Commentary on Deuteronomy, Commentary · Chapter 30
CHAP. XXX.
Verſe 1 Verſe 1. AND it ſhall come to paſs when all theſe things are come upon thee, the Bleſſing and the Curſe which I have ſet before thee.] God at the firſt beſtowed great and ſingular Bleſſings upon them; but when they grew ſo inſenſible of his Mercy, as to violate the Covenant he had made with them, then he ſent his Curſes which he had threatned upon them. Which were compleated in their Expulſion out of the good Land, which he had given them; eſpecially in their laſt Expulſion by the Romans, which was rather an Extirpation.
And thou ſhalt call to mind.] In the Hebrew, Bring back to thy heart, as we obſerve in the Margin of 1 Kings VIII. 47. where there is the very ſame phraſe, and there tranſlated, ſhall bethink thy ſelf: that is, reflect ſeriouſly both upon the Bleſſings and Curſes, and conſequently conſider the truth of God in fulfilling both. In which conſideration, Repentance and Converſion to God begins. See XVIII Ezek. 28.
Among all the Nations whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee.] Where they could not chuſe but often think of all the Bleſſings they had enjoyed in their own Land, and might have ſtill enjoyed if they had not been diſobedient; and all the Curſes which had befaln them till they were driven from thence, and had purſued them ever ſince. See XXVI Levit. 40, &c. IV Deut. 29, 30, &c.
Ver. 2. And ſhall return unto the LORD thy God, Verſe 2 and ſhall obey his voice, according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy Children, with all thine heart, and with all thy ſoul.] Repentance was compleated by forſaking their Idols, and returning to the Worſhip of the LORD their God alone; and by obeying all the reſt of his Commands; and teaching their Children to do the ſame: and all this with ſincerity of heart. This they did, in ſome meaſure, after they were carried Captive to Babylon: ſince which time we read nothing of their Idolatry. But they fell into other ſins, which ſtopt their Ears to that great Prophet the LORD Chriſt, when he came to them; for which they are puniſhed to this day, and will be till they repent and obey him.
Ver. 3. Then the LORD thy God will turn thy Captivity.] That is, bring thoſe that were carried Captive, back again to their own Land. Thus the word Verſe 3 Captivity is uſed XIV Pſal. 7. IV Epheſ. 8.
And have compaſſion upon thee.] Theſe words expreſs the Spring of all their Happineſs; viz. the Divine Compaſſion, in pardoning their ſins, which had been very provoking.
And will return and gather thee.] This is the effect of his Compaſſion, in their Reſtitution, and Recollection again into one Body after their Diſperſion.
From all the Nations whither the LORD thy God hath ſcattered thee.] This was fulfilled in part when they returned from Babylon; for then they who were ſcattered in other Countries, flockt again to them: And will be more compleatly fulfilled, when they ſhall believe on our bleſſed Saviour.
