Joshua 3

Joshua 3:1

How the People Can Lose Everything

These verses suggest how we can lose everything again. In Deuteronomy 29:18 the dangers are summarized. First of all, we lose our blessings when we regain an eye for the things that are found in the world outside the people of God. In the second place we lose our blessings, not because of what comes from outside, but because of what can be within man, a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.

Decay originates from what comes in from outside and from what comes out from ourselves. If we get an eye for the things of the world and are attracted by them, it will not miss its inner effect. When believers get bitter (wormwood is bitter) against each other, it is often because the world has entered into the thinking (Hebrews 12:15).

Wormwood or gall is the name of an intensely bitter plant. Wormwood is probably the very bitter broth of that plant. It is often used in the Bible as an indication for bitterness (Jeremiah 9:15; Jeremiah 23:15; Lamentations 3:15; 19; Amos 5:7; Amos 6:12; Revelation 8:10-11). This poison (or gall) worked as a kind of opium. Therefore it has been used to intoxicate or anaesthetize those who were executed (Matthew 27:34).

When the intoxication of bitterness is present, apostate thoughts come. This leads people to talk about peace (cf. Jeremiah 23:17), although there is no peace, but on the contrary destruction is imminent: “While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). The Lord will neither forgive nor spare such preachers of peace.

In Deuteronomy 29:19-21 it concerns an individuals. The responsibility of the individual comes to the fore. Because the people are unfaithful and do not remove evil from the midst, the LORD Himself will take care of this individual. But then we see how Moses’ speech passes from the individual who has to be removed to a whole people being driven away.

God does not destroy the people, but “uproots them” (Deuteronomy 29:28). Unfortunately, in the history of the people, this is becoming a reality. The ten tribes are taken away by the Assyrians. The two tribes are carried away to Babylon. In this way the people experience the reality of the loss of the blessings. God makes sure that they can no longer enjoy His land and His dwelling place.

In an application to us, we can say that He takes away from the believers who are unfaithful the knowledge of the true place of the believer in the heavenly places and of the place where the Lord gathers His own around Himself. These are the two main subjects in this book.

Joshua 3:2

How the People Can Lose Everything

These verses suggest how we can lose everything again. In Deuteronomy 29:18 the dangers are summarized. First of all, we lose our blessings when we regain an eye for the things that are found in the world outside the people of God. In the second place we lose our blessings, not because of what comes from outside, but because of what can be within man, a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.

Decay originates from what comes in from outside and from what comes out from ourselves. If we get an eye for the things of the world and are attracted by them, it will not miss its inner effect. When believers get bitter (wormwood is bitter) against each other, it is often because the world has entered into the thinking (Hebrews 12:15).

Wormwood or gall is the name of an intensely bitter plant. Wormwood is probably the very bitter broth of that plant. It is often used in the Bible as an indication for bitterness (Jeremiah 9:15; Jeremiah 23:15; Lamentations 3:15; 19; Amos 5:7; Amos 6:12; Revelation 8:10-11). This poison (or gall) worked as a kind of opium. Therefore it has been used to intoxicate or anaesthetize those who were executed (Matthew 27:34).

When the intoxication of bitterness is present, apostate thoughts come. This leads people to talk about peace (cf. Jeremiah 23:17), although there is no peace, but on the contrary destruction is imminent: “While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). The Lord will neither forgive nor spare such preachers of peace.

In Deuteronomy 29:19-21 it concerns an individuals. The responsibility of the individual comes to the fore. Because the people are unfaithful and do not remove evil from the midst, the LORD Himself will take care of this individual. But then we see how Moses’ speech passes from the individual who has to be removed to a whole people being driven away.

God does not destroy the people, but “uproots them” (Deuteronomy 29:28). Unfortunately, in the history of the people, this is becoming a reality. The ten tribes are taken away by the Assyrians. The two tribes are carried away to Babylon. In this way the people experience the reality of the loss of the blessings. God makes sure that they can no longer enjoy His land and His dwelling place.

In an application to us, we can say that He takes away from the believers who are unfaithful the knowledge of the true place of the believer in the heavenly places and of the place where the Lord gathers His own around Himself. These are the two main subjects in this book.

Joshua 3:3

How the People Can Lose Everything

These verses suggest how we can lose everything again. In Deuteronomy 29:18 the dangers are summarized. First of all, we lose our blessings when we regain an eye for the things that are found in the world outside the people of God. In the second place we lose our blessings, not because of what comes from outside, but because of what can be within man, a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.

Decay originates from what comes in from outside and from what comes out from ourselves. If we get an eye for the things of the world and are attracted by them, it will not miss its inner effect. When believers get bitter (wormwood is bitter) against each other, it is often because the world has entered into the thinking (Hebrews 12:15).

