The Good Land and the Good Law Text: Deuteronomy 6:17-19
Introduction: The Causal Connection
We live in an age that has declared its independence from God, and as a result, it has lost its collective mind. Our culture wants to enjoy the fruit of Christian civilization, things like liberty, prosperity, and basic human decency, while at the same time denying the root from which these things grew. They want a society where things "go well," but they refuse to do what is "right and good in the sight of Yahweh." This is like wanting a healthy body while insisting on a steady diet of poison and gasoline. It is a fool's errand, and the wreckage is all around us.
Moses, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is laying out for Israel the fundamental connection between obedience and blessing. This is not some arbitrary arrangement, as though God were a cosmic tyrant demanding pointless hoop-jumping. No, this is the grain of the universe. God made the world, and He knows how it works best. His commandments are not suggestions; they are the manufacturer's instructions. When we follow them, things go well. When we disregard them, things fall apart. It is that simple, and that profound.
This passage in Deuteronomy is given to a people on the cusp of possessing the Promised Land. They have wandered in the wilderness for forty years because of the unbelief of the previous generation. Now, a new generation stands ready to inherit what was promised to their fathers. But this inheritance is not unconditional. The land is a gift, but enjoying the gift, thriving in the gift, and keeping the gift is directly tied to their covenant faithfulness. The land is good, but they will only find it to be good if they walk in the good law of the God who gave it to them.
The modern evangelical mind often has an allergic reaction to this kind of talk. We have been so soaked in a cheap grace that recoils from any mention of commandments or obedience, fearing legalism. But this is a tragic overcorrection. The Bible knows nothing of a grace that leads to lawlessness. Grace does not abolish the law; it fulfills it and empowers us to obey it from the heart. The connection between obedience and blessing is not a uniquely Old Testament idea. It is woven into the fabric of both covenants. What we have in this passage is a foundational principle for all of God's people in all ages: diligent obedience is the pathway to possessing our inheritance.
The Text
You should diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of Yahweh, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which Yahweh swore to give your fathers, by driving out all your enemies from before you, as Yahweh has spoken.
(Deuteronomy 6:17-19 LSB)
Diligent Keeping (v. 17)
We begin with the central command, the engine that drives the whole passage.
"You should diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you." (Deuteronomy 6:17)
The key word here is "diligently." This is not a casual, half-hearted, when-I-feel-like-it kind of obedience. This is a focused, earnest, and persistent keeping of God's law. The Hebrew implies guarding something precious, like a watchman on a city wall. We are to guard the commandments, protect them, and keep them with all our might. This is the opposite of the spiritual apathy that characterizes so much of the modern church.
Notice the three terms used for God's law: commandments, testimonies, and statutes. These are not just synonyms. "Commandments" are the direct, authoritative orders from the King. "Testimonies" are the witness of God to His own character and will; they testify to who He is. "Statutes" are the written, established laws that are to govern the life of the nation. Taken together, they encompass the whole counsel of God, His entire revealed will for His people. There is no area of life that is exempt. We are to diligently keep all of it.
This diligence is not the means by which we earn our salvation. Israel was not saved from Egypt by keeping the law; they were saved by the blood of the lamb on the doorposts. They were saved by grace. But having been saved, they were then called to a life of grateful obedience. The law was not given as a ladder to climb up to God, but as a road for God's redeemed people to walk on. It is the same for us. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. But the faith that saves is never alone; it is a faith that works, a faith that obeys, a faith that diligently keeps the commandments of God.
The Standard of Goodness (v. 18a)
Moses then clarifies the nature of this obedience. It is not just about external rule-following.
"And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of Yahweh..." (Deuteronomy 6:18a)
This little phrase is a direct assault on the central idol of our age, which is autonomous man. The modern world insists that every man has the right to do what is right in his own eyes. But Scripture says that the standard for "right and good" is not located in our hearts, our feelings, or our cultural consensus. The standard is objective, and it is located "in the sight of Yahweh."
