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Deuteronomy 30:1–10
“The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (v. 6).
God’s covenant with Israel through Moses, also known as the Mosaic covenant or the old covenant, served the church from the time of the exodus to the inauguration of the new covenant in Christ. It reminded the people of the high standards of the covenant of works, gave them the sacrificial system for their forgiveness, and presented a way of life in the moral law—the Ten Commandments and their elaboration—whereby they could thank the Lord for graciously redeeming them from Egypt. Thus, the Mosaic covenant was the external form of the one covenant of grace with God’s elect for the old covenant period.
Although the Lord did not give the law to sinners as a means by which to merit their salvation, He nevertheless required His old covenant people to make a good-faith effort to obey it. This entailed their taking it to heart and seeking to keep it in all of life (Deut. 6:4–9). In turn, when they sinned, they were to repent and offer the prescribed sacrifices to be reconciled to God (e.g., Lev. 4). If the nation as a whole were to do these things, it would hold on to the land of Canaan and experience spiritual and material prosperity (Deut. 28:1–14). On the other hand, if Israel as a whole were to consistently, flagrantly, and impenitently disobey the law of God, the nation could expect sickness, famine, and other covenant curses. If the people’s disobedience was significant enough and lasted long enough, they would be cast out of the promised land into exile (vv. 15–68).
Just before Moses died, the Lord revealed to him that even though there would be faithful individual Israelites, the nation as a whole would fail and receive the covenant curses (31:16–18). Yet the Mosaic covenant itself held out hope that exile would not be the final word for the people. When the people in exile repented, God pledged to bring them back, bless them, and give them circumcised hearts (30:1–10). John Calvin comments on the meaning of a circumcised heart: “God will create you spiritually to be new men, so that, cleansed from the filth of the flesh and the world, and separated from the unclean nations, you should serve Him in purity.”
That promise is one of several in the Old Testament that foresaw the old covenant administration of the covenant of grace as giving way to a new covenant administration. God never intended for the old covenant to last forever but meant it to be superseded by a new and better covenant through Christ (Heb. 8:6).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Although we live under the administration of the new covenant, we can still learn much from the old covenant. The laws for worship and other areas of life help us understand God’s high standards, and they point us finally to Christ Jesus. We must continue to seek to learn from the old covenant revelation of God—the Old Testament—so that we will have a full and complete view of His plans for His people.
For further study
- Leviticus 26:40–45
- Isaiah 10:20–23
- Jeremiah 31:31–34
- Luke 22:20
The bible in a year
- Proverbs 17–18
- 2 Corinthians 3