Deuteronomy 11:16

14 then ^aI will give you the rain for your land in its season, ^bthe early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.

15 ^aAnd I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may ^beat and be filled.’

16 “Take heed to yourselves, ^alest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and ^bserve other gods and worship them,

17 lest ^athe Lord’s anger be aroused against you, and He ^bshut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and ^cyou perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

18 “Therefore ^ayou shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your ^bsoul, and ^cbind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

19 ^aYou shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?

<< Deuteronomy 11:15

Deuteronomy 11:17 >>

What Does Deuteronomy 11:16 Mean?

Deuteronomy 11:16

Verse 16 gives us a clue in preventing deception. God says, "Take heed to yourselves." What does this tell us? This means pay attention! Take care. Guard yourself. Watch out. We cannot just skip our way into the Kingdom of God. It will take a great deal of effort.

Does not Christ tell us to "watch and pray always" (Luke 21:36)? But He does not say to watch just world events. One of the things that we have to watch most closely is ourselves.

"Take heed to yourselves"—what we are allowing ourselves to do; what we are getting involved in; who our friends are, how much time we are spending on this, that, and the other thing. How close is our relationship with God? That is what we must watch and take heed of.

God wants us to jealously protect our spiritual growth. Once we develop a trait of godly character, we should never give it up! Guard that eternal life that has been built within us—by God's grace and our yieldedness.

Most of the time, people become deceived because they are not watching what is going on. They are in "la-la land." Something intrudes into their lives, and they follow it because they have no strength to resist. They have not been watching themselves.

God's way requires constant vigilance. "Watch and pray always," Jesus says. Our guard has to be up against deception all the time. We have to have our antennas out, making sure that what we hear is true. Thus, if we become deceived, whose fault is it? Is it God's or ours? God says, "Take heed to yourself." He has shown us the way to live. He has revealed it to us. He has left nothing hidden that we need to know. So whose fault is it, if we get tripped up? We are not going to be able to accuse God of it. So who is left? We are.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Preventing Deception

Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Deuteronomy 11:16:

Leviticus 16:21-22

<< Deuteronomy 11:15

Deuteronomy 11:17 >>

Join 137,263+ readers

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning

Consistent Bible study is hard to start.

The Berean gives you the starting point: one scripture and a focused commentary in your inbox each morning — read it in minutes, or go as deep as you like.

Free, daily, and spam-free. We never share your address. Unsubscribe anytime.

What Does Deuteronomy 11:16 Mean?

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning