Episode 10: Remember to Choose Life (29-30)
Moses’ sermon reaches a beautiful climax as he shares God’s astounding grace, and the work God will do to transform hearts in the future.
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How does reading chapter 30 feel after reading chapter 29?
Go through and highlight all that you see of God's grace. What particularly stands out?
What does it mean for you to choose life this week? Be specific.
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The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
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Felicity: Welcome to two sisters in a cup of tea. My name is Felicity and I'm here in the States and this is my sister Sarah. She's in the UK. And this episode we are diving into chapters 29 and 30 of Deuteronomy. We're excited. Hi, Sarah. What's in your cuppa today?
Sarah: Hello. Well, it's just a normal Yorkshire tea, actually, so nothing out of the ordinary. I did actually mean to pick up one of my flower teas. You know, they're like the blooming flowers, and then I forgot, and now I've got a Yorkshire I'm like, oh, it's a bit disappointing, but actually it's never that disappointing. Well, yeah, it's always all right, isn't it?
Felicity: Solidly good.
Sarah: Solidly good. What have you got to go with any solid tea?
Felicity: That'd be weird, wouldn't it? Yorkshire gray.
Sarah: Actually.
Felicity: The classic.
Sarah: The classic.
Felicity: And then I've just enjoyed a little nibble of some dairy milk chocolate, which for the Americans listening, is English chocolate, which is good, isn't it? Oh, I know we talk about biscuits quite a lot with tea, but let it be known that chocolate with a.
Sarah: Good square of chocolate or tea.
Felicity: Yeah, I didn't have a square. I husband has just opened a giant box of Maltesers. He's just been to the UK, you see, so we have some supplies, but I just maltesers just not going to cut it in comparison to the dairy milk.
Sarah: Oh, well. Plastic. Can you believe that? We've been doing this for a couple of years now. We've kind of been intentionally studying God's Word, the Bible, together. I just thought I'd ask you, how have you grown through it? Really?
Felicity: Just I have I have grown.
Sarah: Good.
Felicity: It's funny, isn't it? And at the heart of what we're doing here is we really are just in the Word together, and that is the way God works by his spirit. And I've just really felt that I think the regularity of opening up the Word with you has been doing a deep work. In my heart, I feel like I know God better and love Him more. I think one of the biggest shifts has been I feel more eager to live for him wholeheartedly than I did a couple of years ago. Which, to be honest, that feels a bit crazy because I have been a Christian for about 20 years now and I don't know, there's something about being in the word with someone else in this kind of intentional way that there's been a bit of a gear shift, I think. What about you?
Sarah: Yeah, all of that. I think it's been amazing to see the impact of yeah, the regular time in this kind of begets wanting to do this. More and more, my appetite has grown significantly for really grappling with the Bible and with Scripture and what it's saying. And that isn't a coincidence, is it? Because the more we're in it, the more that we want to understand it. And I think that's just really exciting. I feel like, yeah, my hunger now, compared to two years ago, is significantly more. And that's just great and a real gift, isn't it? But also relationally with you. This has been such a significant couple of years, hasn't it? I know.
Felicity: Who would have thought I might have.
Sarah: A tear in my eye, cry on air.
Felicity: Who would have thought? The two years where we've actually not been able to see each other as much as we would have liked, and yet we're probably yeah. Closer than we've ever been.
Sarah: I know.
Felicity: Okay, move on, move on. Chapter 30, that's what we're going to read. We are looking at chapter 29 and 30. But Sarah, you're going to read Chapter 34. It's going to give us just a little 29 ish.
Sarah: Yes. So we just come back off the back of these huge curses being described in 28. And we had the blessings and then the curses and 29, and we get this really significant verse in verse four where Moses says, but to this day, the Lord does not give you a mind that understands or eyes that see, your ears that hear. And basically Chapter 29 sets up the scene where Moses says, god's given you all that you need, and yet you still can't see it, you still can't hear it. And actually you need to recognize that you're going to turn away and that's going to be like a bit of poison to you and these curses are going to come. But that's not to do with the Lord, that's to do with your heart. And that's the problem that we faced at the beginning of chapter 30. So I'm going to read Chapter 30 for us. When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations. And when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 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, even if you've been banished to the most distant land under the heavens. From there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants so that you may love him with all your hearts and with all your soul and live. The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. You will again obey the Lord and follow his commands I'm giving you today. Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this book of the law, and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Now, what I'm commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heavens that you have to ask who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so that we may obey it. Nor is it beyond the sea, so you have to ask who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so that we may obey. No, the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I commend you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands to creeds and laws. And then you'll live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you're entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you're not obedient, and if you're drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You'll not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess this day. I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you, that I've set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God. Listen to his voice and hold fast to him, for the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Felicity: Yes, isn't it the best? And it is such a gear change. I think from chapter 29 you kind of get to it in chapter nine you're like, oh, Lord, exile and all sorts.
