After listing the enormous blessings that God would provide for Israel if they follow him, Moses still doubts their faithfulness. Even after listing the horrifying curses that will come upon them should they turn and serve other gods, Moses has no confidence that Israel will remain true to the Lord. When one reads the blessings and curses, he is left wondering “Who wouldn’t be true to the Lord with so much to gain and so much to lose?”
The answer to that question is “Everybody!” No one will stay true to the Lord through mere promises or threats. That is not to say God’s words are not true; the promises and threats are true and hold true. However, sinful, fallen man needs more than promises and threats to live for the Lord; he needs a new heart!
Moses knew this was the case. Moses knew no amount of law or promise or threat or will power or blessing or curse would ever change these people. Moses knew they would enter the Promised Land and then turn away from God (30:1). Moses knew they needed grace! 29:4 – “But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.” However, Moses also knew that God was going to grace his people with a new heart! 30:6 – “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”
How do you get a heart for God that will love him and follow him? It doesn’t come through any external motivation. It doesn’t come through any internal determination. It only comes by way of grace. God gives us hearts that will love him and follow him. A heart for God comes from God!
I think you would smile, Bro. Wil, at my reaction as I am reading along and suddenly come upon one of our "fighter verses", it is like finding the face a friend in a crowd! I'm glad that you have encouraged us to memorize them.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome promise is in Deuteronomy 30:6--
"And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live." I'm picturing an Israelite in exile in Babylon hundreds of years later re-reading these words. For this man who turns back to God (vv.1+2), just the slightest beginning of acknowledgment of dependence on Him, of seeking Him with all that he knows in his heart and mind, being "willing to be willing", and he finds that God's GRACE and enabling power comes FLOODING back towards him (vv.3-16). Long before Israel's exile, years before their sin of abandoning the worship of the One True God, even long before they had first settled in the land of Canaan, the God Who initiates every relationship between God and man, had looked forward to his returning heart and had promised to circumcise his heart so that he could live in obedience! The way back to God was provided long before anyone in the nation of Israel could even believe that they would fail so miserably.
Salvation by GRACE in the Old Testament!