Deuteronomy (Chapters 29-30)

Deuteronomy 29–30 records Moses renewing God’s covenant with Israel and setting before them life and death, blessing and curse. Moses reminds Israel of God’s works in Egypt and the wilderness and warns that turning to other gods will bring judgment and exile. Yet God promises restoration if His people return to Him with all their heart. The Lord declares that His command is near and calls Israel to choose life by loving Him, obeying His voice, and holding fast to Him.

Transcript

Setting The Stage: Deuteronomy 29–30

SPEAKER_00 0:00

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SPEAKER_03 0:27

Everybody, welcome back to Teach Me the Bible Podcast. We are in the book of Deuteronomy, and today we're going to pick up uh the story in chapter 29 and 30. Now, last time, if if you didn't catch that episode, definitely go back and listen to it. Um, we we talked about the blessings and the curses which have been placed before Israel. If they keep the commands, they'll be blessed. We read about what that means, and then we spent a lot of time reading a very long section of what happens if they don't keep the commands and they go after other gods, and these curses are gonna come upon them. But as we said, that's not the end of the story. And so um we're gonna we're gonna see what's next. Once the curses come upon Israel, then what? Um is that the end of the story for them? And so again, I have Dr. David Klingler here with me. He's gonna be our guide through the text. And so, Doc, if you want to uh help us understand what happens

Blind Eyes, Deaf Ears, Hard Hearts

SPEAKER_03 1:19

next.

Dr. David Klingler 1:19

Yeah, we're gonna jump right in in chapter twenty-nine, at least in uh in English Bible, twenty-nine one, and Hebrew Bible, it's the end of chapter twenty-eight. But uh but these are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them at Horeb. And Moses summoned all of Israel and said to them, Uh, You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land, and the great trials which your eyes have seen, and the great signs and wonders. This verse here, 294, yeah, is as I reflect upon um the Bible really it's Isaiah, yes, chapter six. I mean, and and this is gonna be in all the gospels, Matthew, Mark, uh, Luke, Acts in particular. Yet to this day, the Lord has not given you a heart to know uh uh know what's good and right in the eyes of the Lord, eyes to see what's good and right in the eyes of the Lord, or ears to hear the word, right? You I keep saying it, but you're not listening.

SPEAKER_03 2:28

Blind, deaf, hard hearts. That's the that's always the uh indictment.

Dr. David Klingler 2:32

Uh and this is going to be um, you know, Israel's to this day is not giving you a heart to know and it's not gonna change. Yeah, it's not gonna change all the way to Isaiah's day.

SPEAKER_02 2:44

Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 2:44

And so, you know, uh Isaiah's gonna come, he's gonna pronounce judgment, pre-exilic prophet. And in you know, in chapter six of Isaiah, Isaiah is uh, you know, tells about his summoning, uh his call to ministry, so to speak. And um and uh he says, I heard a voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here I am, send me.' He said, Go tell this people, keep on listening, but do not perceive, keep on looking, but do not understand. Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, their eyes dim, lest they see I might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed. This is Deuteronomy 29, Deuteronomy chapter 30. This is what we're talking about.

Prophets As Covenant Enforcers

Dr. David Klingler 3:35

Um in uh you know, Israel is going to rebel against the Lord, uh, go after foreign gods, judgment's going to come, kicked out of the land, exile, 70 years. Um they don't repent. Daniel chapter 9. So 70 times seven, the judgment which comes from Leviticus 26, uh, the curses section there. Um, and now the time has come. Messiah walks on to the scene. We're in the gospel of Matthew. Um, his birth validates who he is, his words, Sermon on the Mount, five through seven, validate who he is, his miracles, eight and nine, uh validate who he is. Chapter 10, he sends out his disciples. He's the promised deliverer who's going to deliver Israel from their enemies. Yeah. Remove the yoke of oppression, the Gentiles that have been sent upon them. Uh, but he sends out his disciples, he says, Do not go to the Gentiles, do not go to the Samaritans, go only to the perishing sheep of the house of Israel. Tell them I'm here. It's time to repent, return. Um, take my yoke.

SPEAKER_03 4:46

Yeah, right? And I can remove the blindness and the deafness.

