Deuteronomy · chapter 11 of 34
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Deuteronomy 11 closes Moses' great exhortation with a call to love the Lord and keep his commandments. It recalls what Israel saw in Egypt and in the wilderness, describes the promised land as a land watered by rain from heaven and commands parents to teach the law to their children. It ends by setting blessing and curse before the people, to be proclaimed at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.
Deuteronomy chapters 5 to 11 form the heart of Moses' speeches: the Ten Commandments, the Shema and the call to love the Lord with all one's heart. Chapter 11 sums up that section and prepares the list of specific laws that begins in chapter 12. Moses speaks to a new generation, who did not see everything God did in Egypt but did see what he has done in the wilderness.
Moses calls the people to love the Lord their God and always keep his commands. He reminds them that the children present did not see the Lord's discipline, but their own eyes have seen the signs in Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea and what happened in the wilderness, including the earth opening and swallowing Dathan and Abiram.
Then he describes the land they are about to possess. It is not like Egypt, where it was watered with effort, but a land of hills and valleys that drinks rain from heaven and that the Lord cares for from the beginning of the year to its end. If they obey, he will send the rain in its season, and if they turn to other gods, he will shut up the heavens and they will lose the good land.
Moses commands them to put these words in heart and soul, tie them as a sign on the hand, set them between the eyes, teach them to their children and write them on the doorposts of their houses and on their gates. If they keep them, the Lord will drive out the nations and no one will be able to stand against them. The chapter ends by setting before them a blessing and a curse: blessing if they obey and curse if they turn away. When they enter the land, the blessing will be proclaimed on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Moses sums up the call: love the Lord and keep his charge, his decrees and his laws always. In Deuteronomy, love is not a feeling apart from obedience but the loyalty shown in doing what God says.
The land Israel is about to possess is a land the Lord cares for, and his eyes are on it all year. Its fertility depends not on the skill of farmers but on the rain that God sends.
The Lord's words are to be kept in heart and soul, worn as a sign and a reminder, and taught to children at home and on the road. Faith is passed on in the daily routine of a family.
Moses sets a blessing and a curse before Israel. Obeying is the path of blessing; following other gods is the curse. The decision belongs to the people, and neither path is neutral.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Love the Lord their God and always keep his charge, decrees and laws. — Deuteronomy 11:1
Answer: The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and belongings. — Deuteronomy 11:6
Answer: Egypt was watered with effort, while Canaan drinks rain from heaven. — Deuteronomy 11:10-11
Answer: The Lord will shut up the heavens, there will be no rain and the land will not yield its fruit. — Deuteronomy 11:16-17
Answer: In their heart and soul, as a sign on the hand, between the eyes, and on the doorposts and gates of the house. — Deuteronomy 11:18-20
Answer: The blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. — Deuteronomy 11:29
Moses does not leave faith in the head or in the temple but brings it into the home, the road, the table and the doorway. A Christian family can ask what that daily teaching looks like today: conversations about God while walking, prayers before sleep, stories of what the Lord has done. In Sunday school or a small group, encourage parents to be the first teachers of their children's faith.
The chapter also reminds us that memory feeds obedience. Whoever forgets what God has done tends to look for security elsewhere. Telling the story of God's faithfulness in a group is a simple and biblical way of sustaining faith.
Deuteronomy 11 puts a final point on the great speeches about love and obedience and leaves Israel facing the choice between blessing and curse. From chapter 12, Moses begins to spell out the laws by which the people will live in the land, starting with the place to worship the Lord.
Egypt depended on the irrigation of the Nile, and farmers worked to bring the water. Canaan depended on the rain God sent, so the Israelites had to trust him for harvests. The message is that the good land was not their achievement but a gift that depended on God.
They are two mountains near Shechem, in the land of Canaan. There Israel was to proclaim the blessing and the curse solemnly when they entered the land. Joshua carried out this command after the conquest, and Deuteronomy 27 describes the ceremony.
Some interpreters read the command figuratively, as a way of saying that the law should guide actions and thoughts. Over time, part of the people took it literally with phylacteries and mezuzahs. In any case the central idea is that God's word be present in everything.