Blessings and curses.
That’s basically what these chapters come down to.
God told the people he had great blessings in store for them, if they would only love, obey, and follow him.
But if they turned from him, he let them know curses would come down upon them as well.
These blessings and curses were given specifically to the Israelites, so I won’t go into great detail about them. But there are some things that I think we can take from them.
First, no matter how far the people fell, God was always looking to restore them.
He told them in chapter 30, that no matter how bad their situation was because of their sin, he would restore them. That he would work in their hearts so that they would want to come back to him and love and obey him.
The same is true with us. No matter how far we walk away from God, he’s always looking to restore us. He’s always working in our hearts to bring us back.
Second, God’s ways are not hidden.
God doesn’t hide what he wants from us. He doesn’t punish us for things we don’t know. He told the Israelites exactly what he wanted.
Even Israel’s enemies knew God’s expectations.
God said,
All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger (against Israel)?”
And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 29:24-25)
God further told the people,
The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29)
Because of this, there was no excuse for the Israelites.
Nor is there any excuse for us when we turn from him and sin.
But not only has God’s word been revealed, it is attainable. God said,
Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.
It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”
Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”
No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)
Here we see that God’s word was attainable in the sense that anyone who wanted could hear them could.
However, as the apostle Paul would write later, it was not attainable in the sense that all of us sin.
The law cannot make us righteous; it can only point out the sin in our lives.
But then Paul quotes this passage in Deuteronomy to show that righteousness before God is now attainable through faith in Christ.
He said,
But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?'” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?'” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim:
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (Romans 10:6-10)
So no longer do we seek to be righteous before God through our own efforts, but through the work of Christ on the cross.
All we need to do now is believe.
As Jesus said,
The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent. (John 6:29)
And so now God’s words take on a new light as he says,
…Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.
For the Lord is your life. (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)
God revealed himself through Christ 2000 years ago.
Now, the work of God is to believe in his Son that we might live.
So let us choose life.
For Jesus is our life.
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 