Dr. David Klingler 4:50

And they say, Yeah, we hate you. Yeah, you're from Satan. And so he begins to speak to them in parables. And his disciples ask, Why do you speak to them in parables? Because seeing and he quotes Isaiah chapter six, which goes back to Deuteronomy chapter 29, uh, verse 4. Lest they see with their eyes, hear with their hearts, uh, you know, hear with their ears, uh, return with their heart and be healed. Right. And so, um, and so to this day, Moses says, To this day, the Lord has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, nor ears to hear.

SPEAKER_03 5:28

Well, and you know what, it doesn't stop with Jesus either. Paul's gonna say the same thing at the end of Acts, isn't he? Exactly. He's gonna continue that ministry all the way through the church age. Yep. Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 5:38

So uh and he's gonna go to the Gentiles and they're going to listen. So next time, yeah, in our next uh podcast when we are in uh chapters 31 and 32, um, that's gonna be explained. Um, you know, Israel's going to rebel against the Lord, go against the uh reject the Lord, reject the rock of his salvation, go after foreign gods. And so the Lord's gonna take the gospel to the nations. And Paul's going to quote it. And it's in Deuteronomy 32.

SPEAKER_03 6:05

Yeah, so sear this image into your brain. Absolutely. The blind, deaf, hard hearts, that's right here from the beginning in Torah, all the way through the Old Testament, New Testament. You need to understand what that means and why it's being presented that way. Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 6:20

Last uh time we said that Dr. Pentecost told Dr. Bayless uh that this these are the most important passages in the Bible to understand the Bible. Yeah, I think maybe we're starting to see why. Exactly. That's exactly what's going on. Verse 5, he says, I've led you 40 years in the wilderness, your clothes have not worn out, your sandals have not worn out on your feet, you have uh not eaten uh uh eaten bread, nor uh have drunk uh wine or strong drink, in order that you might know that I am the Lord your God. When you reached this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon

Curses, Exile, And Global Witness

Dr. David Klingler 6:55

and Og the king of Bashan uh came out to meet us in battle, and we defeated them, and we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, to the Gadites, to the half tribe of the men of Manasseh, the Manassehes. So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. Uh you stand today, all of you before the Lord your God, your chiefs, your tribes, your elders, your officers, the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, the alien who is in your camp, the one who chops your your wood, the one who draws your water, that you may enter into covenant with the Lord your God, uh, and into his oath, which the Lord your God is making with you today, in order that he may establish you today as his people. I've been talking about that all the way through here, that he may be your God. I'm reminded, uh, and we're gonna see this again next time in Deuteronomy 32. I'm reminded of Hosea. Um, go marry Gomer the harlot, because Israel has played the harlot, and have children with her, and and uh and name him, you know, Jezreel, God souls, and then lo Ami, not my people, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

Wow.

Dr. David Klingler 8:08

Uh, and then no compassion, for I will have no compassion on them. I'm sure we'll point that out again, but but it's just uh the the the prophets when they come, the you know what we say it's the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel Ames, they're not coming with anything new.

SPEAKER_03 8:23

Right.

Dr. David Klingler 8:23

They're just coming saying, Um, you should have listened.

SPEAKER_03 8:27

Yeah, told you. They're enforcing what Moses says.

Dr. David Klingler 8:30

Yeah, they're they're just uh the referees, you know, the covenant enforcers.

SPEAKER_03 8:34

That's good.

Dr. David Klingler 8:34

Uh, and um, and that's uh what they're doing. In order that I may uh he may establish you today as his people, that he may be your God, just as he spoke to you, as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, and to Isaac and to Jacob. Not with you alone am I making this covenant and this oath, but with those who stand here today, with us in the presence of the Lord, and with those who are not here today. Uh for you know uh how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations uh through which we passed, moreover, you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood and stone and silver and gold, which they had with them.

Return, Restoration, And New Hearts

Dr. David Klingler 9:21

So that there will not be among you a man or a woman, a family or a tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord your God to go and serve the gods of the nations. Uh there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood. It shall be that uh when he hears the words of this curse, he will boast and say, I have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart in order to destroy uh the watered with the dry. That's exactly what the what the prophets are going to do. No, no, no, no, we're we're blessed, we're not cursed. Uh the Lord shall never uh be willing to forgive him, uh, but rather the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall burn against that man, and every curse which is written in this book shall rest upon him, and the Lord shall blot his name out from under heaven.

unknown 10:14

Wow, yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 10:15

Uh then the Lord will single him out for adversity from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of this covenant, uh, which are written in the book of this law.