Verſe 4 Ver. 4. And if any of thine be driven out unto the uttermost parts of Heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee.] Unto this Promiſe Nehemiah plainly alludes, in his Prayer to God, to proſper his endeavours for the Reſtoration of Jeruſalem, I Nehem. 8, 9. And finding the truth of it confirmed by the King's gracious Conceſſion to him, he went about the work, though one who was accounted a Prophet (yea, ſeveral of the like quality) diſſwaded him from the Enterprize, as likely to prove dangerous to his Perſon, VI. 10, 11, 12, &c. Ezra alſo tells us, how Cyrus made a Proclamation throughout all his Kingdom, which was very large, That all the Jews might return, if they pleaſed, into their own Country, I Ezra 1, 4. And ſee VIII Zachariah 7, 8. And though in their laſt diſperſion by the Romans, they be far more ſcattered, and into more diſtant Regions than they were in the Babylonian Captivity, (according to Moſes his threatning XXVIII of this Book, 64.) yet if they did now conſider the Cauſe of it, and lay to heart their Sin in crucifying the LORD Chriſt, no doubt God would have Compaſſion on them, and wonderfully reſtore them. For the Jews themſelves apply this place (and have long done ſo) to their preſent Condition; being of Opinion that God hath appointed a prefixed time in his own mind, though he hath not declared it, when he will deliver them; but if they did repent, he would ſhorten the days of their Baniſhment, and immediately bring them to their own Land. Thus the ancient Nitzacon ſet forth not long ago by Wagenſeil, p. 254. And R. Iſaac ſince him, and more lately often inſiſts upon this, in his Chiſſuk Emuna, publiſhed by the ſame very learned Perſon. Particularly Perck. VII. where he ſaith, There can be no time prefixed for their Deliverance, becauſe it depends upon their Repentance; whereby they may cut off the length of this Baniſhment, provided they turn to God with their whole heart, and a full repentance. For which he alledges this place. And he repeats it again (Perck. XXVII.) as the great comfort they have in this long Baniſhment, that upon their perfect Repentance, God will be merciful to them, and overcome their Sins, and perform this Promiſe. Which I find ſtill more lately mentioned in Manaſſeh ben Iſrael his Book de Termino Vitae, L. III. Sect. III. where he ſaith, Herein all the Prophets imitate Moſes; being wont after terrible Threatnings, to conclude with ſome ſingular Conſolation. Which made R. Aquiba (as the Talmudiſts report) fall a laughing, when all the wiſe Men who were with him wept and lamented, at the ſight of the ruins of Jeruſalem and the Temple. Which they wondering at, he ſaid, After the Clouds the Sun will break out, and after the end of the Evils which Moſes threatned, we may hope for good things: for God is not more faithful in fulfilling the one, than in performing the other.
But alas! in all Ages hitherto there are no ſigns of Repentance, much leſs of a perfect one; but they have been ſtrangely hardned in their unbelief, and have bitterly reproached the LORD Jeſus and his Religion. Abarbinel himſelf, though a Gentleman of a noble Family, a well bred Perſon, and of an excellent Underſtanding, is extreamly guilty of this. And ſince his time Solomon Virgae, in the Age before us, conſidering the aſtoniſhing Plagues that have befaln them, and that never any People, as he acknowledges, conflicted with ſo many Miſeries, and for ſo many Ages, as they have done, enquires the Cauſes why the Divine Majeſty ſhould be ſo angry with them. He reckons Seven; among which he accounts the putting of Jeſus of Nazareth to death, as one; yet not as a Crime, but that which hath enraged Chriſtians againſt them. For he wickedly illuſtrates this by that Speech of Moſes, VIII Exod. 24. which he thus tranſlates, If we ſlay and ſacrifice the abominable gods of the Egyptians in their ſight, will they not ſtone us? Which is the higheſt Reproach he could vomit againſt our Saviour; mingled with the moſt ſtupid folly, in giving that as a Reaſon of the Divine Anger, which at the moſt is only a Reaſon, in their account, of Mens indignation, Schebet Jehuda, Sect. LXIII.
The moſt cruel Uſage which they have met with in all Chriſtian Countries, might thus exaſperate and embitter their Spirits; and I cannot excuſe the violent hatred of Chriſtians to them, and their barbarous treatment of them, though they therein fulfilled the Divine Threatnings, as I have ſhewn upon the Twenty eighth Chapter: which being ceaſed ſince the Reformation of Religion, the Jews have not been ſo virulent againſt our bleſſed Saviour; and it is to be hoped will be won to the Obedience of Faith, by our Chriſtian uſage of them; when thoſe other ſtumbling Blocks, which hinder their Converſion, are removed out of the way.
Ver. 5. And the LORD thy God will bring thee into Verſe 5 the Land which thy fathers poſſeſſed, and thou ſhalt poſſeſs it.] Be again planted in it, as they were at their return from the Captivity of Babylon; eſpecially after they had laid the foundation of the Houſe of the LORD, he bleſſed them exceedingly, II Haggai 18, 19. VIII Zachar. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
And he will do thee good.] The Prophet Zachary hath given a full Explication of theſe words, VIII. 13, 14, 15. And the Prophet Jeremy before him, XXXII. 42, 43, &c. which was fulfilled in the building of the Houſe of the LORD, though great oppoſition was made to it; and in the compaſſing Jeruſalem with Walls, and ſettling them in a ſtate of liberty, according to the Prophecy of Iſaiah, LII. 1, 2.
