Have you given any consideration to why you worship God?
What reasons would you share with others for worshiping God?
Do the reasons vary depending on whom you are sharing with? If so, why?
Or perhaps you came across this post because you have never worshiped God and are curious why others do.
The primary definition of the word worship is to honor or show reverence to a divine being or supernatural power.
Here, I am writing about the God of the ancient Israelites whom Christians also worship today.
I believe the most accurate source to learn the reasons to worship God comes from God himself in the Bible.
Today, we will explore the reasons God himself provided to the ancient Israelites for worshiping Him in Deuteronomy 11:1-20.
Reasons to Worship God | Deuteronomy 11:1-20
In Deuteronomy, Moses speaks on behalf of God to those who were children at the time they fled Egypt. Their parents had all perished in the wilderness over the last forty years because of their disobedience to God. (See Deuteronomy 1:26-40)
These children did not perish in the desert because they were under the age of twenty when they left Egypt. (See Numbers 14:26-35) Thus, the oldest of these offspring would now be fifty-nine years old.
Beginning in Deuteronomy 11:2, Moses reminds them of what they experienced as children in Egypt.
2 And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, 3 his signs and his deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land, 4 and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and to their chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day. (Dt 11:1–4)
In your own words, describe what God can do based on Deuteronomy 11:2-4. (Also see Exodus 4-14)
Moses continued to remind them of God’s actions while they were in the desert.
5 and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place, 6 and what he did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel. 7 For your eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord that he did. (Dt 11:5–7)
What does reminding the Israelites of what happened to Dathan and Abiram reveal about God? (Review Numbers 16:12-35)
8 “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, 9 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. (Dt 11:8–9)
What does God promise the Israelites if they are obedient to His commands?
Describe God’s heart from these verses.
10 For the land that you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it, like a garden of vegetables. 11 But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, 12 a land that the Lord your God cares for. The eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. (Dt 11:10–12)
How is the land the Israelites promised different from the land of Egypt?
What type of care does God provide for this land?
13 “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, 14 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. 15 And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. (Dt 11:13–15)
Again, what does God promise the Israelites if they are obedient to His commands?
What do these specific details further reveal about God to the Israelites?
16 Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; 17 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. (Dt 11:16–17)
Describe the consequences of worshipping anything or anyone besides God.
Reasons to Worship God | Deuteronomy 11 | Personal Application
Now consider the instructions God gave to Adam in Genesis 2.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Ge 2:15–17)
What were the consequences if Adam disobeyed God’s instructions?
Compare Eve’s response to God questioning her after she and Adam disobeyed Him with the warning to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 11:16.
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Ge 3:13)
16 Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them. (Dt 11:16)
What did Adam and Eve fail at that the Israelites and us today must guard against as well?
Moses then shares the Lord’s instructions for how the Israelites, and us today, can guard against being deceived.
18 “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 20 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Dt 11:18-20)
Based on this study, why can God command us to worship and obey Him?
Review the opening questions of this post since studying this passage. Have your responses changed in any way?
Have you given any consideration to why you worship God?
What reasons would you share with others for worshiping God?
Do the reasons vary depending on whom you are sharing with? Why or why not?
Or perhaps you came across this post because you have never worshiped God and are curious why others do. What is your response now?
Share in the comments below how you show your obedience and worship to God.
Blessings,
Barbara Lynn
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)