For if ye diligently keep all this commandment which I command you [this day] to do it, to love Jehovah your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him,
Moses is speaking to a generation standing at the edge of Canaan, and he ties what lies ahead — victory and the land — to one condition. That condition is not ritual. It is affection: careful obedience, love, a walk in God's ways, and holding fast to Him. Older translations read "cleave unto him", the word the writers below use.
The demand to "be careful to do all this commandment" fits the character of the whole book. One writer treats this as the key to Deuteronomy:
It is not a book of ceremonial; it is a book of moral and affectionate obedience. In almost every section it teaches this priceless lesson: the heart that loves, values and honours the word of God is ready for every act of obedience. It makes no difference whether that act is offering a sacrifice or keeping a day. An Israelite might find himself in a place, or in circumstances, where strict keeping of rites and ceremonies was impossible. But he could never be in a place or in circumstances where he could not love, revere and obey the word of God.
The verse names love before walking and holding fast. One writer asks what could move Israel to keep such laws at all:
What would move them to keep all the laws and statutes set before them? Nothing but faith that works by love. Jehovah is One, unlike the many false gods of the nations around them. If He is the supreme Object of love, obedience is sure to follow. He had shown His love for Israel by all that He had done for them, and that should have drawn out their love for Him.
But there is a problem with commanding love:
It begins with the commandment to love the Lord their God, which of course is the motivating power for keeping God's statutes. Yet, though told many times to love the Lord, Israel did not respond. Love cannot be made into a law, as Israel learned by experience. It must be spontaneous and willing. The New Testament makes this clear: "We love Him because He first loved us."
"Cleave" is not a mild word in Scripture. Scripture takes it from the closest bond people know:
To cleave is the word God used at the very start of human history for the undivided and unchanging affection a man should keep for the wife of his choice (Genesis 2:24). This love is so close and unifying that by cleaving the "two shall become one flesh" (Ephesians 5:31). Cleaving also expresses the loving obedience and worshipping service that should mark the people of God. Six times Moses and Joshua urged the children of Israel to cleave to Jehovah their God.
Cleaving fixes the heart on a Person:
"Cleaving to the Lord" means that the heart and affections must be set on the Person of Christ… Here is a soul captivated by the beauty of its object. It has given itself wholly to Christ, and it finds a power in Him that lifts it above every difficulty and keeps it safe from all danger.
This "if" carries a promise, and its scale is worth noticing:
In a word, sure and certain victory lay before them. Every enemy and obstacle would be completely overthrown, and they would march in triumph into the promised inheritance. All of it was theirs on one blessed ground: loving and reverent obedience to the most precious statutes and judgments God had ever addressed to the human heart. And every one of those statutes and judgments was simply the voice of their most gracious Deliverer.
Yet Israel still had to take the blessing in practice. One writer draws the line from Israel to believers now:
When Israel was about to enter the promised land, Jehovah again called for obedience to the word as the condition of victory (Deuteronomy 11:22-23). To the need for obedience He added the need to take actual possession. And so it is with believers now… The sovereignty of God in blessing His people and their responsibility to obey His word do not clash. By grace God has made every spiritual blessing secure in Christ for all His people; yet every man still reaps what he sows.
Commentators differ on how heavy this condition is. Mackintosh calls the statutes precious. Grant sees demands Israel could never meet:
It was perfectly right of God to ask Israel to fear Him, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him… Yet think about each of these things. Could Israel ever be sure of obeying them? From the very start, God's legal demands on Israel could only fail, because people will never do what God asks of them. So law demands, but the grace of God provides.
- Love first. The verse names love before walking and holding fast: love God, and obedience follows.
- Love cannot be forced. Israel heard the command many times and did not respond; love must be spontaneous, awakened by God loving us first.
- Cleave means bond, not duty. The word is the one used of marriage — undivided, unchanging affection fixed on a Person.
- Cleaving carries the promise. On this ground Moses could promise certain victory and a triumphal entry into the inheritance.