Sarah: I know.
Felicity: And then you get this.
Sarah: What a cumulative I think from chapter 28 is for is pretty heavy and always been through chapter 29 you really see the impact of that when they say you're going to go the way of the curses and then this utter grace that is given to them in this chapter.
Felicity: It really isn't. And it's surprising. Like, it shouldn't be surprising because we know that that's what God is like. But I think, as you say with the backdrop of the curses, you're then like it's just all hopeless. And then this incredible hope, especially as you hear even just chapter verse two and three, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations. Because this is in the light of the dispersion, basically, isn't it? Like exile and being dispossessed of the land. And then he's saying, I'm going to gather you back, there's a way back, there's a restoration by God's grace.
Sarah: And that but I love that even in verse one, he could have just said, it's such an extraordinary prophecy, isn't it? He just says, well, this is all going to happen, all that you've just heard, it's going to happen. And when it does, this is then when you're going to return to the Lord and then the Lord will be gracious and compassionate to you. And I just find that amazing as well that it's just plainly said like that, isn't it? Yeah, I love a good highlighter. And in pink, I've just kind of highlighted everything that the Lord will do in this chapter. And it is just quite extraordinary that, you know, this first half of chapter 30 is pretty much pink because it is the Lord will restore, the Lord will gather, the Lord will bring, the Lord will make, the Lord will circumcise, the Lord will put these curses on your enemies. The Lord will make you prosperous. The Lord will again delight in you.
Felicity: I mean, so much it's interesting, isn't it? Because the verse two, which presumably is the bit that is not highlighted pink, I love that you gave us the color of your highlighted there.
Sarah: Oh, yes.
Felicity: So you, your children, return to the Lord of your God and obey Him with all your heart and with all your soul, according to everything that I command you to, which is essentially the command. That the thing that's been asked of the people all the way through the book, isn't it? But then to have that command given again, but then, hot on its heels, you have verse six, the Lord will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants. And so the Lord is doing a work in the heart of the people in order that we would be able to turn back and obey Him. Wow.
Sarah: And that just sets up. Yeah. And I think that is why this feels kind of like a climax, doesn't it, of the book, in the sense that we've been waiting for that moment. Like back in chapter ten, he said, circumcise your heart. Like, that was a command, wasn't it, to turn to Him. And we've we've been seeing all the way through that that they can't, they can't do it. And like, they really, they really can't. And 29, verse four kind of confirms that. That kind of that kind of just summarizes where we've got to in the book, really, doesn't it? That actually it's beyond Israel to listen, see and trust without this complete heart transformation. And then in chapter 30, God says, I will do it. This is what's needed. It's always been about the heart. This is what's needed and I will.
Felicity: Do it, which is a huge relief. I've been just struck a lot by he says, turn back and obey me. Like, I'm going to gather you, have compassion on you. It's not I'm going to gather you and then that's it. You're free to just do whatever you want. It's actually I will gather you so that you are able to obey and listen and hold fast because the Lord is your life. I'm going to stick skipping to the end of the chapter there, but that kind of refrain that we've heard throughout the book, especially back in chapter four, we had this kind of hold fast, obey this, is that you, your life will go well as you hold fast to the Lord. And yeah, as God rescues through his grace, we then are to hold fast to Him as we're able because of his grace. And that's just yeah, and we have.
Sarah: Seen that, haven't we seen that through the rest of the book? That actually as we've dwelled on the law and we've seen the goodness of it and we've seen the love for our neighbor and we've seen how honoring it is to other people and how life giving it is that you can see that. And this carries weight, doesn't it? It's not just kind of ******* something out of thin air and saying that, yes, it will go well for you if you were to treat people in the way that the Lord tells you to. It will go well for you, won't it? And it is a blessing to live that way. And so it is life giving. But I think what's really striking, and I don't know whether how you found this, but as you get to the end of chapter 30 and it's so clear, this choice that is set up and he says it doesn't, he's set before your life, prosperity, death and destruction, blessings, curses. Like it is such a kind of stark contrast between the two ways that you can go. There's no middle ground, there no there is a choice to be made. And I think that's a choice that stems right back to creation, doesn't it? That is Adam and Eve's choice. Are they going to choose life or death? Yeah, that's all the way through to this point. And he's saying right now, you still have that choice. That is still what you're faced with. And it's not just a once in a lifetime choice, this is an everyday choice.
Felicity: Absolutely. And a choice for them back then, but also for us now. That kind of smooshed you that we've been talking about a bit. This is much the choice that we make and by God's grace we make that choice, don't we? Let's go to Jesus and see how we see Him here. I mean, this is the means by which our hearts are circumcised, isn't it? Through the Lord Jesus, and enabling us to then choose life. Because on our own we just go down the death path, don't we?
