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 take them to heart among all the nations whither Jehovah thy God hath driven thee,
Moses is speaking to people who have not yet entered the land. Already he describes a day when they will be scattered out of it, with the blessing and the curse behind them. The chapter starts here: not with how Israel keeps the land, but with what God does after they lose it.
Chapter 29 closes by speaking of God's secret things. One commentator sees chapter 30 as the start of those secrets coming out.
This chapter is one of very deep interest and importance. It is prophetic, and presents to us some of "the secret things" referred to at the close of the preceding chapter. It opens up some of the most precious resources of grace stored in the heart of God. He kept them to be revealed when Israel, having completely failed to keep the law, would be scattered to the ends of the earth.
The verse assumes that everything Moses set before them arrives, curses included. Those curses sound final. One writer shows they are not.
Deuteronomy 28 uses the word six times about Israel, and never once does it mean their extinction. "Also every sickness and every plague… the Lord will bring upon you until you are destroyed." Are they extinct? No. It says, "you shall be left few in number." Then, after the curse has run its course, it adds, "the Lord will turn your captivity"! (Deut. 30:1-3.) [The ESV reads "restore your fortunes" where older translations read "turn your captivity."]
Israel calls these things to mind far from the altar, scattered among the nations. One writer shows what that setting rules out, and what it leaves open.
The first verse of our chapter makes one thing perfectly clear. It views the people in a condition where keeping the ordinances of the law is impossible. But, blessed be God, there is not a spot on the face of the earth, however remote, from which the heart cannot turn to God. The hands might not be able to bring a sacrifice to the altar. The feet might not be able to travel to the appointed place of worship. But the heart could travel to God.
Chapter 29 ends with the nation's failure under law. One writer shows the ground God moves to next.
In Deuteronomy 29 he describes the total breakdown of the whole nation on that ground. In Deuteronomy 30 he turns to show how God would come in on another ground altogether — the ground of grace. Israel's final blessing on earth depends not on what they do, but on God's faithfulness to His word. They are to gain righteousness and blessing not by works of law, but by faith in God's word.
So the chapter does not leave Israel's turning as an open question.
In Deuteronomy 30 the repentance of Israel is stated, not only as a condition of restoration, but as a fact.
Does Israel's long failure cancel the promise? One commentator answers from this chapter and from Romans.
There are some (even Christians) who insist that Israel has departed so far from God that they can never be restored. But they must ignore chapter 30:1-10, and also Romans 9, 10 and 11, which speak positively of Israel's eventual restoration. Israel would go through all the blessing and cursing, and would be driven out of their land. Suppose they then remember God's word and return to Him, set on obeying it. The Lord promises to bring them back from their captivity. He will gather them with compassion from all the nations where they have been scattered (vv. 1-3).
Exile stripped away every outward support for obedience. Another writer asks what was left.
The privileges that belonged to that whole system were gone. Obedience, in the literal sense, was impossible. The ark was gone; the Urim and Thummim were gone. The temple was ruined and burned with fire — the only place where those services could be carried out. And they were captives, moved from place to place. What then could be done? The word was near them, in their heart and in their mouth, so that they might do it. This was the principle of conduct that secured God's accepting favour. It is the only principle by which we can walk with God, and please Him, when all is dark.
- Curse. Blessing and curse both arrive. Yet "destroyed" in Deuteronomy 28 never means wiped out — chapter 30 speaks of God turning their captivity afterwards.
- Memory. The turning point is remembering. It happens among the nations, where altar, temple and ordinances are out of reach.
- Return. Literal obedience was impossible. The heart could still travel to God, and that is how anyone walks with Him in the dark.
- Grace. Restoration stands on another ground: God's faithfulness to His word, not Israel's doings.
- Certainty. God states their repentance as fact, not only as condition. No failure puts Israel's restoration beyond reach.
and shalt return to Jehovah thy God, and shalt hearken to his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy sons, with all thy heart and with all thy soul;
Moses is describing a day that has not yet come. Israel is scattered among the nations, the blessing and the curse have both fallen, and then the people turn back to God with heart and soul. The verse raises the hardest question in the book. If they have already failed under the law, what could bring them home?
This chapter follows Israel's ruin, not their obedience. One writer sees it as God unveiling what He had kept hidden until then.
This chapter is one of very deep interest and importance. It is prophetic, and it shows us some of "the secret things" mentioned at the end of the previous chapter. It opens up some of the most precious riches of grace stored up in the heart of God. God kept them for the day when Israel, having failed completely to keep the law, would be scattered to the ends of the earth.