Wormwood or gall is the name of an intensely bitter plant. Wormwood is probably the very bitter broth of that plant. It is often used in the Bible as an indication for bitterness (Jeremiah 9:15; Jeremiah 23:15; Lamentations 3:15; 19; Amos 5:7; Amos 6:12; Revelation 8:10-11). This poison (or gall) worked as a kind of opium. Therefore it has been used to intoxicate or anaesthetize those who were executed (Matthew 27:34).

When the intoxication of bitterness is present, apostate thoughts come. This leads people to talk about peace (cf. Jeremiah 23:17), although there is no peace, but on the contrary destruction is imminent: “While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). The Lord will neither forgive nor spare such preachers of peace.

In Deuteronomy 29:19-21 it concerns an individuals. The responsibility of the individual comes to the fore. Because the people are unfaithful and do not remove evil from the midst, the LORD Himself will take care of this individual. But then we see how Moses’ speech passes from the individual who has to be removed to a whole people being driven away.

God does not destroy the people, but “uproots them” (Deuteronomy 29:28). Unfortunately, in the history of the people, this is becoming a reality. The ten tribes are taken away by the Assyrians. The two tribes are carried away to Babylon. In this way the people experience the reality of the loss of the blessings. God makes sure that they can no longer enjoy His land and His dwelling place.

In an application to us, we can say that He takes away from the believers who are unfaithful the knowledge of the true place of the believer in the heavenly places and of the place where the Lord gathers His own around Himself. These are the two main subjects in this book.

Joshua 3:4

Secret Things and Things Revealed

“The secret things” refer to God’s gracious acts with a remnant if He must punish the people as a whole as a result of their transgression of the law. In the next chapter some of these secret things will become visible. If He wants to give restoration, that is a secret thing. For faith it is a revealed matter, the fulfilment of which will take place in the future.

“The things revealed” refer to the law in which He has made His will known. These are the ways of God in His government, which He communicated in the previous chapter and in this chapter by Moses. For this and the coming generations, those revealed things form the basis for living in the land.

This verse is no excuse not to occupy ourselves with the things of God as if they were secret things. Scripture encourages us to concern ourselves with all that God has revealed to us. What He has revealed is found in the Scriptures. What we find in the Scriptures we can understand through His Spirit Whom He has given us (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). God has revealed to us through the light of the New Testament what is meant by the secret or hidden things we read about here.

Joshua 3:6

Returned to the Lord and Brought Into the Land

This chapter shows that God can always give restoration. This applies to Israel and it also applies to us today, to the church. The return of Israel will begin when they are scattered. God will work in their hearts the longing for return to Him and His land. They will realize that they have been removed from the land because of their sins, and will confess this to God with shame: “Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations” (Ezekiel 6:9).

We see a pre-fulfilment of the return from the scattering in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, although there it almost exclusively concerns the return from Babylon and not from all kinds of peoples. We hear in the prayer of Nehemiah how he pleads with God for the scattered Israel on the basis of this promise (Nehemiah 1:5-11). The final fulfilment will be done on the basis of God’s promise to His Messiah (Isaiah 49:6a).

We live in a time of great decay which marks Christianity as a whole. On the whole is written ‘Babylon’ – that means ‘confusion’. The believers are scattered in all directions. But for all those who bow before God under this situation, it is possible to return to the lost blessings.

God wanted to show us much of the blessing of the land and the place where He dwells through this book of the Bible. We may lose sight of these things if we do not stay with the Lord. But always He can give restoration, as here in Deuteronomy 30:2. Restoration can be the matter of the individual, but it can expand. God wants to gather His whole people around Himself. There is also restoration of the land.

To the blessing of the land belongs a circumcised heart (Deuteronomy 30:6). The circumcision of the heart is a spiritual circumcision (Romans 2:29). This circumcision can only happen in connection with the work of Christ (Colossians 2:11). For Israel, it means the recognition that, as far as personal responsibility is concerned, every blessing is hopelessly lost.

Only in someone who has been circumcised in heart there is love for God. Then man’s heart and soul turn to God and he gains an eye for the secret things. This happens when God works in grace, where man has corrupted everything in his works. God works the conviction of this in the hearts. The circumcision He performs is to bring to self-judgment and to take the place of grace. That attitude is answered by Him with blessing.

The first consequence of such a sincere and profound return is love for the LORD their God, and that with their whole being. That is both the starting point and the motive for their lives. A second consequence is that they will receive a more abundant blessing from the LORD than they have lost. As for their enemies, they will perish by the plagues that first came upon the people.

When the people repent, God does everything for the good for them. With the inveterate enemies of His people He does everything for evil. On a people that repent or a person who repents, the pleasure of God rests. They please Him because they give Him His place and they take their rightful place before Him. Harmony has been created. The following verses show how that happened.

Joshua 3:7

Returned to the Lord and Brought Into the Land

This chapter shows that God can always give restoration. This applies to Israel and it also applies to us today, to the church. The return of Israel will begin when they are scattered. God will work in their hearts the longing for return to Him and His land. They will realize that they have been removed from the land because of their sins, and will confess this to God with shame: “Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations” (Ezekiel 6:9).

