Today, we will continue reading the words Moses spoke to Israel on the east bank of the Jordan River. Israel was about to cross the river into the Promised Land. Moses spoke highly of the Promised Land, stating that it was fertile and well-watered. However, he warned Israel that if they did not obey Yahweh, then it would become arid. Today, it is an arid land. The method Yahweh used to make it arid helps us understand how Yahweh works in the world today.
At the end of yesterday’s reading, Moses was reminding Israel that the men who were listening to him were eyewitnesses of Yahweh’s might. Many of them had seen the plagues that were inflicted upon Egypt. Most of them had consumed food and water that Yahweh miraculously provided in the wilderness. Very recently, Yahweh had given them victory over the Amorites on the east side of the Jordan River.
Deut. 11:8 ¶ “You shall therefore keep every commandment which I am commanding you today, so that you may be strong and go in and possess the land into which you are about to cross to possess it;
Take note of the word “therefore”. Since Yahweh had provided for them, they were obligated to obey Yahweh’s commandments.
Look at the words “so that”. If Israel obeyed, then they would possess the land of Canaan.
Deut. 11:9 so that you may prolong your days on the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give to them and to their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey.
Once again we see the words “so that”. Obeying Yahweh would prolong their days on the land.
Deut. 11:10 For the land, into which you are entering to possess it, is not like the land of Egypt from which you came out, where you used to sow your seed and water it with your foot like a vegetable garden.
Don’t miss the word “not”. The Promised Land was not like Egypt. In Egypt, Israel had to irrigate the land in order to grow food.
Deut. 11:11 But the land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven,
In contrast, Israel was entering the Promised Land, a land that was watered by rain.
If you have been to Israel, you know that today Israel is very arid. They do a lot of irrigating today. This does not mean the Bible is wrong. Instead, it shows that the land of Israel has changed over the centuries. There are few forests in Israel today; whereas, when Israel entered Canaan, there were many forests (see Joshua 17:18 and 2 Samuel 18:8).
Deut. 11:12 a land for which Yahweh your God cares; the eyes of Yahweh your God are always on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year.
Deut. 11:13 ¶ “And it will be that, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love Yahweh your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul,
Notice the word “if”. If Israel obeyed Yahweh, then Yahweh would do what is listed in verse 14.
Deut. 11:14 that I, Yahweh, will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rains, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil.
The land of Israel would continue to be a fertile, well-watered land if Israel obeyed Yahweh.
Deut. 11:15 And I will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.
Deut. 11:16 Beware lest your hearts be deceived, and you turn away and serve other gods and worship them,
Deut. 11:17 and the anger of Yahweh will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land which Yahweh is giving you.
If Israel did not obey, then the land would become arid. As we know from the rest of Scripture, Israel was very rebellious. If you have been to Israel, you know that today the land of Israel is arid.
Modern Israelis blame the aridity on the lack of forests. There is truth to that. Forests cause rainfall; therefore, the lack of forests causes aridity. However, that does not mean Yahweh did not cause the aridity. Instead, Yahweh used natural means, the destruction of the forests, to turn the Promised Land into an arid land.
Deut. 11:18 ¶ “You shall therefore place these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as phylacteries between your eyes.
Deut. 11:19 And you shall teach them to your sons, speaking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.
Deut. 11:20 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,
Deut. 11:21 so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens remain above the earth.
Deut. 11:22 For if you are careful to keep this entire commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cling to Him,
Deut. 11:23 then Yahweh will dispossess all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you.
Deut. 11:24 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours; your border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as the western sea.
Deut. 11:25 No man will be able to stand before you; Yahweh your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you on all the land on which you set foot, as He has spoken to you.
Just as it is possible to explain the aridity of the land of Israel on natural forces, and ignore God’s role in that change, so too many people through history have tried to downplay God’s power by explaining miracles using natural means. The Bible tells us Israel crossed the Red Sea and the Jordan River on dry land. Bible skeptics either deny those events or claim that weather events just happened to occur at the right time in order to create the dry ground.
Even if many miracles were the result of natural weather events, that does not eliminate the miraculous nature of the miracles. The natural events still happened at the exact moment God said they would happen. The fact that Yahweh used natural forces to create dry ground does not negate the fact that Yahweh directed the natural forces to do His bidding.
This means that today, when natural catastrophes happen, it may be God orchestrating the weather event to achieve His goals. Just because we can explain all the atmospheric conditions that led to the weather event does not mean that God is not the One controlling the atmospheric conditions in order to create the weather event. Yahweh may be more actively involved in human affairs than we realize.
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”