(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 11:1–7, “Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway. And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm, And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land; And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day; And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place; And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel: But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did.
This section starts with “therefore”, meaning that is follows from the last section. Previously Israel was told to fear the Lord and to love Him. If they did this then then they would keep His commandments, statutes, judgments and charge. They had previously seen how the Lord dealt with sin and they also knew that the Lord could perform great and mighty miracles. They were slaves in Egypt with no one to plead their cause. The Lord raised up Moses and he had, miraculously led them away from Egypt and to the very borders of the Promised Land, just as the Lord had told Abraham more than four hundred years before. They had also seen how the Lord had dealt with their rebellions in the desert. When some people rebelled against Moses and complained that he was their leader the Lord caused the ground to open up and they were taken, alive, straight into hell. They knew and they should be careful not to provoke the Lord as the former slaves had done. However, the Lord acted in Egypt so that they would know that He is the Lord. (see Ex 6:7, “And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” and Ex 7:5, “And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”) By this stage they should know that the Lord is the Lord and not to be trifled with.
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