And multiply thee above thy fathers.] The Hebrew words import that he would make them greater then their fathers. Which he did, by their vaſt increaſe after they returned from Babylon: See VIII Zachar. 4, 5. and before him I Hoſea 10. Which is manifeſt from their foreign, i. e. ſpreading themſelves in ſo many Colonies, through all Aſia, both the great, and the leſs; with Egypt, Greece, Italy, and Spain. See Strabo, Lib. XVI. concerning Joppa. By this means they were very much exalted, as Zachariah prophecied, after the Captivity, XII. 6. for as they had their liberty in their own Country, (God being a Wall of Fire to them, while Jeruſalem had no Walls) ſo they ſpread themſelves as I ſaid, and had their Synagogues in Babylon, Arabia, Syria, and divers other Countries before-mentioned; and a great many Proſelytes alſo joyned themſelves to them.
Yet one cannot well think that ſo magnificent a Prophecy as this is, was intirely fulfilled after their return from Babylon, when they were Tributaries to the Perſians, and afterwards fell under the power of the Graecians; under whom they ſuffered very much, eſpecially in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes; whoſe death did not conclude their Troubles, as Hermannus Witſius hath ſhown at large, in his Decaphylon, Cap. X. N. 9, 10, 11, 12, &c. where he endeavours to prove that there was no moment of time, after their return from Babylon, wherein they could be ſaid, to be made greater than their fathers, eſpecially in the days of David and Solomon. And therefore he concludes, that this Promiſe is ſtill to be compleatly fulfilled. And thus R. Iſaac (in his Book before-named, Chiſſuk Emuna) argues, Perck. VI. that God did not beſtow Benefits upon them equal to thoſe which their Fathers enjoyed, much leſs ſuperiour, while the ſecond Temple ſtood; but all that time was full of Straits and Calamities; for which he alledges the Prophecy of Daniel, IX. 25. And therefore ſaith, theſe words of Moſes can by no means be thought to be fulfilled, when the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin returned from Babylon, and left a vaſt number behind them, who would not come back with them, but ſtay there to this day.
Ver. 6. And the LORD thy God will circumciſe thine heart.] By ſuch ſingular Benefits beſtowed upon them, in a miraculous manner, God deſigned to take away the ſtubborn refractorineſs of their Spirits, (called Verſe 6 hardneſs of heart, XXIX. 19.) and to cut off all their wicked Inclinations and Diſpoſitions to Idolatry and Superſtition, which had been their ruin; which is called humbling their uncircumciſed heart, XXVI Levit. 41. But though God circumciſed them, yet their hearts might remain uncircumciſed, as appears from XXIX. 3, 4. And therefore he calls upon them to Circumciſe their hearts themſelves (XVI. 10.) by laying to heart his Benefits, and following the Motions of his Grace and Holy Spirit, which thereby he put into their hearts: And their neglect of this, and reſting meerly in the Circumciſion of the Fleſh, was that which ruined them again.
And the heart of thy ſeed.] Accordingly we find they were freed from Idolatry, after their return from Babylon; though ſtill they continued in other ſins. Which brought this preſent Captivity (as they call it) upon them; another Baniſhment being neceſſary (ſaith R. Iſaac in the Book before mentioned, Perek. VII.) to purge them from their ſins, by the ſevere Afflictions which they now endure, and have long ſuffered; becauſe their manifold ſins, as he expreſſes it, needs much ſcouring, by contuſions and preſſures. After which, he ſaith, they ſhall ſin no more, but that ſhall be fulfilled which is written in the Law, the LORD thy God ſhall circumciſe thine heart, &c. quoting theſe very words of Moſes. But alas! they are not ſenſible for what ſin they ſuffer. See p. 96, 97. of Wagenſeils Edition.
