Deuteronomy 30:6-10 – The need for a circumcised heart

Circumcision was the act where the foreskin of the male genital was cut off. In Genesis 17 we are told that it was the sign of the covenant that God had with Abraham. It was an outward sign that marked Abraham and his descendants as God’s consecrated people. This sign would help them to remember that they belonged to God. But it was possible for some to go through the physical circumcision but would not act and live as God’s covenant people. They could go through the motion but not really embrace and live out what was required of them in this rite. That's why there was a need for another circumcision, the circumcision of the heart. Deuteronomy 30:6-10 speaks of this circumcision. Notice that this was an act that God Himself would perform on them. Verse 6 explicitly said, “Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of  your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.”

What is this circumcision of the heart and what does it mean? This is an act where God consecrates His people to Himself and renews their hearts enabling them to live for Him. In this act, God would purify their desire to love Him. Hence, their obedience would be an outflow of that love. It would not be a rigid, legalistic attempt to keep the law to gain the favor of God. Whether we know it or not, if we ever want to truly live a life that will please God and delight His heart, we need His enablement. Jesus underscores this in John 15:5. He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” We need God to give us the desire as well as the willingness to obey and live for Him.

The result of a circumcised heart guarantees God’s blessings. Their experiences would differ from those with uncircumcised hearts. While they would enjoy God’s blessings, the people with uncircumcised hearts would suffer the curses. They would walk in obedience, reap rich rewards, and enjoy prosperity in every area. There would be fruitfulness in their work. And in the family, their number would increase. In livestock, their herd and flocks would multiply. In their crops, they would experience bountiful harvests. Just picture the scene in our minds. God delights over His people and grants them blessings beyond measure, and the people loving, obeying, and rejoicing in Him. Here we recall the words of the Prophet Zephaniah who says, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy (Zephaniah 3:17).” This is the desire of God for us in Christ.

In these verses, we see the need to live a life of consecration. At the altar of sacrifice, we must give our lives once for all to Christ. But in our journey with Him, there will be many more altars of rededication, where we constantly align and renew our commitment to worship and serve more faithfully and dedicatedly. Let us do it now!

 

 

Deuteronomy 30:1-5 – How to have a restored relationship with God

Be sure that God wanted His people to be truly blessed. His one desire from His people was for them to honor their covenant relationship with Him by obeying His instructions and commandments. Just as sure as the blessings would be theirs when they obeyed Him, the curse would be their experience when they chose to disobey Him. God who knew all things from the beginning saw that at some point these chosen people would fail Him and He would have to judge them. They would be driven from the promised land, scattered, and taken into captivity. Even then, there would be a way out for them. When they would repent and return to Him, He would restore them. This was the gist of Deuteronomy 30:1-5.

Here the wonderful grace of God for their lives was on display. Despite knowing how wayward His people could be, God only had the very best intention for them. Blessings were what He wanted them to experience. Think about it this way, the curses were only there to deter them from being unfaithful to Him. They were never His intention for them to experience. So these five verses instructed them on how they could return and be restored to God when they were caught in the mire of their cursed experiences.

In whatever miserable state they would be in, God’s promise of restoration stood. When they remembered their covenant relationship with Him, repented from their sin, and returned to Him to obey and love Him wholeheartedly, He would restore them. No matter at which corner of the earth they were banished to, God promised to gather them back to the land again. He would also restore their fortune and prosper them. Oh, how broad are the mercies and love of God!

From these five verses, we see the heart of God clearly. He only wants the best for His children. He prefers to bless us. The miserable experiences of disobedience are only prescribed to show us how terrible life can be without an intact relationship with Him. No matter how far we have fallen, if we recall, repent, and return to Him, He will restore us. However, do take note that we must return to Him sincerely. We must love and obey Him wholeheartedly. And we can love Him only because He first loved us. These verses show us the extent of God’s love. A moment of His love is worth more than a lifetime of love others can give to us. May our first prayer each day be:

Awaken my heart, to know and love you, O my Lord.
Awaken my heart, to know your love and to love you in return,
Freely flowing for an awakened heart.

Deuteronomy 29:29 – The call to live obediently

The covenant God had with the people of Israel had been ratified. It was evident that they would be His people and He would be their God. Also evident was that obedience would guarantee blessings and disobedience would result in curses. Whether they would walk in ways to inherit the blessings or the curses was a decision they could determine. All they had to do to be blessed was to obey.

There was no question that God could fail. But on the part of the children of Israel, there was no such certainty. Whatever the case, God alone knew their future. He already knew how they would behave from the start. This stamped from the fact that He always had a wholistic revelation. He knew the end from the beginning. But the covenant people, including us, only have a progressive revelation. Like us, they could only understand an event after it had come to pass. The marvelous grace of God was that He did not expect anything from them other than to obey all that had been revealed to them.

