The rest of Deuteronomy Chapter 11 just keeps putting more emphasis on loving God and obeying His commandments.
God reminds this present generation who will be allowed to cross over into the promises, that their children have not lived through the miracles which He performed for them in Egypt.
This new generation of children were born after God brought the people out of slavery. Would freedom be as important to them as it is to their parents? Would they be willing to do the things of God in order to keep that freedom?
It is harder to appreciate something that is given to you instead of being earned The generation of adults had earned the right to enter the promises that their parents had missed. Their children received these same promises simply because of their association with them.
Because of this those coming into the land had a huge responsibility to teach those who did not know about God and His ways. Keeping God’s ways and obeying God were the only ways that they would be able to sustain this great new quality of life that was being given to them. If their children did not learn these things; Israel could be wiped out as a nation after only one generation.
That would be so tragic.
They should worship no other gods; and the parents were instructed to carefully teach them.
Promises are made at the end of Chapter 10 for those who observe and obey God’s commands. We can read them here:
Deuteronomy 10: 24-25: “If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow – to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast to him – then the Lord will drive out all the nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you. Every place where you set your foot will be yours. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea. No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.
So many blessings were being promised to those who followed God!
But what if they failed to do so?
There were also curses mentioned We can read about those curses here:
Deuteronomy 10:23-25: See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse – the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known. When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the curses. As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan westward, toward the setting sun near the great trees of Moreh, in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal. You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you have taken it over and are living there, be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.
So we can see; as it is today; that what we do brings blessings and/or curses into our own lives; and even what we teach our children brings blessing and/or curses into our lives. Not only does this effect us individually; but more importantly; it affects the future of our whole nation.
As we chose new leaders for our land today we also stand at a crossroads; will our nation receive blessings or curses from our actions?