5 and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place;
You led your people like a flock, By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
In the daytime he also led them with a cloud, And all night with a light of fire. He split rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers. Yet they still went on to sin against him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert. They tempted God in their heart By asking food according to their desire. Yes, they spoke against God. They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, Streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Will he provide flesh for his people?" Therefore Yahweh heard, and was angry. A fire was kindled against Jacob, Anger also went up against Israel, Because they didn't believe in God, And didn't trust in his salvation. Yet he commanded the skies above, And opened the doors of heaven. He rained down manna on them to eat, And gave them food from the sky. Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full. He caused the east wind to blow in the sky. By his power he guided the south wind. He rained also flesh on them as the dust; Winged birds as the sand of the seas. He let them fall in the midst of their camp, Around their habitations. So they ate, and were well filled. He gave them their own desire. They didn't turn from their cravings. Their food was yet in their mouths, When the anger of God went up against them, Killed some of the fattest of them, And struck down the young men of Israel. For all this they still sinned, And didn't believe in his wondrous works. Therefore he consumed their days in vanity, And their years in terror. When he killed them, then they inquired after him. They returned and sought God earnestly. They remembered that God was their rock, The Most High God their redeemer. But they flattered him with their mouth, And lied to him with their tongue. For their heart was not right with him, Neither were they faithful in his covenant. But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn't destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, And didn't stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes away, and doesn't come again. How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, And grieved him in the desert! They turned again and tempted God, And provoked the Holy One of Israel. They didn't remember his hand, Nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary; How he set his signs in Egypt, His wonders in the field of Zoan, Turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, so that they could not drink. He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; And frogs, which destroyed them. He gave also their increase to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust. He destroyed their vines with hail, Their sycamore-fig trees with frost. He gave over their cattle also to the hail, And their flocks to hot thunderbolts. He threw on them the fierceness of his anger, Wrath, indignation, and trouble, And a band of angels of evil. He made a path for his anger. He didn't spare their soul from death, But gave their life over to the pestilence, And struck all the firstborn in Egypt, The chief of their strength in the tents of Ham. But he led forth his own people like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock. He led them safely, so that they weren't afraid, But the sea overwhelmed their enemies. He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, To this mountain, which his right hand had taken. He also drove out the nations before them, Allotted them for an inheritance by line, And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, And didn't keep his testimonies; But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were turned aside like a deceitful bow. For they provoked him to anger with their high places, And moved him to jealousy with their engraved images. When God heard this, he was angry, And greatly abhorred Israel; So that he forsook the tent of Shiloh, The tent which he placed among men; And delivered his strength into captivity, His glory into the adversary's hand. He also gave his people over to the sword, And was angry with his inheritance. Fire devoured their young men; Their virgins had no wedding song. Their priests fell by the sword, And their widows couldn't weep. Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, Like a mighty man who shouts by reason of wine. He struck his adversaries backward. He put them to a perpetual reproach. Moreover he rejected the tent of Joseph, And didn't choose the tribe of Ephraim, But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved. He built his sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which he has established forever. He also chose David his servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; From following the ewes that have their young, He brought him to be the shepherd of Jacob, his people, And Israel, his inheritance. So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
Then they believed his words. They sang his praise. They soon forgot his works. They didn't wait for his counsel, But gave in to craving in the desert, And tested God in the wasteland. He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul. They envied Moses also in the camp, And Aaron, Yahweh's saint. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, And covered the company of Abiram. A fire was kindled in their company. The flame burned up the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb, And worshiped a molten image. Thus they exchanged their glory For an image of a bull that eats grass. They forgot God, their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt, Wondrous works in the land of Ham, And awesome things by the Red Sea. Therefore he said that he would destroy them, Had Moses, his chosen, not stood before him in the breach, To turn away his wrath, so that he wouldn't destroy them. Yes, they despised the pleasant land. They didn't believe his word, But murmured in their tents, And didn't listen to Yahweh's voice. Therefore he swore to them That he would overthrow them in the wilderness, That he would overthrow their seed among the nations, And scatter them in the lands. They joined themselves also to Baal Peor, And ate the sacrifices of the dead. Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds. The plague broke in on them. Then Phinehas stood up, and executed judgment, So the plague was stopped. That was credited to him for righteousness, For all generations to come. They angered him also at the waters of Meribah, So that Moses was troubled for their sakes; Because they were rebellious against his spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips. They didn't destroy the peoples, As Yahweh commanded them, But mixed themselves with the nations, And learned their works. They served their idols, Which became a snare to them. Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood, Even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their works, And prostituted themselves in their deeds. Therefore Yahweh burned with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance. He gave them into the hand of the nations. Those who hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them. They were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times he delivered them, But they were rebellious in their counsel, And were brought low in their iniquity. Nevertheless he regarded their distress, When he heard their cry. He remembered for them his covenant, And repented according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses. He made them also to be pitied By all those who carried them captive. Save us, Yahweh, our God, Gather us from among the nations, To give thanks to your holy name, To triumph in your praise! Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting! Let all the people say, "Amen." Praise Yah!
