Deuteronomy 30

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

Blessings for Following the Lord

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. Some of the predictions of Deuteronomy 30 have been fulfilled in the past.

  2. Some of the predictions of Deuteronomy 30 await to be fulfilled in the future.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Thank the Lord that getting saved in not all that difficult!

QUESTIONS

  1. Look back at Deuteronomy 29:1. Is a new covenant being introduced in chapters 29-30?

  2. What is the emphasis of this third sermon of Moses, Deuteronomy 29-30?

  3. What is the bad news and good news in chapter 30?

  4. Which predictions of Deuteronomy 30 have been fulfilled in the past?

  5. What three promises were given for Israel’s future?

ANSWERS

  1. 1. We can’t be sure. Some commentators say a new covenant called the Palestinians Covenant is introduced here. Others say these chapters are a renewal of the Mosaic covenant with the new generation, the generation after the 40 years in the wilderness. In other words, the former covenant was made at Mount Horeb (Sinai) with the former generation, but now the covenant is being renewed on the plains of Moab with the new generation.

  2. The emphasis is that the Children of Israel would possess the Land if they kept the covenant but they would be sent out of the Land if they broke the covenant.

  3. The bad news is that they would break the covenant and as a result they would be sent out of the Land. The good news is that God also revealed to Moses that after they were scattered as outcasts to the ends of the earth, the Jewish people would have a change of heart in the future and turn back to the Lord. As a result they would not only be restored to the Lord, but they would be brought back to the Land as well.

  4. The Children of Israel did not obey the Lord. They did not choose the way of life. They did turn to foreign gods to worship and serve. They were driven out and banished from the Land. They were scattered among the nations of the world.

  5. 1. The Jewish people would be brought back from the ends of the earth to the Land that their fathers had possessed (verses 3-5).
    2. The Jewish people would have a change of heart, would return to the Lord, and would continue to be abundantly blessed if they continued to follow and obey the Lord (verses 6-10).
    3. The enemies of Israel would be judged (verse 7).

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. Discuss the miraculous existence of the Jewish people as a distinct people. How have they kept their identity even though they have been scattered around the world for over two thousand years?

  2. Review the three promises given for Israel’s future. Discuss how these have been partially fulfilled in history, but wait to be completely fulfilled to the literal Jewish people in the future.

CHALLENGE

  1. The Lord was not asking the Children of Israel to do an impossible thing – just to love the Lord, to follow Him, and be obedient to Him. Paul applied these verses to the gospel in Romans 10:6-8. Thank the Lord that getting saved in not all that difficult!

KEY VERSES

  • “[When] you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. Deuteronomy 30:2-3

  • “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” Deuteronomy 30:19

Deuteronomy, Old Testament, TalksRon ReidDEUTERONOMY 30