King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 5 notes
Read Deuteronomy 30 in the app
1And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
2And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
The blessings of the Lord and his covenant are not automatic. Even in the covenant, it contains blessings and curses, and he treats them according to their actions.
I find the covenant of the Lord with Israel is several layers deep. First he cuts covenant with father Abraham, then with his son Isaac, and then Jacob... We are not told anything about Joseph and Moses, though they were blessed.
By this time Israel is a nation. Then he cuts covenants with the entire nation. The first covenant with Abraham alone seems not enough for him to impose his will and blessings upon the people.
In each generation his people must choose to activate the blessings of the covenant in order for it to work for them.
So what happens if they refuse? That would mean they have refused being blessed, and no one would choose that.
Not to mention, often they find themselves in a bad situation which only the re-enactment of the covenant can pull them out of.
We see that many times throughout the history of Israel as a nation.
For the first time we see the introduction of the element of curses in the covenant.
This was only done when Israel became a nation. Why curses? Because they were in breach of a contract, choosing to turn their back on God after he has blessed them and carried them on eagles' wings to the promised land.
A land flowing with milk and honey. A land where, if there were not curses, God would be on the losing end of the covenant for having fulfilled his part of the deal.
So if Israel refused to worship and keep him as their God, the curses are activated.
3That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
4If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
5And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
6And the LORD thy God 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.
7And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.
So the curses for their disobedience shall now come upon their enemies.
For they, though not God's people, are judged and cursed for breaking the laws of God, which most are laws of conscience and natural to man.
Except that we often close 🔐 our minds.
It also thus means that we can stand on these laws to pass judgment on wicked and evil people 😈
8And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.
9And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:
10If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
11For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
12It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
13Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
14But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
Paul quotes this verse... and applies it to Christ.
Romans 10:6-9 KJV
But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
[7] Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
[8] But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
[9] That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
In reality he takes it out of context, but applies it right to Christ.
Though arguably Christ is the word, so in that sense he applied it right, he takes it out of the old covenant and applies it within the New Testament context.
Paul does so with many other scriptures.
It's almost like when a verse of scripture jumps up at you and speaks to your situation.
In this case Paul uses it right and establishes doctrine, whiles in our case as believers in general it may be applicable to our situation, but we cannot establish doctrine with it.
This most people try to do, i.e. make a personal word doctrine, and end up in error.
15See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
16In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
17But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
19I 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:
Amen
20That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Oww... Indeed he is our life and the length of our days.