Deuteronomy 11:5
what He did for you in the wilderness until you reached this place;
what He did for you
This phrase emphasizes the personal involvement and divine intervention of God in the lives of the Israelites. The Hebrew root for "did" is "עָשָׂה" (asah), which means to do, make, or accomplish. This highlights God's active role in shaping the destiny of His people. Historically, this refers to the miraculous events and provisions God provided, such as manna from heaven and water from the rock. It serves as a reminder of God's faithfulness and power, encouraging believers to trust in His continued guidance and provision.

in the wilderness
The "wilderness" represents both a physical and spiritual journey. The Hebrew word "מִדְבָּר" (midbar) can mean desert or uninhabited land. This setting was a place of testing and transformation for the Israelites, where they learned dependence on God. Archaeologically, the wilderness journey is supported by evidence of ancient nomadic routes and settlements. Spiritually, it symbolizes the trials and growth that believers experience, reminding them that God is present even in desolate times.

until you reached
This phrase signifies a transition from wandering to arriving at a destination. The Hebrew root "בּוֹא" (bo) means to come or go, indicating movement towards a goal. It reflects the fulfillment of God's promises as the Israelites journeyed towards the Promised Land. Historically, this marks the end of a significant chapter in Israel's history. For believers, it serves as an assurance that God leads them through life's challenges to a place of purpose and blessing.

this place
"This place" refers to the land of Canaan, the Promised Land. The Hebrew word "מָקוֹם" (maqom) means place or location. It is a tangible representation of God's covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Archaeologically, Canaan is well-documented as a region with diverse cultures and peoples. Scripturally, it symbolizes the fulfillment of God's promises and the inheritance of His people. For Christians, it represents the spiritual inheritance and rest found in Christ, encouraging them to remain faithful as they journey towards their eternal home.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Moses
The leader of the Israelites, who is recounting God's deeds and faithfulness to the people as they prepare to enter the Promised Land.

2. The Israelites
The chosen people of God, who experienced His miraculous works and guidance during their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.

3. The Wilderness
The desert region where the Israelites wandered for 40 years, a place of testing, provision, and divine encounters.

4. The Promised Land
The land of Canaan, which God promised to Abraham and his descendants, representing a place of rest and fulfillment of God's promises.

5. God's Deeds
Refers to the miraculous acts and provisions God performed for the Israelites, such as manna, water from the rock, and guidance by the pillar of cloud and fire.
Teaching Points
Remembering God's Faithfulness
Reflect on past experiences where God has provided and guided you, strengthening your faith for current and future challenges.

Trusting in God's Provision
Just as God provided for the Israelites in the wilderness, trust that He will meet your needs in times of uncertainty and trial.

Learning from Past Mistakes
The Israelites' journey serves as a cautionary tale; learn from their mistakes by cultivating a heart of obedience and faith.

The Journey to the Promised Land
Understand that life's journey involves both trials and divine guidance, leading us to the ultimate fulfillment of God's promises.

Spiritual Growth in the Wilderness
Embrace difficult seasons as opportunities for spiritual growth and deeper reliance on God.
Bible Study Questions
1. How can reflecting on God's past faithfulness help you face current challenges with confidence?

2. In what ways can you actively trust in God's provision during your own "wilderness" experiences?

3. What lessons can you learn from the Israelites' mistakes in the wilderness, and how can you apply them to your life today?

4. How does the concept of the Promised Land relate to your spiritual journey and the fulfillment of God's promises in your life?

5. How can you use difficult seasons as opportunities for spiritual growth and deeper reliance on God, similar to the Israelites' wilderness experience?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 16
Details God's provision of manna in the wilderness, demonstrating His care and sustenance for the Israelites.

Numbers 14
Describes the Israelites' rebellion and lack of faith, highlighting the importance of trusting in God's promises despite challenges.

Psalm 78
A recounting of Israel's history, emphasizing God's faithfulness and the people's repeated disobedience, serving as a reminder of the lessons learned in the wilderness.

Hebrews 3-4
Discusses the spiritual significance of the wilderness experience and the call to enter God's rest through faith and obedience.
Ocular Demonstrations of God's Nearness Increase Human ResponsibilityD. Davies Deuteronomy 11:1-7
Divine Judgments Upon Others, to Ensure Obedience in UsR.M. Edgar Deuteronomy 11:1-9
Obligations Arising from Personal ExperienceJ. Orr Deuteronomy 11:2-10, 18-22
People
Abiram, Canaanites, Dathan, Eliab, Moses, Pharaoh, Reuben
Places
Arabah, Beth-baal-peor, Egypt, Euphrates River, Gilgal, Jordan River, Lebanon, Moreh, Mount Ebal, Mount Gerizim, Red Sea
Topics
Arrived, Till, Waste, Wilderness
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Deuteronomy 11:2-7

     5854   experience, of God
     8231   discipline, divine

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: 1856

The 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

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