We see a pre-fulfilment of the return from the scattering in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, although there it almost exclusively concerns the return from Babylon and not from all kinds of peoples. We hear in the prayer of Nehemiah how he pleads with God for the scattered Israel on the basis of this promise (Nehemiah 1:5-11). The final fulfilment will be done on the basis of God’s promise to His Messiah (Isaiah 49:6a).

We live in a time of great decay which marks Christianity as a whole. On the whole is written ‘Babylon’ – that means ‘confusion’. The believers are scattered in all directions. But for all those who bow before God under this situation, it is possible to return to the lost blessings.

God wanted to show us much of the blessing of the land and the place where He dwells through this book of the Bible. We may lose sight of these things if we do not stay with the Lord. But always He can give restoration, as here in Deuteronomy 30:2. Restoration can be the matter of the individual, but it can expand. God wants to gather His whole people around Himself. There is also restoration of the land.

To the blessing of the land belongs a circumcised heart (Deuteronomy 30:6). The circumcision of the heart is a spiritual circumcision (Romans 2:29). This circumcision can only happen in connection with the work of Christ (Colossians 2:11). For Israel, it means the recognition that, as far as personal responsibility is concerned, every blessing is hopelessly lost.

Only in someone who has been circumcised in heart there is love for God. Then man’s heart and soul turn to God and he gains an eye for the secret things. This happens when God works in grace, where man has corrupted everything in his works. God works the conviction of this in the hearts. The circumcision He performs is to bring to self-judgment and to take the place of grace. That attitude is answered by Him with blessing.

The first consequence of such a sincere and profound return is love for the LORD their God, and that with their whole being. That is both the starting point and the motive for their lives. A second consequence is that they will receive a more abundant blessing from the LORD than they have lost. As for their enemies, they will perish by the plagues that first came upon the people.

When the people repent, God does everything for the good for them. With the inveterate enemies of His people He does everything for evil. On a people that repent or a person who repents, the pleasure of God rests. They please Him because they give Him His place and they take their rightful place before Him. Harmony has been created. The following verses show how that happened.

Joshua 3:8

Returned to the Lord and Brought Into the Land

This chapter shows that God can always give restoration. This applies to Israel and it also applies to us today, to the church. The return of Israel will begin when they are scattered. God will work in their hearts the longing for return to Him and His land. They will realize that they have been removed from the land because of their sins, and will confess this to God with shame: “Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations” (Ezekiel 6:9).

We see a pre-fulfilment of the return from the scattering in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, although there it almost exclusively concerns the return from Babylon and not from all kinds of peoples. We hear in the prayer of Nehemiah how he pleads with God for the scattered Israel on the basis of this promise (Nehemiah 1:5-11). The final fulfilment will be done on the basis of God’s promise to His Messiah (Isaiah 49:6a).

We live in a time of great decay which marks Christianity as a whole. On the whole is written ‘Babylon’ – that means ‘confusion’. The believers are scattered in all directions. But for all those who bow before God under this situation, it is possible to return to the lost blessings.

God wanted to show us much of the blessing of the land and the place where He dwells through this book of the Bible. We may lose sight of these things if we do not stay with the Lord. But always He can give restoration, as here in Deuteronomy 30:2. Restoration can be the matter of the individual, but it can expand. God wants to gather His whole people around Himself. There is also restoration of the land.

To the blessing of the land belongs a circumcised heart (Deuteronomy 30:6). The circumcision of the heart is a spiritual circumcision (Romans 2:29). This circumcision can only happen in connection with the work of Christ (Colossians 2:11). For Israel, it means the recognition that, as far as personal responsibility is concerned, every blessing is hopelessly lost.

Only in someone who has been circumcised in heart there is love for God. Then man’s heart and soul turn to God and he gains an eye for the secret things. This happens when God works in grace, where man has corrupted everything in his works. God works the conviction of this in the hearts. The circumcision He performs is to bring to self-judgment and to take the place of grace. That attitude is answered by Him with blessing.

The first consequence of such a sincere and profound return is love for the LORD their God, and that with their whole being. That is both the starting point and the motive for their lives. A second consequence is that they will receive a more abundant blessing from the LORD than they have lost. As for their enemies, they will perish by the plagues that first came upon the people.

When the people repent, God does everything for the good for them. With the inveterate enemies of His people He does everything for evil. On a people that repent or a person who repents, the pleasure of God rests. They please Him because they give Him His place and they take their rightful place before Him. Harmony has been created. The following verses show how that happened.

Joshua 3:9

Returned to the Lord and Brought Into the Land

This chapter shows that God can always give restoration. This applies to Israel and it also applies to us today, to the church. The return of Israel will begin when they are scattered. God will work in their hearts the longing for return to Him and His land. They will realize that they have been removed from the land because of their sins, and will confess this to God with shame: “Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations” (Ezekiel 6:9).