To love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy ſoul, that thou mayest live.] See VI. 5. This Prophecy, the Jews ſay, ſhall be fulfilled in the days of the Meſſiah, according to what Ezekiel ſaith, XXXVI 26. A new heart will I give you, and a new ſpirit will I put into you, &c. So R. Iſaac in the place above-named; and in p. 83.
Verſe 7 Ver. 7. And the LORD thy God will put all theſe Curſes upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which perſecute thee.] Their very Reſtoration created them many Enemies; whoſe hatred increaſed with their proſperity in their own Land; and made them, when they had power, to perſecute them. Whom God remarkably plagued, particularly Antiochus Epiphanes, who died in miſerable Torments.
Verſe 8 Ver. 8. And thou ſhalt return.] This may relate as well to their return unto their own Land, as to their turning unto God: of both which he had ſpoken before. And now having mentioned their Perſecution, whereby many of them might be driven out of their Country, I ſuppoſe he here promiſes their Reſtoration to it again, when he had curſed their Enemies.
And obey the voice of the LORD thy God, and do all his Commandments which I command thee this day.] Continue ſtedfaſt in their love to him, by a ſtrict obſervance of all his Commandments.
Verſe 9 Ver. 9. And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, and in the fruit of thy body, &c.] The effect of their conſtant and ſincere obedience he promiſes ſhould be ſtill greater proſperity, in all their undertakings, and in all their enjoyments. See XXVIII. 4, 5, &c.
For good.] To encourage them to continue faithful in the Service of God.
For the LORD will again rejoyce over thee for good.] Delight only in bleſſing them; and not ſend any Curſes upon them. See XXVIII. 63. and XXXII Jerem. 41.
As he rejoyced over thy fathers.] In whoſe obedience he delighted, X Deut. 15.
Ver. 10. If thou ſhalt hearken unto the voice of the Verſe 10 LORD thy God, to keep his Commandments, &c.] Perſiſt in obedience to him.
And if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy ſoul.] With a ſincere love to all his Commands, (v. 2.) who had planted them aſſuredly in their Land, with his whole heart, and his whole ſoul, as Jeremiah ſpeaks, XXXII. 41. But herein they were defective, after they came out of the Captivity of Babylon. For though they never returned again to Idolatry, but kept cloſe to the Worſhip of God alone, yet they reſted meerly in the outward Rites of Religion, and had not an hearty love to God, and to all Goodneſs: which made them reject the Son of God when he came among them, and fall under thoſe long Calamities, which will not end, till they turn to him with all their hearts and ſouls.
Ver. 11. For this Commandment which I command Verſe 11 thee this day.] Of hearty love to God, and ſincere obedience to all his Commands, v. 2, 6.8, 16.
It is not hidden from thee.] Or, it may be tranſlated out of the Hebrew, It is not too wonderful above thee. That is, abſtruſe and hard to be underſtood, becauſe above their reach; but eaſie to be known and acquainted withal, becauſe plainly revealed. Which is as true of the Goſpel (unto which St. Paul applies theſe words, X Rom. 6, &c.) as it was of the Law of Moſes: for therein our Saviour hath declared the Mind and Will of God to us, in ſuch familiar words, that the moſt ſimple People may underſtand their Duty.
Nor is it far off.] So that they ſhould go to ſeek it, and learn it in ſome diſtant Nation. R. Iſaac in his Chiſſuk Emuna, Cap. XLV. had his thoughts ſo fixed upon what is ſaid v. 4. that he fancies theſe words belong to that matter; and that Moſes ſtill ſpeaks to them of Repentance, which is of greater value than any other thing, and yet most eaſily acquired. Which cannot but make one wonder at their blindneſs; for if Repentance be ſo very eaſie, how comes it to paſs that they remain impenitent for ſo many Ages, and thereby, as they confeſs, prolong their Miſeries? And yet he repeats the ſame words in the Second Part of his Work, Perek. LXXX. where he hath the confidence to ſay St. Paul miſapplies this place.
