Deu 30:1-6 | Clarke | STEP | Gracious promises are given to the penitent, . The Lord will circumcise their heart, and put all these curses on their enemies, if they hearken to his voice and keep his testimonies, . The word is near to them, and easy to be understood, . Life and death, a blessing and a curse, are set before them; and they are exhorted to love the Lord, obey his voice, and cleave unto him, that they may inherit the land promised to Abraham, . Verse 1 When all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse - So fully did God foresee the bad use these people would make of their free agency in resisting the Holy Ghost, that he speaks of their sin and punishment as certain; yet, at the same time, shows how they might turn to himself and live, even while he was pouring out his indignation upon them because of their transgressions.

Deuteronomy 30:1-6

Introduction

Gracious promises are given to the penitent, Deu 30:1-6. The Lord will circumcise their heart, and put all these curses on their enemies, if they hearken to his voice and keep his testimonies, Deu 30:7-10. The word is near to them, and easy to be understood, Deu 30:11-14. Life and death, a blessing and a curse, are set before them; and they are exhorted to love the Lord, obey his voice, and cleave unto him, that they may inherit the land promised to Abraham, Deu 30:15-20.

Verse 1

When all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse - So fully did God foresee the bad use these people would make of their free agency in resisting the Holy Ghost, that he speaks of their sin and punishment as certain; yet, at the same time, shows how they might turn to himself and live, even while he was pouring out his indignation upon them because of their transgressions. Verse 3

Gather thee from all the nations - This must refer to a more extensive captivity than that which they suffered in Babylon. Verse 5

Will bring thee into the land - As this promise refers to a return from a captivity in which they had been scattered among all nations, consequently it is not the Babylonish captivity which is intended; and the repossession of their land must be different from that which was consequent on their return from Chaldea. Verse 6

God will circumcise thine heart - This promise remains yet to be fulfilled. Their heart, as a people, has never yet been circumcised; nor have the various promises in this chapter been ever yet fulfilled. There remaineth, therefore, a rest for this people of God. Now, as the law, properly speaking, made no provision for the circumcision of the heart, which implies the remission of sins, and purification of the soul from all unrighteousness; and as circumcision itself was only a sign of spiritual good, consequently the promise here refers to the days of the Messiah, and to this all the prophets and all the apostles give witness: "for circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter," Rom 2:29; and the genuine followers of God are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands - by the circumcision of Christ," Col 2:11, Col 2:12. Hence we see these promises cannot be fulfilled to the Jews but in their embracing the Gospel of Christ. To look, therefore, for their restoration is idle and nugatory, while their obstinacy and unbelief remain.