Another writer contrasts this restoration with the covenant of chapter 28, which the people had already broken:
That is the tenor of the covenant on which they held the comforts of the land, as set out in Deuteronomy 28, after they had broken the earlier one. And that is the principle of the restoration — covenants of faith, taken up once they had lost the fruits of the first — as given in Deuteronomy 30.
Verse 1 places the people far from the temple, the altar and the land. So returning cannot mean taking up the rituals again.
Verse 1 of our chapter proves as clearly as possible that the people are in a condition where keeping the ordinances of the law is simply impossible. But, blessed be God, there is not a spot on the face of the earth, be it ever so remote, from which the heart cannot turn to God. The hands might not be able to present a victim for the altar; the feet might not be able to travel to the appointed place of worship; but the heart could travel to God.
Notice the measure set on this return: the whole heart, the whole soul. That lifts it above law-keeping.
How touching and beautiful all this is! It is no question of law-keeping, but of something far deeper and far more precious. It is the turning of the heart — the whole heart, the whole soul — to Jehovah, at a time when literal obedience to the law is impossible. It is a broken and contrite heart turning to God, and God, in deep and tender compassion, meeting that heart. This is true blessedness, at all times, and in all places.
The verse names the children beside the parents. One writer reads this as deliberate: the promise reached past the generation in front of Moses.
He goes on to unfold the Lord's covenant with them further. He shows them that they would fully enter into the curse of disobedience. Even then, if they or their children repented — for that covenant covered every generation alike — the Lord would have compassion on them and gather them. He would circumcise their heart, so that they would live for ever and be blessed in every work of their hand.
The return is not the end of the passage. It opens the door to more than the nation had ever known.
Israel's situation may have looked hopeless — no temple, no relationship with God, scattered among the nations. Even so, there was a way of healing: return. "When … you … return to the LORD your God." For that day God had set aside a blessing greater than the one the fathers received … How great a measure of God's grace!
This raises a further question: who is the promise for, and does it still stand?
In Deuteronomy 30 the repentance of Israel stands not only as a condition of restoration, but as a fact … These words were spoken to Israel as a nation, and only Israel as a nation can see them fulfilled. The same people who are cast out are the ones God will bring back, to have their hearts circumcised and to be ruled over again by the Lord for good. This is God's distinct undertaking about Israel, and it is not yet fulfilled.
That reading has a direct edge against a common assumption:
There are some (even Christians) who insist that Israel has departed so far from God that they can never be restored. But they must ignore chapter 30:1-10 … If they would remember God's word and return to Him with a purpose of heart to obey it, then the Lord promises to bring them back from their captivity. He will gather them with compassion from all the nations where they have been scattered.
- Failure first. God gives this promise to a people already scattered and under the curse — grace held in reserve for the worst day.
- Heart, not hands. With altar and temple out of reach, God asks for the whole heart and soul. The heart can travel to Him from anywhere.
- Reach. No distance shuts anyone out, and no generation drops out — the promise names the children with their parents.
- Response. God meets the returning heart. He gathers His people and gives a blessing greater than the fathers ever received.
- Certainty. Commentators read it as fact, not just possibility: a promise to the nation that God has not withdrawn.
that then Jehovah thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will gather thee again from all the peoples whither Jehovah thy God hath scattered thee.
Moses speaks to a nation that has not yet entered the land, describing what God will do long after they are driven out of it. Can a people scattered for breaking the law ever be taken back, and on what basis?
The previous chapter closed with "the secret things." One writer sees this chapter opening some of them.
This chapter is prophetic. It shows us some of "the secret things" mentioned at the close of the chapter before it. It opens up some of those precious resources of grace stored up in the heart of God. He kept them to bring out when Israel, having completely failed to keep the law, would be scattered to the ends of the earth.
What is hidden here is not a milder law but a different principle altogether — a way of setting the people right that the law itself could never supply.
Grace, in a distant and puzzling way, points to a secret not yet revealed. When the people have completely failed on the ground of law, God will still find ways and means of justifying them by faith. By words He can bring them all into the land for a time. But He also has means, still secret, by which He can justify them in spite of all their faults, and work in their hearts according to what is in His heart. In short, these are His secrets of grace.
This promise depends on a turning of the heart. Scattered people cannot keep the law's rituals — no altar, no journey to the appointed place. That is exactly the point.
The first verse of our chapter shows, as clearly as possible, that the people are in a state where keeping the ordinances of the law is impossible. But, blessed be God, there is not a spot on the face of the earth, however remote, from which the heart cannot turn to God. Their hands might not be able to bring a sacrifice to the altar. Their feet might not be able to travel to the appointed place of worship. But the heart could travel to God.
