Deu 30:1-2 | KingComments | STEP | This chapter shows that God can always give restoration. This applies to Israel and it also applies to us today, to the church. The return of Israel will begin when they are scattered. God will work in their hearts the longing for return to Him and His land. They will realize that they have been removed from the land because of their sins, and will confess this to God with shame: “Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations” ( ). We see a pre-fulfilment of the return from the scattering in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, although there it almost exclusively concerns the return from Babylon and not from all kinds of peoples. We hear in the prayer of Nehemiah how he pleads with God for the scattered Israel on the basis of this promise ( ). The final fulfilment will be done on the basis of God’s promise to His Messiah ( ). We live in a time of great decay which marks Christianity as a whole. On the whole is written ‘Babylon’ – that means ‘confusion’. The believers are scattered in all directions. But for all those who bow before God under this situation, it is possible to return to the lost blessings. God wanted to show us much of the blessing of the land and the place where He dwells through this book of the Bible. We may lose sight of these things if we do not stay with the Lord. But always He can give restoration, as here in . Restoration can be the matter of the individual, but it can expand. God wants to gather His whole people around Himself. There is also restoration of the land. To the blessing of the land belongs a circumcised heart ( ). The circumcision of the heart is a spiritual circumcision ( ). This circumcision can only happen in connection with the work of Christ ( ). For Israel, it means the recognition that, as far as personal responsibility is concerned, every blessing is hopelessly lost. Only in someone who has been circumcised in heart there is love for God. Then man’s heart and soul turn to God and he gains an eye for the secret things. This happens when God works in grace, where man has corrupted everything in his works. God works the conviction of this in the hearts. The circumcision He performs is to bring to self-judgment and to take the place of grace. That attitude is answered by Him with blessing. The first consequence of such a sincere and profound return is love for the LORD their God, and that with their whole being. That is both the starting point and the motive for their lives. A second consequence is that they will receive a more abundant blessing from the LORD than they have lost. As for their enemies, they will perish by the plagues that first came upon the people. When the people repent, God does everything for the good for them. With the inveterate enemies of His people He does everything for evil. On a people that repent or a person who repents, the pleasure of God rests. They please Him because they give Him His place and they take their rightful place before Him. Harmony has been created. The following verses show how that happened.

‏ Deuteronomy 30:1-2

Returned to the Lord and Brought Into the Land

This chapter shows that God can always give restoration. This applies to Israel and it also applies to us today, to the church. The return of Israel will begin when they are scattered. God will work in their hearts the longing for return to Him and His land. They will realize that they have been removed from the land because of their sins, and will confess this to God with shame: “Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations” (Eze 6:9).

We see a pre-fulfilment of the return from the scattering in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, although there it almost exclusively concerns the return from Babylon and not from all kinds of peoples. We hear in the prayer of Nehemiah how he pleads with God for the scattered Israel on the basis of this promise (Neh 1:5-11). The final fulfilment will be done on the basis of God’s promise to His Messiah (Isa 49:6a).

We live in a time of great decay which marks Christianity as a whole. On the whole is written ‘Babylon’ – that means ‘confusion’. The believers are scattered in all directions. But for all those who bow before God under this situation, it is possible to return to the lost blessings.

God wanted to show us much of the blessing of the land and the place where He dwells through this book of the Bible. We may lose sight of these things if we do not stay with the Lord. But always He can give restoration, as here in Deu 30:2. Restoration can be the matter of the individual, but it can expand. God wants to gather His whole people around Himself. There is also restoration of the land.

To the blessing of the land belongs a circumcised heart (Deu 30:6). The circumcision of the heart is a spiritual circumcision (Rom 2:29). This circumcision can only happen in connection with the work of Christ (Col 2:11). For Israel, it means the recognition that, as far as personal responsibility is concerned, every blessing is hopelessly lost.

Only in someone who has been circumcised in heart there is love for God. Then man’s heart and soul turn to God and he gains an eye for the secret things. This happens when God works in grace, where man has corrupted everything in his works. God works the conviction of this in the hearts. The circumcision He performs is to bring to self-judgment and to take the place of grace. That attitude is answered by Him with blessing.

The first consequence of such a sincere and profound return is love for the LORD their God, and that with their whole being. That is both the starting point and the motive for their lives. A second consequence is that they will receive a more abundant blessing from the LORD than they have lost. As for their enemies, they will perish by the plagues that first came upon the people.

When the people repent, God does everything for the good for them. With the inveterate enemies of His people He does everything for evil. On a people that repent or a person who repents, the pleasure of God rests. They please Him because they give Him His place and they take their rightful place before Him. Harmony has been created. The following verses show how that happened.