And it shall be, when Jehovah thy God bringeth thee into the land which he swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and good cities which thou buildedst not,
Moses speaks to a people still outside the land. He tells them what they will walk into: a country already built, stocked and planted, theirs only because God swore an oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The verse traces all of it back to a promise.
God gave them the land and everything in it because of His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Cities built and houses furnished, flowing wells, fruitful vineyards and olive groves — all ready for them. It was the free gift of sovereign grace and covenant mercy. All they had to do was take possession, in simple faith, and always keep the generous Giver of it all in their hearts.
A promise like that has no conditions attached to it.
When "the God of glory appeared to Abraham" in Ur of the Chaldeans, He certainly did not speak to him in words like "you shall do this" and "you shall not do that." No, such language was not according to the heart of God. His word to Abraham was, "I WILL GIVE." The land of Canaan was not to be bought by man's doings, but given by God's grace. Clearly He had not promised the land to Abraham's descendants because of anything He foresaw in them. That would have destroyed the real nature of a promise. It would have made it a bargain and not a promise.
The nations God was driving out had done all the work.
God was graciously bringing Israel to a land of beauty and prosperity. Israel is told to keep in mind that they did not develop this land. The people living there before them, whom God was driving out, had already prepared it. Houses, wells, vineyards and olive orchards were there for them to own and enjoy.
God says the same once they are living in the land. The point reaches past Canaan.
"I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them." We too are seated in the heavenly places in Christ. We are eating from trees we did not plant and enjoying the fruits of His grace, and we gladly acknowledge that everything is from God. Every spiritual blessing, and the appetite to enjoy it as well, is from Him.
Israel had to cross into the land before any of it fed them.
It is the same with the fruits of the land we are now called to enter. Rich enjoyment, wonderful experiences, precious realisations belong to us there. But faith must come first and bring us into the only place where they can be ours. They cannot bring us in: we must have entered in by faith to have them.
The warning that follows is not against poverty but against plenty.
But sadly, then as now and now as then, the very fullness of the blessing enjoyed might cause forgetfulness of the gracious hand it came from. "Fullness of bread" had long ago been the destruction of Sodom. Trial and need wake a man up to his need of God. When he lacks nothing, he can easily lose the sense that he still depends on God.
What keeps a full heart safe is obedience.
Israel was not yet in the land. They are urged not to forget the source of all their blessing when they get there, and their only safeguard would be obedience to God's commandments, judgments and statutes. Otherwise the very wealth of their blessings would lead them to pride of heart, and to forgetfulness of the Lord God their Redeemer. They would credit their prosperity to their own power and to the might of their own hand, and so bring themselves under the sure judgment of God. Nothing so proves the perversity of our hearts as the tendency to use the blessings God so graciously gives us as a means of self-exaltation.
The three names in the verse mark this blessing as an earthly one.
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was linked with earthly blessing. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is linked with heavenly blessings. There is an implied contrast with the promise here, which was spoken to a people about to enter the land.
- Sworn — The land rests on an oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; God's word was "I will give," not a bargain struck with Israel.
- Given — Cities, houses, wells and orchards stood ready before Israel arrived. Israel earned none of them.
- Entered — You take a ready-made inheritance by faith. The blessings cannot bring you in; faith brings you in to the blessings.
- Forgotten — Need keeps us aware that we depend on God. Plenty dulls that sense and turns His gifts into reasons for self-praise.
- Remembered — Israel's one task was to take the gift in faith and keep the Giver in mind, and obedience was their safeguard.
and houses full of everything good which thou filledst not, and wells digged which thou diggedst not, vineyards and oliveyards which thou plantedst not, and thou shalt have eaten and shalt be full;
Moses describes the land before Israel has set foot in it. A whole country stands ready: cities, houses, cisterns and orchards, none of them built by the people who will own them. So the verse raises a sharp question. What does such unearned abundance do to a heart?