Where that turning happens is part of the promise.
It would be while scattered among the nations that their hearts would at last return to God, in whole-hearted obedience. Then He would have compassion on them, and gather them as He had scattered them... But this is of course grace, not law. And the grace of God cannot lack the power to show itself where the heart turns to God like this.
The older translation reads "turn your captivity" where the ESV has "restore your fortunes." Two returns meet in this promise.
The people Israel are scattered among all the nations, and yet the nations have not absorbed them. They remain a separate people. Along with the prediction that they would be scattered comes the message of hope, the prophecy of their return. The Lord promises that if they return to Him and obey His voice, He will return to them... That will happen when this present age closes... Some say Moses and the other prophets predicted a return that took place when a remnant of Jews came back from Babylon. This is not correct. The people were not then scattered among all the nations, and the small remnant that came back from Babylon never enjoyed the glories and blessings the prophetic Word predicted.
One writer draws a firm line about who this promise belongs to.
These words were spoken to Israel as a nation, and can only be fulfilled to Israel as a nation. The same people who were cast out are the ones to be brought back, to have their hearts circumcised, and to be ruled again by the Lord for good.
Not everyone accepts this. One writer answers, and points to what he sees today.
There are some (even Christians) who insist that Israel has drifted so far from God that they can never be restored. But they have to ignore Deuteronomy 30:1-10, and also Romans 9, 10 and 11, which speak clearly of Israel's eventual restoration... We have already seen the beginning of such a work of God. Israel stands as a nation again in her own land. Yet only a small number have returned so far, and they have come back in unbelief as far as Christ their Messiah is concerned.
The threats of chapter 28 sound final — "until you are destroyed." This verse settles what that word could and could not mean.
In Deuteronomy 28 the word appears six times about Israel, and never once means their extinction... Are they extinct? No — "you shall be left few in number," and after the curse has been fulfilled the text adds, "the Lord will turn your captivity"!
- Return — everything turns on a heart that comes back to God, and exile is where that turning happens.
- Reachable — no place on earth is too far for a heart to travel to God, even where obedience to the law is impossible.
- Restore — God answers with compassion, gathers His people from everywhere He scattered them, and returns to them Himself.
- Remain — the worst curse never meant the end of the nation. The same people God scattered are the people He promises to gather.
Though there were of you driven out unto the end of the heavens, from thence will Jehovah thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee;
Moses speaks to a nation that has not yet entered its land. He is already telling them what God will do after their enemies drive them out and scatter them to the ends of the earth. Twice the promise says "from there." Can any distance put a person beyond the reach of God's compassion?
The chapter follows a statement that some things belong to God alone. One writer reads the whole passage as God opening a little of that reserve.
This chapter is one of very deep interest and importance. It is prophetic, and presents to us some of "the secret things" referred to at the close of the preceding chapter. It opens up some of the most precious resources of grace stored up in the heart of God. He would unfold them when Israel, having completely failed to keep the law, was scattered to the ends of the earth.
Some have taken the phrase to describe the world of the dead, making the verse a promise of rescue out of the grave. One writer answers that Scripture uses the same wording elsewhere for far-off places on earth.
The Medes who destroy the land of Babylon "come from a far country, from the end of the heavens" (Isa. 13:5), exactly the same expression in the original. And in Deut. 4:32 the people are told to ask "from the one side (or end) of heaven to the other" whether anything so great has ever happened.
The verse names the furthest point anyone could reach. One writer supplies the sense in four words.
But let us listen further to those "secret things" which "belong to God" — things precious beyond all human thought. "If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven" — as far as they could go — "from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will take you. And the Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers had, and you shall have it."
Another writer sees a beginning of this in our own time, and says how much is still missing.
No matter how far from their land they have been driven, the Lord Himself will gather them back to the land of promise, and in that land will prosper and multiply the nation again (vs.4-5). In fact, we have already seen the beginning of such a work of God. Israel is a nation again in her own land. But only a small number have returned so far, and they have returned in unbelief as far as Christ their Messiah is concerned.
The people described here are nowhere near the altar or the appointed place of worship. They cannot keep the law's ordinances.
The first verse of our chapter proves, as clearly as possible, that the people are pictured in a condition where keeping the ordinances of the law is impossible. But, blessed be God, there is not a spot on the face of the earth, however remote, from which the heart cannot turn to God. The hands might not be able to bring a sacrifice to the altar. The feet might not be able to travel to the appointed place of worship. But the heart could travel to God.
The change begins while they are still scattered.
