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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>D E U T E R O N O M Y</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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With this chapter Moses concludes his preface to the repetition of the
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statutes and judgments which they must observe to do. He repeats the
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general charge
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:1">ver. 1</A>),
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and, having in the close of the foregoing chapter begun to mention the
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great things God had done among them, in this,
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I. He specifies several of the great works God had done before their
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eyes,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:2-7">ver. 2-7</A>.
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II. He sets before them, for the future, life and death, the blessing
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and the curse, according as they did, or did not, keep God's
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commandments, that they should certainly prosper if they were obedient,
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should be blessed with plenty of all good things
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:8-15">ver. 8-15</A>),
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and with victory over their enemies, and the enlargement of their coast
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thereby,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:22-25">ver. 22-25</A>.
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But their disobedience would undoubtedly be their ruin,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:16,17">ver. 16, 17</A>.
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III. He directs them what means to use that they might keep in mind
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the law of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:18-21">ver. 18-21</A>.
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And,
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IV. Concludes all with solemnly charging them to choose which they
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would have, the blessing or the curse,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:26-32">ver. 26</A>,
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&c.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="De11_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="De11_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="De11_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="De11_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="De11_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="De11_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="De11_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Persuasives to Obedience.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1451.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Therefore thou shalt love the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God, and keep his
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charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his
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commandments, alway.
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2 And know ye this day: for <I>I speak</I> not with your children
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which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his
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stretched out arm,
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3 And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of
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Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;
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4 And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses,
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and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to
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overflow them as they pursued after you, and <I>how</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath
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destroyed them unto this day;
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5 And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came
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into this place;
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6 And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab,
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the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed
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them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the
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substance that <I>was</I> in their possession, in the midst of all
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Israel:
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7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> which
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he did.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Because <I>God has made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude</I>
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(so the preceding chapter concludes), <I>therefore thou shalt love the
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Lord thy God</I> (so this begins). Those whom God has built up into
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families, whose beginning was small, but whose latter end greatly
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increases, should use that as an argument with themselves why they
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should serve God. Thou shalt <I>keep his charge,</I> that is, the
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oracles of his word and ordinances of his worship, with which they were
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entrusted and for which they were accountable. It is a phrase often
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used concerning the office of the priests and Levites, for all Israel
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was a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. Observe the connection of
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these two: <I>Thou shalt love the Lord</I> and <I>keep his charge,</I>
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since love will work in obedience, and that only is acceptable
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obedience which flows from a principle of love.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:3">1 John v. 3</A>.</P>
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<P>
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Mention is made of the great and terrible works of God which their
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<I>eyes had seen,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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This part of his discourse Moses addresses to the <I>seniors</I> among
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the people, the elders in age; and probably the elders in office were
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so, and were now his immediate auditors: there were some among them
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that could remember their deliverance out of Egypt, all above fifty,
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and to them he speaks this, not to the children, who knew it by hearsay
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only,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Note, God's mercies to us when we were young we should remember and
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retain the impressions of when we are old; what our eyes have seen,
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especially in our early days, has affected us, and should be improved
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by us long after. They had seen what terrible judgments God had
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executed upon the enemies of Israel's peace,
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1. Upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians that enslaved them. What a fine
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country was ruined and laid waste by one plague after another, to force
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Israel's enlargement!
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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What a fine army was entirely drowned in the Red Sea, to prevent
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Israel's being re-enslaved!
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Thus did he give <I>Egypt for their ransom,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:3">Isa. xliii. 3</A>.
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Rather shall that famous kingdom be destroyed than that Israel shall
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not be delivered.