Every item on the list carries the same note: Israel did not make it. One writer traces the whole inheritance back to a promise rather than to work:
In the middle of all the blessing, the mercy and the privileges of the land of Canaan, they were to remember the gracious and faithful One who had redeemed them out of the land of slavery. They were to remember, too, that all these things were His free gift. He gave them the land, with everything in it, because of His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Cities were built, houses furnished, wells flowing, vineyards and olive groves fruitful — all ready for them, the free gift of sovereign grace and covenant mercy. All they had to do was take possession, in simple faith. Every city, every house, every well, every vine, olive and fig tree spoke to their hearts of the Lord's abounding grace, and was solid proof that He never fails to keep His promise.
after-note: DELETE-NOTHING
One writer marks the point in Israel's history where these words came true:
"And the land had rest from war" is the closing statement of the previous chapter. It came after Joshua had made war a long time with all those kings (11:18). Deuteronomy 6:10-11 was also fulfilled.
A full house carries its own risk. One writer shows where it lies:
When blessed with all this abundance, Israel ought to be truly thankful to the Lord. They were to remember that they depended completely on His great goodness (v.10). But there would be a danger of forgetting the Lord because they were prospering. Material things might take such a hold that they would forget God's goodness and God's commandments (v.11).
Forgetting does not announce itself. It shows up as a quiet shift of credit:
Otherwise the very wealth of their blessings would lead them into pride of heart. They would forget the Lord God their Redeemer. Along with this, they would credit their prosperity to their own power and to the might of their own hand. So they would bring themselves under the sure judgment of God. Nothing proves how twisted our hearts are like this: we take the blessings God so freely gives us and use them to make much of ourselves.
The danger is not in having riches. It is in trusting them, and letting them take the place of God Himself:
To trust in prosperity, in earthly riches, is a danger for most if not all believers. It was so in days of old, when success in material things was a mark of God's favour. How much greater the folly of trusting them now! God has shown us that our true riches are heavenly, not material. And to boast of spiritual gifts and achievements, as if we had gained them by our own skill, offends the Lord even more. He alone gives, as it pleases Him. It is to put God's blessings and favours in the place of God Himself.
One writer sets God's words about that gift beside what believers now receive:
"I gave you a land on which you had not laboured, and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant." We too are seated in the heavenly places in Christ. We eat from trees we did not plant and enjoy the fruits of His grace. So we are glad to own that it all comes from God. Every spiritual blessing, and the appetite to enjoy it, is from Him.
Yet Israel still had to enter that ready-made land. The order matters:
And so it is with the fruits of the land we are now called to enter. Rich enjoyment, wonderful experiences, precious things made real belong to us there. But faith must come first and bring us in. Only there can they be ours. They cannot bring us in. We must have entered by faith to have them.
- Given — cities, houses, wells and orchards stood ready. God had promised them to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel's only task was to take possession in faith.
- Filled — God kept the promise. After Joshua's long war the land had rest, and Deuteronomy 6:10-11 came true.
- Full — the abundance is itself the risk. Possessions can fill the heart until God's goodness and His commandments drop out of sight.
- Forgetting — we credit our own power, and turn God's gifts into reasons to praise ourselves.
- Faith first — the blessings cannot carry us in. Faith brings us in. Then we own every fruit we taste as His, and keep the Giver above His gifts.
[then] beware lest thou forget Jehovah who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Israel is about to live in houses they did not build and drink from wells they did not dig. Moses hangs a warning over that comfort: the danger is not enemy armies but forgetting the God who brought them out of slavery, just when His gifts are richest.
The cities, wells and vineyards named just before this warning came ready-made. Israel had to remember who gave them.
All they had to do was take possession, in simple faith. They were to keep the bountiful Giver of it all in the remembrance of their hearts. They were to think of Him, and find in His redeeming love the true motive spring of a life of loving obedience. Every city, every house, every well, every vine, olive and fig tree spoke to their hearts of the Lord's abounding grace. Each one gave solid proof of His unfailing faithfulness to His promise.
The warning is tied to the moment they eat and are full.
But sadly, then as now, the very fullness of the blessing they enjoyed might make them forget the gracious hand it came from. "Fullness of bread" had long ago been the destruction of Sodom. Trial and necessity awaken a man's sense of his need of God. Without want, he may easily lose the sense that he still depends on Him.
The same pull works in us today.
Are we not prone to forget the Lord our God, to rest in His gifts instead of Himself? Sadly, we cannot deny it. We rest in the stream, instead of getting up to the Fountain. We turn the mercies, blessings and benefits scattered so richly along our path into an occasion for self-satisfaction and congratulation. Instead, they should be the blessed ground of continual praise and thanksgiving.
