Always Do The Right Thing

Deuteronomy 30

The New International Version (1984) (Prosperity After Turning to the Lord)

30:1 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,

2 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,

(see vs. 10)

3 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.

(see vs. 8-9)

4 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.

1. vs. 1-3 Why are the words “When” in vs. 1-2 important?

2. Why is the Word “then” important in vs. 3?

“wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations” - In other words, when you’re on your own.

3. When you experience God’s blessings, how do you take them to heart?

4. What does it mean to obey God with all your heart and soul?

to think ⇔ dialog in one’s heart (formulate)

One’s inner self, To think - say in one’s heart, To think verbally.

AV translates as “heart” 231 times, “consider + 7760” five times, “mind” four times, “understanding” three times, and translated miscellaneously nine times. 1 inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding. 1a4 mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory. 1a5 inclination, resolution, determination (of will). 1a6 conscience. 1a7 heart (of moral character). 1a8 as seat of appetites. 1a9 as seat of emotions and passions. 1a10 as seat of courage.

Soul: 1 soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion.

5. Vs. 3-4 How does the Lord restore Israel?

6. How does He restore us? He brings us back to Himself and gives us His blessings.

Personal notes: Chris, what does it mean to you that your two of your kids are working with you? What is significant?

Saylor and Shane, what does it mean to you that you’re working with your dad? What is significant?

That’s what it means to have that intimate relationship with God and God to us!

4 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.

5 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.

In Verse 4, God will find you wherever you’re at, prison, exiled, slavery, and bring you back.

In vs. 5 He will fulfill his promises to you and meet all your needs. When we return to the Lord our God and obey Him with all our heart and soul.

7. What are some of His promises to us?

The New International Version (1984) (Prosperity After Turning to the Lord)

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.

8. What does it mean to have our hearts circumcised? Dedicated, committed, obey His requirements, a sign that we are his and have a covenant with Him.

RTB: Moses asserts that Yahweh would circumcise Israel’s heart (30:6)—an unusual image, but one that signifies the radical change of Israel’s attitude, which will lead to genuine love of Yahweh and obedience to his ways. This, after all, is the basic mechanism on which the law works (6:4–5). At that point, after curse, collapse and catastrophe, there would be repentance, restoration and reformation.