Deuteronomy 11:8-23: a reflection

8Therefore you shall keep the entire commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land that you go over to possess; 9and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10For the land, where you go in to possess isn’t like the land of Egypt that you came out of, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs; 11but the land that you go over to possess is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of the sky, 12a land which the LORD your God cares for. The LORD your God’s eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year. 13It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14that I will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. 16Be careful, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn away to serve other gods and worship them; 17and the LORD’s anger be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky so that there is no rain, and the land doesn’t yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD gives you. 18Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. 19You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 20You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates; 21that your days and your children’s days may be multiplied in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth. 22For if you shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you—to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him— 23then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.

As Moses describes the promised land, he draws a contrast with Egypt that reveals something about the life of faith. Egypt was a land you watered with your foot, drawing from the river by your own labor; but the promised land is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of the sky, a land which the LORD your God cares for, his eyes always on it. The promised land depended on rain from heaven, on God's provision, not on self-sufficient labor; it was a land of dependence on God, whose eyes were always on it.

Notice the contrast: Egypt watered by your own foot, the promised land watered by God's rain from heaven. In Egypt, provision came by your own labor, drawing water from the river; you were, in a sense, self-sufficient. But the promised land depended on rain from heaven, on God's provision, which he gave as the people loved and served him. It was a land of dependence on God, not self-sufficiency; its provision came from above, from the God whose eyes were always on it, who gave the rain in its season. The life God called them to was one of dependence on him, not self-reliance.

That is worth taking to heart, for God calls us to a life of dependence on him, not self-sufficiency. We can prefer the self-sufficiency of Egypt, providing for ourselves by our own labor, in control of our own provision; but God called his people to the promised land, dependent on the rain he gave from heaven, on his provision. The life of faith is one of dependence on God, whose eyes are always on us, not self-reliant control. Do not cling to a self-sufficiency that provides for itself and depends on no one; God calls you to depend on him for your provision, as the promised land depended on the rain he gave. Live in dependence on God for your provision, trusting the God whose eyes are always on you, rather than clinging to a self-sufficiency like Egypt's; for God calls us to a life dependent on him, not on our own labor alone, and he gives to those who love and serve him the rain in its season.

Lord, as Moses describes the promised land, he draws a contrast with Egypt that reveals something about the life of faith. Egypt was a land you watered with your foot, drawing from the river by your own labor; but the promised land is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of the sky, a land which the LORD your God cares for, his eyes always on it. The promised land depended on rain from heaven, on your provision, not on self-sufficient labor. Show me the contrast: Egypt watered by your own foot, the promised land watered by your rain from heaven. In Egypt, provision came by your own labor; you were, in a sense, self-sufficient. But the promised land depended on rain from heaven, on your provision, which you gave as the people loved and served you. It was a land of dependence on you, not self-sufficiency; its provision came from above, from you whose eyes were always on it. Take that to my heart, for you call me to a life of dependence on you, not self-sufficiency. I can prefer the self-sufficiency of Egypt, providing for myself by my own labor, in control of my own provision; but you called your people to the promised land, dependent on the rain you gave from heaven. The life of faith is one of dependence on you, whose eyes are always on me. Keep me from clinging to a self-sufficiency that provides for itself and depends on no one; you call me to depend on you for my provision, Lord. Help me live in dependence on you for my provision, trusting you whose eyes are always on me.