Deuteronomy 30 · The Lantern

The Promise of Restoration

And it shall happen, when all these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations, where the LORD your God has driven you,

And shall return to the LORD your God, and shall obey his voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all your heart, and with all your soul;

That then the LORD your God will turn your captivity, and have compassion upon you, and will return and gather you from all the nations, where the LORD your God has scattered you.

If any of yours is driven out to the outmost parts of heaven, from there will the LORD your God gather you, and from there will he fetch you:

And the LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and he will do you good, and multiply you above your fathers.

And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.

And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?

But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

And the LORD your God will put all these curses upon your enemies, and on them that hate you, which persecuted you.

And you shall return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command you this day.

And the LORD your God will make you plenteous in every work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good, as he rejoiced over your fathers:

If you shall listen to the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul.

The Choice of Life or Death

For this commandment which I command you this day, it is not hidden from you, neither is it far off.

It is not in heaven, so that you should say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it, and do it?

Neither is it beyond the sea, so that you should say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it, and do it?

But the word is very near to you, in your mouth, and in your heart, so that you may do it.

See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil;

Therefore, let us acquire eternal life. Let us acquire what is available to us. God does not give it to us; He offers it to us: "Behold, I have offered you life." It is available to us to stretch out our hands to good deeds, to take possession of life and to keep it in our soul.

Let us ponder the nature of life and of death. Life is the enjoyment of the gift of breath, death the deprivation of it. Further, this gift of breath is considered by most people as a good. And so life is this, the enjoyment of goods, but death is the divestiture of them.

It is now clear that there are ten precepts of the sacred decalogue. In the first three, right ordering toward God is commanded; in the fourth, right ordering and beneficence toward parents; in the other six, right ordering and innocence toward one's neighbor is commanded.

In that I command you this day to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that you may live and multiply: and the LORD your God shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it.

But if your heart turn away, so that you will not hear, but shall be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

I denounce to you this day, that you shall surely perish, and that you shall not prolong your days upon the land, where you pass over Jordan to go to possess it.

I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, so that both you and your seed may live:

That you may love the LORD your God, and that you may obey his voice, and that you may cling to him: for he is your life, and the length of your days: that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Deuteronomy30

The Promise of Restoration

The Choice of Life or Death