We see a pre-fulfilment of the return from the scattering in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, although there it almost exclusively concerns the return from Babylon and not from all kinds of peoples. We hear in the prayer of Nehemiah how he pleads with God for the scattered Israel on the basis of this promise (Nehemiah 1:5-11). The final fulfilment will be done on the basis of God’s promise to His Messiah (Isaiah 49:6a).

We live in a time of great decay which marks Christianity as a whole. On the whole is written ‘Babylon’ – that means ‘confusion’. The believers are scattered in all directions. But for all those who bow before God under this situation, it is possible to return to the lost blessings.

God wanted to show us much of the blessing of the land and the place where He dwells through this book of the Bible. We may lose sight of these things if we do not stay with the Lord. But always He can give restoration, as here in Deuteronomy 30:2. Restoration can be the matter of the individual, but it can expand. God wants to gather His whole people around Himself. There is also restoration of the land.

To the blessing of the land belongs a circumcised heart (Deuteronomy 30:6). The circumcision of the heart is a spiritual circumcision (Romans 2:29). This circumcision can only happen in connection with the work of Christ (Colossians 2:11). For Israel, it means the recognition that, as far as personal responsibility is concerned, every blessing is hopelessly lost.

Only in someone who has been circumcised in heart there is love for God. Then man’s heart and soul turn to God and he gains an eye for the secret things. This happens when God works in grace, where man has corrupted everything in his works. God works the conviction of this in the hearts. The circumcision He performs is to bring to self-judgment and to take the place of grace. That attitude is answered by Him with blessing.

The first consequence of such a sincere and profound return is love for the LORD their God, and that with their whole being. That is both the starting point and the motive for their lives. A second consequence is that they will receive a more abundant blessing from the LORD than they have lost. As for their enemies, they will perish by the plagues that first came upon the people.

When the people repent, God does everything for the good for them. With the inveterate enemies of His people He does everything for evil. On a people that repent or a person who repents, the pleasure of God rests. They please Him because they give Him His place and they take their rightful place before Him. Harmony has been created. The following verses show how that happened.

Joshua 3:10

Returned to the Lord and Brought Into the Land

This chapter shows that God can always give restoration. This applies to Israel and it also applies to us today, to the church. The return of Israel will begin when they are scattered. God will work in their hearts the longing for return to Him and His land. They will realize that they have been removed from the land because of their sins, and will confess this to God with shame: “Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations” (Ezekiel 6:9).

We see a pre-fulfilment of the return from the scattering in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, although there it almost exclusively concerns the return from Babylon and not from all kinds of peoples. We hear in the prayer of Nehemiah how he pleads with God for the scattered Israel on the basis of this promise (Nehemiah 1:5-11). The final fulfilment will be done on the basis of God’s promise to His Messiah (Isaiah 49:6a).

We live in a time of great decay which marks Christianity as a whole. On the whole is written ‘Babylon’ – that means ‘confusion’. The believers are scattered in all directions. But for all those who bow before God under this situation, it is possible to return to the lost blessings.

God wanted to show us much of the blessing of the land and the place where He dwells through this book of the Bible. We may lose sight of these things if we do not stay with the Lord. But always He can give restoration, as here in Deuteronomy 30:2. Restoration can be the matter of the individual, but it can expand. God wants to gather His whole people around Himself. There is also restoration of the land.

To the blessing of the land belongs a circumcised heart (Deuteronomy 30:6). The circumcision of the heart is a spiritual circumcision (Romans 2:29). This circumcision can only happen in connection with the work of Christ (Colossians 2:11). For Israel, it means the recognition that, as far as personal responsibility is concerned, every blessing is hopelessly lost.

Only in someone who has been circumcised in heart there is love for God. Then man’s heart and soul turn to God and he gains an eye for the secret things. This happens when God works in grace, where man has corrupted everything in his works. God works the conviction of this in the hearts. The circumcision He performs is to bring to self-judgment and to take the place of grace. That attitude is answered by Him with blessing.

The first consequence of such a sincere and profound return is love for the LORD their God, and that with their whole being. That is both the starting point and the motive for their lives. A second consequence is that they will receive a more abundant blessing from the LORD than they have lost. As for their enemies, they will perish by the plagues that first came upon the people.

When the people repent, God does everything for the good for them. With the inveterate enemies of His people He does everything for evil. On a people that repent or a person who repents, the pleasure of God rests. They please Him because they give Him His place and they take their rightful place before Him. Harmony has been created. The following verses show how that happened.

Joshua 3:11

Returned to the Lord and Brought Into the Land

This chapter shows that God can always give restoration. This applies to Israel and it also applies to us today, to the church. The return of Israel will begin when they are scattered. God will work in their hearts the longing for return to Him and His land. They will realize that they have been removed from the land because of their sins, and will confess this to God with shame: “Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations” (Ezekiel 6:9).