- Then take it. God's grace secures the blessing; obedience and practical possession are how you come to enjoy it.
then will Jehovah dispossess all these nations from before you, and ye shall take possession of nations greater and mightier than yourselves.
Moses has just told Israel what they must do — love God, walk in His ways, hold fast to Him. Here he tells them what God will then do: clear the land of nations stronger than they are. Two questions follow. Whose power wins the land? And what happens to the promise if Israel does not obey?
The "if" of the previous verse governs everything in this one. One writer reads the two together and notes what kind of obedience is being asked for:
In a word, sure and certain victory was before them, a most complete overthrow of all enemies and obstacles, a triumphal march into the promised inheritance. All of it was secured on the blessed ground of affectionate and reverential obedience to the most precious statutes and judgments ever addressed to the human heart. Every one of those statutes and judgments was simply the voice of their most gracious Deliverer.
The nations are described as bigger and stronger than Israel, and the verb is God's: He drives them out. A commentator ties this to the wider boundaries promised and to how much of it Israel actually saw:
Again the promise depends on obedience. The Lord will drive out the nations of Canaan before Israel, though those nations were greater and mightier than Israel (v.23). Wherever their feet trod would become theirs. The bounds mentioned are from the Euphrates River westward to the Mediterranean Sea (v.24). Israel has never yet held all of it, but will in the Millennium. God's power was so great that no man could stand against Israel (v.25), though Israel failed to use this power.
A promise conditioned on obedience can sound as though God's giving depends on human performance. Writing on this passage, one commentator denies the tension while keeping both halves:
When Israel was about to enter the promised possession, the LORD again required obedience to the word as the condition of victory (Deut. 11:22-23). To the need for obedience He added the need to take possession in practice (vv. 24, 25). It is the same with believers now. Obedience to the word and entering spiritual blessings by faith are both needed if we are to have them in experience. There is no clash between God's sovereignty in blessing His people and their responsibility to obey His word.
Two books of the Bible answer this promise, and they do not read alike. One writer sets them side by side:
But alas! there was the human side of the question as well as the divine. Canaan as promised by the LORD and made good by the faith of Joshua was one thing. Canaan as Israel held it was quite another. So we get the vast difference between Joshua and Judges. In Joshua we see the infallible faithfulness of God to His promise; in Judges we see Israel's miserable failure from the very outset. But the book of Judges records a sad fact. Israel failed to drive out the enemy. They failed to take possession of the divine grant in all its royal magnificence.
The promise was not left entirely unproven. During Jehoshaphat's reign in Judah, a commentator sees this very passage worked out:
And the results soon came. The fear of the LORD fell upon the surrounding kingdoms. They were afraid to touch the people who were so blessed. The Philistines brought presents and tribute silver; the Arabians brought huge herds of cattle. It was all a fulfilment of Deut. 11:22-25. Judah had a remarkable increase. Without doubt this chapter presents one of the best scenes in the kingdom of Judah.
Commentators see Canaan's nations as a picture of what stands between believers and their inheritance:
Besides this, the Lord was driving out from before Israel nations greater and mightier than they, to give Israel their proper inheritance. This pictures God's power defeating satanic forces, so that believers might enjoy their inheritance "in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
The parallel is not exact. One writer marks where it breaks down:
Israel's enemies were flesh and blood; ours are not... Israel was asked to drive them out. We are not asked to do this, but to resist the devil.
- Condition. The promise runs on an "if" — love, walking, holding fast — and the obedience asked for is affectionate and reverential.
- Gift. The driving out is God's act. The nations were greater and mightier than Israel, yet no man could stand before them.
- Reach. The grant stretched to the Euphrates. Israel has never yet held all of it, but one commentator says it will in the Millennium.
- Result. Joshua shows the promise made good; Judges shows how much of it went unclaimed. A gift can be complete and still go unclaimed.
- Ours. The same two things hold for believers: obey the word, and take hold of what God gives. Our enemies are not flesh and blood.
Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours; from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the hinder sea shall your border be.
