Deuteronomy 30:1-20
1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
2 And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
3 That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
5 And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
7 And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.
8 And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.
9 And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:
10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Deuteronomy: God’s Law of Love
Love and Obey the *LORD your God
Deuteronomy
Philip Smith
Chapter 30
v1 ‘All these *blessings and *curses, that I have told you about, will happen to you. You will live among the nations to which the *LORD your God has scattered you. Then remember. v2 Suppose that you and your *descendants return to the *LORD your God. Then you obey completely all the commands that I am giving to you today. v3 Then the *LORD your God will have *mercy on you. You will not continue to be prisoners. He will bring you back from the nations where the *LORD your God has scattered you. v4 Maybe he scattered you to the most distant country in the world. Even then, the *LORD your God will gather you from there and he will bring you back. v5 He will bring you to the country that belonged to your *ancestors. Then you will possess it. The *LORD will make you richer and more successful. You will be more in number than your *ancestors were. v6 The *LORD your God will give to you and to your *descendants, a desire to obey him. So, you will love the *LORD your God completely and you will live. v7 The *LORD your God will put all these *curses on your enemies. They hate and they attack you. v8 You will obey the *LORD again. You will *keep all his *commandments that I order you today. v9 Then the *LORD your God will make you successful in all that you do. You will have many children and many *cattle. Your fields will produce many crops. The *LORD was glad to make your *ancestors successful. In the same way, he will be glad to make you successful. v10 You will have to obey the *LORD your God. You will have to *keep all his *commandments and his rules that are in this book of the law. You will have to return and *worship the *LORD your God completely.’
Moses ends his speech with a hopeful message. Also, he urges the people to obey God’s commands. God might have sent the *Israelites away from their country because they did not love God. And they had not obeyed him. But if they returned to God, then God would show *mercy to them. If the *Israelites returned to the *Lord, then he would *bless them again. They would own more than they had before. Then they would change the way that they were thinking. The Bible calls this ‘repentance’. They would want to love and to obey him. Jeremiah writes about this in Jeremiah 31:33-34. ‘I will write my laws on their minds. I will forgive their *sins. I will not continue to remember the wrong things that they have done.’ When a person obeys God, the result is *blessing. Jeremiah 32:41 says, ‘It will give me pleasure to do good things for them.’
Some people believe that the *Jewish nation will believe Jesus. Paul writes about this in Romans Chapter s 9-11. He says that the Gentiles will believe Jesus. (Gentiles are people who are not *Jews.) They will believe Jesus when most *Jews do not believe. But one day, *Jews will see the *blessings that the Gentiles have. As a result, the *Jews will trust Jesus and they will receive God’s *mercy. So, ‘all *Israel will receive *salvation’. (See Romans 11:26.) This may mean that the whole *Israelite nation will receive *salvation at that time. But some people do not agree with that. For those people, ‘all *Israel’ refers to all the non-*Jewish Christians plus all the *Jews who will trust Jesus.
v11 ‘The *commandment that I am giving to you today is not too difficult for you. It is not too hard for what you are able to do. v12 It is not in heaven. You do not have to ask this. “Who will go up to heaven and bring it down for us? Then we will hear it and we will do it.” v13 It is not on the other side of the sea, so that you have to ask this question. “Who will go across the sea to get it? Then they can bring it to us. And we can hear it and we can do it.” v14 No, the words are very near to you. They are in your minds and you can speak about them. So, you can obey them too.
v15 Today I am giving to you a choice. You can choose to live and then good things will happen to you. Or you can choose death and then very bad things will happen to you. v16 Today, I order you to love the *LORD your God. You must do what he says. And you must *keep his *commandments, rules and laws. Then you will live and you will increase in numbers. The *LORD your God will *bless you in the country that you will enter to possess.
v17 But maybe you will not obey and you will refuse to listen. People may persuade you to *worship and to serve false gods. v18 If so, I tell you that God will *destroy you. You will cross the River Jordan and you will enter the country to possess it. But you will not stay there for a long time.
v19 I ask heaven and earth to be a *witness against you today. I have given to you the choice. You can choose to live or to die. And you can choose between *blessings and *curses. Therefore, choose to live, so that you and your *descendants can live. v20 Love the *LORD your God. Obey what he says. Be *faithful to him. The *LORD makes you alive. He will let you live for many years in the country. He promised to give this country to your *ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’
As Moses ends his speech he gives the people a choice. God’s commands were not difficult for the *Israelites to understand. They could discover them easily. God had spoken from the place where he lives. But the people could understand him easily. The commands did not come from a long distance away. God had not written them in a foreign language. People could repeat the *commandments and they could obey the *commandments. The basic command was that everyone should love God. If they loved God, then everything else would happen too. It was a choice to live or to die. It was a choice between good things and evil things. ‘To live’ and ‘to die’ do not refer to just physical things. God wants to give *blessings. ‘To live’ means that people enjoy his *blessings. ‘To die’ means that people suffer the *curses.
31:1 – 33:29 From Moses to Joshua
Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the word ‘Adonai’ in the Hebrew language, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It is the Covenant name for God. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has always been here.
covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
blessing ~ a good thing that God does for us; when someone asks God to do good things for a person or for people; when a person speaks good words about someone.
curse ~ the opposite of a blessing; bad things that God will do to people because they have been wicked; to say that God will curse someone.
blessing ~ a good thing that God does for us; when someone asks God to do good things for a person or for people; when a person speaks good words about someone.
mercy ~ kindness instead of punishment.
ancestors ~ people in your family who lived before you.
descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
keep ~ to do whatever you should do because of a promise or a law; to respect and to give honour to the law.
commandment ~ a rule or a command that God gave to the Jews; the 10 rules that God gave to Moses. That was on the mountain called Mount Sinai (or Horeb); a command from someone who has authority.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Mount ~ mountain. For example, ‘Mount Sinai’ means the mountain called Sinai.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.
descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a sacrifice.
sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the word ‘Adonai’ in the Hebrew language, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.
LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It is the Covenant name for God. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has always been here.
covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to the Jews.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.
descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.
descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
destroy ~ to damage something so that it does not continue to exist; to kill people or animals.
faithful ~ when someone always does what they have promised to do; when someone is loyal at all times.