Deuteronomy 29
Narrative Interlude
29:1 These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.
Moses began his fourth speech to Israel. All of his listeners were under 40 years old, except for Joshua and Caleb. He will make a new covenant with Israel. Many theologians call this new covenant the "Palestinian Covenant," but this is not the most accurate name. Palestine was a name given to Israel by the Roman Emperor Hadrian after the second Jewish revolt under Bar Kochba (A.D. 132–135). Hadrian's purpose was to “de-judaize” the land and culture of Israel. It was an insult to Israel. The name "Palestine" comes from the Philistines, who were Israel's perpetual enemies. Also, the modern historical events in the Middle East associates the land with the Jewish-Arab conflict. Therefore, the best unbiased name is the "Land Covenant."
The Exodus, Wandering, and Conquest Reviewed
29:2 Moses proclaimed to all Israel as follows: “You have seen all that the Lord did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, all his servants, and his land. 29:3 Your eyes have seen the great judgments, those signs and mighty wonders.
Moses reminded this new generation that they had witnessed the miracles of Jehovah. Most of these first-hand observers were children or teenagers at the time of their observations. These teenagers and children saw the ten plagues, the drowning of the soldiers at the Red Sea, the Shekinah Glory as a cloud by day and a fire by night, the departure of Korah and his followers to hell by the swallowing of the earth, the manna from heaven, the water from a rock, God talking in His own voice at Mount Sinai, the defeat of the powerful King Sihon and Og, the healing of the snakebites by looking at the uplifted brass snake on the cross, and the supernatural abundance of the quail as meat. These teenagers saw many miracles which no other nation was ever allowed to see.
29:4 But to this very day the Lord has not given you an understanding mind, perceptive eyes, or discerning ears!
Notice that God gives one the mind, the eyes, and the ears to understand divine instruction. Man is so totally depraved and evil, that he cannot understand spiritual things in his depraved mentality. For example, Israel was a witness to receive divine miracles directly from God, but they still could not understand the purpose of them. Even in today's modern society, a liberal or atheist can read the Bible or listen to a sound apologetics argument, but they will not believe unless God opens their eyes, their ears, and their minds. Believers can only learn what God allows them to learn. Man is totally helpless without the grace, or kindness, of God. Therefore, pray for unbelievers.
29:5 I have led you through the desert for forty years. Your clothing has not worn out nor have your sandals deteriorated.
The clothes and sandals of the wandering desert Jews never wore out, even though Israel was in the Sinai desert for forty years. Israel should have recognized this supernatural providential care of God.
29:6 You have eaten no bread and drunk no wine or beer – all so that you might know that I am the Lord your God!
There were no alcoholics or drug addicts in Israel. Alcohol and drug abuse brings down nations.
God provided Israel with manna from heaven and water from rocks. Israel should have recognized Jehovah as Lord.
29:7 When you came to this place King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to make war and we defeated them.
Israel defeated two nations who were much more powerful than themselves. Israel should have recognized the One who gave them victory.
29:8 Then we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh.
The land of King Sihon and King Og was given to the two and half tribes. Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh requested land on the wrong side of the Jordan River. Israel should have recognized the power of God in obtaining this land from superior enemies.
The Present Covenant Setting
29:9 “Therefore, keep the terms of this covenant and obey them so that you may be successful in everything you do.
Since God had revealed these miracles to Israel, Israel should have recognized God and offered Him obedience. If Israel desired success and wanted to remain in God's land, then they must be obedient to the Mosaic Law.
29:10 You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God – the heads of your tribes, your elders, your officials, every Israelite man,
At the time of this fourth speech, Israel was standing at an outdoor ceremony that was located outside of the Jordan River.
29:11 your infants, your wives, and the foreigners living in your encampment, those who chop wood and those who carry water –
Notice that all the children were present at this assembly. They were not separated from their families. There were no Sunday school classes for men, women, children, or age groups.