Moses closes the promise of the land with a map — wilderness to Lebanon, Euphrates to the Mediterranean — and with a strange condition: the ground becomes theirs where their feet actually land. The verse holds two things together that we usually keep apart: an inheritance freely given, and an inheritance that must be walked into.
The land named here is far bigger than the strip most people picture:
The present size of Palestine is 150 miles long by 50 wide. That is 7,500 square miles, or about the size of Wales. But the promised land is to be much greater... That means a country 600 miles long by 500 wide, or 300,000 square miles. It is bigger than any European country except Russia. This vast territory will be needed when the millennium comes.
The verse's "western sea" — older translations call it "the uttermost sea" — is the Mediterranean, "the well-known western boundary of the land" (A. J. Pollock).
The whole land was already theirs by grant. Nothing had to be earned; something had to be claimed.
Here was the divine side of the question. The whole land lay before them — its length, its breadth, its fullness. They had only to take it as the free gift of God. They had simply to plant the foot on that fair inheritance which sovereign grace had given them, in the plain faith that claims what God gives.
The gift did not cancel the duty. One writer holds the two together, for Israel and for the Christian:
The promised possession was theirs by divine sovereignty. Their prosperity was conditional on their behaviour. And so it is with the Christian. Some forty years later, when Israel was about to enter the promised land, the Lord again pressed obedience to His word on them as the condition of victory (Deut. 11:22-23). To the need to obey the commandments He added the need for real possession (verses 24, 25)... There is no clash between God's sovereignty in blessing His people and their responsibility to obey His word.
The promise was never withdrawn, but the map was never filled. Commentators read the outcome slightly differently. One sees the pledge honoured in Joshua's day and broken down afterwards by Israel:
Sadly, there was a human side to the question as well as the divine side. Canaan as the Lord promised it, and as Joshua's faith made it good, was one thing. Canaan as Israel held it was quite another. That is the vast difference between Joshua and Judges... The Book of Judges records a sad fact. Israel failed to drive out the enemy. They failed to take possession of the divine grant in all its royal magnificence.
Another explains why these borders fell short of the original promise:
They were going into the land under a legal covenant. They were not brought in (as they yet will be) according to the fullness of divine grace. If they kept His covenant, God would enlarge their borders to the full extent of the original promise. But that depended on something that never happened. The small land men taunt Israel with now does not show what grace has assigned them as their portion. It shows only that they could not make good their title to it. Even the bounds given here, which took in Philistia, Tyre, and all Lebanon, they have never yet held. David's kingdom did reach the Euphrates — a gleam of coming glory — but that gleam quickly passed.
The shortfall is a delay, not a cancellation. Writers look for a day when Israel holds the land in full. They treat it as a matter of God's honesty. To say Israel will never have it "would mean the same as accusing God of breaking His promise and oath-bound covenants" (Arno Clemens Gaebelein).
Writers apply the verse to Christians. What we hold by title and what we enjoy are two different things, and the gap between them is contested ground:
All our blessings are in the heavenly places in Christ. Satan and his angels are not yet driven out, so we have to fight for every bit of ground we hold... So the heavenly places are ours, but how much have we laid hold of?
The test, then, is not how much of the map you can describe:
Are we ready to say, "How little have I covered with the sole of my foot; how small is the area I have really won?"... In the church of God, only a few are "foot"-possessors. Many are geographers. They can map out the varied doctrines of the Bible. Few are travellers, who can describe what this and that blessing is, because they have found its preciousness for themselves.
- Given — the land from the wilderness to the Euphrates was a free grant. Israel's part was to plant the foot on it in faith, not to earn it.
- Walked — a title is not the same as enjoyment. The ground becomes yours where you tread, so obedience and possession go together in verses 22–24.
- Lost — Joshua shows God faithful; Judges shows Israel slack. Commentators differ on how much Israel ever held, but the map was never filled.
- Kept — the shortfall does not cancel the grant. The full borders wait for the millennium; to deny that is to accuse God of breaking His promise.
