Reflections on Deuteronomy 30

Deuteronomy 30 (Contemporary English Version)

1. I have told you everything the LORD your God will do for you, and I've also told you the curses he will put on you if you reject him. He will scatter you in faraway countries, but when you realize that he is punishing you,
   
2. return to him with all your heart and soul and start obeying the commands I have given to you today.
   
3. Then he will stop punishing you and treat you with kindness. He may have scattered you to the farthest countries on earth, but he will bring you back
   
4. (SEE 30:3)
   
5. to the land that had belonged to your ancestors and make you even more successful and powerful than they ever were.
   
6. You and your descendants are stubborn, but the LORD will make you willing to obey him and love him with all your heart and soul, and you will enjoy a long life.
   
7. Then the LORD your God will remove the curses from you and put them on those enemies who hate and attack you.
   
8. You will again obey the laws and teachings of the LORD,
   
9. and he will bless you with many children, large herds and flocks, and abundant crops. The LORD will be happy to do good things for you, just as he did for your ancestors.
   
10. But you must decide once and for all to worship him with all your heart and soul and to obey everything in The Book of God's Law.
    
11. You know God's laws, and it isn't impossible to obey them.
    
12. His commands aren't in heaven, so you can't excuse yourselves by saying, "How can we obey the LORD's commands? They are in heaven, and no one can go up to get them, then bring them down and explain them to us."
    
13. And you can't say, "How can we obey the LORD's commands? They are across the sea, and someone must go across, then bring them back and explain them to us."
    
14. No, these commands are nearby and you know them by heart. All you have to do is obey!
    
15. Today I am giving you a choice. You can choose life and success or death and disaster.
    
16. I am commanding you to be loyal to the LORD, to live the way he has told you, and to obey his laws and teachings. You are about to cross the Jordan River and take the land that he is giving you. If you obey him, you will live and become successful and powerful. On the other hand, you might choose to disobey the LORD and reject him. So I'm warning you that if you bow down and worship other gods, you won't have long to live.
    
17. (SEE 30:16)
    
18. (SEE 30:16)
    
19. Right now I call the sky and the earth to be witnesses that I am offering you this choice. Will you choose for the LORD to make you prosperous and give you a long life? Or will he put you under a curse and kill you? Choose life!
    
20. Be completely faithful to the LORD your God, love him, and do whatever he tells you. The LORD is the only one who can give life, and he will let you live a long time in the land that he promised to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
    

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    After outlining to the people the laws of the covenant which included the blessings and curses of keeping the laws or disobeying them, Moses now tells them what more is to take place. He anticipates that they will both enjoy the blessings and suffer the curses. When they suffer the curses they will be driven from the Promised Land that the Lord gave them and scattered among other nations. After a time they will eventually come to their senses and "you and your children (will) return to the LORD your God and obey Him with all your heart and all your soul by doing everything I am giving you today." (30:2) When they do this the Lord "will restore your fortunes, have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you." (30:3)
    
    With the restoration will come a new covenant. Instead of animal sacrifice, this covenant will be established in Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Israel will once again be obedient to the Lord under this new covenant and will enjoy the blessings He promises while their enemies will be the ones to incur the curses.
    
    Referring back to the covenant Moses had just given them from the Lord, he pointed out that while it was not easy to keep, it was not difficult to understand or inaccessible to them. It was as near as "the tongue in your mouth, as near as the heart in your chest." (30:14 The Message) They just had to do it. There was the difficulty.
    
    Moses put before them the choice they faced. It was important they understood the implications of their choice. Yes, it was a choice of obedience versus disobedience, but it was also a choice of "life and prosperity," or "death and adversity." (30:15) When understood from this perspective could the choice be too difficult to make? The problem was, and still is, that it is not a one-time choice. It is a choice that is made daily. And depending on the way in which the choice presents itself and the frame of mind we are in when it is presented, we can, at the moment of choice, lose perspective on the real choice being made. This highlights the importance of continual fellowship with the One who enables us to make wise choices.