Believing Gentile proselytes were also considered as legal citizens of Israel with full citizen rights. There were no members of other cults and regions allowed in Israel. Atheists, agnostics, and idol worshippers were purged out of the community by execution. The death penalty was alive and well in Israel. When the death penalty was executed, then Israel was kept safe from the seductions of idol worship. When it was not executed, then Israel was seduced into idolatry.
29:12 so that you may enter by oath into the covenant the Lord your God is making with you today.
This present generation was to renew their oath before entering the Promised Land. Their conditional promise to God was obedience to the Law. God's conditional promise was that He would keep Israel safe and prosperous in the land.
29:13 Today he will affirm that you are his people and that he is your God, just as he promised you and as he swore by oath to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The purpose of this ceremony was to confirm that this new generation were the people of God.
29:14 It is not with you alone that I am making this covenant by oath, 29:15 but with whoever stands with us here today before the Lord our God as well as those not with us here today.
This covenant was also made with the future descendants of Israel. Since Israel will become disobedient, these blessings will not occur until the arrival of the Millennial Kingdom.
The Results of Disobedience
29:16 “(For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we crossed through the nations as we traveled.
Moses would give examples of disobedience to this new generation.
29:17 You have seen their detestable things and idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold.)
Israel had seen how Egypt worshiped idols, such as the dung beetle. The dung beetle lived in cow manure. This loathsome insect rolled up the cow manure in a little ball. This little ball of manure was symbolized to be the sun. The dung beetle was symbolized to be a god who rolled out the sun each and every day.
29:18 Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit.
This new generation was warned to stay away from idolatry. They were reminded that they were not to be multi-cultural. They were only to tolerate truthful bible doctrine. They were not to tolerate teachers and prophets who taught doctrinal error.
29:19 When such a person hears the words of this oath he secretly blesses himself and says, “I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.” This will destroy the watered ground with the parched.
Some people of Israel would pretend to hear the words of Moses, but inside of their mind, they would worship false idols.
29:20 The Lord will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense anger will rage against that man; all the curses written in this scroll will fall upon him and the Lord will obliterate his name from memory.
Anyone who falls into idolatry would receive the wrath of God. God would send these idolaters to the Lake of Fire. Idolaters are actually guilty of Satan worship.
29:21 The Lord will single him out for judgment from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law.
If need be, God would single out the idolaters and punish the Satan worshippers Himself. The capital punishment was death by stoning.
29:22 The generation to come – your descendants who will rise up after you, as well as the foreigner who will come from distant places – will see the afflictions of that land and the illnesses that the Lord has brought on it.
Future Israelites will be born in foreign lands. They would visit the land of Israel and observe its waste land.
29:23 The whole land will be covered with brimstone, salt, and burning debris; it will not be planted nor will it sprout or produce grass. It will resemble the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger.
The future land of Israel would become so decimated that it would resemble the land of Sodom and Gomorrah.
29:24 Then all the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger all about?”
Gentiles in the future would notice that the land of Israel has been devastated. Israel today is not the land of milk and honey today. It is a dried up desert. When modern vacationers visit Israel, they expect to see beautiful landscape. Instead, they see a dried up desert.
29:25 Then people will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 29:26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they did not know and that he did not permit them to worship. 29:27 That is why the Lord’s anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the curses written in this scroll.
Other Gentile nations in the future will recognize that the devastation of the land was a judgment by God upon Israel for their sin of idolatry. These same comments are made by many Gentile vacationers today.
29:28 So the Lord has uprooted them from their land in anger, wrath, and great rage and has deported them to another land, as is clear today.”
Israel would be deported to both Assyria and Babylon.
29:29 Secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those that are revealed belong to us and our descendants forever, so that we might obey all the words of this law.
The secret things of the Lord are the prophecies of Israel which God would fulfill in the future. There were some prophecies of Israel which were delivered to this new generation. There were many laws that were given to this new generation. God desired Israel to concentrate on the laws that He had given them.
