Deuteronomy 30 – Commentary

¹And 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 call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee,

² And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;

Commentary Verses 1 – 2

The chapter begins by assuring the reader that the blessings and the curses will indeed come to pass, and when they do, the scattered Israelites will call them to mind among the nations where they have been scattered. Once Israel considers the matter as a nation, they will return to following The Most High with their entire heart and soul.

Continue reading…

³ That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee.

Commentary Verse 3

After Israel turns back to The Most High, he promised to bring them out of captivity, have compassion, return, and gather them from all the nations they were scattered into. While some believe that Israel is currently back in their own land, there are others that point to this verse to make the argument that Israel will not re-enter their land until the conditions of Deuteronomy 30:3 are met.

Continue reading…

⁴ If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:

⁵ And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.

Commentary Verses 4 – 5

When The Most High returns to free Israel from the land of their captivity, he will also gather them from everywhere on the planet, including “the outmost parts of heaven.” No Israelite will be left behind. Some use these verses to argue in favor of an Old Testament reference to The Rapture.

Continue reading…

⁶ And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

Commentary Verse 6

The reference to circumcising the hearts of Israel points to the New Testament concept of salvation by grace through faith. The issue of the need for physical circumcision is discussed in Acts 15:5 and Acts 21:21.

Continue reading…

⁷ And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.

Commentary Verse 7

The Most High promised to put all of the curses from Deuteronomy 28 onto the people that hate and persecute Israel. The concept of Israel’s curses being placed on their enemies is reflected in Revelation 13:10. Those that lead into captivity will go into captivity. There are some that point out that the idea of Israelites potentially being caught up in the Transatlantic Slave Trade might scares some believers because of what it could mean in relation to Deuteronomy 30:7.

In contrast, there are believers that think Israel is irrelevant, The Most High won’t keep his promises to them, and has instead given all of the promises he made to them, to the Christian church.

The notion that The Most High would make promises, allow people to believe those promises were for them, only for him to give them to a completely different group of people, would make him dishonest and untrustworthy. Doctrines like Replacement Theology / Suppressionism are dangerous and border on blasphemy.

Continue reading…

⁸ And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.

⁹ And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:

¹⁰ If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

Commentary Verses 8 – 10

Typically, when a contract is broken, the party that broke it is punished in court. The same applies to the Moab Covenant, but unlike most contracts, The Most High offers Israel a chance to renew the contract by turning back to him and following his commandments. If they do turn back, he promises to give them all of the blessings found in Deuteronomy 28:1-14.

Continue reading…

¹¹ For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.

¹² It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

¹³ Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

¹⁴ But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

Commentary Verses 11 – 14

These verses emphasize how real the word of The Most High is to the Israelites. They did not have to go to heaven to receive a word from The Most High; he brought it directly to them. The overall point is that The Most High’s relationship with Israel is special. We see a similar concept in Deuteronomy 4:7-8, which asks the rhetorical question, “For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?”

Continue reading…

¹⁵ See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;

¹⁶ In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

¹⁷ But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

¹⁸ I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.

Commentary Verses 15 – 18

The Most High makes it clear that disobeying the commandments and worshiping other gods will lead to Israel’s destruction due to the terms of the agreement being broken. These verses are important because The Most High will refer back to them in Deuteronomy 31:16-18 and Moses refers back to them in Deuteronomy 31:29.

When people ask why all of the bad things in Israel’s history happened, it is in these verses that we find the answer. Israel agreed to the terms and conditions of the contract, violated the contract, and as a result they were punished according to the terms and conditions of the contract. On the other hand, if Israel turns back to The Most High, they will receive all of the blessings according to the contract.  

Continue reading…

¹⁹ I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Commentary Verse 19

In verse 19, the two witnesses of heaven and earth are referenced. According to Deuteronomy 19:50, a matter is confirmed by the mouth of two or three witnesses. This verse represents both parties agreeing to the terms and conditions of the Deuteronomy 28 contract between The Most High and Israel, with heaven and earth as a witness to that agreement.

The choosing of heaven and earth as witnesses may have many meanings, but some believe that they were called as witnesses because they are eternal, until The Most High says otherwise. No matter how many generations of Israelites are born, heaven and earth are still around as witnesses to the covenant made with all of Israel and their future generations.

Continue reading…

²⁰ That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Commentary Verse 20

The last verse of chapter 30 closes with a plea from Moses to Israel, to love and obey The Most High, in order to receive all of the blessings and avoid all of the curses. Moses understood how important this contract was, but he’d also witnessed Israel’s backsliding and blasphemous worship of other gods with his own eyes. In Deuteronomy 31:166, The Most High confirms what Moses seemed to fear when he begged Israel to keep the covenant so that they may live.