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2. Upon Dathan and Abiram that embroiled them. Remember <I>what he did
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in the wilderness</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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by how many necessary <I>chastisements</I> (as they are called,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>)
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they were kept from ruining themselves, particularly when those daring
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Reubenites defied the authority of Moses and headed a dangerous
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rebellion against God himself, which threatened the ruin of a whole
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nation, and might have ended in that if the divine power had not
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immediately crushed the rebellion by burying the rebels alive, them and
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<I>all that was in their possession,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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What was done against them, though misinterpreted by the disaffected
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party
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:41">Num. xvi. 41</A>),
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was really done in mercy to Israel. To be saved from the mischiefs of
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insurrections at home is as great a kindness to a people, and therefore
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lays them under as strong obligations, as protection from the invasion
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of enemies abroad.</P>
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<A NAME="De11_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="De11_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="De11_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="De11_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="De11_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="De11_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="De11_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="De11_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="De11_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="De11_17"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command
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you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the
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land, whither ye go to possess it;
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9 And that ye may prolong <I>your</I> days in the land, which the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed,
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a land that floweth with milk and honey.
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10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, <I>is</I> not
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as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst
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thy seed, and wateredst <I>it</I> with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:
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11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, <I>is</I> a land of
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hills and valleys, <I>and</I> drinketh water of the rain of heaven:
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12 A land which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God careth for: the eyes of the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God <I>are</I> always upon it, from the beginning of the year
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even unto the end of the year.
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13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently
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unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all
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your soul,
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14 That I will give <I>you</I> the rain of your land in his due
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season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest
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gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
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15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that
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thou mayest eat and be full.
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16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived,
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and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
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17 And <I>then</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>'s wrath be kindled against you, and he
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shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land
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yield not her fruit; and <I>lest</I> ye perish quickly from off the
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good land which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> giveth you.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Still Moses urges the same subject, as loth to conclude till he had
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gained his point. "<I>If thou wilt enter into life,</I> if thou wilt
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enter into Canaan, a type of that life, and find it a good land indeed
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to thee, <I>keep the commandments: Keep all the commandments which I
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command you this day;</I> love God, and serve him with all your
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heart."</P>
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<P>
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I. Because this was the way to get and keep possession of the promised
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land.
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1. It was the way to get possession
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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<I>That you may be strong</I> for war, and so <I>go in and possess
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it.</I> So little did they know either of hardship or hazard in the
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wars of Canaan that he does not say they should go in and fight for it;
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no, they had nothing in effect to do but go in and possess it. He does
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not go about to teach them the art of war, how to draw the bow, and use
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the sword, and keep ranks, that they might be strong, and go in and
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possess the land; no, but let them keep God's commandments, and their
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religion, while they are true to it, will be their strength, and secure
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their success.
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(2.) It was the way to keep possession
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
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<I>That you may prolong your days in this land</I> that your eye is
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upon. Sin tends to the shortening of the days of particular persons and
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to the shortening of the days of a people's prosperity; but obedience
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will be a lengthening out of their tranquillity.</P>
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<P>
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II. Because the land of Canaan, into which they were going, had a more
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sensible dependence upon the blessing of heaven than the land of Egypt
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had,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:10-12"><I>v.</I> 10-12</A>.
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Egypt was a country fruitful enough, but it was all flat, and was
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watered, not as other countries with rain (it is said of Egypt,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+14:18">Zech. xiv. 18</A>,
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that it <I>has no rain</I>), but by the overflowing of the river Nile
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at a certain season of the year, to the improving of which there was
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necessary a great deal of the art and labour of the husbandman, so that
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in Egypt a man must bestow as much cost and pains upon a field as upon
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a garden of herbs. And this made them the more apt to imagine that the
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power of their own hands got them this wealth. But the land of Canaan
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was an uneven country, a land of hills and valleys, which not only gave
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a more pleasing prospect to the eye, but yielded a greater variety of
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soils for the several purposes of the husbandman. It was a land that
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had no great rivers in it, except Jordan, but <I>drank water of the
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rain of heaven,</I> and so,
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1. Saved them a great deal of labour. While the Egyptians were ditching
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and guttering in the fields, up to the knees in mud, to bring water to
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their land, which otherwise would soon become like the heath in the
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wilderness, the Israelites could sit in their houses, warm and easy,
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and leave it to God to water their land with the former and the latter
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rain, which is called <I>the river of God</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:9">Ps. lxv. 9</A>),
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perhaps in allusion to, and contempt of, the river of Egypt, which that
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nation was so proud of. Note, The better God has provided, by our
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outward condition, for our ease and convenience, the more we should
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abound in his service: the less we have to do for our bodies the more
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we should do for God and our souls.
