Day 80: Deuteronomy 30-31

Welcome to 5 -Minute Bible, your daily guide for your daily reading. Today's March the 21st and we'll be looking at Deuteronomy 30 -31.

Now today we come to the closing movement of Moses' greatest sermon in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 30 -31 stands as a pivotal moment in Israel's history. The nation is standing on the edge of the promised land and Moses' leadership is coming to an end and the new generation is about to begin the next chapter of God's covenant history.

And in that way, Deuteronomy 30 opens with a remarkable promise of restoration. Moses looks forward to a time when

Israel will experience the consequences of disobedience and they're going to be scattered among the nations.

Yet, even then, God promises that if they return to Him with all of their heart, He will gather them again and He will restore them to Himself.

Moses declares that the Lord will circumcise their heart so that they will truly love Him and live.

And then Moses presents one of the most powerful choices in Scripture. Between life and death, between blessing and curse, and He places it before the people.

And Israel is urged to choose life by loving the Lord and by obeying His voice and by holding fast to Him.

Then in Deuteronomy 31, it records the transition of leadership. Moses announces that he will not cross the

Jordan with the people. Instead, Joshua will lead Israel into the land. And Moses encourages both

Joshua and the nation with a repeated command. Be strong and courageous because the

Lord Himself will go before you. Don't be like the wilderness generation before you who cowered when it came to being obedient and faithful.

Go in, be courageous. God is going with you. Now, as you read today, I want you to ask the following question.

What does it mean to choose life under the covenant with God? Deuteronomy 30 -31 shows us that true life is found in loving and obeying the

Lord. And the dominant pattern in these chapters is the choice between life and death.

Moses presents the covenant not merely as a legal structure, but as a pathway that leads either towards flourishing or destruction.

And this moment also reveals a deeper tension within the story of Israel because the law caused the people to obedience, and yet their history repeatedly shows how difficult that obedience is going to be.

Even as Moses urges them to choose life, he knows that the nation is going to struggle to remain faithful.

He knows that the nation is going to be wayward and stiff -necked and rebellious. And in that way, the covenant promises blessings, but it also exposes the weaknesses of the human heart that usually tend towards curses.

And in that way, Deuteronomy 30 -31 ultimately and perfectly points forward to Jesus.

Because Moses speaks of a future transformation where God himself is going to circumcise their hearts.

He's going to remove the flesh, the dead flesh that causes them to want to be wayward and to rebel against him.

He's talking about a time where the people are going to truly love him in a way that they've never been able to do so before.

And that promise anticipates the deeper work of salvation that is revealed to us in the gospel, where through Christ, God brings about the internal renewal that the law alone could never produce.

The new covenant is going to transform the hearts of the people so that obedience flows out of them, not out of obligation, but out of love and out of delight.

Jesus is going to become the greater Joshua, the true leader who's going to lead

God's people into God's inheritance. And he's going to lead them to the ends of the earth to conquer the world for the kingdom of God.

And as you read Deuteronomy 30 -31 today, I want you to pay attention to all of this, to the emotional weight of the moment.

Moses is preparing to step aside after decades of leadership. And tomorrow we're going to hear the final song that Moses teaches

Israel to sing before the next chapter of their story begins. And with that, read your

Bible carefully, devotionally and joyfully. And may the Lord use his word to sanctify you completely.