24"><i>v.</i> 23, 24</scripRef>. Their territories should
be enlarged to the utmost extent of the promise, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.15.18" parsed="|Gen|15|18|0|0" passage="Ge 15:18">Gen. xv. 18</scripRef>. And all their neighbours should
stand in awe of them, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.25" parsed="|Deut|11|25|0|0" passage="De 11:25"><i>v.</i>
25</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p13.6" osisRef="Bible:Prov.14.34" parsed="|Prov|14|34|0|0" passage="Pr 14:34">Prov. xiv.
34</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Deu.xii-p13.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.26-Deut.11.32" parsed="|Deut|11|26|11|32" passage="De 11:26-32" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.11.26-Deut.11.32">
<h4 id="Deu.xii-p13.8">The Blessing and the Curse. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p13.9">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.xii-p14">26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing
and a curse;   27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p14.1">Lord</span> your God, which I command
you this day:   28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the
commandments of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p14.2">Lord</span> 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.   29 And it shall
come to pass, when the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p14.3">Lord</span> 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.   30 <i>Are</i> 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xii-p14.4">Lord</span> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xii-p15">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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xii-p16">I. He sums up all his arguments for
obedience in two words, <i>the blessing and the curse</i>
(<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.26" parsed="|Deut|11|26|0|0" passage="De 11:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>), 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 <i>putting
out the eyes of these men,</i> as he was charged, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.16.14" parsed="|Num|16|14|0|0" passage="Nu 16:14">Num. xvi. 14</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.27" parsed="|Deut|11|27|0|0" passage="De 11:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>. But, (2.) If we be
disobedient, we may be as sure of a curse, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.28" parsed="|Deut|11|28|0|0" passage="De 11:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>. <i>Say you to the righteous</i>
(for God has said it, and all the world cannot unsay it) that <i>it
shall be well with them: but woe to the wicked, it shall be ill
with them.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xii-p17">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, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.29-Deut.11.30" parsed="|Deut|11|29|11|30" passage="De 11:29,30"><i>v.</i> 29, 30</scripRef>. We have more
particular directions for this solemnity in <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.27.11" parsed="|Deut|27|11|0|0" passage="De 27:11"><i>ch.</i> xxvii. 11</scripRef>, &amp;c., and an account
of the performance of it, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:John.8.33" parsed="|John|8|33|0|0" passage="Joh 8:33">Josh. viii.
33</scripRef>, &amp;c. 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
<i>plain,</i> or <i>oaks,</i> or <i>meadows,</i> of <i>Moreh,</i>
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, <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.12.6-Gen.12.7" parsed="|Gen|12|6|12|7" passage="Ge 12:6,7">Gen. xii. 6,
7</scripRef>. 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 (<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.30" parsed="|Deut|11|30|0|0" passage="De 11:30"><i>v.</i>
30</scripRef>), for you may be confident <i>you shall pass over
Jordan,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xii-p17.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.31" parsed="|Deut|11|31|0|0" passage="De 11:31"><i>v.</i> 31</scripRef>.
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 (<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p17.7" osisRef="Bible:Exod.3.12" parsed="|Exod|3|12|0|0" passage="Ex 3:12">Exod. iii. 12</scripRef>): <i>You shall serve God
upon this mountain.</i> 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 (<scripRef id="Deu.xii-p17.8" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.32" parsed="|Deut|11|32|0|0" passage="De 11:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>): "<i>You shall observe
to do the statutes and judgements,</i> that you may not in that
solemnity be witnesses against yourselves."</p>
</div></div2>