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Deuteronomy 11
Commentary on Deuteronomy 11 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 11
De 11:1-32. An Exhortation to Obedience.
1. Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge—The reason for the frequent repetition of the same or similar counsels is to be traced to the infantine character and state of the church, which required line upon line and precept upon precept. Besides, the Israelites were a headstrong and perverse people, impatient of control, prone to rebellion, and, from their long stay in Egypt, so violently addicted to idolatry, that they ran imminent risk of being seduced by the religion of the country to which they were going, which, in its characteristic features, bore a strong resemblance to that of the country they had left.
2-9. I speak not with your children which have not known … But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did—Moses is here giving a brief summary of the marvels and miracles of awful judgment which God had wrought in effecting their release from the tyranny of Pharaoh, as well as those which had taken place in the wilderness. He knew that he might dwell upon these, for he was addressing many who had been witnesses of those appalling incidents. For it will be remembered that the divine threatening that they should die in the wilderness, and its execution, extended only to males from twenty years and upward, who were able to go forth to war. No males under twenty years of age, no females, and none of the tribe of Levi, were objects of the denunciation (see Nu 14:28-30; 16:49). There might, therefore, have been many thousands of the Israelites at that time of whom Moses could say, "Your eyes have seen all the great acts which He did"; and with regard to those the historic review of Moses was well calculated to stir up their minds to the duty and advantages of obedience.
10-12. For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out—The physical features of Palestine present a striking contrast to those of the land of bondage. A widely extending plain forms the cultivated portion of Egypt, and on the greater part of this low and level country rain never falls. This natural want is supplied by the annual overflow of the Nile, and by artificial means from the same source when the river has receded within its customary channel. Close by the bank the process of irrigation is very simple. The cultivator opens a small sluice on the edge of the square bed in which seed has been sown, making drill after drill; and when a sufficient quantity of water has poured in, he shuts it up with his foot. Where the bank is high, the water is drawn up by hydraulic engines, of which there are three kinds used, of different power, according to the subsidence of the stream. The water is distributed in small channels or earthen conduits, simple in construction, worked by the foot, and formed with a mattock by the gardener who directs their course, and which are banked up or opened, as occasion may require, by pressing in the soil with the foot. Thus was the land watered in which the Israelites had dwelt so long. Such vigilance and laborious industry would not be needed in the promised land. Instead of being visited with moisture only at one brief season and left during the rest of the year under a withering blight, every season it would enjoy the benign influences of a genial climate. The hills would attract the frequent clouds, and in the refreshing showers the blessing of God would especially rest upon the land.
12. A land which the Lord thy God careth for—that is, watering it, as it were, with His own hands, without human aid or mechanical means.
14. the first rain and the latter rain—The early rain commenced in autumn, that is, chiefly during the months of September and October, while the latter rain fell in the spring of the year, that is, during the months of March and April. It is true that occasional showers fell all the winter; but, at the autumnal and vernal seasons, they were more frequent, copious, and important; for the early rain was necessary, after a hot and protracted summer, to prepare the soil for receiving the seed; and the latter rain, which shortly preceded the harvest, was of the greatest use in invigorating the languishing powers of vegetation (Jer 5:24; Joe 2:23; Am 4:7; Jas 5:7).
15-17. I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle—Undoubtedly the special blessing of the former and the latter rain [De 11:14] was one principal cause of the extraordinary fertility of Canaan in ancient times. That blessing was promised to the Israelites as a temporal reward for their fidelity to the national covenant [De 11:13]. It was threatened to be withdrawn on their disobedience or apostasy; and most signally is the execution of that threatening seen in the present sterility of Palestine. MR. LowthIAN, an English farmer, who was struck during his journey from Joppa to Jerusalem by not seeing a blade of grass, where even in the poorest localities of Britain some wild vegetation is found, directed his attention particularly to the subject, and pursued the inquiry during a month's residence in Jerusalem, where he learned that a miserably small quantity of milk is daily sold to the inhabitants at a dear rate, and that chiefly asses' milk. "Most clearly," says he, "did I perceive that the barrenness of large portions of the country was owing to the cessation of the early and latter rain, and that the absence of grass and flowers made it no longer the land (De 11:9) flowing with milk and honey."
18-25. lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them—(See on De 6:1).
24. Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours—not as if the Jews should be lords of the world, but of every place within the promised land. It should be granted to them and possessed by them, on conditions of obedience:
from the wilderness—the Arabah on the south;
Lebanon—the northern limit;
Euphrates—their boundary on the east. Their grant of dominion extended so far, and the right was fulfilled to Solomon.
even unto the uttermost sea—the Mediterranean.
26-32. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse—(See on De 27:11).