Lord Christ,
we believe in you.
Help our unbelief. Amen.
—based on Mark 9:24
This text is a big mix of hope and despair, but the bottom line is that hope is the stronger voice. It doesn’t always seem that way, though. The list of the consequences for breaking the covenant (28:15-68) is gruesome, and verse 61 adds to the horror by saying the consequences aren’t limited to what is listed here. At first glance all these laws, especially the ones in the lists at the beginning of the reading, seem to put the emphasis on human action. If that is the bottom line, then despair will be the stronger voice. The bottom line is hope, though, because everything is based on who God is and on the covenant he has made.
First, who God is. This comes out in big and little ways. Deuteronomy 26:1-3 is subtle example of the little ways. Even though the actions in these verses are people’s actions, it is clear that they are based on what “the LORD your God” is doing. Try this little exercise: hold your Bible back a little bit and skim over chapter 26 without reading all the words. Let your eyes see just the words “LORD” and “God.” You quickly get the idea that human action is not at the center of what is going on. 32:36-39 is a great demonstration of how God wants his people to recognize that he alone is God, and that is the best news his people can have.
Second, covenant is the context for all of this. This is not an evangelistic text. This passage is talking to people who are already part of God’s covenant, and the traditional route into the covenant is to be born into it. God is already in relationship with these people because he himself has claimed them. Now they are required to abide by those covenant promises. Even when things seem bleak, God always responds to the covenant he has made (30:1-10). Judgment is never the last word. In fact, God here is also promising better things than they experience now in the covenant, especially in 30:6 when God promises to change their hearts. These are the promises that come true most fully in Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit to all believers.
Two additional notes:
29:29 – “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” We have a lot of questions that will never be answered, but God has clearly revealed what we need to know for his glory and our salvation. The Belgic Confession says, “We believe that this Holy Scripture contains the will of God completely and that everything one must believe to be saved is sufficiently taught in it.” Mystery and certainty are both part of faith.
32:46 – “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” I love the middle of that passage. One of my favorite scenes with Jesus and the disciples comes at the end of John 6 when many of Jesus’ followers have abandoned him (those who maybe couldn’t embrace mystery?). Jesus asked the 12 if they were also going to abandon him, and Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” We know where our life is.
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