We see a pre-fulfilment of the return from the scattering in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, although there it almost exclusively concerns the return from Babylon and not from all kinds of peoples. We hear in the prayer of Nehemiah how he pleads with God for the scattered Israel on the basis of this promise (Nehemiah 1:5-11). The final fulfilment will be done on the basis of God’s promise to His Messiah (Isaiah 49:6a).

We live in a time of great decay which marks Christianity as a whole. On the whole is written ‘Babylon’ – that means ‘confusion’. The believers are scattered in all directions. But for all those who bow before God under this situation, it is possible to return to the lost blessings.

God wanted to show us much of the blessing of the land and the place where He dwells through this book of the Bible. We may lose sight of these things if we do not stay with the Lord. But always He can give restoration, as here in Deuteronomy 30:2. Restoration can be the matter of the individual, but it can expand. God wants to gather His whole people around Himself. There is also restoration of the land.

To the blessing of the land belongs a circumcised heart (Deuteronomy 30:6). The circumcision of the heart is a spiritual circumcision (Romans 2:29). This circumcision can only happen in connection with the work of Christ (Colossians 2:11). For Israel, it means the recognition that, as far as personal responsibility is concerned, every blessing is hopelessly lost.

Only in someone who has been circumcised in heart there is love for God. Then man’s heart and soul turn to God and he gains an eye for the secret things. This happens when God works in grace, where man has corrupted everything in his works. God works the conviction of this in the hearts. The circumcision He performs is to bring to self-judgment and to take the place of grace. That attitude is answered by Him with blessing.

The first consequence of such a sincere and profound return is love for the LORD their God, and that with their whole being. That is both the starting point and the motive for their lives. A second consequence is that they will receive a more abundant blessing from the LORD than they have lost. As for their enemies, they will perish by the plagues that first came upon the people.

When the people repent, God does everything for the good for them. With the inveterate enemies of His people He does everything for evil. On a people that repent or a person who repents, the pleasure of God rests. They please Him because they give Him His place and they take their rightful place before Him. Harmony has been created. The following verses show how that happened.

Joshua 3:12

Returned to the Lord and Brought Into the Land

This chapter shows that God can always give restoration. This applies to Israel and it also applies to us today, to the church. The return of Israel will begin when they are scattered. God will work in their hearts the longing for return to Him and His land. They will realize that they have been removed from the land because of their sins, and will confess this to God with shame: “Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations” (Ezekiel 6:9).

We see a pre-fulfilment of the return from the scattering in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, although there it almost exclusively concerns the return from Babylon and not from all kinds of peoples. We hear in the prayer of Nehemiah how he pleads with God for the scattered Israel on the basis of this promise (Nehemiah 1:5-11). The final fulfilment will be done on the basis of God’s promise to His Messiah (Isaiah 49:6a).

We live in a time of great decay which marks Christianity as a whole. On the whole is written ‘Babylon’ – that means ‘confusion’. The believers are scattered in all directions. But for all those who bow before God under this situation, it is possible to return to the lost blessings.

God wanted to show us much of the blessing of the land and the place where He dwells through this book of the Bible. We may lose sight of these things if we do not stay with the Lord. But always He can give restoration, as here in Deuteronomy 30:2. Restoration can be the matter of the individual, but it can expand. God wants to gather His whole people around Himself. There is also restoration of the land.

To the blessing of the land belongs a circumcised heart (Deuteronomy 30:6). The circumcision of the heart is a spiritual circumcision (Romans 2:29). This circumcision can only happen in connection with the work of Christ (Colossians 2:11). For Israel, it means the recognition that, as far as personal responsibility is concerned, every blessing is hopelessly lost.

Only in someone who has been circumcised in heart there is love for God. Then man’s heart and soul turn to God and he gains an eye for the secret things. This happens when God works in grace, where man has corrupted everything in his works. God works the conviction of this in the hearts. The circumcision He performs is to bring to self-judgment and to take the place of grace. That attitude is answered by Him with blessing.

The first consequence of such a sincere and profound return is love for the LORD their God, and that with their whole being. That is both the starting point and the motive for their lives. A second consequence is that they will receive a more abundant blessing from the LORD than they have lost. As for their enemies, they will perish by the plagues that first came upon the people.

When the people repent, God does everything for the good for them. With the inveterate enemies of His people He does everything for evil. On a people that repent or a person who repents, the pleasure of God rests. They please Him because they give Him His place and they take their rightful place before Him. Harmony has been created. The following verses show how that happened.

Joshua 3:13

Returned to the Lord and Brought Into the Land

This chapter shows that God can always give restoration. This applies to Israel and it also applies to us today, to the church. The return of Israel will begin when they are scattered. God will work in their hearts the longing for return to Him and His land. They will realize that they have been removed from the land because of their sins, and will confess this to God with shame: “Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations” (Ezekiel 6:9).