SPEAKER_03 10:25

Do you have anything to add there? Well, yeah, I was just gonna, I mean, you already referenced it. This is exactly what is happening in the prophets. And Hananiah the prophet comes, says, Hey, we didn't do anything wrong, we're we're fine, and Jeremiah is said to essentially proclaim the Lord's gonna wipe him out. Yeah, yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 10:41

And so the the the as we go into the Deuteronomic history, we call it, into Joshua, and then the judges, the judges were to operate according to the covenant. Uh, they were to take the land according to the covenant. Yeah, they were not to you know intermarry and they don't do it. And the judges, they start to do what's right in their own eyes, and then the uh the priests, they're worthless, and the kings, they're rebelling. And and in that king section, these prophets show up and they say exactly this.

SPEAKER_03 11:08

Exactly, right?

Dr. David Klingler 11:09

No, no, this isn't a curse. We're we're fine, you know. You know, they're just saying what everybody wants to hear.

SPEAKER_03 11:15

Even saying the Lord is going to break the yoke of of Nebuchadnezzar.

Dr. David Klingler 11:20

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 11:21

No, the Lord brought this yoke upon you.

Dr. David Klingler 11:23

And so if you understand Torah, then the irony, the offense of the the the just wicked falsehood of these prophets is just absolutely obvious. Absolutely. Uh, and they on the one hand, they're unbelievably wicked, and on the other hand, they're proclaiming prosperity in the midst of wickedness. It's just, you know, it sounds a lot like what's being preached today in a lot of ways. And uh, and so then the Lord will single him out for adversity. Uh that they're translating this uh here as uh adversity, it's actually evil. Single him out for evil

The Word Is Near: Choose Life

Dr. David Klingler 12:00

from all the tribes of Israel according to the curses of the covenant which are written in this book. Uh now the generation to come, your sons who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a distant land, when they see the plagues of the land and the diseases which the Lord has afflicted, they will say, Holy smokes! All this land, this brimstone, the salt, the burning waste, unsown, unproductive, no grass grows in it. Uh, it's overthrown. It looks like Sodom and Gomorrah, like Adama and Zeboeim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger and in his wrath. And then the nations will say, Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this great outburst of anger? And then the men will say, Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made them with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. And they went and they served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known, uh who uh he had uh not uh proportioned or given to them. Then the anger of the Lord burned against the land to bring upon it every curse which was written in this book. And the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger and in fury and in great wrath, and cast them into another land as it is to this day. The secret thing this is verse that always gets quoted out of context. The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us uh as our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law. I find it hilarious what people quote do with this. Well, and they they quote this and they oh the you know the secret things belong to the Lord. Yeah, well, keep reading. Yes, right, because what you're claiming is secret isn't secret. Yeah, you know, but the things revealed belong to us. In other words, he's revealed exactly what he's going to do. Exactly. Um, and so you're without excuse, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03 13:58

Uh and so you know, there's well, there's a whole lot we could there should have been no wonder that the Lord was bringing the curse in Jeremiah because of the consistent unrepentance and and foreign gods and all of these different things. It there should have been there should have been no question.

Dr. David Klingler 14:14

Yeah, I I'm reminded I see these uh these um little clips come across some of my you know media, social media feeds. It's the you know, it's when the uh when the owner walks in and the dog knows it's done something wrong. He's got his

Reading The Whole Bible Through Deuteronomy

Dr. David Klingler 14:30

stands there in the corner, you know, it's like that's what that's how Israel should have happened when the prophet just walks in, doesn't have to say anything. Exactly. It just should be just like you know, just gonna melt, you know, sit over there in the corner, you know, like I did it, you know. They don't though. They yeah, they say, no, no, we're fine. Right. Uh and so chapter uh uh thirty, huge key passage, right?

SPEAKER_02 14:49

Absolutely.

