Deuteronomy 30

De 30:1-10.

GREAT

MERCIES

PROMISED UNTO THE

PENITENT.

1-10. when all these things are come upon thee, . . . and

thou shalt return . . . then the Lord thy God will

turn thy captivity--The hopes of the Hebrew people are ardently

directed to this promise, and they confidently expect that God,

commiserating their forlorn and fallen condition, will yet rescue them

from all the evils of their long dispersion. They do not consider the

promise as fulfilled by their restoration from the captivity in

Babylon, for Israel was not then scattered in the manner here

described--"among all the nations," "unto the utmost parts of heaven"

(De 30:4).

When God recalled them from that bondage, all the Israelites were not

brought back. They were not multiplied above their fathers

(De 30:5),

nor were their hearts and those of their children circumcised to love

the Lord

(De 30:6).

It is not, therefore, of the Babylonish captivity that Moses was

speaking in this passage; it must be of the dispersed state to which

they have been doomed for eighteen hundred years. This prediction may

have been partially accomplished on the return of the Israelites from

Babylon; for, according to the structure and design of Scripture

prophecy, it may have pointed to several similar eras in their national

history; and this view is sanctioned by the prayer of Nehemiah

(Ne 1:8, 9).

But undoubtedly it will receive its full and complete accomplishment in

the conversion of the Jews to the Gospel of Christ. At the restoration

from the Babylonish captivity, that people were changed in many

respects for the better. They were completely weaned from idolatry; and

this outward reformation was a prelude to the higher attainments they

are destined to reach in the age of Messiah, "when the Lord God will

circumcise their hearts and the hearts of their seed to love the Lord."

The course pointed out seems clearly to be this: that the hearts of the

Hebrew people shall be circumcised

(Col 2:2);

in other words, by the combined influences of the Word and spirit of

God, their hearts will be touched and purified from all their

superstition and unbelief. They will be converted to the faith of Jesus

Christ as their Messiah--a spiritual deliverer, and the effect of their

conversion will be that they will return and obey the voice (the

Gospel, the evangelical law) of the Lord. The words may be interpreted

either wholly in a spiritual sense

(Joh 11:51, 52),

or, as many think, in a literal sense also

(Ro 11:1-36).

They will be recalled from all places of the dispersion to their own

land and enjoy the highest prosperity. The mercies and favors of a

bountiful Providence will not then be abused as formerly

(De 31:20; 32:15).

They will be received in a better spirit and employed to nobler

purposes. They will be happy, "for the Lord will again rejoice over

them for good, as He rejoiced over their fathers."

De 30:11-14.

THE

COMMANDMENT

IS

MANIFEST.

11-14. For this commandment . . . is not hidden . . . neither is it far

off--That law of loving and obeying God, which was the subject of

Moses' discourse, was well known to the Israelites. They could not

plead ignorance of its existence and requirements. It was not concealed

as an impenetrable mystery in heaven, for it had been revealed; nor was

it carefully withheld from the people as a dangerous discovery; for the

youngest and humblest of them were instructed in those truths, which

were subjects of earnest study and research among the wisest and

greatest of other nations. They were not under a necessity of

undertaking long journeys or distant voyages, as many ancient sages did

in quest of knowledge. They enjoyed the peculiar privilege of a

familiar acquaintance with it. It was with them a subject of common

conversation, engraven on their memories, and frequently explained and

inculcated on their hearts. The apostle Paul

(Ro 10:6-8)

has applied this passage to the Gospel, for the law of Christ is

substantially the same as that of Moses, only exhibited more clearly in

its spiritual nature and extensive application; and, accompanied with

the advantages of Gospel grace, it is practicable and easy.

De 30:15-20.

DEATH AND

LIFE

ARE

SET BEFORE THE

ISRAELITES.

15-20. See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death

and evil--the alternative of a good and happy, or a disobedient and

miserable life. Love of God and compliance with His will are the only

ways of securing the blessings and avoiding the evils described. The

choice was left to them, and in urging upon them the inducements to a

wise choice, Moses warmed as he proceeded into a tone of solemn and

impressive earnestness similar to that of Paul to the elders of Ephesus

(Ac 20:26, 27).