Dt. 30: It's just a little airborne, it's still good...

Deuteronomy 30:4 "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."

Well, after that deluge of curses from the previous chapter, it would be easy to think that life would be hopeless...useless. And it would be. Until the sinner makes a decision to turn back to God. With the pain and horror brought by God as a result of one's falling away, how easy would it be for you to want to turn back to Him? To someone capable of that kind of aggressive punishment? Could/would you trust Him? Bearing in mind that He did give multiple fair warnings against turning away from Him. He gave multitudinous reasons to stick with Him.

Anyway...I love how verse 3 says that "God will restore your fortunes." I don't necessarily believe this has anything to do with monetary wealth. To have the wonder that was before be restored after a great sin is an amazing concept. The way you were before...the way you were intended to be...will be restored. Why would God do that? Does He have to? To keep His covenant, yes. There are many things that are mentioned in the Bible that people can do "so that it may go well with you." God will give back what people have thrown away.

But is simply returning to God the end of it? Hardly. God does so much more on His own here in verses 5 - 10... Just look at this...He will bring you to the promised land. He will make you prosperous. He will circumcise your hearts, so that you can live. He will persecute your enemies. He will make you prosperous. He will delight in you. Your job...obey. That's about it. There is so much responsibility here that God takes upon Himself in order to restore His relationship with his people.

Circumcision of the heart is a little obtuse, but pretty clear...circumcision was an external sign of the covenant. Circumcising the heart was an inward commitment to the covenant.

The end of Chapter 30 breaks down the free will choice people have between life, or death. And it's simple. No one has to ascend into heaven to understand it, or cross a sea to understand it. It is near. It is something easily grasped...within reach. Sure, God commands people to choose life, by why wouldn't you? The free will to choose death is there, but the consequences remain. Just as choosing life will lead to great expectations of blessing.