or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you. He will shut the heavens so that there will be no rain, nor will the land yield its produce, and you will soon perish from the good land that the LORD is giving you. Then the anger of the LORDThe phrase highlights the righteous indignation of God, a recurring theme in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word for "anger" here is "אַף" (aph), which can also mean "nostril" or "face," indicating a physical manifestation of anger. This anthropomorphic expression underscores God's personal involvement and emotional response to the covenantal disobedience of His people. It serves as a reminder of the seriousness with which God views His covenant and the expectations He has for His people. will burn against you
The imagery of burning conveys intensity and consuming power. In Hebrew, "burn" is "חָרָה" (charah), suggesting a fierce and consuming anger. This metaphor is used to communicate the severity of divine judgment. It is a call to repentance, urging the Israelites to remain faithful to avoid the consequences of divine wrath. and He will shut the heavens
The phrase "shut the heavens" is a vivid depiction of divine control over nature. The Hebrew word "שָׁמַיִם" (shamayim) for "heavens" refers to the sky and the abode of God. This act of shutting signifies a withholding of blessings, particularly rain, which was crucial for an agrarian society. It emphasizes God's sovereignty over creation and His ability to bless or withhold as a response to human behavior. so that there will be no rain
Rain in the ancient Near East was a symbol of divine favor and blessing. The absence of rain, therefore, signifies a withdrawal of God's favor. The Hebrew word for "rain" is "מָטָר" (matar), which is often associated with life and sustenance. This phrase serves as a stark warning of the physical and spiritual barrenness that results from disobedience. and the land will yield no produce
The land's inability to produce is a direct consequence of the lack of rain. The Hebrew word for "yield" is "נָתַן" (natan), meaning "to give" or "to produce." This reflects the covenantal relationship between God and Israel, where the land's fertility is contingent upon the people's faithfulness. It underscores the interconnectedness of spiritual and physical well-being. and you will quickly perish
The phrase "quickly perish" conveys the urgency and inevitability of the consequences of disobedience. The Hebrew word "אָבַד" (avad) for "perish" implies destruction and loss. This serves as a sobering reminder of the fragility of life without God's protection and blessing. It is a call to heed God's commands to ensure survival and prosperity. from the good land
The "good land" refers to the Promised Land, a gift from God to the Israelites. The Hebrew word "טוֹב" (tov) for "good" signifies not only physical abundance but also moral and spiritual goodness. This phrase highlights the land's divine origin and the responsibility of the Israelites to maintain their covenant relationship to continue enjoying its benefits. that the LORD is giving you
This phrase emphasizes the ongoing nature of God's gift. The Hebrew verb "נָתַן" (natan) for "giving" is in the present tense, indicating that the land is a continual gift from God. It underscores the grace and generosity of God, who provides for His people despite their shortcomings. It is a reminder of the conditional nature of this gift, dependent on the Israelites' obedience and faithfulness. Persons / Places / Events 1. The LORD (Yahweh)The covenant God of Israel, who is both just and merciful. His anger is a response to covenant unfaithfulness. 2. MosesThe speaker of Deuteronomy, delivering God's laws and warnings to the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land. 3. IsraelitesThe chosen people of God, recipients of the covenant, and the ones being warned about the consequences of disobedience. 4. The Promised Land (Canaan)The land flowing with milk and honey, promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 5. Heavens and RainSymbolic of God's provision and blessing, essential for agricultural prosperity in the land. Teaching Points The Consequences of DisobedienceGod's anger is not arbitrary but a response to covenant unfaithfulness. Disobedience leads to tangible consequences, such as drought and famine. Dependence on God for ProvisionThe shutting of the heavens signifies a withdrawal of God's provision. It reminds us of our dependence on God for all our needs. The Importance of ObedienceObedience to God's commands is crucial for maintaining His blessings. It is a demonstration of faith and trust in His promises. The Role of RepentanceWhile this verse warns of judgment, it also implies the possibility of restoration through repentance and returning to God. Stewardship of God's GiftsThe "good land" is a gift from God, and the Israelites are called to steward it faithfully. This principle applies to all resources God entrusts to us. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the warning in Deuteronomy 11:17 reflect the character of God as both just and merciful? 2. In what ways can we see the principle of "reaping what we sow" in our own lives, as illustrated by the consequences of disobedience in this verse? 3. How does the account of Elijah in 1 Kings 17 provide a real-life example of the warnings given in Deuteronomy 11:17? 4. What are some modern-day "idols" that might lead us away from obedience to God, and how can we guard against them? 5. How can we apply the principle of stewardship from this passage to our personal lives, particularly in how we manage the resources God has given us? Connections to Other Scriptures Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28These chapters outline blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience, echoing the themes of divine retribution and reward. 1 Kings 17The account of Elijah and the drought during King Ahab's reign illustrates the fulfillment of this warning when Israel turned to idolatry. James 5:17-18References Elijah's prayer for rain, showing the power of prayer and obedience in restoring God's favor. People Abiram, Canaanites, Dathan, Eliab, Moses, Pharaoh, ReubenPlaces Arabah, Beth-baal-peor, Egypt, Euphrates River, Gilgal, Jordan River, Lebanon, Moreh, Mount Ebal, Mount Gerizim, Red SeaTopics Anger, Burn, Burned, Burning, Cut, Fruit, Gives, Giveth, Giving, Ground, Hastily, Heaven, Heavens, Increase, Kindle, Kindled, Lest, Lord's, Perish, Perished, Produce, Quickly, Rain, Restrained, Shut, Sky, Wrath, YieldDictionary of Bible Themes Deuteronomy 11:17 4816 drought, physical
4844 rain
4855 weather, God's judgment
8845 unfruitfulness Deuteronomy 11:8-17 7258 promised land, early history Deuteronomy 11:13-21 7410 phylactery Deuteronomy 11:16-17 4430 crops Library Canaan on Earth
Many of you, my dear hearers, are really come out of Egypt; but you are still wandering about in the wilderness. "We that have believed do enter into rest;" but you, though you have eaten of Jesus, have not so believed on him as to have entered into the Canaan of rest. You are the Lord's people, but you have not come into the Canaan of assured faith, confidence, and hope, where we wrestle no longer with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus--when …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856The God of the Rain
(Fifth Sunday after Easter.) DEUT. xi. 11, 12. The land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven. A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year, even unto the end of the year. I told you, when I spoke of the earthquakes of the Holy Land, that it seems as if God had meant specially to train that strange people the Jews, by putting them into a country where they …
Charles Kingsley—The Gospel of the Pentateuch Gilgal, in Deuteronomy 11:30 what the Place Was.
