301 "So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where e the Lord your God has banished you, 2 and you return to the Lord your God and obey e Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today , you and your sons , 3 then the Lord your God will restore you from captivity , and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where e the Lord your God has scattered you. 4 "If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth , from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back. 5 " The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed , and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers . 6 "Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants , to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul , so that you may live . 7 " The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. 8 "And you shall again obey e the Lord , and observe all His commandments which I command you today . 9 " Then the Lord your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand , in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground , for the Lord will again rejoice over you for good , just as He rejoiced over your fathers ; 10 if you obey e the Lord your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law , if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul .
11 "For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach . 12 "It is not in heaven , that you should say , ' Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' 13 "Nor is it beyond e the sea , that you should say , 'Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' 14 "But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart , that you may observe it.
15 "See , I have set before you today life and prosperity , and death and adversity ; 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God , to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments , that you may live and multiply , and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where e you are entering to possess it. 17 "But if your heart turns away and you will not obey , but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today that you shall surely perish . You will not prolong your days in the land where e you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. 19 " I call heaven and earth to witness against you today , that I have set before you life and death , the blessing and the curse . So choose life in order that you may live , you and your descendants , 20 by loving the Lord your God , by obeying His voice , and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days , that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers , to Abraham , Isaac , and Jacob , to give them."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Deuteronomy 30:1-25
Commentary on Deuteronomy 30:1-10
(Read Deuteronomy 30:1-10)
In this chapter is a plain intimation of the mercy God has in store for Israel in the latter days. This passage refers to the prophetic warnings of the last two chapters, which have been mainly fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and in their dispersion to the present day; and there can be no doubt that the prophetic promise contained in these verses yet remain to come to pass. The Jewish nation shall in some future period, perhaps not very distant, be converted to the faith of Christ; and, many think, again settled in the land of Canaan. The language here used is in a great measure absolute promises; not merely a conditional engagement, but declaring an event assuredly to take place. For the Lord himself here engages to "circumcise their hearts;" and when regenerating grace has removed corrupt nature, and Divine love has supplanted the love of sin, they certainly will reflect, repent, return to God, and obey him; and he will rejoice in doing them good. The change that will be wrought upon them will not be only outward, or consisting in mere opinions; it will reach to their souls. It will produce in them an utter hatred of all sin, and a fervent love to God, as their reconciled God in Christ Jesus; they will love him with all their hearts, and with all their soul. They are very far from this state of mind at present, but so were the murderers of the Lord Jesus, on the day of Pentecost; who yet in one hour were converted unto God. So shall it be in the day of God's power; a nation shall be born in a day; the Lord will hasten it in his time. As a conditional promise this passage belongs to all persons and all people, not to Israel only; it assures us that the greatest sinners, if they repent and are converted, shall have their sins pardoned, and be restored to God's favour.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 30:11-14
(Read Deuteronomy 30:11-14)
The law is not too high for thee. It is not only known afar off; it is not confined to men of learning. It is written in thy books, made plain, so that he who runs may read it. It is in thy mouth, in the tongue commonly used by thee, in which thou mayest hear it read, and talk of it among thy children. It is delivered so that it is level to the understanding of the meanest. This is especially true of the gospel of Christ, to which the apostle applies it. But the word is nigh us, and Christ in that word; so that if we believe with the heart, that the promises of the Messiah are fulfilled in our Lord Jesus, and confess them with our mouth, we then have Christ with us.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 30:15-20
(Read Deuteronomy 30:15-20)
What could be said more moving, and more likely to make deep and lasting impressions? Every man wishes to obtain life and good, and to escape death and evil; he desires happiness, and dreads misery. So great is the compassion of the Lord, that he has favoured men, by his word, with such a knowledge of good and evil as will make them for ever happy, if it be not their own fault. Let us hear the sum of the whole matter. If they and theirs would love God, and serve him, they should live and be happy. If they or theirs should turn from God, desert his service, and worship other gods, that would certainly be their ruin. There never was, since the fall of man, more than one way to heaven; which is marked out in both Testaments, though not with equal clearness. Moses meant that same way of acceptance, which Paul more plainly described; and Paul's words mean the same obedience, on which Moses more fully treated. In both Testaments the good and right way is brought near, and plainly revealed to us.