DEUTERONOMY LESSON 33
We will begin this lesson in Deuteronomy 30:1 "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 call [them] to
mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven
thee,"
The LORD will drive them into the foreign lands to chastise them,
and cause them to realize the error of following after false gods.
Notice, it was the LORD who had driven them to the foreign lands.
Deuteronomy 30:2 "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;"
After they have been driven from their homeland and are captives
in another land, they can still repent and turn to God. He will accept
them back, if they return to Him with all their hearts. The parents
must, also, instruct the children, and they must turn to God, also. It
seems, Israel is very much like we, Christians, are. They do not
appreciate God until they seem to have lost Him. God is never very far
away, however. He loves them, and wants to forgive them. They are just
a prayer away from His help.
Deuteronomy 30:3 "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."
God had heard their cries, when they were captives in Egypt, and
He will hear their prayers again and help them. This has happened with
them many times. One of the best remembered is when he freed them from
Babylon after 70 years. Even today, God is gathering them home to
Israel again. It seems this situation has happened over and over with
them.
Deuteronomy 30:4 "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:"
This is, possibly, speaking of today, when they are on the other
side of the world from Israel. Literally hundreds of thousands of Jews
are returning to Israel from all over the world. It is as if there is
an irresistible desire for them to come home to Israel.
Deuteronomy 30:5 "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."
All that is required of them, is that they remain faithful to
God. He will pour them out a blessing beyond their imagination, if
they will love Him above everyone and everything else. II Chronicles
7:14 "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked
ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and
will heal their land."
Deuteronomy 30:6 "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."
This is speaking of cutting away earthly lust from their hearts.
God, Himself, will cut away their evil hearts of unbelief. Hebrews
8:10 "For this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their
mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and
they shall be to me a people:" Hebrews 8:11 "And they shall not teach
every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest."
Deuteronomy 30:7 "And the LORD thy God will put all these curses
upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted
thee."
This was the promise from the beginning. God would bless those
that bless them, and curse those who hate them. Genesis 12:3 "And I
will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and
in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."
Deuteronomy 30:8 "And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the
LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day."
Those who truly love God, obey His commandments. Their well-
being is dependant upon their obeying the commandments of God.
Blessings beyond their imagination will come to them, if they do this.
Deuteronomy 30:9 "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:"
God loves them, and wants to bless them. He reminds me of the
parable that Jesus told of the prodigal son. When the prodigal son
repented and came home, his father gave a big party for him in
celebration. God will return all the blessings they had, before they
went astray. In fact, they will be blessed even above that.
Deuteronomy 30:10 "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."
There are conditions to receive these blessings, as there had
been in the beginning. They cannot plead ignorance. The law God wants
them to keep, is written down. The main thing God wants from them is
spoken by Jesus in the following verse. Mark 12:30 "And thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first
commandment."
Deuteronomy 30:11 "For this commandment which I command thee
this day, it [is] not hidden from thee, neither [is] it far off."
God had revealed His commandments to the people of Israel He gave
them His law on the way to the promised land. The rest of the world
did not have God's law. God had made His law, and Himself, real to
them on the 40 year journey across the wilderness to the promised
land.
Deuteronomy 30:12 "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?" Deuteronomy 30:13 "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?"
The law of God was available to them at all times. Not only were
the ten commandments written in stone, but God had spoken them aloud
at Mount Horeb {Sinai} to them. They did not have to travel anywhere
to find them. The law travelled with them, and settled when they
settled. Their people were known as the people with the law.
Deuteronomy 30:14 But the word [is] very nigh unto thee, in thy
mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it."
We read earlier, how God had written His law in their hearts. The
mouth speaks what is in the heart. Their mouths should speak the law
of God because it is in their hearts.
Deuteronomy 30:15 "See, I have set before thee this day life and
good, and death and evil;"
God has offered them everything good. He has offered them life.
They must accept it though. They may decide to leave the good and go
to the evil. God has made them a free agent, and it is their choice.
They choose life, or death.
Deuteronomy 30:16 "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."
This is a description of what they receive, when they choose good
over evil. Loving the LORD, and walking in His ways, brings life and
blessings. God will continue to bless them, as long as they love Him,
and walk in His ways.
Deuteronomy 30:17 "But if thine heart turn away, so that thou
wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and
serve them;" Deuteronomy 30:18 "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."
If they refuse to love God, and to walk in His ways, there is
nothing, but hard times ahead for them. The only thing that would
cause them to do this, is following after false gods. God will not
share them with false gods. If they insist on following false gods,
God will send the curses to them.
Deuteronomy 30:19 "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:"
All of creation is a witness to the promises God has made them.
He offers them life, or death. It is each person's choice. If they
choose God, they are blessed. If they choose the false gods, they will
receive curses. Life is available to them, and their generations who
follow them. They must accept it for themselves.
Deuteronomy 30:20 "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."
To love the Lord, and walk in His statutes, is to rise above the
filth of the world. It is called living a new life in Him. I John 1:7
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanseth us from all sin."
Deuteronomy 33 Questions
1. Where will the LORD drive them, if they do not obey Him?
2. What is verse 2 speaking of?
3. How is Israel very much like the Christians?
4. When were some specific times, God heard their cries from
captivity?
5. What time is verse 4, probably, speaking of?
6. What is required of them for God to bring them home and bless
them?
7. Quote 2 Chronicles chapter 7 verse 14.
8. The LORD thy God will circumcise thine _______.
9. What is meant by this?
10. Quote Hebrews chapter 8 verse 11.
11. When God blesses Israel, what does He do to their enemies?
12. Quote Genesis chapter 12 verse 3.
13. Those who truly love God, __________ His ___________.
14. What are the ways verse 9 says, God will bless them?
15. What conditions must they comply with to be blessed?
16. Quote Mark chapter 12 verse 30.
17. Who had God revealed His law to?
18. How had they been made aware of the ten commandments, besides them
being written in stone?
19. The mouth speaks what is in the _________.
20. What choices had God given them?
21. Quote Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse 16.
22. What would cause God to denounce them?
23. Who did God call for witnesses?
24. Who had God made His promises to from the beginning?
25. Quote 1 John chapter 1 verse 7.
Home