Deuteronomy 11:17
And then the LORD’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you. And then the LORD’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.
Unlike Egypt, which was watered by foot like a garden, the promised land of hills and valleys drank water from the sky under God's constant care from the beginning to the end of the year, so that Israel's life in a land flowing with milk and honey depended on obedience. Diligent listening, loving the Lord, and serving Him with all heart and soul would bring rain in due season, the first rain and the latter rain, for gathering corn and wine and oil, with grass in the fields for cattle so there would be eating and fullness. The verse is the curse side of the choice set before Israel between blessing for obeying God's commandments and curse for disobeying.
If the heart is deceived into turning aside to serve and worship other gods, the Lord's wrath is kindled to shut up heaven so there is no rain and the land does not yield its fruit, and the people perish quickly from off the good land the Lord gives them. Agricultural hardship and loss of the land are thus presented as consequences of disobedience. The warning is joined to the command to lay up God's words in heart and soul, bind them for signs, teach them to children at home and by the way when sitting and walking and lying down and rising up night and morning, and write them on the house and gates, so that days in the land are multiplied as the days of heaven upon earth.
The threat was carried out when apostasy brought three years without rain in Elijah's day as God's severest judgment. Israel's disobedience in the death of all but two of the adults who left Egypt likewise shows that God's warnings are fulfilled. The words come from the unchanging God who is long-suffering, full of compassion and love, yet when continued rebellion and obstinacy pass the boundary line punishment will follow the transgressor.
The chapter's lessons on blessing for obedience and curse for disobedience are important and lay grave responsibility on those who know the truth. They apply to God's people through each successive age as they did to Israel, including their leaders. The verse applies now when wickedness, rebellion, defiance, violence and crime grow until they reach unto heaven, when God will soon vindicate the honor of His law for His own honor's sake, permitting calamities by flood, earthquake and storm and loosing punishment for transgression when men reject His law.