Did God know that they would be disobedient at some point? He certainly did. Would they be able to adhere to all the commandments and instructions? The clear answer would be a no. But God saw all that from the beginning. And whatever would happen, He had already made the provision for their failures. He had the sacrificial system installed. This was a clear indication that He would forgive when they repent. All they had to do when they had failed Him was to act obediently. They could just repent and receive His forgiveness through the sacrificial system. There was always the opportunity to realign and be restored.

Deuteronomy 29:29 is God’s gracious hint to His people, us included. He knows the innate nature of us fallen people. We have always been curious concerning our future. Many would resort to the horoscope, fortune-telling, palmistry, and such to ascertain their future. The truth is this: God alone holds the future of our lives. Today, the Written Word is His revelation to guide us to that future. They are truths from God for us to live by. We must learn to live by faith and obey His Word. All we need now is to ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate our hearts and our minds and lead us through the Written Word to Christ, our Living Word. He is the key to our future!

Deuteronomy 29:22-29 – Being faithful to God and live for Him gratefully

It is difficult to imagine anyone wanting to leave for his descendants a legacy of woes. If anything, a person would rather leave a heritage of lasting blessings to his posterity. What we see in Deuteronomy 29:22-28 is a description of a legacy of woes. That would be what the people of Israel would leave for their children if they chose to break their covenant with God. That is: if they deflect from worshipping and serving Him and go after other gods instead of remaining faithful to Him alone.

How would such a legacy look like? The land God gave to them would be drastically affected. It would be inflicted with plagues and diseases. Like Sodom, Gomorrah, and the nearby cities of Admah and Zeboiim, their land would be judged, overthrown, and left in ruin. It would become non-productive, unsown, and uncultivatable land that would be left in desolation and waste. Verse 28 said that the LORD in His anger would uproot their descendants and “cast them into another land.”

Their ruin would cause nations to ask uncomfortable questions. The answers would cause them to be scorned and labeled as unfaithful and ungrateful people. These would be said of them, “Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they have not known and whom He had not allotted to them. Therefore, the anger of the Lord burned against that land, to bring upon it every curse which is written in this book; and the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger and in fury and in great wrath, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.”

What would we rather leave behind for our children and their children? A legacy of blessings or a legacy of woes? If the former, then be faithful to God. Develop an attitude of gratitude. Set our hearts and affections on God alone. We must not allow our passion for other things in life to distract us and dislodge our devotion for Him. Let us seek to be steadfast, constant, faithful, and loyal to God alone. We and our children will inherit a legacy of rich blessings. That’s the promise of God! 

Deuteronomy 29:16-21 – Don’t live presumptuously

Reading Deuteronomy 29:16-21 tell us why it is important to guard our heart with all diligence. Here we see God’s warning to the people of Israel hinting that they should guard their hearts for it was the place where the sins of apostasy and presumption would originate. The message here was clear. Breaking the covenant with God would bring dire consequences. Here Moses gave a description of what would be the consequences.    

To indulge in idolatry was an abomination to God. In verses 16- 17, Moses took them into their past. Although many of them were children then, they would have some impression of what life was like in Egypt. Idols of all materials were prevalent and were readily revered and worshiped. Having seen all that, the children of Israel should know well enough not to indulge in them. Especially when they entered the promised land where pagan idols would once again be aplenty. The first area God wanted them to guard was their hearts. Why? Verse 18 made it explicitly clear. God said, “So that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.” Plainly put, God was asking them not to hanker after idolatry and then fall away from following Him.

Verse 19 was a warning against being presumptuous. It was possible that with the abundance of God’s blessings some might choose to live presumptuously and turn away from Him. Such people would imagine security amid dangers. To live in such a way was living in self-denial and self-deception. He would say to himself, “I have peace” when there was no such peace. It’s living in a world of make-believe. To such people, God warned of terrible results. Verses 20-21 warned that anyone caught in such sins would not be spared. He would be subjected to divine retribution and cut out from God’s covenant blessing. He would be singled out from all of Israel and made to suffer adversity according to the curses prescribed in the covenant. He would ultimately be obliterated and forgotten.

Three things to take away from this passage. Firstly, we need to let our past educate us. There are lessons there that we can apply in our forward journey. Learning from our past prepares us for the future and teaches us to live wisely in the present. Secondly, we need to be watchful that we do not be influenced to live a life of indulgence. For the people of Israel, idols of all sorts were a constant menace. For us, our idols could be riches, our cars, our house, our spouse, our children, the list can go on ad infinitum. Don’t be distracted by them. Don’t let the bountiful provisions become a curse. Thirdly, we must not live presumptuously. For it will hinder us from putting in our best effort to truly live for God. Watch out for signs of the coldness of heart!     