Chapter 30
The Results of Covenant Reaffirmation
30:1 “When you have experienced all these things, both the blessings and the curses I have set before you, you will reflect upon them in all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you.
Moses predicted that Israel would experience all the blessings and the cursings of the Mosaic Covenant. When Israel is scattered in throughout the world, then she would reflect upon why God banished her from the land. She would finally understand her history and purpose in God's sovereign plan of eternity.
30:2 Then if you and your descendants turn to the Lord your God and obey him with your whole mind and being just as I am commanding you today, 30:3 the Lord your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he has scattered you.
The big sin of Israel was rejecting Jesus as her Messiah and calling Him demon-possessed. Once the entire nation believes that Jesus is her Messiah, then God will show compassion on Israel and return her to her land. On the last day of the Great Tribulation, the nation of Israel will recognize Jesus as her Messiah. She will call upon the name of the Lord. She will cry out "blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." Jesus will return, destroy all of Israel's enemies, bring Israel into her land, return the world to its previous Garden of Eden conditions, and begin the literal 1000 year Millennial Kingdom.
30:4 Even if your exiles are in the most distant land, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back.
Today, there are Jews in every continent of the world. Those who survive the Great Tribulation will be brought back into the land, even if they live in distant lands.
30:5 Then he will bring you to the land your ancestors possessed and you also will possess it; he will do better for you and multiply you more than he did your ancestors.
During the Millennial Kingdom, Israel will re-possess the land of Israel. There will be a population explosion in Israel. Their descendants will multiply and be just as numerous as "the stars in the sky,” "the sand upon the seashore," and "the dust upon the earth."
30:6 The Lord your God will also cleanse your heart and the hearts of your descendants so that you may love him with all your mind and being and so that you may live.
The "heart" is the internal personality or the attitude of an individual. The Jews who survive the Great Tribulation will have their dirty attitudes about Jesus cleansed by God. Once their dirty attitudes about Jesus are cleansed by the Holy Spirit, then the entire surviving nation of Israel will recognize Jesus as her Messiah. Throughout the Millennial Kingdom, Jesus will be greatly loved by the Jewish nation.
30:7 Then the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies, on those who hate you and persecute you.
On the last day of the Great Tribulation, all the enemies of Israel will be destroyed and purged from this earth. They will be taken into eternity to be judged by the Living God who loves Israel. Only believing Jews and believing Gentiles will enter the Millennial Kingdom. The believing Gentiles will be called "Sheep Gentiles." The unbelieving Gentiles will be called "Goat Gentiles." There will be no goat Gentiles entering the Millennial Kingdom.
Many evil and godless dictators throughout history have purged Christians and Jews out of their land. The Romans killed Jesus on the cross, globally scattered Jews from Jerusalem in 70 A.D. at the Temple destruction, and martyred many Christians who refused to pinch censor to Roman emperors. During and after the Crusades, the Catholic church and European kings purged both Jews and Christians out of their lands. In this modern century, communists and Muslim governments have been doing the same.
Unbelievers possess a totally depraved and evil mind. Believers and even non-believers cannot make peace with the wicked. If man is left alone, he will destroy himself. Evil and good cannot co-exist, because evil will attempt to genocide the good.
There is only one solution to this divine conflict between good and evil. At the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom, Jesus must and will purge unbelievers out of this world. He will end their life on this earth and transport them to eternity. Their first holding cell will be Hell, a literal fiery prison inside the earth. At the end of the Millennial Kingdom, the Lord Jesus Christ will transport all unbelievers to the Great White Throne Judgment. At this judgment, the unbelievers will all be sentenced eternally to the Lake of Fire.
30:8 You will return and obey the Lord, keeping all his commandments I am giving you today.
Only the Jews of the Millennial Kingdom will be able to keep the Millennial laws of God. They will only be able to keep these divine laws, because God will supernaturally change their totally depraved and evil attitudes.