Dr. David Klingler 14:50

So it shall be. When all these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in the nation where the Lord your God has banished you, and you return. The word here shoe, you shoove, you return. Uh repent, even, right? Um, you know, that's probably you know, that's where we get the word repent, right? Yeah, the apostasy, uh Israel's apostasy is shuva. They turn away from the Lord and then they go after foreign gods. Yeah. Uh so they've turned away to go after gods. They need to turn and come back to the Lord your God. And so when you return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul, according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, right? There's the you know, all your heart and all your soul language. When you return to the Lord, the Lord will return you to the land, return you from captivity, and will have compassion upon you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are at the end of the earth, from there the Lord your God will gather you back and bring uh you back, the Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possess, and you will possess it, and he will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants to love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul, in order that you may live. So there's there's a ton there. This is the you know, this uh verse uh six, the circumcision of the heart, new heart, new spirit. All this is gonna play out in the new covenant. I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. Give them new heavy covenant which they broke, right? So you're looking for this new heart. Um Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36, those are the passages that we often go to. Jesus is going to talk about a new covenant. Um, but um, but I would just point out that if you know the story, at the end of the story, and you know, are we at the end of history? Well, uh, I can say in all confidence, we have never been closer to the end of the history than we are right now, right? So it should be obvious, but but good. You know, that's kind of a obviously that's true. Um, but but if you go to Israel, if you take a trip to Israel, they'll they will start claiming all of these restoration verses because they're back in the land. Well, they're back in the land, but they have not returned to the Lord. No, they're not following his ways, they haven't turned, looked upon him whom they pierced uh and repented, or looked upon me whom they pierced and repented. Um so they're back in the land, but they're back in the land uh to make a deal with the devil. That that's essentially best I can tell why they're they're back in the land. But and they haven't done this, they haven't returned to the Lord with all their heart and with all of their soul. Um, they are just as pagan as any other nation, right? Uh verse 7. Um, the Lord your God will afflict all of these curses, curses on your enemies and on those who hate you and who persecute you. And uh you will again uh obey uh the Lord and observe all of his command, which I am commanding you today. Then the Lord your God will you know prosper you, is what they're translating, make you to have good uh exceedingly in all of your work of your hands, the offspring of your bodies, back to Deuteronomy chapter 28, the blessings, the produce of your field, offspring of your field, the produce of the ground, for the Lord your God again will rejoice over you for good, just as he rejoiced over your fathers. If you obey the Lord your God to keep his commandments and his statutes, which are written in this book, um, if you turn to the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul. For this commandment, which I am commanding you today, is not too difficult for you. Underline that verse. This is not too hard. Don't go after foreign gods. You know, always ask students, could uh could Israel keep the law? They say, Oh no, no. Yes, there was provision in the law for failure, for their inability to keep it, yeah. You know, the sacrificial system.

SPEAKER_02 19:08

Right.

Dr. David Klingler 19:08

Um, but what they couldn't do, what would get them judged was going after foreign gods, gods in whom there was no payment, deliverance, salvation, uh, sacrifice. This commandment is not too difficult for you. It is not out of reach, it is not in heaven, you know, unrevealed that you would say, Who will go up to heaven and get it for us to make us hear it, that we may observe it? You know, the secret things belong to the Lord, but the things revealed, which I've been telling you for, you know, here they are five books now. Yeah, um, these are for you. Yeah, listen to them, do them. Um, it's not beyond the sea, it's not in some foreign nation, but but it's it's here in Israel. Yeah that you should have to cross across the sea and uh get it for us to make us hear it. But the word is very near you, it is in your mouth and in your heart that you may observe it. It's in your mouth and in your heart. These words which I'm speaking today shall be on your heart, and you shall speak of them, right? That's good. Uh and so just tying it together to with what he's already said, uh, that which fills the heart comes out of the mouth. Believe uh with your heart and confess with your mouth. It's it's nothing new Paul's doing in Romans chapter 10. He's actually quoting right out of Deuteronomy chapter 30.

SPEAKER_03 20:25

Yeah, that's good. Um all the way through here, you know, you can't help but but hear the Lord's words to Moses, the Lord, the Lord, compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loyal love. This is um if if they go after other gods, the Lord's gonna bring all these curses upon them. But when they return, he's going to have compassion upon them, which just highlights uh so intensely uh the nature of the Lord's character. Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 20:56

And so I mean it's just it's just and hold on to that for next uh next time because we're gonna see that in Deuteronomy chapter 32.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 21:04

Uh he will have no compassion upon them, but then when he sees their strength is gone, then he's going to rush in, then he's going to have compassion upon them, then he's going to restore them.

SPEAKER_02 21:13

Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 21:14

Uh you know, Hosea, we talk about Hosea the prophet. We'll talk about him again next uh time. Uh Lo Rachamah, no compassion, for I will have no compassion. But then he will in the end of the story.