We see a pre-fulfilment of the return from the scattering in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, although there it almost exclusively concerns the return from Babylon and not from all kinds of peoples. We hear in the prayer of Nehemiah how he pleads with God for the scattered Israel on the basis of this promise (Nehemiah 1:5-11). The final fulfilment will be done on the basis of God’s promise to His Messiah (Isaiah 49:6a).

We live in a time of great decay which marks Christianity as a whole. On the whole is written ‘Babylon’ – that means ‘confusion’. The believers are scattered in all directions. But for all those who bow before God under this situation, it is possible to return to the lost blessings.

God wanted to show us much of the blessing of the land and the place where He dwells through this book of the Bible. We may lose sight of these things if we do not stay with the Lord. But always He can give restoration, as here in Deuteronomy 30:2. Restoration can be the matter of the individual, but it can expand. God wants to gather His whole people around Himself. There is also restoration of the land.

To the blessing of the land belongs a circumcised heart (Deuteronomy 30:6). The circumcision of the heart is a spiritual circumcision (Romans 2:29). This circumcision can only happen in connection with the work of Christ (Colossians 2:11). For Israel, it means the recognition that, as far as personal responsibility is concerned, every blessing is hopelessly lost.

Only in someone who has been circumcised in heart there is love for God. Then man’s heart and soul turn to God and he gains an eye for the secret things. This happens when God works in grace, where man has corrupted everything in his works. God works the conviction of this in the hearts. The circumcision He performs is to bring to self-judgment and to take the place of grace. That attitude is answered by Him with blessing.

The first consequence of such a sincere and profound return is love for the LORD their God, and that with their whole being. That is both the starting point and the motive for their lives. A second consequence is that they will receive a more abundant blessing from the LORD than they have lost. As for their enemies, they will perish by the plagues that first came upon the people.

When the people repent, God does everything for the good for them. With the inveterate enemies of His people He does everything for evil. On a people that repent or a person who repents, the pleasure of God rests. They please Him because they give Him His place and they take their rightful place before Him. Harmony has been created. The following verses show how that happened.

Joshua 3:14

Returned to the Lord and Brought Into the Land

This chapter shows that God can always give restoration. This applies to Israel and it also applies to us today, to the church. The return of Israel will begin when they are scattered. God will work in their hearts the longing for return to Him and His land. They will realize that they have been removed from the land because of their sins, and will confess this to God with shame: “Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations” (Ezekiel 6:9).

We see a pre-fulfilment of the return from the scattering in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, although there it almost exclusively concerns the return from Babylon and not from all kinds of peoples. We hear in the prayer of Nehemiah how he pleads with God for the scattered Israel on the basis of this promise (Nehemiah 1:5-11). The final fulfilment will be done on the basis of God’s promise to His Messiah (Isaiah 49:6a).

We live in a time of great decay which marks Christianity as a whole. On the whole is written ‘Babylon’ – that means ‘confusion’. The believers are scattered in all directions. But for all those who bow before God under this situation, it is possible to return to the lost blessings.

God wanted to show us much of the blessing of the land and the place where He dwells through this book of the Bible. We may lose sight of these things if we do not stay with the Lord. But always He can give restoration, as here in Deuteronomy 30:2. Restoration can be the matter of the individual, but it can expand. God wants to gather His whole people around Himself. There is also restoration of the land.

To the blessing of the land belongs a circumcised heart (Deuteronomy 30:6). The circumcision of the heart is a spiritual circumcision (Romans 2:29). This circumcision can only happen in connection with the work of Christ (Colossians 2:11). For Israel, it means the recognition that, as far as personal responsibility is concerned, every blessing is hopelessly lost.

Only in someone who has been circumcised in heart there is love for God. Then man’s heart and soul turn to God and he gains an eye for the secret things. This happens when God works in grace, where man has corrupted everything in his works. God works the conviction of this in the hearts. The circumcision He performs is to bring to self-judgment and to take the place of grace. That attitude is answered by Him with blessing.

The first consequence of such a sincere and profound return is love for the LORD their God, and that with their whole being. That is both the starting point and the motive for their lives. A second consequence is that they will receive a more abundant blessing from the LORD than they have lost. As for their enemies, they will perish by the plagues that first came upon the people.

When the people repent, God does everything for the good for them. With the inveterate enemies of His people He does everything for evil. On a people that repent or a person who repents, the pleasure of God rests. They please Him because they give Him His place and they take their rightful place before Him. Harmony has been created. The following verses show how that happened.

Joshua 3:15

Returned to the Lord and Brought Into the Land

This chapter shows that God can always give restoration. This applies to Israel and it also applies to us today, to the church. The return of Israel will begin when they are scattered. God will work in their hearts the longing for return to Him and His land. They will realize that they have been removed from the land because of their sins, and will confess this to God with shame: “Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations” (Ezekiel 6:9).

