Deuteronomy 30:1-10
IN CHAPTER 29 we read that “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God....” Here the Lord reveals some of those “secret things” treasured up in His heart. They have to do with His chosen people Israel, when having utterly failed, suffering under the curse and scattered among the nations, He in His grace will gather them again, bring them back to their homeland and bless them there.
God will yet be glorified in His people, in spite of all their disobedience and their unfaithfulness to Him. In this chapter they are seen where they are today, driven out of every land under heaven, yet not beyond the reach of His love and compassion. “If any of thine be driven out unto the utmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence He will fetch thee.” O what a God we have, for “Israel’s God is ours"!
But it will be a broken and humbled Israel that will return instead of the proud haughty people that went out and were scattered over the face of the earth. For their sorrows and sufferings in the far-off lands of their enemies will have worked repentance. We read that “the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.” (Rom. 2:4.)
There will be a deep inward work in their hearts as well as a great outward change in their circumstances; for “the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.” v. 6.
In that day God will remove the curse from His people, in virtue of the work of Christ for them upon the cross. “And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.”
“For there shall be a day, that the watchman upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God. For thus saith the Lord; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
“Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.
“They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of water in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
“For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord,... and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.” Jer. 31:11-12.
O what mercies and blessinge lie in store for God’s earthly people, all because of Christ and because of His grace and compassion for them. Later we shall see how the Apostle in Romans 10 applies these precious scriptures to us in the gospel now.
Memory Verse: “BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR, AND KNOCK: IF ANY MAN HEAR MY VOICE, AND OPEN THE DOOR, I WILL COME IN TO HIM, AND WILL SUP WITH HIM, AND HE WITH ME.” Rev. 3:20
ML-02/15/1976