Introduction
Last
week, we studied Deuteronomy 29. In that chapter, Moses began his last speech
to the Israelites before they crossed over the Jordan River into Canaan. He
exhorted them to enter the covenant with the LORD. Moses expressed the
blessings and curses for faithfulness and unfaithfulness to the LORD God. He
reminded the Israelites of God’s hand of protection over and provision for
them. Moses reminded them of their history with the LORD. He expounded on what
would happen to the boastful person and nation and to the Promised Land if the
Israelites – person, tribe, or nation - chose to go their own ways instead of
the LORD’s ways. In Deuteronomy 29:20, Moses used a hyperbole when he said, “The
LORD shall never be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the LORD
and His jealousy will burn against that man and every curse, which is written
in this book, will rest on him and the LORD will blot out his name from under
heaven.” [NASB] We learned Moses used this hyperbole to catch the Israelites’
attention and remind them of God’s anger, wrath, greatness, and judgment on
people who walk away from Him. When people walk in their own ways and not the
LORD’s they tend to minimize the greatness and power of the LORD in their
minds. Moses caught the Israelites’ attention here so he could remind them of another
thing about the LORD God. Deuteronomy 30 tells us this other thing about the
LORD.
As we read this chapter, we should notice two distinct parts
– restoration and covenanting – compose it. Verses 1-10 consist of the
restoration part of the chapter. Verses 11-20 consist of the covenant-making part
of this chapter.
Restoration
Because God created humankind with the ability to reason and
gave them free will to choose for themselves what actions they would do and
thoughts they would think, the possibility of turning away from God is real. God
knew, because of His omniscient foreknowledge, the Israelites would turn away
from Him and His ways; they would break their covenant with Him. Moses showed
to the Israelites God knew they would turn away from Him. Verse 1 tells them
God’s blessings and curses will come upon them, even the curse of banishment
from the Promised Land. When the Israelites lived in foreign nations as part of
the curse, they would remember their covenant with the LORD – His blessings and
curses – and would desire to return to the LORD (Deut 30:2). After experiencing
God’s punishment of banishment and then remembering the LORD and His goodness,
the Israelites would return to and obey the Him with all their heart and soul,
just as Moses taught and commanded them before they crossed the Jordan River. Moses
said, when they did this, the LORD would restore them from their captivity
(Deut 30:3). After using the hyperbole in Deuteronomy 29:20 in which Moses said
the LORD would never forgive them, he said in verse three, the LORD would have
compassion on the Israelites and gather them from among the nations in which He
scattered them.
God’s compassion and mercy for the Israelites was not a new idea.
Moses told the Israelites God would accept and forgive them when they turned
away from Him at the beginning of Deuteronomy in Deuteronomy 4:26-29. Right
after the Israelites agreed to the covenant at Mount Sinai when God gave them
the Ten Commandments, Moses taught them about God’s compassion and mercy. He would
receive the Israelites again as His children when they turned back to Him and
repented. We have read of God’s mercy and compassion happening in just this way
in Jeremiah 32:37 and Ezekiel 34:13 when the banished Israelites returned from
captivity.
Understand, too, from verse four, God would bring the
Israelites back from the farthest ends of the earth. It did not matter to God
how far away the Israelites’ lived or how much they sinned, His compassion and mercy
extended to cover them because He loved them. His love was so great for them that
He re-established His covenant with them. Moses said the returning Israelites would
possess the Promised Land again. They would prosper and multiply, even more
than their fathers. This recalls to us the blessings outlined in Deuteronomy
28, 7:13, and 13:17. We see from history through Jeremiah 29:14 and 30:3 God faithfully
fulfilled this promise for the Israelites after their captivity. God wanted to
re-establish the Israelites as His people as He intended from the beginning.
His love for them did not end.
In verse 6, we read something altogether new. Moses said,
“Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your
descendants to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your
soul so that you may live.” [NASB] Other places in the Old Testament where
Bible writers mentioned circumcision those verses command the people to
circumcise themselves. In no other place in the Old Testament do we read of God
circumcising people. Remember, circumcise comes from the Hebrew word muwl and means to cut or cut off. By
circumcision, Abraham and his descendants confirmed their covenant with Yahweh
God. This became the identifying mark of male Jews. In all but two Old
Testament passages, when writers mentioned circumcision, they spoke of
circumcising the flesh. This being said, just one other passage in the Old
Testament speaks on circumcising the flesh, Jeremiah 4:4. So Deuteronomy 30:6
is the only place in the Old Testament where God is said to circumcise the
people’s hearts. What did Moses mean when he said this? He taught something new
and deeper to the Israelites than they previously heard. Their covenant was not
to be just an outward sign –actions - but an inward sign. Inward signs occur as
changes to a person’s character or heart. Circumcising a heart then meant God cut
off and purged the wickedness and evil of their hearts. The Israelite men circumcised
themselves in covenant to God as per the Abrahamic covenant. They could not re-circumcise
themselves. A better circumcision, one to remove the stain of evil and wickedness,
had to occur. Spiritual circumcision is of what Moses spoke in this verse and only
God can spiritually circumcise a person to remove their sin and wickedness. Only
God can affect the change in a person’s heart to remove wickedness. When He
does, His characteristics fill the circumcised heart because when a person
submits to heart circumcision they turn to the LORD to love and obey Him with
all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. That is what the word “heart” (lebab)
means in its original Hebrew text. With a person’s turning to God, God’s
circumcision removes the evil, and the person’s vow to be God’s child allows
the person’s inner-self to be changed by the love of the LORD. This
circumcision of the heart that affects change in one’s heart and character is about
what Jesus taught in the New Testament. The Israelites became aware for the
first time in Deuteronomy 30 that being God’s people requires and effects a
change in a person’s heart and attitudes.