Verſe 12 Ver. 12. It is not in heaven that thou ſhouldst ſay, Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?] R. Jacob Hacſaei in his Preface to that part of the Miſna called Seder Neſim (as Guil. Vorſtius obſerves upon Abarbinel about the Articles of their Faith) hath very fairly expounded this: which he takes to be a Proverbial Speech, to ſhow that there is no need of hard, or rather impoſſible labour, to come at the knowledge of God's Will; as there is in many Humane Sciences, where the Mind of Man is tired by ſeveral Propoſitions and Deductions, &c. before he arrive at what he ſeeks: But all things are plain and eaſie to be underſtood, and not hard to be performed. For God had revealed his Mind clearly by Moſes from Heaven, and therefore none had need to go thither to deſire God to acquaint them with it, which he had done of his own accord, out of his good will towards them. And thus Grotius obſerves upon X Rom. 6. out of ſeveral Greek Authors, that they expreſſed things very difficult, by going up to heaven. Maimonides indeed in Jeſodehatorah, Cap. IX. and Abarbinel in Roſh Amana, Cap. XIII. make theſe words an Argument for the eternity and unchangeableneſs of their Law, and that there ſhould be no new Revelation from Heaven. But there is no colour for this from theſe words; the Particle hu being of the Feminine Gender, and therefore doth not refer to God, but to the Command before-mentioned. Plainly importing, That Men could not pretend ignorance of their Duty, nor had any reaſon to deſire that ſome Body would go to Heaven again, for thoſe things, which Moſes had already brought from thence. And thus the Apoſtle moſt juſtly accommodates theſe words, to the new Revelation from Heaven, by the Son of God; which was not abſtruſe and difficult; but as plain and perſpicuous as this now made by Moſes.
Ver. 13. Neither is it beyond the Sea, that thou ſhouldſt Verſe 13 ſay, Who ſhall go over the Sea for us? &c.] foreign, (to uſe the words of Philo in his Book concerning Rewards and Puniſhments) ſo as to need long and tedious Voyages, laborious and weariſom Travels, to fetch it from foreign Countries. Such as the Greek Philoſophers took, who travelled into Egypt and the Eaſtern part of the World, to learn Wiſdom, which God now taught his People in the Wilderneſs, without any pains to attain it.
Ver. 14. But the word is very nigh unto thee.] Being Verſe 14 brought to their very Doors by Moſes, the Servant of God; who now delivered to them the Mind of God, as the Son of God himſelf did afterwards, when he came and dwelt among them.
In thy mouth and in thy heart.] Made ſo familiar to them, that they might always have it in their common Diſcourſe, to teach it their Children; and had now been ſo often repeated, that it might well be laid up in their Memory, never to be forgotten by them, VI. 6, 7, 8, 9. XI. 18, 19, 20. It was alſo in the mouth of their Prieſts, who were to teach them Knowledge (II Malachi 7.) and preſs it upon their hearts. Here the forenamed R. Iſaac in both the places forenamed, obſerves, That Repentance depends on the confeſſion of the mouth, and grief of the heart: but the largeſt Confeſſion and the ſoreſt Grief will not avail them, till they repent of their Crucifying the LORD Jeſus, and ſhall confeſs him with their mouth, and believe in their heart that God hath raiſed him from the dead, &c. as St. Paul ſpeaks, X Rom. 9, 10.
That thou mayest do it.] That they might have nothing to do but to put it in practice; and in order thereunto continually read it, and keep it in mind. In which the Jews were ſo diligent, that, as Joſephus tells the Gentiles (Lib. II. contra Apionem) they could as eaſily recite all the Laws of God, as tell their Names. But here was their Error, that they were not careful to do what they knew to be the Will of God: and ſo, when he ſent his Son among them, who plainly declared to them more fully the meaning of their holy Books, they could not underſtand and receive that which they read every day. And indeed this is the common Error (as Dr. Jackson well obſerves) of all corrupt Minds, to ſeek that afar off, as if they were Strangers to it, which is really in their Mouth and in their Heart, ſo that they would but be doers, and not only hearers of the Word, as St. James ſpeaks, alluding perhaps to theſe words of Moſes. As St. Paul applies this whole paſſage to the Goſpel, which is that Word of Faith, ſo preached and publiſhed by the Apoſtles, that it may be in all our Mouths and Hearts, without going to ſeek for any other infallible Teacher.
