Deuteronomy 11: 8-12 “Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, and so that you may live long in the land the LORD swore to your forefathers to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.”
Canaan was a beautiful land of hills and valleys, abundant rainfall, and lush vegetation. It was perfect for agriculture and grazing. It was forested with rich soil and visual splendor. The seasons perfectly provided the abundant growth of food. The Canaanites loved it and had no notion of moving out or giving it up to the Israelites. They planned to continue on in luxury and abundance. But they had abandoned the true God for false gods, self-indulgence for worship, decency for evil. In the long run, Israel would do the same.
Principle: God blesses the land and the people when they love, serve and obey Him.
The poet, Katharine Lee Bates had it right when she wrote “America the Beautiful.”
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountains majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain diving!
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America, America!
God shed His grace on Thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
