God Sends Israel “to school”
August 1, 2020
Commentary
This chapter begins with an emphasis on the mighty acts of God on behalf of His people Israel (vv. 1-2). When they became slaves in Egypt, He cared for them and multiplied them greatly. When Jacob and his family journeyed to Egypt to join Joseph (Gen. 46) there were 70 people and they multiplied to a nation of perhaps 2 million. Israel had many reasons they should believe in God and obey His commands. Moses reminds them of the Red Sea experience (v.v. 3-4). He goes on to talk about what the Lord did for them in the dessert (v. 5) and the rebellion of Korah, even though he only mentions the names of Korah’s followers (v. 6) and not Korah himself.
Moses wanted the people to draw an important conclusion from his brief review of their history (vv. 7-9). Since God had shared Israel’s past experiences, it should have been plain to them that their experiencing the Lord’s grace or judgment depended on their moral behavior. Therefore, they could prosper in the new land only by obeying all of God’s commands. The contrasts between the Promised Land and Egypt included the fact Canaan had far more potential for agriculture. The people in Egypt had to depend on irrigation while God’s people would have rain from heaven (vv. 10-15). God sent Israel “to school” in Egypt so that she might learn to trust in Him and not in her own strength. After that he sent Israel “to school” in the desert for 40 years where they had to depend totally on Him for all their needs. Moses exhorted the people to learn from their past.
Application
The lessons from the past, the instructions for the present and the glimpses into the future give me many opportunities to strengthen my faith in God.
Deuteronomy 11:1– 15 (NET)
1 You must love the Lord your God and do what he requires; keep his statutes, ordinances, and commandments at all times. 2 Bear in mind today that I am not speaking to your children who have not personally experienced the judgments of the Lord your God, which revealed his greatness, strength, and power. 3 They did not see the awesome deeds he performed in the midst of Egypt against Pharaoh king of Egypt and his whole land, 4 or what he did to the army of Egypt, including their horses and chariots, when he made the waters of the Red Sea overwhelm them while they were pursuing you and he annihilated them. 5 They did not see what he did to you in the wilderness before you reached this place, 6 or what he did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth in the middle of the Israelite camp and swallowed them, their families, their tents, and all the property they brought with them. 7 I am speaking to you because you are the ones who saw with your own eyes all the great deeds of the Lord.
8 Now pay attention to all the commandments I am giving you today, so that you may be strong enough to enter and possess the land where you are headed, 9 and that you may enjoy long life in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land where you are headed is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, a land where you planted seed and which you irrigated by hand like a vegetable garden. 11 Instead, the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy is one of hills and valleys, a land that drinks in water from the rains, 12 a land the Lord your God looks after. He is constantly attentive to it from the beginning to the end of the year. 13 Now, if you pay close attention to my commandments that I am giving you today and love the Lord your God and serve him with all your mind and being, 14 then he promises, “I will send rain for your land in its season, the autumn and the spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil. 15 I will provide pasture for your livestock and you will eat your fill.”
Illustration: A Dog That Gives His Life in Obedience to His Master
Archibald Rutledge wrote that one day he met a man who worked out-of-doors and he often took his dog with him. That morning, he left the dog in a clearing and gave him a command to stay and watch his lunch bucket while he went into the forest. His faithful friend understood, for that’s exactly what he did. Then a fire started in the woods, and soon the blaze spread to the spot where the dog had been left. But he didn’t move. He stayed right where he was, in perfect obedience to his master’s word. With tearful eyes, the dog’s owner said, “I always had to be careful what I told him to do, because I knew he would do it.” (Our Daily Bread).