At dawn a shepherd's path in the hills above the Jordan valley divides around a great pale rock: one way climbs to green terraces, olive trees and a spring in sunlight, the other drops into a dry, shadowed ravine.

The Book of

Deuteronomy 30

Even from the ends of the earth He will gather them. Then Moses sets the choice before them: life or death.

20 verses≈ 5 min1 personBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

1–4Remember the wayFrom Horeb to Moab
5–11Love the LORDThe heart of the covenant
12–26Laws for the landWorship, justice, neighbor
27–30Blessing and curseChoose lifeChapter 30
31–34Moses' farewellA song, a blessing, a death

The Promise of Restoration

“When all these things come upon you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you call them to mind in all the nations to which the LORD your God has banished you, and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey His voice with all your heart and all your soul according to everything I am giving you today,

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At dawn a family arrives at an old, overgrown hill-country farmstead: the father pulls thornbushes from the doorway, the mother sets down a bundle, a child runs out onto the terrace among wild vines and standing olive trees.

then He will restore you from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you from all the nations to which the LORD your God has scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the farthest horizon, He will gather you and return you from there.

And the LORD your God will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply more than your fathers.

0:23

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Dawn: a long line of families with laden donkeys comes over a ridge into green hill country, seen from behind.

The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.

Deuteronomy 30:6

Then the LORD your God will put all these curses upon your enemies who hate you and persecute you. And you will again obey the voice of the LORD and follow all His commandments I am giving you today.

So the LORD your God will make you abound in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, the LORD will again delight in your prosperity, as He delighted in that of your fathers, if you obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Reflect

A new heart

In chapter 10 Moses told Israel to circumcise their own hearts. Here God promises to do it Himself: “The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts.” What is something in you that you cannot change by trying harder: a habit, a fear, a coldness toward God? Write it down, and ask Him to do in you what only He can do. Lord, give me a heart that loves You. Amen.

The Choice of Life or Death

But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it.

Deuteronomy 30:14

See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, as well as death and disaster. For I am commanding you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and increase, and the LORD your God may bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.

But if your heart turns away and you do not listen, but are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you today that you will surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live, and that you may love the LORD your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Deuteronomy 30:19–20

Question

Quick question

Moses told Israel that God’s command was not out of reach.

Where did Moses say the word is?

Two ways

Whiteboard

Moses lays two roads side by side and calls “heaven and earth as witnesses.” One road is to love the LORD, walk in His ways and keep His commands, and it leads to life. The other is a heart that turns away, and it ends in death. So he pleads: “Therefore choose life.” And then he says what life is. It is not only long days in a good land. It is a Person: “For He is your life.”

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Deuteronomy 30

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A verse to carry with you

Deuteronomy 30:19–20

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