We see a pre-fulfilment of the return from the scattering in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, although there it almost exclusively concerns the return from Babylon and not from all kinds of peoples. We hear in the prayer of Nehemiah how he pleads with God for the scattered Israel on the basis of this promise (Nehemiah 1:5-11). The final fulfilment will be done on the basis of God’s promise to His Messiah (Isaiah 49:6a).

We live in a time of great decay which marks Christianity as a whole. On the whole is written ‘Babylon’ – that means ‘confusion’. The believers are scattered in all directions. But for all those who bow before God under this situation, it is possible to return to the lost blessings.

God wanted to show us much of the blessing of the land and the place where He dwells through this book of the Bible. We may lose sight of these things if we do not stay with the Lord. But always He can give restoration, as here in Deuteronomy 30:2. Restoration can be the matter of the individual, but it can expand. God wants to gather His whole people around Himself. There is also restoration of the land.

To the blessing of the land belongs a circumcised heart (Deuteronomy 30:6). The circumcision of the heart is a spiritual circumcision (Romans 2:29). This circumcision can only happen in connection with the work of Christ (Colossians 2:11). For Israel, it means the recognition that, as far as personal responsibility is concerned, every blessing is hopelessly lost.

Only in someone who has been circumcised in heart there is love for God. Then man’s heart and soul turn to God and he gains an eye for the secret things. This happens when God works in grace, where man has corrupted everything in his works. God works the conviction of this in the hearts. The circumcision He performs is to bring to self-judgment and to take the place of grace. That attitude is answered by Him with blessing.

The first consequence of such a sincere and profound return is love for the LORD their God, and that with their whole being. That is both the starting point and the motive for their lives. A second consequence is that they will receive a more abundant blessing from the LORD than they have lost. As for their enemies, they will perish by the plagues that first came upon the people.

When the people repent, God does everything for the good for them. With the inveterate enemies of His people He does everything for evil. On a people that repent or a person who repents, the pleasure of God rests. They please Him because they give Him His place and they take their rightful place before Him. Harmony has been created. The following verses show how that happened.

Joshua 3:16

Not Too Difficult and Not Out of Reach

The purpose of these verses is to show us that what God asks of a man or His people is not burdensome. No personal effort is required: it is “not too difficult … nor … out of reach”. God’s commandment is also given in audible – “in your mouth” – and comprehensible – “in your heart” – language. God, from His side, has made everything so that man can fulfil His commandments without any effort and thereby enjoy the blessing. Why? Because every human effort is doomed to fail. Why? Because man is naturally corrupt.

This is what Romans 10 is talking about, where these verses from Deuteronomy are quoted and explained: “For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”” (Romans 10:5-8).

Paul speaks here of people who have pursued a law of righteousness, but without achieving that goal. Only when a person sees the uselessness of his efforts does he see Christ as the end of the law. Then he has finished his efforts and believes for righteousness (Romans 10:3-4). The end of the law is not achieved if one keeps it, but if one acknowledges that it is impossible to keep the law. Then the heart is focused on Christ.

Then the purpose of the law is quoted: ‘Do this and you shall live’ (Romans 10:5; Leviticus 18:5). God thus indicates that one can earn one’s own righteousness by keeping the law. But no one has kept the law. There is another way to get righteousness and that is by faith. Only then there is no longer any question of one’s own righteousness.

When it comes to faith, all personal effort to come to heaven is excluded. That is what Paul means when he quotes from this section in Deuteronomy and says, ““Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” In the word ‘ascend’ lies the thought of reaching heaven by one’s own strength. As long as that is thought, the work of Christ falls short and He is brought down again.

Paul adds not to say in the heart: “Who will descend into the abyss?” With this he indicates that one does not have to descend into the abyss to erase one’s own guilt in a kind of penance. That is also impossible. Who can ever descend into the depths of misery in which Christ descended? Whoever tries to do so, brings Christ up from the dead, as it were. Own attempts to penance are proof that it is considered superfluous that He died, for he who does this thinks he can pay his own debt.

Moses also speaks about crossing to the other side of the sea. As if somewhere on earth, in a faraway place, the commandment is available. If any man could pick it up from there, we could accomplish it. But it is not necessary to travel around town and country or make pilgrimages and then believe that we have fulfilled God’s commandments. For example, many people have travelled to the east to find their salvation in Eastern religions.

Moses speaks to the remnant that has come to conversion in the foreign world and has learned that it is totally dependent on the grace of God. They have not been able to accomplish the law, so what should they do? How can they be restored? Should they go and get that grace in heaven or on the other side of the sea? These questions cannot be understood without the key of Romans 10 and therefore certainly cannot be solved.