Scattered among the nations, their hearts would finally return to God in whole-hearted obedience. Then He would have compassion on them, and gather them as He had scattered them. But this is of course grace, not law; and the grace of God cannot lack ability to show itself where the heart turns to God like this.
Who does this gathering include?
The promise is for "the whole house of Israel," and Ezekiel 39:25 is one of many passages that say so. Ten of Israel's tribes are lost to us (whatever certain cranks assert); we are familiar with representatives of two tribes only. "The Jews," we call them. But all Israel's tribes are known to God, and "He who scattered Israel will gather him" (Jer. 31:10).
Some conclude that the nation has gone too far to come back. One writer answers that this reading has to set aside whole sections of Scripture.
There are some (even Christians) who insist that Israel has departed so far from God that they can never be restored. But they must ignore chapter 30:1-10, and also Romans 9, 10 and 11, which speak positively of Israel's eventual restoration.
- From there. The verse names the furthest place a person could be driven, then answers it twice with "from there." No distance is too far for God.
- From there, not from the grave. The wording describes far-off places on earth. Scripture uses the same phrase of the Medes coming from a distant country.
- From there, without the altar. The people in view cannot keep the law's ordinances, yet from any spot on earth the heart can still turn to God.
- From there, by grace. Grace never lacks the ability to show itself where the heart turns; this is not law.
- From there, none missing. Ten tribes vanished from human record, but God knows them all — the One who scattered Israel is the One who gathers.
and Jehovah thy God will bring thee into the land that thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
Moses speaks to a people who have not yet entered the land. He describes a day far beyond it: they have been driven out among the nations, they turn back to God with all their heart, and He brings them home. Verse 5 promises two things at once: the land their fathers held is theirs again, and a prosperity greater than their fathers knew.
In the chapter before this one, the whole nation collapses under the covenant God had just given them. What follows is not a repair of that covenant. It is a different footing altogether.
In Deuteronomy 29 he describes the complete breakdown of the whole nation on that ground. Then in Deuteronomy 30 he shows how God would come in on another ground altogether — even that of grace. Israel's final earthly blessing is to depend, not on their doings, but on God's faithfulness to His word. Righteousness and blessing are for them to be gained, not through works of law, but through faith in God's word.
Everything earlier in the book rests on a different condition, which is why this chapter stands out.
But here everything depends on their obedience to this conditional covenant which made them the Lord's, whose they were to be exclusively; sovereign restoring grace does not come until chapter 30.
The end of chapter 29 separates what God keeps hidden from what He makes known. Commentators read chapter 30 as God opening part of what was hidden.
This chapter is one of very deep interest and importance. It is prophetic, and presents to us some of "the secret things" referred to at the close of the previous chapter. It unfolds some of those most precious resources of grace stored up in the heart of God. He would open them out when Israel, having completely failed to keep the law, was scattered to the ends of the earth.
Before verse 5 comes a gathering that reaches the furthest place a person could be taken.
"If any of yours are driven out to the furthest parts of heaven" — as far as they could go — "from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will fetch you."
Even at Israel's lowest point one road stayed open: turning back to God. Behind it lay a blessing larger than anything the fathers received.
However hopeless the situation of Israel may have looked — without the temple, without any relationship with God, scattered among the nations — there was still a way of healing, the way of return: "when ... you ... return to the Lord your God" (Deut. 30:1, 2). For this situation God had set aside a blessing that even went beyond that of the fathers... How great a measure of God's grace!
Commentators place the full answer to this promise in the future. One of them sees a beginning of it already.
No matter how far from their land they have been driven, the Lord Himself will gather them back to the land of promise. In that land He will prosper and multiply the nation again (vs. 4-5). In fact, we have already seen the beginning of such a work of God: Israel has been established as a nation again in her own land. So far, though, only a fairly small number have returned, and they have returned in a state of unbelief as far as Christ their Messiah is concerned.
Nehemiah shows what to do with a promise like this. He prayed it back to God.
But Nehemiah was also trusting in the promise of God. He was a man of faith, and cast himself on the word of God, knowing that what the Lord had promised He is able to do... The promise in Deut. 30:1-5 is especially on his heart and mentioned by him in the presence of the Lord. In the near future this great national promise of the regathering of Israel from the ends of the earth will be fulfilled, in that day when the Lord returns.
Land and increase are not the best of it. The next verse goes deeper.
How precious is all this! But there is something far better still. Not only will He gather them, fetch them, and multiply them. Not only will He act in power for them. He will also do a mighty work of grace in them, of far more value than any outward prosperity, however desirable. "And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart" — the very centre of the whole moral being, the source of all those influences which shape the character.
