Now Choose Life
Comments for Study 21
Deuteronomy 29:1-30:20
Memory Verse: 30:19
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I. Follow the Terms of the Covenant (29:1-29)
>1. What did the Lord do for Israel? (1-6a, 7-8)
* Deuteronomy 29:1-6a "These are the terms of the covenant the LORD commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.
2 Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that the LORD did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land.
3 With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those miraculous signs and great wonders.
4 But to this day the LORD has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.
5 During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.
6 You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink."
* Deuteronomy 29:7-8 "When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them.
8 We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh."
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>Why? (6b)
* Deuteronomy 29:1-6b "I did this so that you might know that I am the LORD your God."
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>2. What was Israel's part of the covenant?
* Deuteronomy 29:9-13 "Carefully follow the terms of this covenant, so that you may prosper in everything you do.
10 All of you are standing today in the presence of the LORD your God--your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel,
11 together with your children and your wives, and the aliens living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water.
12 You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the LORD your God, a covenant the LORD is making with you this day and sealing with an oath,
13 to confirm you this day as his people, that he may be your God as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
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>Is it only for the people with Moses? (14-15)
* Deuteronomy 29:14-15 "I am making this covenant, with its oath, not only with you who are standing here with us today in the presence of the LORD our God but also with those who are not here today."
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>Who might they be?
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>What were the other nations and people like at that time? (16-18)
* Deuteronomy 29:16-18 "You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold. Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison."
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>3. What mistake do people make back then and even now? (19-21)
* Deuteronomy 29:19-21 "When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, "I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way." This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.
20 The LORD will never be willing to forgive him; his wrath and zeal will burn against that man. All the curses written in this book will fall upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven.
21 The LORD will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law."
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>How has the prophecy in verses 22-28 been fulfilled?
* Deuteronomy 29:22-28 "Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the LORD has afflicted it.
23 The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur--nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in fierce anger.
24 All the nations will ask: "Why has the LORD done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?"
25 And the answer will be: "It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.
26 They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them.
27 Therefore the LORD's anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book.
28 In furious anger and in great wrath the LORD uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now."
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>What does verse 29 mean?
* Deuteronomy 29:29 "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law."
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>What can we learn?
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II. The LORD will Again Delight in You (30:1-10)
>4. When will the LORD gather his people? (1-3)
* Deuteronomy 30:1-3 "When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you."
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>How would it be possible? (4-5)
* Deuteronomy 30:4-5 "Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers."
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>How will the LORD change his people? (6)
* Deuteronomy 30:6 "The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live."
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>What will be the attitude of his people? (7-8)
* Deuteronomy 30:7-8 "The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today."
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>5. How will the LORD bless his people? (9-10)
* Deuteronomy 30:9-10 "Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul."
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III. Now Choose Life (30:11-20)
>6. Is God's command difficult? (11-13)
* Deuteronomy 30:11-13 "Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?"
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>Why not? (14; Rom. 10:5-13)
* Deuteronomy 30:14 "No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it."
* Romans 10:5-13 "Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things will live by them."
6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down)
7 "or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
8 But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,
13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
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>7. What is set before the Lord's people? (15-16)
* Deuteronomy 30:15-16 "See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess."
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> How are we in a similar situation? (John 15:5-10)
* John 15:5-10 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love."
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>8. What would happen if they turn away from the LORD? (17-18; John 15:1-4)
* Deuteronomy 30:17-18 "But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess."
* John 15:1-4 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."
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>9. What does Moses demand they choose? (19a)
* Deuteronomy 30:19a "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses."
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>Why? (19b)
* Deuteronomy 30:19b "Now choose life, so that you and your children may live"
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>10. What is God's promise for them? (20)
* Deuteronomy 30:20 "and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
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