Besides showing compassion on the Israelites, accepting them
back into His mercies, and circumcising their hearts, God would punish their
enemies, those who hated and persecuted them (Deut 30:7). Remember in Deuteronomy
7:15, we learned the enemies of the Israelites - those who led them into
captivity and hurt them - were God’s enemies. So Moses said when His children returned
to Him, He would avenge them against their enemies. God loved the Israelites, would
receive them back to Him, and would pursue their enemies - their masters in
other lands.
With verses 8-10, Moses reminded the Israelites what
blessings covenanting with God gave them. He reiterated the basis of the Sinai
covenant and expanded in less detail the blessings of covenanting with God. He
said,
You shall again obey the LORD and observe
all His commandments, which I command you today. Then the LORD your God will
prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your
body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground for
the LORD will again rejoice over you for good just as He rejoiced over your
fathers. (Deuteronomy 30:8-10 [NASB])
Deuteronomy 28 spells out the
blessings and curses that Moses mentioned in this chapter. Notice a causality “if…then”
relationship is in these verses. Verses 8 and 10 say, “You shall again obey”
and “If you obey.” Verse 9 says, “Then the LORD your God will prosper you.” For
a person’s repentance, return to the LORD, and resultant obedience, the LORD would
reinstate the blessings of His covenant with the person(s). Until the person or
people returned to the LORD, the person(s) would experience the curses of the
covenant. Moses said the LORD would again covenant with them. When the LORD
chose them, He set them aside, consecrated them, and made them a holy people
for Himself. He wants none of His children to be lost and welcomes back any person
who returns to Him with a repentant heart. David, Solomon, and John each
recognized God’s compassion and mercy reached to His children who sinned and
repented. David made this statement of faith in Psalm 32:5 and Solomon in
Proverbs 28:13. John said, in one of his most famous quotes, 1 John 1:9, “If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Moses scared the Israelites with his the
use of the hyperbole in Deuteronomy 29:20. In chapter thirty, he taught and
reminded them God always wants them to return to Him. God promised He would
cleanse their hearts from wickedness.
Choose Life
After Moses told the Israelites that God would accept His
repentant child and renew His promises to them, he taught them the covenant of
God was not too great they could not keep it. In verses 11-13, Moses said,
For this commandment, which I command you today, is not too
difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. It is not in heaven that you should
say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it that
we may observe it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea that you should say, ‘Who will
cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it that we may observe
it.’ [NASB]
The word “difficult” in verse eleven
comes from the Hebrew word pala. It
means to be beyond one’s power or to be too difficult or hard. Moses said God’s
commandments were not beyond the power of each person. He said His commandments
are not too far away to reach them. God’s commandments are not so far away only
people in heaven might attain to them by obedience. They are not so far beyond
where they could see the end of the ocean they could not listen and obey them.
Their purpose is understandable. The commandments’ scope is reachable. Their completion
is do-able. Moses said in verse fourteen, God’s commandments are near – in
their mouths and hearts. God put them there when He circumcised their hearts. He
would require nothing too difficult from the Israelites because He chose them
to be His people, not to make them struggle and fail. God wanted to be in a
relationship with the Israelites and all humankind from the beginning of
creation.
Because of this, therefore, Moses said, “Choose life” (Deut.
30:19). Choosing life - choosing the LORD - was the crux of what Moses said in
the last six verses of this chapter. He expanded it so the Israelites would
remember every part of their covenant with the LORD. Moses told them, placed in
front of them, and spelled out every part of the covenant – life, prosperity,
death, and adversity (vs. 15). Those reflect both sides of the covenant –
blessings and curses. Moses told them what God required the Israelites do to
stay in covenant with Him. They had to love the LORD God, walk in His ways, and
keep His commandment, statutes, and judgments (vs. 16). This meant they had to
love God by living a way of life He stipulated to them and obeying His
commandments, statutes, and judgments. Earlier in Deuteronomy, God’s blessings
to the Israelites for staying faithful to their covenant with Him was
possession of the land, prolonged life, increase in their numbers, and blessing
of the work of their hands. God promised these same blessings to them for
covenant faithfulness when they returned to Him.
