Let’s take a virtual walk through a little golden nugget – Deuteronomy 30. So, in reality, the Old Testament can sometimes be tedious to read (I’m not the only one, right?! ) because we struggle to really grasp the culture that they lived in those days. Today’s society and culture are so much different it can be hard to apply to today’s age. While the Old Testament speaks in regards to the Jewish people and the New Testament addresses both Jews and Gentiles, the Old Testament is still God’s message of love TO and FOR us. A.W. Tozer said this:
The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.
He has so much to teach us through this God-breathed love letter! So, in reading Deuteronomy 30, I used the Good Morning Girls highlighting method along with some of my added practices. Feel free to head over this way to completely check that out.
Ok, now that you know what we’re doing here, let’s go!
Context
The context here (because that’s important) is that the Israelites are finishing up their forty years of basically marching in circles around the wilderness. Why? God told them to do something and they didn’t do it. Therefore, consequences. Ouch, those hurt. The new generation of God’s people have grown up in the middle of this wandering. The last of the old generation has passed and only Moses, Joshua and Caleb are left. Moses will not be going into the promised land due to a different sin of his own. Joshua has been commissioned to lead the people across the river and into the land of milk & honey. Therefore, Moses is speaking to them in the latter chapters of Deuteronomy giving them final instructions, recapping their history, and reminding them of all the Lord has for them.
Repentance & Forgiveness
30:1-3
1And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today with all your heart and with all your soul, 3then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.
Highlighting
First of all, these highlighted colors are not set in stone because many can fit into multiple categories (hehe, like my pun? Moses talking. Moses carried the commandments set in stone. Yeah, pretty witty, I know 😉 haha.) If you feel the verse fits in a different category, highlight it that color.
- Verse 1= prophetic statement & teaching
- Verse 2= obedience/repentance
- Verse 3= God’s mercy
My Notes
They are returning to the Lord!! Woot woot! Repentance followed by mercy! Now, repentance is heartfelt sorrow for sin and turning away from that sin. In my ten year old’s bible, we wrote repentance as regret followed by taking action to quit doing it. When your heart is changed, it is by GOD! Oh my, I’m going to be using lots of exclamation points in this post. I can already tell LOL!
30:4-7
4If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will take you. 5And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live. 7And the Lord your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you.
Highlighting
- Verse 4= People & God
- Verse 5= God
- Verse 6= God & Love
- Verse 7= God
My Notes
I underlined verse 6 because what a celebration that God not only changes our hearts but also works in the lives of our babies in His loving mercy!
30:8-10
8 And you shall again obey the voice of the Lord and keep all his commandments that I command you today. 9The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your father, 10when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Highlighting
- Verse 8= obedience
- Verse 9= God blessing
- Verse 10= obedience
My Notes
The most difficult part of obeying God’s laws is simply deciding to start right now. I watched a video one time about a man who was heavy into drinking, partying, and drugs. He audibly heard the voice of God one night in a club. His girlfriend could tell there was something wrong with him. When he told her, she asked what he wanted to do. They left the club and never went back. He started his obedience right there in that moment.
We’re not talking about legalism here but rather LOVE! A love that produces the urge to obey. That respect. That longing in your being to please the one you love. Verse 10 talks about the book of laws. Those books lead up to Christ, the final scripture. The law points to our need for a savior. Now cross reference Romans 10:5-8 that says, “For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says…’The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.'”
Takeaway
Consequences are never fun when you’re on the receiving end. We all know (now that we’re grown 😉 ) that although unpleasant, consequences are a necessary part of life and a part of God’s design. Repentance is also a part of God’s design of LOVE. Though both get a bad wrap through negative connotation, they are ultimately beautiful pieces of this intricate love that is ultimately satisfying and soul filling. Another cool thing? Repentance is followed by MERCY, which is where we don’t get the fullest consequences that we deserve. The Israelites deserved to be wiped out but God’s love and mercy administered a different consequence and ultimately fulfilled His promise. Because, after all, that’s what God does!! 🙂
He is so amazing! What are your takeaways from Deuteronomy 30? How is God using it to speak to your life right now? Comment below – I’d love to chat!
