Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy Chapter 30

• Deuteronomy 30:1 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,

No matter what country they lived in or even the laws of that country, they were to obey the Lord and keep His commandments. Israel and actually any other country ran into trouble when they stopped obeying God. They lost their nation because of disobedience in the days of the Babylonian captivity. They lost it again in 70 AD after their rejection of Jesus Christ. 

• Deuteronomy 30:2 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:

All they had to do when they came under any curse of the law was to return to God with all their heart and soul. God would then reverse their captivity and bring them back to the land He promised them back in the days of Abraham.

• Deuteronomy 30:5 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.

Notice God speaks of circumcision of the heart. In the new covenant through Jesus Christ, a way is provided for the true circumcision of the heart. God was more concerned with the a change within the inner person than physical circumcision. They were to become a new creature, sin washed away, serving God with their hearts instead of the law. The law written within. This was available to all outside of Israel as well. Outward religious ordinances are symbolic. What really counts is what is happening within our soul and spirit. The inner person needs a real change that is brought about by receiving Jesus and allowing His Holy Spirit to dwell within us. We receive this by believing in Him to remove our sins and give us this new way we call being born again by God's spirit.

• Jeremiah 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
• 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
• 33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
• 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Wow, isn't this great. If the people all over the world would realize what great things God has for those that come to Him and accept His way of salvation, they would not have to wallow in the silly sins that we think we have to have to be happy.  Now not only Israel but any who believe in Jesus Christ can have their sins forgiven and this wonderful law of God in their innermost being. This is the only way that a Jew will love a Muslim, a Muslim will love a Jew, and there will be peace on the earth. Not to join into one big religious organization with the use of force. That will not and has never worked. We need God's spirit within us to have real world peace. Our hearts and minds need changed. The words "Repent and believe the gospel," is the key. 

• Isaiah 64:4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.

This is more than just getting their original land back although that too is part of God's promise to them. This is the promise of sins being washed away and forgotten by God. This is the promise of eternal life, this is everlasting fellowship with the Lord that no one can take away from them again.

• Deuteronomy 30:7 And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.

To those that persecute Israel or any true believer in Jesus Christ, the curses promised to a disobedient Israel will fall upon those that persecute them. Here is one way to tell the false from the real. A true representative of Jesus Christ will not ever physically harm someone because of the way they believe. If any religion kills, tortures, rapes, throws in jail, confiscates property, or uses cruelty of any kind to those they consider unbelievers, then they themselves are not true believers in Jesus. They just have a religion they call Christianity, they do not have the law of God within their hearts.

This doesn't mean they can't defend themselves, or fight in a war, or enforce the law of the land like a police officer; this means that a true believer will never lift up their hand to harm someone because of their faith or the way they believe unless of course their religion is what causes physical harm to innocent people. Jesus said to be harmless and at peace with all men when spreading the gospel. Persecution is never a trait of a true child of God.

• Deuteronomy 30:8 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:

All God's laws and commandments were for their good. He blesses the ground that it bring forth food. He blesses whole nations when they obey His commandments. 

• Deuteronomy 30:10 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.

His word is now available in a volume of a book to read and understand. Also Jesus is the word made flesh. To receive Jesus is to receive God's word within us. 

• Deuteronomy 30:15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;

They had the power to choose life or death, good or evil. We also have a choice to choose life or choose eternal death. Why the majority chooses the way of sin and disobedience is foretold in the gospels. The reason so many refuse this good way is that they don't want to give up their sins.

• Matthew 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
• 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

 Sadly the majority choose to remain in their sins rather than receive Christ and have eternal life.

• John 7:7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.

There is a cry that goes out to all Israel and the whole world. We don't have to die in our sins and enter into eternity without God in a place prepared for the devil and His followers. We can escape. That is why God send Jesus to save us but the gospel includes turning away from sin and that is the part that many reject. Sin is what brings a curse and causes a soul to be lost forever. Jesus came to reverse that curse.

• Deuteronomy 30:16 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.

All He asks Israel and other believers in Christ today is to love Him and walk in His ways. 

• Deuteronomy 30:17 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.

The choice is ours to make....death or life.....to be free from sin or continue in sin without any repentance.  -DC

Deuteronomy Chapter 31