- Ground — chapter 29 ends in national breakdown. Chapter 30 starts again on grace, where blessing rests on God's faithfulness, not on what they do.
- Reach — the gathering starts at the furthest point of the scattering. From there God gathers them; from there He fetches them.
- Gift — God gives back the land their fathers had, and adds good and increase beyond anything the fathers saw.
- Timing — the promise still waits for the day the Lord returns. Nehemiah shows how to pray it back to God in the meantime.
- Crown — outward prosperity is the smaller half. The circumcised heart of verse 6 is the work of far greater value.
And Jehovah thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
Moses speaks here to a people he knows will fail, looking past their scattering to the day God Himself will deal with their hearts. Two questions follow: what does it mean to have a circumcised heart, and when does this promise come true?
The chapter marks a turn in the whole book. Up to this point everything hung on whether Israel obeyed.
But here everything depends on their obedience to this conditional covenant which made them the Lord's, whose they were to be exclusively; sovereign restoring grace does not come until chapter 30.
That change of ground is what makes the promise safe:
In Deuteronomy 29 he describes the total breakdown of the whole nation on that ground. Then in Deuteronomy 30 he turns to show how God would come in on another ground altogether — even that of grace. Israel's final earthly blessing is to depend, not on their doings, but on God's faithfulness to His word. They gain righteousness and blessing not through works of law, but through faith in God's word.
The verses around it promise gathering and increase. This one promises something better.
Not only will He gather them, fetch them, and multiply them. Not only will He act in power for them. He will do a mighty work of grace in them, of far more value than any outward prosperity, however desirable. "And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart" — the very centre of the whole moral being, the source of all those influences that shape character. "And the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart" — the great moral regulator of the entire life.
Circumcision was a cutting away. Israel already had the command to do this to the heart.
As an earlier verse says, they were to "circumcise" their hearts, as the answer to the love shown to them. We find Paul referring to this again in Romans 2:28-29… The persistent tendency was to keep the outward ceremony and overlook its meaning. Israel was to be a people completely cut off for God and to God. Had there been circumcision of "heart," there would have been the cutting off of self-love, in the knowledge of the love of God.
What Israel was told to do, God here undertakes to do for them:
When this scripture is fulfilled, the Lord will circumcise their hearts. That is, He will lead them to use the sharp knife of repentance to judge their sinful condition, and draw their hearts in genuine love toward Himself. This will take place at the end of the Great Tribulation. It will be a marvellous work of grace in the nation, which will be born again in one day (Isaiah 66:8).
Commentators agree that the nation has never yet seen this.
This verse looks on to the future. As far as Israel is concerned, no day has yet come when God fulfilled this promise. The terms of the new covenant come to mind here: "I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts" (Jeremiah 31:33). In that day Israel will be a nation born again, and true love for God will be the result.
The partial returns of history do not exhaust it:
Part of this happened when a remnant returned from captivity under Zerubbabel. But verse 6 — their loving the Lord their God with all their heart and soul — must wait for the writing of the law in their heart under the new covenant.
Moses takes the covenant a step further. The promise reaches the children too, and it turns on repentance.
Suppose they had fully entered into the curse of disobedience. If then they or their children repented — that covenant equally included all generations — the Lord would have compassion on them, gather them, and circumcise their heart so that they should live forever… He then hints, without saying it openly, at what this repentance was to be founded on: faith.
One resource remains for people who have already failed under law:
How, then, can those once placed under law by God receive blessing after failing to keep it? They do not have the righteousness that is of the law, and in that case they cannot get it. What resource is there, then? Only the righteousness which is of faith, gained by listening to God's word and doing what it says. Now this was exactly the principle of the gospel.
The same figure describes what belongs to the believer now.
If God covenants to bless by His Almighty power, then on our side there must be no confidence in the flesh, and no allowance of its activity… Refusing the flesh is not just an outward neglect of the body that the world can see. It means refusing the flesh in all its inward workings in the heart — its self-confidence, self-righteousness, vanity and lusts — as the thing the cross condemned.
- Ground. Chapter 29 ends in breakdown. Chapter 30 begins again on the ground of grace — God's faithfulness to His word, not Israel's doings.
- Gift. God does more than gather and multiply them. He works at the centre of the moral being, the source of all that shapes character.
- Cut. To circumcise the heart is to cut off self-love and self-confidence — the knife of repentance turned on one's own condition.
- Reach. The promise covers the children too, and rests on repentance founded on faith — the principle of the gospel.
- Result. Whole-hearted love for God — when God writes the law on Israel's heart under the new covenant, and now in those who put no confidence in the flesh.