- Yours — every spiritual blessing is already ours in Christ, but it is contested. Be a traveller in the land, not just a geographer of it.
No man shall be able to stand before you the fear of you and the dread of you will Jehovah your God lay upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.
Moses ends his charge about the land with a promise that sounds absolute: no enemy can stand, because God Himself sends fear ahead of Israel. Two questions follow — where does such power come from, and why did Israel's history fall so far short of it?
Israel did not have to earn the land by conquest. The fighting only put into their hands what God had already given them.
Here was the divine side of the question. The whole land, in its length, breadth and fullness, lay before them; they had only to take possession of it, as the free gift of God. They had only to plant their foot, in simple faith that takes what is offered, on that fine inheritance which sovereign grace had given them.
The nations in Canaan were greater and mightier than Israel. What drove them out was God's power, not Israel's strength — and the same writer notes Israel never used that power fully.
Again, if Israel obeys, the Lord will drive out the nations of Canaan before them, though those nations were greater and mightier than Israel (v.23). Wherever their feet trod would become theirs. The bounds mentioned are from the Euphrates River westward to the Mediterranean Sea (v.24). Israel has never yet held all of this, but will in the Millennium. God's power was so great that no man could stand against Israel (v.25), though Israel failed to use that power.
One writer points out that God asks two things here: keeping His word, and walking onto the ground itself.
About forty years later, when Israel was about to enter the promised land, the Lord again required obedience to His word as the condition of victory (Deut. 11:22-23). To the need for obedience to the commandments He added the need to actually take possession (vv. 24, 25). It is the same for believers now. Obedience to the word, and entering spiritual blessings by faith, are needed if they are to hold them in real experience. There is no clash between God's sovereignty in blessing His people and their responsibility to obey His word. By grace God has made every spiritual blessing secure in Christ for all His people; yet every man still reaps what he sows. The two and a half tribes proved this. They chose to settle short of the land they could have won, and they were the first to go into captivity.
One writer points to a later moment in Israel's history, when the surrounding kingdoms behaved just as this verse said they would.
And the results soon came. The fear of the LORD fell upon the surrounding kingdoms. They were afraid to touch the people who were thus blessed. The Philistines brought presents and tribute silver; the Arabians brought huge herds of cattle. It was all a fulfilment of Deut. 11:22-25.
The gap between what God guaranteed and what Israel enjoyed is written into the shape of two Bible books.
But sadly, there was the human side of the question as well as the divine. Canaan as promised by the Lord and made good by the faith of Joshua was one thing; Canaan as possessed by Israel was quite another. This is the vast difference between Joshua and Judges. In Joshua we see the unfailing faithfulness of God to His promise; in Judges we see Israel's miserable failure from the very start. God pledged His unchanging word that not a man should be able to stand before them. The sword of Joshua — a picture of the great Captain of our salvation — made that pledge good in every detail. But the Book of Judges records a sad fact. Israel failed to drive out the enemy — failed to take the divine gift in all its royal splendour.
One writer applies the same pattern to Christians. The ground is given, but it still has to be fought for.
Now we come to the warfare. All our blessings are in the heavenly places in Christ; and since Satan and his angels are not yet driven out, we have to fight for every bit of ground we hold, as God said to the tribes of Israel: "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours" (Deut. 11:24)… But they had to fight for every inch of it to hold it in practice. So the heavenly places are ours, but how much have we laid hold of?
- Gift. God gave the land before Israel won it. Israel's part was to plant the foot on what grace had already handed them.
- Guarantee. The reason no one could stand was God's power, not Israel's — enemies greater and mightier were still no match.
- Condition. Obedience and actual entry belong together. God's sovereignty in blessing never cancels our responsibility.
- Proof. Later, surrounding kingdoms were afraid to touch a people God had blessed, and brought their gifts instead.
- Gap. Joshua shows God keeping His pledge. Judges shows Israel failing to take the land — and the same gap runs through Christian lives today.