The Israelites’ journey from Egypt to the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho (Numbers 33:1-49) from a physical standpoint should have taken them about eleven days (Deuteronomy 1:2), but
The Israelites’ journey from Egypt to the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho (Numbers 33:1-49) from a physical standpoint should have taken them about eleven days (Deuteronomy 1:2), but it took the people of Israel forty years to get there because of their rebellion against the LORD. As they prepared to cross over the Jordan and enter the land that God had promised to give them, Moses instructed the Israelites to take care lest they forget the LORD, who had brought them out of Egypt (Deuteronomy 6:12). Using a spiritual metaphor to illustrate his point, Moses said, “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn” (Deuteronomy 10:16). Moses wanted the people to remove the hardness from their heart so that they could love God the way they needed to in order to follow his commands (H4135). The Hebrew words that are translated stubborn, qashah (kaw-shawˊ) ʿaraph (aw-rafʿ) have to do with the people’s resistance to worship God wholeheartedly (7185/6203). Because the LORD had gone to great lengths to deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Moses said, “You shall therefore love the LORD your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always” (Deuteronomy 11:1).
Moses associated keeping God’s commandments with spiritual strength. He said:
“For your eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord that he did. You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and take possession of the land that you are going over to possess, and that you may live long in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey.” (Deuteronomy 11:7-9)
The Hebrew word chazaq (khaw-zakˊ) is used to describe both obstinate and courageous behavior. It represents moral strength combined with physical in the context of spiritual warfare (H2388) and is used in conjunction with the word ʾamats (aw-matsˊ) to convey the attributes that were necessary for the Israelites’ to obtain victory over their enemies (Deuteronomy 31:6).
Moses went on to spell out the specifics of the blessing that the Israelites would receive if they obeyed God’s commandments and the result of turning away from him. He said:
“And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 11:13-17)
Moses cautioned the people about their hearts being deceived. He used the word shamar (shaw-marˊ), which means “’to keep’ in the sense of ‘tending’ and taking care of” (H8104), to indicate that the people had to make an intentional effort to keep their hearts from being deceived. Shamar also means “’to keep’ in the sense of saving or retaining.” From that standpoint, taking care of our heart might mean that we keep our relationship with the Lord in the forefront of our minds at all times so that we don’t do something that might compromise our walk with the Lord. The Hebrew word that is translated deceived, pathah (paw-thawˊ) means “to be open, i.e be (causative make) roomy; used figuratively (in a mental or moral sense) to be (causative make) simple or (in a sinister way) delude (H6601). The idea that our hearts can be open or roomy may have something to do with outside influences wanting to make themselves at home in our thought processes. In addition to deceived (Deuteronomy 11:16), pathah is also translated as entice (Judges 14:15, 16:5). Pathah appears in Exodus 22:16 where it states, “If a man seduces (pathah) a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price for her and make her his wife.”
Moses used the phrase turn aside to describe what happens when our hearts are deceived. He said, “Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them” (Deuteronomy 11:16). The Hebrew word that is translated turn aside, suwr (soor) means “to turn off’ both literally and figuratively (H5493). Suwr is translated depart in Hosea 9:12 where the LORD says, “Even if they bring up children, I will bereave them till none is left. Woe to them when I depart from them!” In this context, to turn aside means that the relationship is broken or you might say communication has been turned off. Moses encouraged the people of Israe