The verse points them back to where they came from: the "house of slavery," which older translations call the "house of bondage." Keeping that memory alive is what makes possession safe.
Deliverance by itself will not be enough for joy. There must also be the conscious possession by faith of our heavenly place in Christ. Yet this can never safely be separated from the deliverance that was needed to bring us into it. Possession without that sense only tends to ruin — such are our poor hearts. The richer the possession, the greater the danger. The soul must keep the sense of how, and from what depths, we have been delivered. The light of the place we have been brought into shines back on what we came out of. That makes the grace which did it more precious to us. It also deepens our knowledge of ourselves, and keeps us humble before God.
Forgetting is rarely announced. It shows up as wanting to look like the people around us.
How great a temptation it is for believers today also, to want to be in some measure like the nations! We see what they do and what they have. In seeing this we let our eyes wander from the Lord, and we feel the pull to imitate ungodly people. But the Lord is a jealous God, jealous of our affections.
Forgetting God never leaves the heart empty. Something else moves in.
When the heart is in this condition, the gods that man's own heart has invented are more attractive than the glorious God who is our Creator, not our creature. So Israel can go after the idols of Canaan — the idols of the nations they had seen driven out before the Lord — turning away from Him who had given them these for a possession.
So what keeps the memory alive? Mackintosh points to a settled sense of who is watching.
Let us seek to live in the consciousness that we are in the immediate presence of God. That will keep us from a thousand forms of evil we meet day by day, and that we are already inclined toward. Remember that the eye of God rests upon us. That thought would shape our life and our words far more than the presence of all the saints on earth and all the angels in heaven.
The verses just before this one give the remedy.
Their danger would be forgetfulness, as the following verses show, and the same danger is ours today. That is why verses 7-12 tell them to teach God's laws to their children, to talk of them in their houses, and to write them on their doorposts and gates. Here is a word we need to take home to ourselves. We may note that the invention of printing has given us an enormous advantage compared with 3,500 years ago. It has indeed; but if we do not study our Bibles carefully, and then teach and talk about what they say, we are truly to blame.
- Gift — Israel received cities, houses, wells and vineyards ready-made. Nothing in the land was earned. Everything in it pointed back to the Giver.
- Danger — Need keeps us conscious of dependence; fullness quietly erases it. The richer the possession, the greater the risk.
- Drift — Forgetting rarely looks like open rebellion. It looks like resting in the stream instead of the Fountain, and going after the gods of the nations around us.
- Memory — Remembering the house of slavery makes grace more precious and keeps us humble. Never separate the blessing from the deliverance that brought us into it.
- Guard — Live in the sense of God's presence, and keep His words in daily conversation and family teaching.
Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
Moses speaks to a people about to enter a land full of blessings they did not work for. This verse tells them what to do with all that goodness. It is also the verse the Lord Jesus reached for when Satan offered Him the kingdoms of the world.
The warning is not against poverty but against plenty.
But sadly, then as now, the very fullness of the blessing enjoyed might make a person forget the gracious hand it came from. "Fullness of bread" had long ago been the destruction of Sodom. Trial and need wake up a man's awareness that he depends on God. A man without want can easily lose the sense of a dependence that is still real.
Verse 5 asked for love with the whole heart. Verse 13 now asks for fear. One writer treats these as the pair that shapes a whole life.
There are two great motives set before the congregation in our chapter: "love" in verse 5, and "fear" in verse 13. These are found all through Scripture. Their importance in guiding the life and forming the character cannot be valued too highly. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."
One writer presses this down to what comes out of the mouth.
Remembering that the eye of God rests on us would shape our life and our conduct far more than the presence of all the saints on earth and all the angels in heaven. We could not speak falsely. We could not say with our lips what we do not feel in the heart. We could not talk foolishly. We could not speak evil of our brother or our neighbour — if only we felt ourselves in the presence of God.
Israel's confession of one God was never meant to stay an idea.
The point for the Jew was the one true God. "The LORD God who brought you out of the land of Egypt" — He was the only God. What were they always inclined to do? Set up other gods in the wilderness... "It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by His name you shall swear." It was to be a real loyalty. It was not merely a teaching on its own, but something to be known as a fact.
Under the law an oath was sometimes not just allowed but required.