What does God see as right and good? His own holy character, which is revealed in His law. To do what is right and good is to live in conformity with the reality that God has established. This is why rebellion against God's law is not just a moral failure; it is a form of insanity. It is an attempt to live at odds with the way the universe is actually structured. It is like trying to breathe water or swim on asphalt. You can try, but it will not go well with you.
This also means that our obedience must be more than skin deep. It is not enough to avoid the outward act of adultery; we must do what is right and good in God's sight, which means we must not lust in our hearts. It is not enough to avoid murder; we must put away all bitterness and hatred. God's sight penetrates to the thoughts and intentions of the heart. True obedience, therefore, is a matter of the heart, a delight in God's law, and a desire to please Him in all things.
The Blessed Consequence (v. 18b-19)
The passage then lays out the glorious results of this diligent, God-centered obedience.
"...that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which Yahweh swore to give your fathers, by driving out all your enemies from before you, as Yahweh has spoken." (Genesis 6:18b-19)
Here is the unbreakable link: obedience leads to blessing. First, the general blessing: "that it may be well with you." This is a comprehensive wellness. It includes spiritual health, social harmony, and material prosperity. God is not a stingy giver. He delights to bless His people when they walk in His ways. This is the principle of covenant succession. When fathers diligently keep God's law and do what is good in His sight, it goes well for them, and it goes well for their children after them.
Second, the specific blessing: "that you may go in and possess the good land." The land is a type, a foreshadowing, of the inheritance we have in Christ. For Israel, it was a physical territory. For us, it is the kingdom of God, the promise of the meek inheriting the earth. But the principle is the same. Possessing our inheritance is contingent on our faithfulness. God has promised us victory, but He expects us to fight. He has promised us the land, but He commands us to go in and possess it.
And how is this possession accomplished? "By driving out all your enemies from before you, as Yahweh has spoken." God promises to do the work. He is the one who drives out the enemies. But He does it through the obedient action of His people. He doesn't tell them to sit on a hill and watch Him drop fire from heaven. He tells them to pick up their swords and march. Our enemies today are not the Canaanites, but the spiritual forces of wickedness, the world, the flesh, and the devil. And God has promised to drive them out before us as we walk in diligent obedience to His commands. The conquest of the land is a picture of the victorious Christian life and the triumphant advance of the gospel in history. As the church does what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, He will drive out all our enemies before us.
Christ, Our Obedience and Our Land
As with all Old Testament passages, we must read this through the lens of the gospel. If we read this and think that our own diligent keeping is the ultimate basis for our blessing, we have missed the point entirely and have fallen into a works-righteousness trap.
The ultimate reason it goes well for us is that Jesus Christ, the true Israel, kept the commandments of Yahweh His God perfectly and diligently. He is the only one who has ever done what is perfectly "right and good in the sight of Yahweh." His perfect obedience is imputed to us by faith. He is the reason we can stand before a holy God. His righteousness is our only plea.
But it doesn't stop there. Because we are united to Christ, we are now empowered by His Spirit to begin to live out this obedience. Christ's obedience does not negate our obedience; it makes it possible. We are now called to walk in a way that is worthy of the calling we have received. Our diligent keeping of the commandments is the fruit, not the root, of our salvation. It is the evidence of our union with the obedient Son.
Furthermore, Christ has not only provided the obedience, He has secured the inheritance. He is our good land. In Him, all the promises of God are "Yes" and "Amen." Through His death and resurrection, He has conquered our ultimate enemies: sin, death, and the devil. He has driven them out before us.
Therefore, we now go forth to possess the land in His name and in His power. We fight our sins, not in order to be saved, but because we have been saved. We work to extend the crown rights of King Jesus over every area of life, not to earn God's favor, but because we already have His favor in Christ. We diligently keep His commandments because we love Him, and we know that this is the path of blessing, the way for it to "be well with us," and the means by which He will continue to drive out all our enemies from before us, until the day that the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.