The future is, by definition, uncertain. That seems obvious—but if you actually stop and reflect on that for a moment, it becomes unsettling. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. In an instant, we could be gone. And so we try to secure the future through contingency plans and contracts. This is why we pinky swear as kids and sign legal agreements as adults. It’s our way of reaching into the uncertainty of tomorrow and trying to lock it down.
In many ways, these strategies mirror the structure of Ancient Near Eastern covenants—the same form that shapes the book of Deuteronomy. As we continue in the stipulations section of this covenant between God and Israel in chapters 5 through 26, here in chapter 11 Moses is concluding his exposition of the first and fundamental commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me” (chapters 6–11). And here Deuteronomy takes what we might call a covenantal turn.
While the covenant of grace remains front and center (God has reminded Israel he has redeemed them from Egypt and chosen them not for their greatness, but out of sheer love 7:7–9), Deuteronomy 11 introduces a typological layer of conditionality. Not for eternal salvation—that would be salvation by works—but for Israel’s national life in the land of promise. Their tenure in the land, their enjoyment of covenant blessings, would be contingent on obedience to God’s covenant law (which itself continually preached his grace through the sacrificial system).
That condition is stated most clearly in 11:26–28: “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God… and the curse, if you do not obey” (ESV). God’s gracious covenant blessings, Moses shows, will be maintained by perfect, perpetual obedience to his law in his land. What follows are what I call covenantal cautions—a microcosm of the pattern we see throughout Deuteronomy as a whole, especially in chapters 27–28: the warning against disobedience’s curse, the wonder at the blessings offered for obedience, and the way to walk in obedience.
1. Warning Against Disobedience
If the covenant boils down to one thing, it’s this: life versus death. That’s how Moses summarizes it in Deuteronomy 30:19—“I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life.” And as is regularly recognized, life can be boiled down to its essentials: water, food, and shelter. So the opposite of life—the curse of death results in the removal of these things: drought, famine, and danger.
To press this home, Moses appeals to the past and the future. First, he points to Egypt, where God turned the water of the Red Sea—normally life-giving—into an instrument of judgment. The Nile, Egypt’s pride and power as an everflowing source of water, could not save them. The very element that sustained their flourishing became the flood that destroyed their army (Deut. 11:1–4).
Next, he reminds them of the wilderness—a place defined by absence of food. That’s why God had to provide manna day by day. And the wilderness becomes here a picture of the curse: a generation died there because of their rebellion (v. 5).
Then he cites the rebellion of Dathan and Abiram (v. 6), when the ground opened up and swallowed not just people, but their tents—shelter itself consumed by judgment. These were vivid, terrifying displays of what covenant curse looked like. And then Moses says: you saw this with your own eyes (v. 7).
But he doesn’t stop there. In verses 16–17, he looks ahead: if Israel turns aside and serves other gods, “the anger of the Lord will be kindled… and he will shut up the heavens”—no rain, “and the land will yield no fruit”—no food, and eventually, they will “perish quickly off the land”—no shelter. Disobedience will lead to the curse of death: no water, food, or shelter.
Now, this warning was literal for Israel. But we should not flatten it into a generic prosperity gospel formula, as the health-and-wealth crowd does. The text is not saying: “Obey and God will give you a big house, a fat bank account, and a luxury car or healing from cancer.” The point is deeper: if God is the source of life and blessing, then to rebel against him is to embrace death. As Jesus says in Matthew 7, “The gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction [i.e., death]… but the way is hard that leads to life.”
So this speaks to us today—especially in an affluent, comfortable society. It’s easy to assume that because our fridges are full and our homes are secure, all is well. But we can be materially nourished while spiritually starving. We can live in strong buildings and yet lack true spiritual shelter. We can enjoy steady rain and green lawns while our souls are withering. That’s why Moses warns, “Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them” (11:16).
For us, disobedience might not look like making golden calves. More often, it’s a slow drift—enjoying the gifts while forgetting the Giver. Neglecting the Word. Trusting in career, family, or security. The idols are subtler, but no less deadly.
2. Wonder at Blessings Offered
But Moses doesn’t just warn—he invites Israel and us to wonder at the blessings God promises to pour out for obedience. If the curse is the loss of life, the blessing is a lush life in of astounding abundance: a land saturated with water, overflowing with food, and secure from enemies.
First, the land will be well-watered. Verses 8–12 describe a land not like Egypt, which depended on hard irrigation, but a land of hills and valleys that drinks water directly from heaven. A land the Lord himself cares for. The imagery is Edenic: a place prepared and watered by God, where his eyes are always upon it.