Sarah: Yeah. And it's not just to choose life, it's to choose Him, isn't it? And I think that's what's really blown my mind this week as I'm dwelling on this, like just calling to recalling to mind what Jesus says about Himself. I am the bread of life, I am the resurrection and the life. I am the way, the truth, the life that carries weight. When we see these words here, that's not a coincidence, is it, that Jesus would choose to say that he is the life. It says here, The Lord is your life, that is Jesus. And so to hold fast to the Lord is to hold fast to Him because he's our only hope. He is the way, isn't he? Like these two paths that we've got. He's the way, the truth, the life.
Felicity: Then I really like Him in verse eleven. So it kind of like picking up on that verse eleven and twelve you have this kind of what I'm commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond to reach, not up in heaven, it's not across the sea, it's Romans ten kind of stuff. And that is true of Jesus. So that is true of god has been with the people all the way through. He's been giving them His Word, which is life. And then we have Jesus, the word who is life, that Word, that is life. And he is within reach, like God has given him to us. And God's grace is evident all the way through deuteronomy like the people have been rescued. Let's not forget kind of the Exodus backdrop to this. And God has been with them all through the desert, he's been providing for them that's kind of 29, chapter 29, and it gives us a bit more of that. And therefore Jesus is within reach, life is within reach through God's grace.
Sarah: Yeah, but it's not just a done deal then, as we trust in Jesus, is it? I think what I've been really feeling this week is the significance that this is said to a people who are going through the whole range of human motion that we go through in life. Like, yes, they're sitting on the plains of Merabin, yes, they're about to enter into this land, but within that they've all experienced extraordinary grief as a whole generation has died before them. There would have been arguments that day, there would have been family breakups, there would have been real messy situations, there would have been real sadnesses and joys along the way. And this is spoken into the context of messy human life. And that means something, doesn't it? That it's not just going out there saying that Jesus is our life actually today, in the messiness and brokenness of life, choose life holds past the Lord in that in that context. And I think that's where it becomes real, doesn't it? That it's not just something out there, but it's actually today that would be the same for the people back then and it is for us now, today.
Felicity: I love that, sir, and I think that's so true. Let it be known that I sat down to talk to you today, feeling the fog of emotion and wondering what deteriorate me was going to do. That is exactly it, isn't it? That this life is not the life that's being held out, is not dependent upon us being in the perfect shape and the best condition and kind of running the right direction.
Sarah: The offer is the opposite, actually. Yeah, it's the opposite. The people could not be further from that. And actually, he's very clear to say to them, you cannot do this on your own and you cannot obey what is life giving. But I'm going to do it for you and I'm going to be there every step of the way. And like, the immeasurable riches of his grace are here, aren't they, to rejoice in, but also a challenge, isn't it? It is a challenge, actually, today. What would it look like if I just kind of remembered that fork, that fork in my own when I'm tempted to choose that sinful habit over life giving, not choosing that sinful habit and choosing something more life giving? What would happen if I really chose to think more intentionally about this choice every day? Yeah.
Felicity: And I think that verse, The Lord is your life, for the Lord is your life. And verse 20, he says, for the Lord is your life. That's really been resonating with me this week in that as I seek to choose the right way, the God way, the Jesus way, I am choosing life. That is where life is. And I think that's been a prayer for my heart, that I would remember that and know that and love that, and as a circumcised heart in Christ that's in me, would I remember that and love to choose the right way rather than it being a kind of like, I know I should choose the right way. But actually I feel like reading these chapters has helped me desire the life that is being held out here.
Sarah: Yeah, it's good in it? It's good, yeah.
Felicity: Do you want to, Sarah? Do you want to you want to pray for us?
Sarah: That we would be eager to choose that way of team now. Choose life now. Father, we just thank you that we can. We thank you that in Jesus we have the One who is the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth and the life. Lord, we thank you so much that we stand today as those firmly in his grasp and you are firmly holding on to us. And so would you help us to help faster you and to choose you and to choose your ways, father, please, would you keep this choice at the forefront of our minds as we go into our weeks? Lord, thank you that you know what we need and we pray. Would you help us to trust you that we would choose life in you? Amen.
Felicity: Amen. Thank you. Sarah, next time we're going to be jumping into the final chapters of Deuteronomy, which is exciting and also sad. We feel the mixture of those emotions, but it's been a joy to be with you this time round. Don't forget about our website, which is where you can find the show note questions as well, which will help you to get into this passage with someone else. Do make use of them and the website as a whole, it's got lots of resources, all our episodes, we want to serve you through that, so do make the most of it and we'll look forward to seeing you again next time.
Sarah: Yeah, take care. Bye bye. This episode has been sponsored by ten of those.com and Kaleidoscope kids Bibles.
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