The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Choose” it comes from the Hebrew Word “bachar” which means “to choose, to select.”
Moses lays out the clearest choice possible, and urges Israel with everything in him to choose well. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Deuteronomy 30.
Moses promises that even after experiencing the blessings and curses he has described, if Israel is scattered among the nations and eventually turns back to the Lord with all their heart and soul, God will have compassion on them, gather them back from wherever they have been scattered, and bring them again into the land of their fathers, blessing them and multiplying them even more than before.
Moses promises something remarkable, that God Himself 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,” a transformation of the heart that Israel could not accomplish through their own willpower alone. He reassures them that this commandment is not too hard or distant, not in heaven requiring someone to ascend and bring it down, nor beyond the sea requiring someone to cross and retrieve it, “but the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.”
Moses concludes with one of the most powerful appeals in the entire book. “I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil… I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” The Hebrew word for choose is “bachar.” He urges them to love the Lord, obey His voice, and cling to Him, “for he is thy life, and the length of thy days.”
Moses’ final appeal, choose life, distills this entire lengthy address down to one simple, urgent decision. Every law, warning, and blessing throughout Deuteronomy ultimately points toward this same basic choice, love and obey the God who has already proven Himself faithful, or wander toward everything that leads away from real life.
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