30:9 The Lord your God will make the labor of your hands abundantly successful and multiply your children, the offspring of your cattle, and the produce of your soil. For the Lord your God will once more rejoice over you to make you prosperous just as he rejoiced over your ancestors,
During the Millennial Kingdom, the nation of Israel will experience a population explosion. The earth will return to its Garden of Eden conditions, so Israel will be blessed agriculturally as well as spiritually. Israel will be the head of the nations, and not the tail. The United Nations will not be condemning Israel at every general meeting.
It is very good that President Trump has placed Nikki Haley as the ambassador to the United Nations. She is pro-Israel and a defender of the Jewish nation. These types of political appointments bring blessings to the people of the United States.
Satan wants to bring liberals into political office who hate and despise Israel. This is why the devil is currently using the fake news of the liberal media to attack President Trump and his agenda. Satan is currently raising up a coalition of homosexuals, lesbians, transgenders, feminists, atheists, agnostics, multiculturalists, globalists, naive millennialists, liberals, unbelievers, and carnal Christians to oppose the will of God and the current elected government. President Trump should not compromise with these evil people whose agenda is against the will of God and the majority of the American people.
30:10 if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this scroll of the law. But you must turn to him with your whole mind and being.
Premillennial Israel (before the Millennial Kingdom) will not be able to keep these divine laws. Postmillennial Israel (during the Millennial Kingdom) will be able to keep these divine laws. Israel will turn all of her whole intellect and actions to serving the Lord Jesus Christ as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Exhortation to Covenant Obedience
30:11 “This commandment I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it too remote.
The laws that Moses gave to this new generation were not too difficult to keep. The laws were not in a distant land. Israel had received these divine laws in their own land from God Himself.
30:12 It is not in heaven, as though one must say, “Who will go up to heaven to get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”
This divine law was not stored away in heaven someplace, but it had been given divinely to Israel while they were on earth. There were no secret mystery religious rituals or masonic oaths to take to receive this divine instruction.
30:13 And it is not across the sea, as though one must say, “Who will cross over to the other side of the sea and get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”
Many of the Gentiles would have to travel across the sea to receive this Law. The divine plan of the Age of Exploration was to bring the gospel to Gentiles who lived across the sea. Israel did not have to cross the sea. The Law was handed to them by God in their own land.
30:14 For the thing is very near you – it is in your mouth and in your mind so that you can do it.
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30:15 “Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other.
The Mosaic Law did not bring eternal life. It brought blessings to those who followed it and cursings to those who did not follow it. If Israel kept the Law, then they would live a long and prosperous life in the land. If they did not keep the Law, then they would die inside or outside of the land by the big three (famine, disease, or war).
30:16 What I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are about to possess.
Moses told the people that if they loved God, then they would obey His commandments. Love is obedient to the will of God. The will of God can only be discovered by the deep study of Bible doctrine. If Israel loved God, then they would study the Law, obey it, teach it to their children, and then they would live a long and prosperous life in the land.
30:17 However, if you turn aside and do not obey, but are lured away to worship and serve other gods, 30:18 I declare to you this very day that you will certainly perish! You will not extend your time in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.
If Israel refused to obey the Law, then they would be seduced into idolatry. This idolatry would cause God to destroy the nation. God would remove the nation from the land.
30:19 Today I invoke heaven and earth as a witness against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live!
God through the mediator Moses called all the angelic spirits, all fallen angels, all men, all women, all children, and all of creation as a witness against Israel. They were given the choice of obedience or disobedience, which led to physical life or physical death. Later the prophets would call upon the mountains, rocks, and trees to witness against Israel. This is why trees and rocks last forever. They could be called as God's witnesses at the Great White Throne Judgment.
30:20 I also call on you to love the Lord your God, to obey him and be loyal to him, for he gives you life and enables you to live continually in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Moses called this new generation to love the Lord God. They could show their love for God by being loyal and obedient to His will. God allowed Israel to live continually in the land, because of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore, the Jews, as a race, can never be completely destroyed. Their existence today in their land, even though in unbelief, is witness that God is right and the liberals are wrong.