Deuteronomy 30 explained: Coming Back and Choosing Life

Return from far away (vv. 1-5)

Moses looks ahead to a time when the people have broken their agreement with God and been scattered among other nations. If they remember what happened and turn back to God, he promises to have mercy, gather them from even the farthest places, and bring them home to their land.

A changed heart (v. 6)

Circumcision was the physical mark that a man belonged to God's covenant people, and here God promises to do something like it on the inside, changing their hearts so they can truly love him. It stands out because God himself, not the people, does the changing.

Blessing restored (vv. 7-10)

The curses the people suffered would now fall on the enemies who mistreated them, and God would again make their work, families, herds and crops flourish. The phrase about God delighting in them again pictures a relationship repaired, not only a restored economy.

Not out of reach (vv. 11-14)

God's teaching is not a hidden secret that someone must climb to heaven or sail across the sea to fetch, because it has already been given and is spoken and known among them. The early Christian writer Paul later applied these words to the message about Jesus (Romans 10), and many Christians read the passage partly in that light.

Two roads set out (vv. 15-18)

Moses puts the choice starkly: loving and obeying God leads to life and blessing in the land, while turning to other gods leads to ruin. He does not soften it and says plainly they would be destroyed and lose the land.

Choose life (vv. 19-20)

Ancient treaties named witnesses to the agreement, and here heaven and earth are called to witness that the people were clearly told the stakes. Moses urges them to choose life for the sake of their children, saying God himself is their life.

Key verse: Deuteronomy 30:19

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether the promise of regathering in verses 1 to 10 was fulfilled in the return from exile in Babylon, is fulfilled spiritually in the church, or still points to a future restoration of the Jewish people to their land.

Something to think about

When something in a life or a community has gone badly wrong, what makes a fresh start feel possible or impossible?