And Jehovah thy God will put all these curses on thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, who have persecuted thee.
Verse 7 turns a page. God moves the curses that fell on Israel onto the people who hated and hunted them. Two questions follow. Which curse is this? And why does God judge the persecutors, when He Himself used them to punish His people?
Chapter 29 lays out the complete breakdown of the nation on the ground of law. Chapter 30 starts from another ground.
After describing the whole nation's total breakdown on that ground in Deuteronomy 29, he turns in Deuteronomy 30 to show how God would come in on another ground altogether — the ground of grace. Israel's final blessing on earth is to depend, not on what they do, but on God's faithfulness to His word. They are to gain righteousness and blessing not through works of law, but through faith in God's word.
One writer sums up the change. In Deuteronomy everything rests on obedience to a conditional covenant, and "sovereign restoring grace does not come till chapter 30" (J. N. Darby).
Not every curse in Scripture carries the same weight. Verse 7 belongs to God's dealings with a nation in this world, not to the final reckoning with sin.
A curse is a word of doom, and we know that no word from God can fail to take effect. Under any circumstances, a curse from Him must be a very terrible thing. It may be only a stroke of God's government in this world (Deuteronomy 30:1-8), or it may be absolute, the full and final judgment of sin, the full and adequate penalty of our sins. Christ was made a curse for us on the cross (Galatians 3:13); in that way He bore the judgment of sin, and of our sins.
The verse describes a straight transfer. What Israel carried, their enemies will carry. And the obedience Israel never gave becomes God's gift to them.
The curse will be removed from Israel and put upon their enemies who have sought to destroy them (v.7). Israel then will obey the voice of the Lord because He will have given them a heart to delight in obedience (v.8). Psalm 119 gives expression to the willing enjoyment of doing the will of God, which will be true of this restored nation for the 1000 years of the millennium.
Before the curse ever lands on anyone else, God does something inside the people He is restoring. That inner change, not the outward prosperity, is the real treasure of the passage.
He will not only gather them, bring them back, and multiply them. He will not only act in power for them. He will also do a mighty work of grace in them, worth far more than any outward prosperity, however desirable that may be. "And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart" — the very centre of the whole moral being, the source of all the influences that shape a person's character... A solemn word for all those nations who have ever sought to oppress the Jews!
This heart-work has its moment. It comes "at the end of the Great Tribulation," and it is "a marvelous work of grace in the nation which will be born again in one day (Isa. 66:8)" (Leslie M. Grant).
God used the nations to discipline Israel. That does not excuse them, because once God takes His place among His people, an injury to them is an injury to Him.
From the moment God is in Israel He identifies Himself with His people. Because of this, God treats the nations according to how they treated Israel. "As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me," says the King. The moment they touch Israel, they touch the apple of His eye... God judged the nations because they trampled on His people, though He also used them to punish His people.
The distinction is one of motive. The nations "helped God punish Israel, 'but with evil intent', being willing even to cut off Israel from being a nation" (L. M. Grant).
- Grace. Deuteronomy 30 drops the ground of what Israel does. Their future rests on God's faithfulness to His own word.
- Heart. The circumcised heart, not the moved curse, is the centre of the promise. God reaches the source of character before He changes circumstances.
- Exchange. What lay on Israel moves to those who hunted them. And God gives them the obedience the law demanded, as a gift.
- Curse. This curse is God's government of the nations in this world. It is a real and terrible stroke, but not the final judgment of sin. Christ bore that on the cross.
- Reason. God used the nations to chasten His people, yet He judges them. They struck with evil intent at the people He counts as Himself.
But thou shalt return and hearken to the voice of Jehovah, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.
Moses has already described Israel's failure and their scattering among the nations. Here he points to a day when the people obey again — and the commentators ask who makes that change possible.
The promise assumes the worst has already happened. The people are far from the land. Keeping the law as a nation is no longer even possible. Into that setting comes something new.
But then a completely new principle comes in: the hearts of the people return to Jehovah, and they obey — in spirit, one must add. Then Jehovah brings them back into their land, and blesses them in it. He puts the curse on their enemies. In the land they are to keep the ordinances of Jehovah, enjoying His full blessing again. For the commandment was not in heaven, nor beyond the seas, but in the mouth and in the heart. This was not the new covenant, but faith taking hold of the spirit of the law in principle, and turning the heart towards Jehovah, when the law could not be kept outwardly.
The obedience of verse 8 is not Israel finally trying harder. It rests on God's promise to circumcise their heart, and it flows from that gift.