Deuteronomy 29:10-15 – Security and our relationship with God

The people of Israel were at the threshold of entering the promised land. They were in the plain of Moab and about to cross the Jordan into the promised land. Everyone was gathered for a  renewal of the covenant. It was a momentous day. The word “today” occurred five times in the six verses from Deuteronomy 29:10-15 to emphasize the importance of this event. Why was this day so significant? It was the day God would ratify the covenant He had with them. The generation that God first had the covenant with all died in the wilderness. There was going to be a fresh start for this second generation, and they needed to be reminded that they were still God’s covenant people. The timing of this moment was significant because they were entering a new phase of life in Canaan. The challenges facing them would be aplenty as they set foot in Canaan. There would be wars to be fought and opportunities to be seized. It was a  much-needed moment. They needed to be made aware that they were God’s own priceless possession and that He would be the one leading and guiding them.   

Who were those that should be at the ceremony? Verses 10-12 have this to say, “…your chiefs, your tribes, your elders and your officers, All tribes were to be involved in this historic ceremony. even all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and the alien who is within your camps, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, that you may enter into the covenant with the Lord your God, and into His oath which the Lord your God is making with you today.” Everyone, great or small, adult or child, young or old, God promised to be their God. So considerate was God that verse 15 included those who were not present at the ceremony that day. Could God be referring to those yet to be born to them?     

When properly understood, the covenant ratification was not just an ordinary moment. It was with God whom they were making the covenant. And it was He who had initiated this moment. The content of the covenant remained unchanged. He promised to be their God and they would remain His special people. It was a privilege accorded to them by God. They were chosen specially by Him to be His treasured possession. He would be leading, protecting, and providing for them as they entered the promised land.

Like the people of Israel then, it is also needful for us to know that in Christ we belong to God. In His beloved Son, we are  His New Covenant people, and He is for us not against us. In our journey, there will be opportunities to seize, battles to win, territories to claim. It is important to know that He is with us in all of life’s undertakings. If He is with us and for us, who and what can overcome us? We need to make sure our relationship with Him is intact. Let’s make our calling and election sure!              

 

         

Deuteronomy 29:1-9 – Living discerningly

God through Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt and their bondage forty years ago. When they reached Mount Sinai, He made a covenant with them that they would be His people and He would be their God. He promised to lead them into a land flowing with milk and honey. However, that generation that came out had stubbornly resisted Him. They had persistently tested Him and would not follow Him obediently. Hence, they all perished in the wilderness except for Moses, Caleb, and Joshua.

Since then, a new generation had now arisen. Most of them were children when Moses first led them out of Egypt. Some were probably born in the wilderness. This new generation was a reminder of the faithfulness of God. He had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that He would make them a great nation and lead them into a land flowing with milk and honey. This generation was now at the plain of Moab and about to cross the Jordan into the promised land. All this while, Moses had been instructing them and set before them all the commandments of God. In Deuteronomy 26, they had affirmed the LORD as their God. They even promised to walk in His ways, to keep His commandments, and to heed His voice. So now in Deuteronomy 29, Moses gathered them to have them formally renew the pledge that they had made then.

Moses began by reminding them of their past. He wanted them to know with certainty that every experience they had was divine providence. Everything from their bondage and suffering to the mighty deliverance by signs and wonders was a demonstration of God’s grace. He had miraculously led and sustained them through the wilderness. Their clothes and shoes did not wear out. And though they had no bread nor wine or strong drink, yet God supernaturally sustained them. They even had success in their battle with Kings Sihon and Og. They were helped in conquering their lands which were allotted to the tribes of  Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

Verse 4 tells us that despite all that God had done for them, they could not perceive His gracious dealings with them. Their hearts did not understand, their eyes did not see, and their ears did not hear. They could not discern the hand of God and were oblivious of His gracious provision. Discernment is spiritual perception. It is a gift of God that can be developed when one spends time listening and connecting with Him. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:14 that  “…a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” Like Israel, in the abundance of God’s provision, we too can forget that He is our source. We need to pray for spiritual eyes to see, spiritual ears to hear, and receptive hearts to perceive His dealings in our lives. We need discernment and spiritual receptivity so that we can identify and acknowledge His gracious hand in all areas of our lives. When we are discerning and receptive, we will surely love Him with all our hearts, souls,  minds, and strengths and live faithfully to honor Him, our Mighty God!