Deuteronomy chapter 30

vs 1

Not the most encouraging start, is it? To be told that you are going to fail, and that the curses will befall you, or at least your children or following generations.

vs 2

And yet it would seem that God is fully confident in his plan. Yes, they may well rebel, and yes, they will be cursed and punished. But those who are left will return to God.

vs 3

Just like Job, who was made to suffer for a time, but was then restored to a life of even greater glory than before, God will restore the fortunes of those who rebel against him.

vs 4

And here is the important point. God will restore not just their relationship with him, but the land as well. The land becomes their land, in the same way that the promises are their promises and God is their God. It's a part of ownership and identity.

vs 5

Just taking a jump forward, they obviously did return to the land - built a new temple, all of that. Were they more prosperous and numerous than their anscestors? I don't know about that. I mean, they lost 11 tribes, more or less. So numbers are obviously going to be problematic. And as for wealth, they would compare with Solomon's age (remember the old people weeping at seeing the second temple?).

If that is the case, what do we do with these verses? Unfortunately, I think what we have to assume is that with the land comes the blessings and curses once more - and Israel obviously continued to fail to live up to God's standards, and so was punished, even after returning from exile. So they never achieved their level of wealth, perhaps because their leaders took little notice of all the words from God to them.

vs 6

The thing is, this doesn't really happen until Jesus. It obviously happens to some degree, because Judah basically loses their lust for idolatry after a long stay in Babylon. But the real circumcision of the heart comes with Christ. Although the prophets call for it pretty regularly.

vs 7

That will be a nice change - it will be like going back to the Egypt model.

vs 8

So the thing is they actually do obey them a bit occasionally. They are going back to a time of obedience. Not going forward through a time of disobedience to a time of obedience. So even God considers they do okay at some point - although, considering God has a long view, it's not really clear what time he's talking about here. Under David? Solomon? Hezekiah? Josiah?

vs 9

The formula of blessing returns in this verse. Wombs and livestock and crops a plenty.

vs 10

It's almost a reset. The blessings and curses never stop being conditional on obedience. And we also see the requirement of returning to God with all of heart and soul.