That which is said by Moses, that "Gerizim and Ebal were over-against Gilgal," Deuteronomy 11:30, is so obscure, that it is rendered into contrary significations by interpreters. Some take it in that sense, as if it were near to Gilgal: some far off from Gilgal: the Targumists read, "before Gilgal": while, as I think, they do not touch the difficulty; which lies not so much in the signification of the word Mul, as in the ambiguity of the word Gilgal. These do all seem to understand that Gilgal which …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Josiah, a Pattern for the Ignorant.
"Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place."--2 Kings …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII The Blessings of Noah Upon Shem and Japheth. (Gen. Ix. 18-27. )
Ver. 20. "And Noah began and became an husbandman, and planted vineyards."--This does not imply that Noah was the first who began to till the ground, and, more especially, to cultivate the vine; for Cain, too, was a tiller of the ground, Gen. iv. 2. The sense rather is, that Noah, after the flood, again took up this calling. Moreover, the remark has not an independent import; it serves only to prepare the way for the communication of the subsequent account of Noah's drunkenness. By this remark, …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Subjects of Study. Home Education in Israel; Female Education. Elementary Schools, Schoolmasters, and School Arrangements.
If a faithful picture of society in ancient Greece or Rome were to be presented to view, it is not easy to believe that even they who now most oppose the Bible could wish their aims success. For this, at any rate, may be asserted, without fear of gainsaying, that no other religion than that of the Bible has proved competent to control an advanced, or even an advancing, state of civilisation. Every other bound has been successively passed and submerged by the rising tide; how deep only the student …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life In the Fifteenth Year of Tiberius Cæsar and under the Pontificate of Annas and Caiaphas - a Voice in the Wilderness
THERE is something grand, even awful, in the almost absolute silence which lies upon the thirty years between the Birth and the first Messianic Manifestation of Jesus. In a narrative like that of the Gospels, this must have been designed; and, if so, affords presumptive evidence of the authenticity of what follows, and is intended to teach, that what had preceded concerned only the inner History of Jesus, and the preparation of the Christ. At last that solemn silence was broken by an appearance, …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah The Worship of the Synagogue
One of the most difficult questions in Jewish history is that connected with the existence of a synagogue within the Temple. That such a "synagogue" existed, and that its meeting-place was in "the hall of hewn stones," at the south-eastern angle of the court of the priest, cannot be called in question, in face of the clear testimony of contemporary witnesses. Considering that "the hall of hew stones" was also the meeting-place for the great Sanhedrim, and that not only legal decisions, but lectures …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life Among the People, and with the Pharisees
It would have been difficult to proceed far either in Galilee or in Judaea without coming into contact with an altogether peculiar and striking individuality, differing from all around, and which would at once arrest attention. This was the Pharisee. Courted or feared, shunned or flattered, reverently looked up to or laughed at, he was equally a power everywhere, both ecclesiastically and politically, as belonging to the most influential, the most zealous, and the most closely-connected religions …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life Covenanting Confers Obligation.
As it has been shown that all duty, and that alone, ought to be vowed to God in covenant, it is manifest that what is lawfully engaged to in swearing by the name of God is enjoined in the moral law, and, because of the authority of that law, ought to be performed as a duty. But it is now to be proved that what is promised to God by vow or oath, ought to be performed also because of the act of Covenanting. The performance of that exercise is commanded, and the same law which enjoins that the duties …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting The Old Testament Canon from Its Beginning to Its Close.
The first important part of the Old Testament put together as a whole was the Pentateuch, or rather, the five books of Moses and Joshua. This was preceded by smaller documents, which one or more redactors embodied in it. The earliest things committed to writing were probably the ten words proceeding from Moses himself, afterwards enlarged into the ten commandments which exist at present in two recensions (Exod. xx., Deut. v.) It is true that we have the oldest form of the decalogue from the Jehovist …
Samuel Davidson—The Canon of the Bible Deuteronomy
Owing to the comparatively loose nature of the connection between consecutive passages in the legislative section, it is difficult to present an adequate summary of the book of Deuteronomy. In the first section, i.-iv. 40, Moses, after reviewing the recent history of the people, and showing how it reveals Jehovah's love for Israel, earnestly urges upon them the duty of keeping His laws, reminding them of His spirituality and absoluteness. Then follows the appointment, iv. 41-43--here irrelevant (cf. …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Deuteronomy 11:17 NIVDeuteronomy 11:17 NLTDeuteronomy 11:17 ESVDeuteronomy 11:17 NASBDeuteronomy 11:17 KJV
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