Ver. 15. See, I have ſet before thee this day, life and Verſe 15 good, death and evil.] Life and Good, Death and Evil, may be but two words for the ſame thing, viz. all manner of Happineſs, and all manner of Miſery; both which he had at large ſet before them, in the Twenty eighth Chapter. Or by Life may be meant, long Life in the Land God had promiſed them; and Good, all the Proſperity they could wiſh for there: as on the other ſide, Death may ſignifie their being cut off from the Land of the Living before their time; and Evil, all the Calamities he had threatned while they lived: And ſo the next Verſe ſeems to interpret it. Maimonides from theſe words obſerves, that the wills of Men are under no force nor coaction, but are free Agents; and therefore have Precepts impoſed upon them, with a Puniſhment threatned to the Diſobedient, and a Reward promiſed to thoſe who keep God's Commandments. Of which he treats at large in his Preface to his Commentary▪ upon Pirke. Avoth, Cap. VIII.
Ver. 16. In that I command thee this day to love the Verſe 16 LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his Commandments, and his Statutes and Judgments.] This includes their intire Obedience to all God's Laws; which are comprehended under theſe three Names. See VI. 1, 5. VII. 11. X. 12, 13.
That thou mayest live and multiply, and the LORD thy God ſhall bleſs thee in the Land whither thou goest to poſſeſs it.] This is the Explication of the Life and Good, which he ſet before them, if they obſerved God's Laws with ſincere affection to them, v. 15.
Ver. 17. But if thine heart turn away, ſo that thou Verſe 17 wilt not hear.] Want of Love to God, and of a due Eſteem of his wonderful Love to them, made their Heart turn away to other things, and not regard what he had revealed to them from Heaven.
And worſhip other gods and ſerve them.] This was the principal Breach of the Covenant of God.
Verſe 18 Ver. 18. I denounce unto you this day, that ye ſhall ſurely periſh, and that ye ſhall not prolong your days upon the Land whither ye go, &c.] This is the Explication of the Death and Evil he ſet before them, v. 15.
Verſe 19 Ver. 19. I call Heaven and Earth to record this day aginst you, that I have ſet before you life and death.] God, Angels, and Men were Witneſſes that he had done his duty. See IV. 26. VIII. 19. and therefore is owned by God himſelf to be faithful in all his houſe, XII Numb. 7.
Bleſſing and curſing.] They are the ſame with Life and Death: but he uſes ſeveral words, to make them ſenſible that both proceeded from God; the one being the Effect of his Love and Favour; and the other of his Anger and high Diſpleaſure.
Therefore chuſe life, that thou and thy ſeed may live.] That is, chuſe to be Obedient, without which they could not be happy. Or he wiſhes them to ſet their hearts on the happineſs God had promiſed them, that it might incline them to do as follows.
Verſe 20 Ver. 20. That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and obey his voice.] Love is the nobleſt, and the ſtrongeſt Spring of Obedience.
And that thou mayeſt cleave unto him.] Obedience to God is the ſureſt Preſervative from Apoſtaſy.
For he is thy life and the length of thy days.] Chapter XXXI.The Author and Giver of Life: which he preſerves and prolongs unto thoſe who are obedient.
That thou mayest dwell in the Land which the LORD ſware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Iſaac, and to Jacob to give them.] Which Promiſe confirmed by an Oath, being faithfully fulfilled, he juſtly claimed their Fidelity to him upon that account. Which is the reaſon it is ſo often mentioned VI. 10. VIII. 1. IX. 5. X. 11. XI. 9, 21. XIX. 8.