Deuteronômio 30

Deuteronômio 30

Guzik commenting on Ro 3:25-note explains that… God, in His forbearance, had passed over the sins of those Old Testament saints who trusted in the coming Messiah. At the cross, those sins were no longer passed over, they were paid for. The idea is that through the animal sacrifice of the Old Testament, those who looked in faith to the coming Messiah had their sins "covered" by a sort of an "IOU" or promissory note (cp Acts 17:30). That temporary covering was redeemed for full payment at the cross. The work of Jesus on the cross freed God from the charge that He passed over sin committed before the cross lightly. They were passed over for a time, but they were finally paid for. In Lev 26:40, 41-see in depth commentary God again prescribed the remedy for a hard heart was to circumcise one's heart, this time associated with humbling one's self: "‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me–I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies–or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity..." The point of all these passages in the Pentateuch that prescribe "cardiac circumcision" means that God was not merely teaching an outward form of religion in the OT, but was instructing Israel on their need for an internal change, which ultimately points to their need to place their faith in the promised Messiah and Kinsman-Redeemer. As discussed above, how much they understood of salvation by grace through faith, we cannot know. From Paul's writings we know that true circumcision is "of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter" (Ro 2:29-note, cf Col 2:11-13-note). And so we know that there can be no heart circumcision without the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. We also know that there was always a remnant of Israel who did place their faith in Messiah to come and whose hearts were circumcised by the Spirit. For them this commandment would not be too difficult to keep. The ESV Study Bible says "When the heart is circumcised, keeping the law is possible." I tend to agree with the ESV Note but it is not a common interpretation. In the context Moses has just described a circumcised heart (Dt 30:6) is one that is able to obey ("to love the LORD" - love is synonymous with obedience or keeping God's words in John 14:15, 24). Could anyone with an uncircumcised heart obey the commandment (with a whole heart)? Of course not, certainly not perfectly! And we know that God always had a remnant of Israel that were true believers in Messiah, so surely some of those who heard Moses' teaching about the need for and the provision for a circumcised heart and came face to face with the truth that they had no excuse for not obeying God (they could not say I cannot understand, etc) would have sought God's grace to give them a circumcised heart (as explained above). I admit the text does not say that occurred, but how else could they possibly have kept the commandment? And we know that one of the purposes of the Law was to drive men to see their need for Messiah (Gal 3:24+). John Meade in a detailed theological article on spiritual circumcision adds that "There are two interpretive options regarding Deuteronomy 30:11-14 and its relationship to the preceding section: (1) Verses 11-14 return the reader to the present and teach that the Torah is not too difficult for Israel to keep. (2) Verses 11-14 continue the eschatological force of Dt 30:1-10 and therefore the ease of keeping the Torah accompanies heart circumcision upon the second stage of the return from exile. The present exegesis supports the second option: the circumcision of the heart in Dt 30:6, which the people could not do themselves (Dt 10:16+), will free the people to love Yahweh. When the prophets describe the heart change to occur in the new covenant, they typically include a description of the people keeping the Torah or God’s commands (Ezek 36:27; Jer 31:33-34). In Deuteronomy, the connection between internal transformation and obedience of the Torah is not made explicit in Dt 30:6. However, if Dt 30:11-14 continues the thought in Dt 30:1-10 as a subordinate clause explaining the future implications of the circumcised heart, then Dt 30:11-14 clarifies that the internal transformation of heart circumcision leads to keeping the Torah commanded by Moses in Moab. The ease of keeping the Torah was not a reality tied to the (ED: PHYSICAL/NATURAL) circumcision of the Abrahamic and Sinai covenants; rather, it was a reality predicted to accompany the (ED: SPIRITUAL/SUPERNATURAL) circumcision of the heart and the new covenant at the second stage of the return from exile. At this time, the exile is ended and the blessed restoration commences. (Circumcision Of The Heart In Leviticus And Deuteronomy: Divine Means For Resolving Curse And Bringing Blessing) (Bolding added for emphasis)