SPEAKER_02 21:25

Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 21:25

Yeah. It's like a it's like a son uh who rejects his father, is kicked out of the land, suffers all the covenant curses, comes to his senses and says, Here's what I will do. I will return to my father, and I will say, Father, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

SPEAKER_03 21:46

I swear I've heard this before.

Dr. David Klingler 21:47

And the father is going to do this crazy thing. He's going to have compassion upon him. Wow. And he's going to throw a celebration party. Huge. Rejoice, for this son of mine was lost and has been. And found was dead and is now alive. Well, listen to exactly what this says in uh Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse 15. See now I have set before you today life and they translate it prosperity, life and good, death and evil. So choose life.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

Right.

Dr. David Klingler 22:22

In that I've commanded you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in all of his ways, to keep his statutes and his judgments, so that you may live. How long? Uh forever? And multiply you, uh, that the Lord your God uh will bless you in the land where you're what you're uh entering to possess it. But if your heart turns away, and if you will not obey, um, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, and Moses is gonna say, and you will, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. Uh you will not prolong your days in the land where you're crossing over to possess it. I call heaven and earth uh as witnesses today I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live you and your seed by loving the Lord your God and obeying his voice, holding fast to him, for he is your length, uh your life and your length of days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob to give to them. I call heavens and earth uh as a witness against you today. Um Isaiah chapter one listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth. He is summoning the witnesses of the covenant.

SPEAKER_03 23:43

Making a case against them.

Dr. David Klingler 23:44

And yeah, and he's gonna say, Sons I have reared, but they have rebelled against me.

unknown 23:50

Wow.

Dr. David Klingler 23:50

An ox knows its owner, a donkey knows its master's manger, but Israel is dumber than donkeys. I love that verse. My Israel does not know, my people do not understand, alas, sinful people, weighed down with iniquity, seed of evildoers, sons who act corruptly, they have abandoned the Lord, they despise the holy one of Israel, they've turned away from him. Well, what do you expect to happen if they do that? Verse 5. Where will you be stricken again as you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint, from the sole of the foot even to the head. There's nothing sound in it, only bruises and welts and raw wounds, not pressed out or bandaged, not softened with oil, the land is definite, the cities are burned, uh desolate, the cities are burned with fire, your fields strangers are devouring in your presence. Deuteronomy 30.

SPEAKER_03 24:46

All the way through here. So here's what you should do.

Dr. David Klingler 24:48

Repent, but you're not gonna do it. So how long is this judgment gonna last until the it's all a mess? And so uh you cannot understand Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nakam, uh, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, uh, Romans, Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, Revelation, any of the Bible without Deuteronomy 28 to 30.

SPEAKER_03 25:10

Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 25:10

Uh next time we're gonna pick it up in Deuteronomy chapter 32, where Moses is going to sing his song. We call it the song of Moses. He is going to tell exactly how history is going to play out. And if you're a prophet and you come after Moses and you're not singing the same song, you're a false prophet. Yeah. Uh, and this is exactly how the history is going to play out. It's what Paul quotes repeatedly, it's what Jesus is going to refer to repeatedly. Uh Hosea, uh, you know, or uh um Peter and James, uh the whole New Testament is the playing out of what Moses said.

SPEAKER_02 25:52

Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 25:52

Uh, and so um, we don't change the definitions, we don't change kingdom, we don't change any of that. Uh we just watch it play out. So next time we're going to be in Deuteronomy 31 and 32. And in my estimation, if you if you had to have one chapter, say, okay, tell me the story of the Bible, I'd say turn to Deuteronomy 32.

SPEAKER_03 26:11

Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 26:12

Right. And that's where we would start and we'd we'd flesh it out. And and really, it's just the in my mind, one of the most important passages in the whole Bible is Deuteronomy chapter 32. And that's next time.

SPEAKER_03 26:23

Yeah, next time. Okay. Well, thank you so much for walking us through that again. These chapters are so incredibly important. And I mean, just walking through in this short amount of time, um, just can see the whole story playing out in front of our eyes, you know, and and what not just what has already happened, but what is currently taking place in the day in which we live. So this is absolutely crucial to understanding uh where the story's at now and and how it's gonna continue to play out all the way to the end. And that's gonna get even tighter next time. So do not miss the next episode, chapters 31 and 32. Like you said, absolutely crucial. So um, we will see you next time for chapters 31, 32. See then.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

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