Ep. 57. Deuteronomy 29-30 | Covenant and Repentance
EPISODE 57
COVENANT AND REPENTANCE: DEUTERONOMY 29-30
As Deuteronomy wraps up, we see some interesting things in chapter 29. One of the most exciting points is found in verses 2-6.
"You have seen all the LORD did before your eyes, the great trials, the signs, and those wonders. But to this day, the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear."
In other words, though the Hebrews had seen God do amazing things, they still missed who he was. Their eyes were blinded, their ears were deaf, and their hearts were far from him. It isn't different from what we find in the New Testament when the people around him missed the amazing miracles of Jesus. Jesus tells his twelve disciples that the crowds had hearts that had grown dull, ears that could barely hear, and closed eyes. (Matthew 13: 14-15) Of course, they had to miss Jesus. If they had understood who Jesus was, they would have never crucified the King of Glory.
God warns the Hebrews that when their stubborn hearts lead them astray, his anger and his jealousy will smoke against the sinners, and he will blot them out from under heaven. Such a fierce judgment would cause the nations to say, "Why has the LORD done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger? Yet there is hope for the future rebellious Hebrews if they will only repent and turn back to the LORD. If the Hebrews will return to the LORD, he will circumcise their hearts so that they will love the LORD with all their hearts and souls.
We see an interesting progression in this text when we follow the "heart." The people were kept from "seeing" the amazing things God had done, and therefore, their hearts were stubborn and rebellious. But repentance would bring about a change of heart, not the result of a change of mind by the sinner, but instead by the blessing of God. He would circumcise the heart of the repentant rebel and remove all that was opposed to the things of God. But then comes the beautiful third part. After God has changed the heart of the repentant one, he tells them, "This commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is in your mouth and in your heart so that you can do it." We see then that God supplies the change of heart necessary for the change in behavior. The heart that God dulled has been made new by God after repentance, and that new heart was equipped to make the changed one faithful in obedience.
It isn't any different for us people of faith. We had dull hearts, and the Spirit of God draws us to repentance. In repentance, we turn to God, and he changes our hearts and then empowers us by his Spirit to walk in obedience to him. Should it surprise us that the Old Testament once again sets the stage for the substance of Christ? Is it any wonder that Paul quotes this text in the book of Romans as an example of faith?
We must be careful not to fall in love with the shadow of the Old Covenant so that we don't insert ourselves into the narrative of Israel. The substance of the hand is infinitely more intricate and beautiful than the shadow it casts. You and I are firmly set in the grace and beauty of the New Covenant of the Blood of Jesus. We are not bogged down in the slavery of the Law. Thanks be to God. We have repented, he has changed our hearts, he has removed our flesh, he has empowered us by his Spirit, and now we walk by the Spirit, glorifying our God and King.
ADDITIONAL READING: Matthew 13:14-16; Isaiah 6:1-9; John 12:38-40; Acts 28:24-26; 1 Corinthians 2:7-10; Jeremiah 7:1-14; Joshua 24:19; Romans 10:1-10