Then, in 11:13–15, the Lord through Moses promises food: “grain, wine, oil… grass for your livestock… you shall eat and be full.” Imagine hearing that after forty years of manna. Might they not have longed for figs fresh off the tree, olives dripping with oil, grapes bursting with sweetness.
Then shelter—i.e., security and peace—is promised in 11:22–25. God himself would drive out the nations before them. Their territory would stretch beyond what they expected. No one would stand against them. The land would be not just rich, but secure.
These blessings would have stirred deep wonder and awe. But again, they point beyond themselves. God is the source of all good. He made us to live in communion with him. And that’s what the land of promise was meant to be—a holy place where God’s people enjoyed his presence.
Every idol fails because it cannot give life. Israel’s neighbors worshiped Baal, the storm god who claimed to bring rain. Or Dagon, god of grain. The temptation to hedge bets by honoring them would have been strong. Today, we bow to different idols of different names: achievement, affirmation, possessions, political power. But the logic is the same: we trust created things to give what only the Creator can.
Sadly, we too often become enamored of the fleeting, fading things of this world and fail to wonder at the spiritual blessings God promises to pour out on his people (Eph 1:3–10; 1 Pet 1:3–9). But following God’s law is not merely a moral duty—it is the path to life, peace, and flourishing. The idols we chase cannot bear the weight of our worship. They take and never give. But the Lord gives, and gives abundantly.
3. Way of Obedience
But how can Israel—or we—actually obey? Moses tells them in Deut 11:18–21: saturate yourself in the Word. Write it on your heart. Bind it to your hands and between your eyes. Talk about it with your children—when you sit, when you rise, when you walk. Place it on your doorposts and gates. In other words: let God’s Word shape your mind, your work, your home, your life.
And then God gives them a visual sign to reinforce it, much like we have in the sacraments. In verses 29–32, Moses describes two mountains they will see upon entering the land. Mount Gerizim, green and lush, would represent blessing. Mount Ebal, rocky and barren, would represent curse. The visual geography of the land itself would testify: life and death stand before you. And in Joshua 8, they do exactly what Moses commands here and commit themselves anew to obey God’s law.
Yet how did Israel do? Not well. The rest of the Old Testament is the history of covenantal failure. Disobedience. Idolatry. Neglect. And eventually, the curse of exile: drought, famine, and loss of the land.
Even when they returned—by grace—they still couldn’t keep the law. In Jesus’ day, the religious leaders worked hard to obey, but missed the heart. They fixed the outside, but their hearts remained far from God (Matt 23). As Jesus said, “You must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48). That’s the standard. Not effort. Not sincerity. Perfection.
Where does that leave us?
If covenant blessing requires perfect obedience, then we—like Israel—stand under the shadow of Mount Ebal. The mountain of blessing is across the valley, inaccessible. Left to ourselves, we are covenant breakers under the curse. Unless…
Unless someone can obey for us. And that’s the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ! He came as the true and faithful Israelite. He loved the Lord his God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. He embodied the law—he is the Word made flesh. His whole life was the life of perfect obedience.
He deserved every blessing. Yet he took the curse. He deserved water in abundance, yet on the cross cried out, “I thirst” (John 19:28). He deserved food aplenty, yet went hungry in the wilderness (Matt 4:2). He deserved perfect shelter, yet was persecuted in life (Matt 2:16; John 5:18; 7:1; 11:53) and had nowhere to lay his head (Matt 8:20). He was stripped, beaten, and crucified. Why? Not for his sin, but for ours. He stood under the curse of Deuteronomy 11 so that we might receive not mere earthly blessings of water, food and shelter—but everlasting, resurrection life!
Jesus didn’t just obey for himself—he obeyed for us. And now, by grace through faith, his righteousness is credited to us. The covenantal contingencies have been fulfilled in him. Our curse fell on him. His blessing falls on us.
And the blessing is not just a land. It’s him. He is the Bread of Life (John 6:25). The Living Water (7:37–38). The Good Shepherd (10:11). The Door (10:9). He is the Shelter that can never be shaken. The inheritance he offers far surpasses Canaan: it is an unshakable kingdom (Heb 12:27), an eternal home in the presence of God (John 14:2–3).
So the call remains: life or death, blessing or curse. Not of life in a geographical land of Canaan, but in the person of Christ. Not a one-time decision, but a daily call: Will I trust Christ today? Will I follow where he leads? Will I repent when I stray?
We have before us today and every day life and death. And life is found only in Christ. So choose life. Choose Christ—the Rock who gives water in the wilderness, the Bread who satisfies, the Shelter that endures forever. Embrace him and your future in the true Promised Land—the New Heavens and the New Earth—is absolutely certain.