Deuteronomy 30

Moses completed his exposition of the law in 26: and then began to bring his long farewell message to a close with a personal challenge to obedience. As we’ve seen before, the book of Deuteronomy is patterned after the ancient treaties given by kings to conquered nations. The Lord is the King and Israel is His chosen nation and special people. He took the Jews to Himself by defeating Egypt and setting Israel free to love Him and to serve Him. Moses has reviewed what the Lord did for Israel and said to Israel, and he has spelled out the terms of the covenant. Now he will explain the benefits of obeying the Lord and the disciplines that will come if Israel disobeys.

So often in Scripture, the thundering voice of judgment is followed by the loving voice of hope. Alas, Israel did forsake the Lord and follow after idols, and the Lord did bring on His people the judgments stated in His covenant. No nation in history has suffered as much as the nation of Israel, and yet no nation has given so much spiritual wealth to the world. In this chapter, Moses looked down through the centuries and saw the future restoration of Israel in their land and under the blessings of God.

Promise (vv. 1–10). “Heart” is one of the key words in this chapter (vv. 2, 6, 10); the others are “command” or “commandment” (vv. 2, 8, 10, 11, 16), “turn” or “return” (vv. 2, 3, 8, 10), and “life” (vv. 15, 19, 20). The connection is obvious: if God’s people turn from their sins and return with all their heart to God and God’s commandments and obey them, they will enjoy life as only the Lord can give. Moses is here looking forward to the time when a chastened Israel will repent, turn from their wicked ways, and come back to the Lord.

To some extent, a regathering occurred after the Babylonian captivity, when a believing remnant returned to the land and rebuilt the temple, but the fulfillment of this promise (vv. 3–6) will not take place until the end times. The people of Israel today are scattered throughout the world, while in the nation of Israel there are about 6 million people. But the Lord promises to regather His people, bring them back to their land, and bless them. But first, a spiritual “operation” must take place, the circumcision of their hearts so that they will receive their Messiah, love their Lord, and experience the spiritual life that He promised.

Bible scholars disagree about the future of Israel. Some say that the church is now “spiritual Israel” and that all of these Old Testament promises are now being fulfilled in a spiritual sense in the church. Others say that the Old Testament promises must be taken at face value and that we should expect a fulfillment of them when Jesus Christ returns to establish His kingdom on earth. Moses seems to be speaking here to and about Israel and not some other “people of God” in the future, such as the church. The church has no covenant relationship to the land of Israel, for God gave that land to Abraham and his descendants (Gen. 15), and the blessings and curses were declared to Israel, not the church. It would appear that there will be a literal fulfillment of these promises to Israel. When they repent, turn back to Jehovah, and open their hearts to the operation of His Spirit (Ezek. 37:1–14; Isa. 11:2; Joel 2:28–29), God will save them from their sins and establish them in Messiah’s glorious kingdom (Zech. 12:10–13:1; 14:8–9).

Choice (vv. 11–20). Because we’re created in the image of God, we have minds to think with, hearts to feel with, and a will to decide with, and God calls us to make right decisions. We’re not robots; we can hear God’s Word, learn God’s will, and decide either to obey or disobey. Moses made it clear that making this decision isn’t a difficult task. After all, we have the revealed truth of God in His Word, and that Word is available to us. We don’t have to go up to heaven to get the Word, or even across the sea to another country, because God has brought His Word to us. Paul quoted this passage in Romans 10:6–10 to prove that righteousness isn’t obtained by doing great feats but by exercising simple faith in Jesus Christ the Lord.

Furthermore, the choice is between life and death, and who would deliberately choose death? In Israel’s case, the choice was between trusting God and enjoying the bounties of the land (“life and good”), or turning to idols and experiencing the curses given in the covenant (“death and evil”). It’s either “life and blessing” or “death and cursing.” Is this a difficult decision to make? Of course, today the choice is between eternal life and eternal death, salvation by the grace of God or condemnation by the righteousness of God. The only sensible decision is to choose life. “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3: nkjv).

Moses called all creation to witness Israel’s great opportunity to accept the covenant and enjoy its blessings (Deut. 30:19; 31:28; 32:1; Ps. 50:1; Isa. 1:2). God offered His people life, for God is our life (Deut. 30:20). “For in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). We receive from Him not only physical life in our first birth but also spiritual life through our second birth (John 3:1–18).

This marks the end of Moses’ farewell address, the review of the law, and the renewal of the covenant. He still has much more to say, and what he says is very important. Then Moses will die and the Lord will bury him where nobody can find the body. Joshua will then take over and lead Israel to triumph in their Promised Land.