Return to Jehovah

(Deuteronomy 30:1 - 30:20)
“In the future when the blessings and curses I have described have been imposed upon you and you are living in the country to which Jehovah our god have banished you, you may recall to mind my instructions.  If you and your children return to Jehovah your god and resolve to obey with all your heart and soul the commandments I have given you this day, then Jehovah will restore your fortunes.  He will have mercy on you and bring you back from all the nations to which he has scattered you.  Even though you may have been banished to the ends of the earth, he will fetch you and bring you back.  You will be returned to the land that belonged to your ancestors and you will occupy it again.  He will then make you more numerous and more prosperous than your ancestors.  Jehovah will purify your minds and those of your descendants so that you and your descendants will love him will all your heart and soul and survive.  Jehovah will transfer the curses to your enemies, those who have hated and persecuted you.  You will again obey the voice of Jehovah and keep all the commandments I have given you this day.  Jehovah your god will make you prosper greatly in all your endeavors, in your children, in your livestock, and in your crops.  He will take delight in your prosperity as he took delight in that of your ancestors, if you will obey the voice of Jehovah, keep the commandments and statues written in the book of law, and turn to Jehovah your god with all your heart and soul.

“The commandment I am giving you today is not hidden from you or beyond your reach.  It is not up in the sky so that you have to ask, ‘Who will ascend into the heavens to bring it down to us and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’  Nor is it beyond the sea so that you must ask, ‘Who will sail across the sea to bring it back to us so that we may hear what it is and obey it?’  No, the word is near to you; it is on your tongue and in your heart that you may obey it.

“I am setting before you today a choice: life and prosperity or death and disaster.  I command you today to revere Jehovah your god, to act in obedience to him, and to keep his commandments, decrees, and statutes.  If you do so you will live and prosper and Jehovah your god will bless you in the land you are about to enter and settle in.

“But your heart turns away in disobedience and you are seduced into the service and worship of other gods, then I tell you today that you will then be destroyed.  You will not survive long in the land you are crossing the River Jordan to occupy.

“I call upon the heavens and the earth to be witnesses that I have offered you today the choice between life and death, between blessing and curses.  Therefore, choose life that you and your children may live, revering Jehovah your god, obeying his word, being faithful to him.  This is path to life.  In the land he swore to give to your forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Jehovah will give you a long life.”

Notes
1. With what is becoming annoying redundancy, Moses presents to the Israelites the grand bargain of their contract with Jehovah: worship him and obey his laws and be blessed or else be destroyed, or at least be banished to some God-forsaken country.  Here the blessings are emphasized and a second chance is offered for the nation that rejects Jehovah, but will then consent to return to worshipful obedience.  It is suggested that the blessings will be greater for the nation that does so than for the nation that remains faithful.  It always seems to be such, the repentant sinner is more valued than one who has never strayed, but has always been pious.