On the other hand, the law required an oath on several occasions. In such cases God required His people to swear by His name (Deut. 6:13; compare Ex. 22:11; Lev. 5:1; Num. 5:19-21). The oath did more than confirm the truth. It was also a solemn vow made in the knowledge of the presence of the LORD, who had once taken an oath Himself before Abraham (Gen. 22:16; Heb. 6:13-20).
Jesus later spoke about oaths Himself.
Taking oaths was consistent with their being under law. But the Lord Jesus changed this. He said, "But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is His footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King" (Matt. 5:34-35).
God will not share His people's hearts.
They are warned about this beforehand, so that they may keep Him in their fear, serve Him, and swear by His name. The God who loves them is jealous of their affections. They must choose between that love which has been so fruitful to them and the wrath which will be just as fruitful. He cannot be indifferent.
Jesus met Satan with Scripture, and He chose one book only.
The Lord might have drawn His arguments from the five books of Moses. He uses only one — Deuteronomy — and from it selects the weapon that both exposes and defeats the enemy... So Scripture holds guidance and instruction for the believer, for every circumstance or difficulty that may come up in his path. But he must know where to find it.
His refusal was total.
He would not take an empire or a kingdom from anyone else. He would not take glory, pleasure, or honour from Satan... How blessed to hear Him say, "It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only." Him only! Are you as exclusive as that, dear friends?
- Gift first. The very fullness of the blessing is what tempts a heart to forget the hand that gave it.
- Fear guards the gift. Love (v.5) and fear (v.13) are the two motives that form character. Living as if God's eye is on you guards your speech.
- Service proves the fear. Owning one God was to be real loyalty, not a doctrine held at arm's length.
- The name is the pledge. Under the law, swearing by His name was a solemn vow made before Him. The Lord Jesus later told His followers not to take oaths at all.
- "Him only" is the test. God is jealous of the affections He loves. Christ met Satan's offer of every kingdom with this one verse. He would take nothing from any other hand.
Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples that are round about you;
Israel was about to enter a land where other nations already served their own gods. The warning names the gods next door, and it comes with a reason: the Lord among His people is a jealous God.
Israel had no ground for confidence in itself. One writer explains why:
These directions were given to guide the people of Israel in the land they were about to enter. The warnings come again and again — against the idolatry of the nations they were to drive out, and against the evil practices that flow from it. They could have no self-confidence here. The worship of the golden calf that Aaron made had already shown the tendency of their own hearts.
The ban on other gods stands between two forces that drive the whole chapter:
Our chapter sets two great motives before the people: "love" in verse 5, and "fear" in verse 13. Both run all through Scripture. Their importance for guiding a life and forming a character cannot be overstated.
The temptation was not strange religion but the wish to fit in. One writer turns that on the reader:
Israel was to grow a real fear of the Lord and serve Him. They were not to let the gods the nations served sway them. What a temptation it is for believers today too, to want to be a little like the nations! We see what they do and what they have. Then we let our eyes wander from the Lord, and we are tempted to copy people who live without God. But the Lord is a jealous God. He is jealous of our love, and cool disobedience may bring His judgment now.
The reason given in the next verse is that the Lord in their midst is jealous. Commentators tie that jealousy not to insecurity but to love, and to God's own character:
God is a jealous God. His jealousy springs from His love for His chosen people. "For you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" (Exodus 34:14). He is jealous over His people lest they serve other gods. And because He is a jealous God, a holy, sin-hating God, He must be an avenger of what is against His character.
Satan tempted the Lord Jesus in the wilderness. He answered every time from this book, and these very verses were among His answers. One writer shows where that strength came from:
It is a very remarkable thing that the Lord drew all His answers to Satan from the book of Deuteronomy (Deut. 8:3; Deut. 6:16, and 13, 14). The Lord gained the victory in every instance by the Word of God. It was the outcome of His blessed, simple dependence on God, and of having the Word of God in His heart. He proved the truth of the word, "I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you" (Psalm 119:11). The secret of strength lies very much in this: having the Word of God hidden in the heart, and obeying it without question.
Israel broke this command. One writer points to the One who never did:
Christ could say, "your law is within my heart" (Psalm 40:8). He had set the Lord continually before Him and would have no other gods as His God.