Israel then will obey the voice of the Lord because He will have given them a heart to delight in obedience (v.8). Psalm 119 expresses the willing enjoyment of doing the will of God. That will be true of this restored nation through the 1000 years of the millennium.
That inward gift matters more than the rest of the promise. Land and numbers are real blessing, but they stay outside the person.
How precious is all this! But there is something far better still. He will gather them, fetch them, and multiply them. He will act in power for them. But He will do more than that: a mighty work of grace in them, worth far more than any outward prosperity, however desirable. "And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart" — the very centre of the whole moral being, the source of all the influences that form the character. "And the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart" — the grand moral regulator of the entire life.
Verse 8 reads like law-keeping. The writers read the whole scene the other way round.
The blessing would then be for themselves, and the curses only for their enemies. He would rejoice over them for good, as He had rejoiced in their past deliverance. But this is of course grace, not law. And the grace of God has all the power it needs to show itself where the heart turns to God like this.
Do these promises still stand for Israel, or have they passed on to someone else?
These words were spoken to Israel as a nation, and can only be fulfilled to Israel as a nation. The very people God cast out are the people He will bring back. He will circumcise their hearts and rule over them again for good (vv. 6-9). Such is God's distinct undertaking, not yet fulfilled, concerning Israel.
Chapter 29 records the nation's breakdown. Chapter 30 then sets their blessing on a different footing.
Deuteronomy 29 describes the total breakdown of the whole nation on that ground. Deuteronomy 30 then shows how God would come in on another ground altogether — even that of grace. Israel's ultimate earthly blessing is to depend, not on their doings, but on God's faithfulness to His word. They will gain righteousness and blessing not through works of law, but through faith in God's word.
- Ruin first. The promise starts with a scattered, failed people, already living with the results of breaking the law.
- Gift next. God circumcises the heart. That inward work is worth more than any outward prosperity He gives.
- Obedience follows. Verse 8 is the fruit, not the price — a nation given a heart that delights in doing God's will.
- Grace throughout. The order is grace, not law; where God turns the heart, His grace is never short of power to bless.
- Israel still. The same nation God cast out is the nation He brings back. Commentators see this as still ahead, not already spent.
And Jehovah thy God will make thee abound in every work of thy hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, for good; for Jehovah will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers;
Moses speaks to a people who will one day be scattered across the earth for breaking the covenant, and he tells them what God will do when they turn back to Him. Their flourishing rests not on their performance but on God's renewed delight in them.
Commentators read this whole chapter as prophecy rather than legislation. It looks past Israel's failure to what God had held in reserve.
This chapter is one of very deep interest and importance. It is prophetic. It shows us some of "the secret things" mentioned at the end of the previous chapter. It opens up some of the most precious resources of grace stored up in the heart of God. He kept them in store for the day when Israel, having completely failed to keep the law, would be scattered to the ends of the earth.
This verse answers the one before it, where God moves the curse off Israel and onto those who hated them.
As the curse is removed in verse 8, so in verse 9 the blessing takes its place in every area of their lives. The Lord takes great pleasure in making everything pleasant for them. This will be the result of their faith, as they willingly obey God's commandments with all their heart and soul (v.10).
The abundance promised here is real. But it is not the best gift in the passage.
How precious is all this! But there is something far better still. He will gather them, fetch them, and multiply them. He will act in power for them. But He will also do a mighty work of grace in them, worth far more than any outward prosperity, however desirable. "And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart" — the very centre of the whole moral being. The heart is the source of all the influences that form the character.
So the obedience of verse 8 is not a demand. God supplies it:
Israel then will obey the voice of the Lord because He will have given them a heart to delight in obedience (v.8).
The people described in verse 1 are exiles. They cannot reach the altar or the appointed place of worship. So the blessing of verse 9 cannot rest on ritual obedience.
How touching, how beautiful is all this! This is not a question of law-keeping. It is something far deeper and far more precious. It is the turning of the heart — the whole heart, the whole soul — to the Lord, at a time when literal obedience to the law is completely impossible. It is a broken and contrite heart turning to God, and God, in deep and tender compassion, meeting that heart.
One writer finds a present use for the chapter too. It "lays down the principle of their acceptance as individuals in the meantime by the gospel, and righteousness by faith" (The Bible Treasury).
Some read Israel's promises as pictures of the church. Commentators here say the wording will not allow that.
God spoke these words to Israel as a nation, and He can only fulfil them to Israel as a nation. The same people He casts out are the ones He will bring back. He will circumcise their hearts and rule over them again for good (vv. 6-9). Such is God's distinct undertaking, not yet fulfilled, concerning Israel.