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2. So he directed them to look upwards to God, who <I>giveth us rain
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form heaven and fruitful seasons</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+14:17">Acts xiv. 17</A>),
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and promised to be himself as <I>the dew unto Israel,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:5">Hos. xiv. 5</A>.
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Note,
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(1.) Mercies bring with them the greatest comfort and sweetness when we
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see them coming from heaven, the immediate gifts of divine Providence.
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(2.) The closer dependence we have upon God the more cheerful we should
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be in our obedience to him. See how Moses here magnifies the land of
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Canaan above all other lands, that the <I>eyes of God were always upon
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it,</I> that is, they should be so, to see that nothing was wanting,
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while they kept close to God and duty; its fruitfulness should be not
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so much the happy effect of its soil as the immediate fruit of the
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divine blessing; this may be inferred from its present state, for it is
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said to be at this day, now that God has departed from it, as barren a
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spot of ground as perhaps any under heaven. Call it not <I>Naomi:</I>
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call it <I>Marah.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. Because God would certainly bless them with an abundance of all
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good things if they would love him and serve him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:13-15"><I>v.</I> 13-15</A>):
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<I>I will give you the rain of your land in due season,</I> so that
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they should neither want it when the ground called for it nor have it
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in excess; but they should have the former rain, which fell at
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seed-time, and the latter rain, which fell before the harvest,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:7">Amos iv. 7</A>.
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This represented all the seasonable blessings which God would bestow
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upon them, especially spiritual comforts, which should come <I>as the
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latter and former, rain,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:3">Hos. vi. 3</A>.
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And the earth thus watered produced,
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1. Fruits for the service of man, <I>corn and wine, and oil,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+104:13-15">Ps. civ. 13-15</A>.
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2. Grass for the cattle, that they also might be serviceable to man,
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that <I>he might eat of them and be full,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
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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
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of corn, and wine, and oil will.</P>
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<P>
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IV. Because their revolt from God to idols. would certainly be their
|
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ruin: <I>Take heed that your hearts be not deceived,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>.
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All that forsake God to set their affection upon, or pay their devotion
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to, any creature, will find themselves wretchedly deceived to their own
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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 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.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="De11_18"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="De11_19"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="De11_20"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="De11_21"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="De11_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="De11_23"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="De11_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="De11_25"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God, to walk in
|
|
all his ways, and to cleave unto him;
|
|
23 Then will the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:18-20"><I>v.</I> 18-20</A>),
|
|
|
|
which is much to the same purport with what we had before,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+6:6"><I>ch.</I> vi. 6</A>,
|
|
|
|
&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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+49:16">Isa. xlix. 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
<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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:30">Ps. cxix. 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
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,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:23,24"><I>v.</I> 23, 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
Their territories should be enlarged to the utmost extent of the
|
|
promise,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+15:18">Gen. xv. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
And all their neighbours should stand in awe of them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+14:34">Prov. xiv. 34</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="De11_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="De11_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="De11_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="De11_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="De11_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="De11_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="De11_32"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Blessing and the Curse.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1451.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
|
|
27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your
|
|
God, which I command you this day:
|
|
28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
I. He sums up all his arguments for obedience in two words, <I>the
|
|
blessing and the curse</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:14">Num. xvi. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
But,
|
|
|
|
(2.) If we be disobedient, we may be as sure of a curse,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
<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>
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:29,30"><I>v.</I> 29, 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
We have more particular directions for this solemnity in
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+27:11"><I>ch.</I> xxvii. 11</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c., and an account of the performance of it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+8:33">Josh. viii. 33</A>,
|
|
|
|
&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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+12:6,7">Gen. xii. 6, 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>),
|
|
|
|
for you may be confident <I>you shall pass over Jordan,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+3:12">Exod. iii. 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
<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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>You shall observe to do the statutes and judgements,</I> that you
|
|
may not in that solemnity be witnesses against yourselves."</P>
|
|
|
|
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