An idol today need not be a statue:
And let us remember that the same tendency is at work with us today. So the first letter of John ends with the words, "keep yourselves from idols." For us an idol is anything that traps us. It takes over the place in our hearts that belongs to God alone.
- Nearness. The gods forbidden here are the neighbours' gods. The danger is the ordinary wish to be like the people around you.
- Motive. The chapter drives obedience by two forces, love in verse 5 and fear in verse 13; the ban on other gods rests on both.
- Jealousy. God's jealousy comes from His love. He is jealous over His people so that they will not serve other gods.
- Weapon. Christ met Satan with these very words from Deuteronomy. He would have no other gods, and He won by having God's Word stored in His heart.
- Today. An idol is anything that traps you and takes the place in your heart that belongs to God alone. That is why 1 John ends, "keep yourselves from idols."
for Jehovah thy God is a jealous God in thy midst; lest the anger of Jehovah thy God be kindled against thee, and he destroy thee from the face of the earth.
This verse gives the reason for the warning just before it: Israel must not follow the gods of the nations around them. He lives among them and will not share their hearts — but how can jealousy be good in God, and why does love threaten to destroy?
One commentator lines up these passages and carries the point into the New Testament:
In Deuteronomy there are three distinct occasions when God describes Himself as a jealous God. Each time He does so in a warning to the people to have nothing to do with idols (4:23-24, 5:9, 6:13-15). In other words, God was jealous over the affections of His people. The last word of John's first letter, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21), is not a negative statement. It is a very positive statement. It simply means: 'I want the affections of My people for Myself, I do not want any interference from any other source.'
Plenty carries its own danger:
The very fullness of the blessing they enjoyed might make them forget the gracious hand that gave it. "Fullness of bread" had of old been the destruction of Sodom. Hardship and need wake a man up to his need of God. When he lacks nothing, he easily loses the sense that he still depends on God.
The same pull works on believers today:
How great a temptation it is to believers today also, to want to be in some measure like the nations! We see what they do and what they have. As we look, we let our eyes wander from the Lord, and we are tempted to imitate those who are ungodly. But the Lord is a jealous God, jealous of our affections. Cool disobedience may bring His judgment now (v.15).
This is love, not pettiness:
Love takes the form of jealousy if there is the smallest rival to it. The nearest revelation to the Christian one of love that could be given in Old Testament times is that God is a jealous God... Jealousy is the form love takes the moment there is a rival. Suppose the Lord sees we are going to set our hearts on anything down here, building up some little system for ourselves, clear of this error and the other error. He will smash it all up. It would very soon become an object to us and draw us away from Himself. What He claims and what He wants is that we should be wholly and entirely for Himself.
The jealousy is not distant. He lives among them, so any rival stands in His presence:
Of this, then, they are warned beforehand, so that they may keep their fear of Him, serve Him, and swear by His name. The God who loves them is jealous of their affections. They must choose between that love, which had been so fruitful to them, and the wrath which will be just as fruitful. He cannot be indifferent.
The second half of the verse threatens destruction. One commentator roots that threat in what God is:
The jealousy of God has for its source the love of His elect people... He is jealous over His people lest they serve other gods. And because He is a jealous God, a holy, a sin-hating God, He must be an avenger of what is against His character... God is the God of Love as much as He is the God of Wrath. He must be that, or He would not be the God of Light and Holiness. He cannot afford to let evil go on forever. He is the Lord slow to anger. His patience is great, but He will not acquit the guilty, who continue to sin and do evil.
The chapter sets two motives side by side:
There are two great motives set before the congregation in our chapter: "love" in verse 5, and "fear" in verse 13. These are found all through Scripture. You cannot rate their importance too highly in guiding the life and forming the character... The man who walks day by day in the fear of God is kept from every form of moral corruption.
- Gift first. The very fullness of the blessing could make Israel forget the hand that gave it.
- Rival second. God's jealousy is love meeting a rival; He wants His people wholly and entirely for Himself.
- Presence. He is jealous among them — every idol is set up in His presence, and He cannot be indifferent.
- Fire. Because He is holy and hates sin, that same love must avenge what is against His character. He is slow to anger, but He does not acquit the guilty.
- Guard. Love (verse 5) and fear (verse 13) together keep the heart. The test today is the same as Israel's: the pull to be like the nations around us.