Moses told the Israelites God’s compassion did not mean He would
not punish/curse them in the future if they broke their covenant with Him. They
could not expect God’s love to overlook their unfaithfulness. His love for the
Israelites was so great He would not let them go unpunished for sin. God, like
any parent, because of His love for His children had to discipline/punish them when
they went astray. If He did not, the Israelites would not become good and right
people. They would become worldly and evil without correction. God’s curses
within the covenant provide the discipline/punishment of disobedience to God
and His covenant. Moses expressed this in an “if…then” statement in verses
seventeen and eighteen. He told the Israelites if they turned their hearts from
God, disobeyed Him, and worshipped and served other gods, God would make them
perish. They would not experience the blessings of a covenant relationship with
God. The Israelites would experience God’s curses, the reverse covenant to the one
God intended for them. They could not say they did not know these requirements
because Moses taught them in Deuteronomy 4, 8, 28, 29, and, now, in chapter 30.
The Israelites could not say they did not make a covenant
with the LORD God. Moses told them heaven and earth - all of creation -
provided a witness and could give testimony of their covenant with God. Should
the Israelites say they did not understand there was a penalty for
unfaithfulness, Moses explained again God would give blessings and curses for
their covenant faithfulness or unfaithfulness.
Next, Moses issued an imperative to the Israelites. In verse
19, he said, “So choose life in order that you may live, you and your
descendants.” He explained once more what expectations God included in their
covenant – love of the LORD, obedience to His voice, and holding fast (clinging)
to Him. They would have life, remain alive, and have descendants if they
fulfilled these things. In addition, they would live in the Promised Land He
swore to give to their forefathers – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and be prosperous.
Recap
The Israelites stood at the edge of the Jordan River soon to
cross it. During the exodus wandering years, the current Israelites were too
young or unborn so could not agree to the covenant with the LORD as their parents
and grandparents did. By the time they stood on the brink of crossing the
Jordan to take possession of the Promised Land from the LORD God, they each
needed to enter the covenant with the LORD. In Deuteronomy 29 & 30, Moses
spoke to the Israelites of God’s covenant with them. It contained the basic
sections of the Sinaic covenant and added God’s oaths of blessings and curses
for covenant faithfulness and disobedience. The receipt of the land came from
God’s covenant with Abraham. The possessing of the land, prolonged life in the
land, and the prosperity of the work of their hands came from this covenant
with the LORD in Moab. Moses spelled this out four times in 30:5-6, 8-10,
15-16, &20. In these verses, Moses explained the blessings of staying in
covenant with the LORD. In verses 17-18, Moses disclosed to the Israelites the
curses of God for those who turn away from Him and His commandments.
One difference we recognize in this chapter from any other
about covenanting with the LORD is the LORD was the one who would “make the
covenant” (cut the covenant) by circumcision this time. When God circumcises a
person’s heart, He cuts away the wicked to purge the person of evil, those
things the person did contrary to God’s commandments, laws, and statutes. This circumcision
provided spiritual renewal. In the Abrahamic covenant and later covenants, the
Israelites physically circumcised their men as a sign of their covenant with
the LORD God. Because the Israelites could not physically circumcise themselves
again and because their act/sign of covenanting was not good enough, God performed
the circumcision to make the covenant with them. Only God could provide the
circumcision beyond the first time. That is what God said He would do if the
people returned to Him and His commands with love and obedience while forsaking
their worship and service to other gods. This new and better circumcision removed
the evil from their hearts and places God’s thoughts and ways in them. This was
a spiritual circumcision.
Relevance and Conclusion
We know much of the Israelites’ history. They were
unfaithful to their covenant with the LORD God. The Assyrians and Babylonians
overran the Israelites. They dispersed the Israelites to foreign lands and nations.
These captors enslaved some. Most of the Israelites suffered for their unfaithfulness
to the LORD. Yet when they cried out to the LORD and returned to Him, He was
faithful to them, listened their cries, and restored them to the Promised Land.
This cycle has continued through the last 3400 years.
The Israelites are not alone in their faithlessness to the
LORD. Many in the world have made commitments to the Lord. Quite a few have
failed in those covenants. Just as the LORD God promised He would forgive and
cleanse the Israelites who returned to Him in love and obedience, He will forgive
and cleanse us today, too. One John 1:9 states this when it says, “If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [NASB] David sinned against the LORD God,
but God considered him a man after His heart. He knew the LORD well. David
experienced God’s grace and forgiveness. From experience, he said,
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and
abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, nor will He
keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor
rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above
the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear (revere) Him.
As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions
from us. (Psalm 103:8-12 [NASB])
We
each have to make a decision today, and tomorrow, and the next days. Will we remain
in or return to our covenant we made with God? We find it hard to admit our
failures and ask forgiveness. We must realize God is gracious toward us. He
will not remind us over and over of our past sins. Satan does that to make us feel
small and guilty. God is merciful. He wants none of us to have to live with sin
and guilt or to live without His love. God wants to be in a relationship with
each of us. He created humankind for that purpose. God created us with free
will, therefore, He knew we would sin and turn away from Him. Because He knew
this, He had a plan to bring us back into relationship with Him – mercy, grace,
and salvation through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.
God
wants everyone to return to Him.
He
calls each of us by name.
What
will your answer be to Him?