Writers place the fulfilment after the great tribulation, when the nation is "born again in one day" (Leslie M. Grant).
The reason given for the promise is God's own gladness, not Israel's merit. Another prophet sounds the same note.
Glory shines here in one very attractive character. The harp of Zephaniah has one note of peculiar sweetness. The personal delight of the Lord in His people comes to us in words with the rapture and affection of the Song of Solomon itself. This is said to Zion: "he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."
- Again. God returns to a joy He once had in the fathers. Restoration is the recovery of His pleasure, not a new bargain.
- Secret. The chapter opens what God had stored up in advance for the day He would scatter Israel and law-keeping would be impossible.
- Heart. The circumcised heart of verse 6 is worth more than all the prosperity of verse 9. God gives the obedience before He rewards it.
- Exchange. God does not just lift the curse. He moves it onto Israel's persecutors, and blessing fills the space it leaves.
- Literal. Commentators hold that these promises belong to the nation of Israel itself. They are still future, and come after the tribulation.
if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law; if thou turn to Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
This verse ends a promise of restoration with a condition. Blessing comes back when Israel listens to God, keeps what is written, and turns to Him with the whole heart and soul. But how could a scattered nation, already crushed under the curse for breaking the law, ever meet that condition? Is this law all over again, or something else?
Writers place this whole passage after Israel's collapse under the law, not before it. Moses is describing a future God had kept in reserve.
This chapter is one of very deep interest and importance. It is prophetic. It shows us some of "the secret things" mentioned at the close of the previous chapter. It opens up some of the most precious resources of grace stored up in the heart of God. He kept them for the time when Israel, having failed the law completely, would be scattered to the ends of the earth.
The exiles were in no position to keep the law's ritual at all.
The first verse of our chapter proves, in the clearest possible way, that the people are seen in a condition where carrying out the ordinances of the law is simply impossible. But, blessed be God, there is no spot on the face of the earth, however remote, from which the heart cannot turn to God. The hands might not be able to bring a sacrifice to the altar. The feet might not be able to travel to the appointed place of worship. But the heart could travel to God. Yes, the poor crushed, broken, contrite heart could go straight to God. And God, in the depth of His compassion and tender mercy, could meet that heart, bind it up, and fill it to overflowing with the rich comfort of His love and the full joy of His salvation.
The verse asks for whole-hearted obedience. Where does that obedience come from?
Israel then will obey the voice of the Lord because He will have given them a heart to delight in obedience (v.8). Psalm 119 expresses that glad delight in doing the will of God. It will be true of this restored nation through the 1000 years of the millennium.
The chapter also says who does that work in them.
It would be while they were scattered among the nations that their hearts would at last return to God, in whole-hearted obedience. Then He would have compassion on them, and gather them as He had scattered them. He would circumcise their hearts, and the hearts of their descendants, so that they would love the Lord their God whole-heartedly and truly live. But this is of course grace, not law. And the grace of God is never short of power to show itself where the heart turns to Him like this.
The verse ties obedience to a written book.
It is clear that Moses knew the word he gave Israel had divine authority. So his writings are called "the book of this law," and "the covenant," and "his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law." "Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests." (Deut. 28:1, 61; 29:21; 30:10; 31:9.)
Paul takes up the verses that follow — the word near, in the mouth and in the heart — in Romans 10.
The children of Israel had completely ruined themselves under the law. They had failed before God. The righteousness the law demanded had only proved how unrighteous they really were. What was to become of them? Christ is brought in — "the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." So the apostle, by the Spirit, gives the passage in Deuteronomy this striking turn. It is not a question of going up to heaven to find the Saviour, nor of going down into the depths of the earth to bring Him back from the dead. The gospel brings the word of salvation right to the door, "in your mouth and in your heart." You have only to believe and confess the risen Lord Jesus.
So the passage carries two applications at once — one still future for the nation, one open now to anyone.
Deuteronomy gives the principle on which Israel is accepted as a nation after failure. It also gives the principle on which they are accepted one by one, in the meantime, through the gospel and righteousness by faith.
- Failure first. This verse speaks to a people already scattered and cursed. It is God's answer to total collapse, not a second chance at the old terms.
- Heart, not hands. In exile the ritual was impossible. But no distance can stop a broken heart from turning to God, and God meets it there.
- Gift before demand. God promises to circumcise the heart Himself. The obedience this verse asks for is the obedience He gives.
- Word near. God does not ask for what is out of reach. Paul reads the next verses as the righteousness of faith, with Christ the end of the law.
- Two horizons. The promise still stands for Israel as a nation. Meanwhile it states how anyone is accepted now — by faith.