Once the people have accepted their Messiah, Christ, God will give His laws into their minds and write them in their hearts (Hebrews 8:10). Then all the promises made by God will be fulfilled to a people who know Him. He is gracious to their iniquities, and will not remember their sins (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

How can God bestow grace on a people who have spoiled all completely? This is only possible through Christ. For those who are connected with Christ by faith, the commandments of God are neither unattainable nor impracticable. For them God works in the mouth and in the heart, so close. The heart believes, the mouth confesses. It is about Christ. He that has Him has salvation, has restoration.

For us, the path of restoration begins when we confess Jesus again as Lord. This means that every member of the people will acknowledge the rights of the Lord Jesus to his life. For such believers the commandments of God are not burdensome (1 John 5:3). Those commandments are not those of the law of Moses; for those commandments are given to sinful man, and he is not able to keep them. The commandments John writes about, are commandments that fit completely with the new life, the eternal life.

Whoever believes in the righteous actions of God knows that God has come very close in Christ. He has come so close that He has put His word “in your mouth and in your heart”. We have been saved because the word of faith has been preached to us. The content of the preaching is: confess Jesus as Lord with the mouth and believe with the heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9).

The order is remarkable: first the mouth and then the heart. The mouth is mentioned first because our faith can only be perceived by others through what they hear and see from us. You can’t say that someone is saved if you don’t notice anything of it in his speaking and behavior.

Joshua 3:17

Not Too Difficult and Not Out of Reach

The purpose of these verses is to show us that what God asks of a man or His people is not burdensome. No personal effort is required: it is “not too difficult … nor … out of reach”. God’s commandment is also given in audible – “in your mouth” – and comprehensible – “in your heart” – language. God, from His side, has made everything so that man can fulfil His commandments without any effort and thereby enjoy the blessing. Why? Because every human effort is doomed to fail. Why? Because man is naturally corrupt.

This is what Romans 10 is talking about, where these verses from Deuteronomy are quoted and explained: “For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”” (Romans 10:5-8).

Paul speaks here of people who have pursued a law of righteousness, but without achieving that goal. Only when a person sees the uselessness of his efforts does he see Christ as the end of the law. Then he has finished his efforts and believes for righteousness (Romans 10:3-4). The end of the law is not achieved if one keeps it, but if one acknowledges that it is impossible to keep the law. Then the heart is focused on Christ.

Then the purpose of the law is quoted: ‘Do this and you shall live’ (Romans 10:5; Leviticus 18:5). God thus indicates that one can earn one’s own righteousness by keeping the law. But no one has kept the law. There is another way to get righteousness and that is by faith. Only then there is no longer any question of one’s own righteousness.

When it comes to faith, all personal effort to come to heaven is excluded. That is what Paul means when he quotes from this section in Deuteronomy and says, ““Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” In the word ‘ascend’ lies the thought of reaching heaven by one’s own strength. As long as that is thought, the work of Christ falls short and He is brought down again.

Paul adds not to say in the heart: “Who will descend into the abyss?” With this he indicates that one does not have to descend into the abyss to erase one’s own guilt in a kind of penance. That is also impossible. Who can ever descend into the depths of misery in which Christ descended? Whoever tries to do so, brings Christ up from the dead, as it were. Own attempts to penance are proof that it is considered superfluous that He died, for he who does this thinks he can pay his own debt.

Moses also speaks about crossing to the other side of the sea. As if somewhere on earth, in a faraway place, the commandment is available. If any man could pick it up from there, we could accomplish it. But it is not necessary to travel around town and country or make pilgrimages and then believe that we have fulfilled God’s commandments. For example, many people have travelled to the east to find their salvation in Eastern religions.

Moses speaks to the remnant that has come to conversion in the foreign world and has learned that it is totally dependent on the grace of God. They have not been able to accomplish the law, so what should they do? How can they be restored? Should they go and get that grace in heaven or on the other side of the sea? These questions cannot be understood without the key of Romans 10 and therefore certainly cannot be solved.

Once the people have accepted their Messiah, Christ, God will give His laws into their minds and write them in their hearts (Hebrews 8:10). Then all the promises made by God will be fulfilled to a people who know Him. He is gracious to their iniquities, and will not remember their sins (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

How can God bestow grace on a people who have spoiled all completely? This is only possible through Christ. For those who are connected with Christ by faith, the commandments of God are neither unattainable nor impracticable. For them God works in the mouth and in the heart, so close. The heart believes, the mouth confesses. It is about Christ. He that has Him has salvation, has restoration.

For us, the path of restoration begins when we confess Jesus again as Lord. This means that every member of the people will acknowledge the rights of the Lord Jesus to his life. For such believers the commandments of God are not burdensome (1 John 5:3). Those commandments are not those of the law of Moses; for those commandments are given to sinful man, and he is not able to keep them. The commandments John writes about, are commandments that fit completely with the new life, the eternal life.

Whoever believes in the righteous actions of God knows that God has come very close in Christ. He has come so close that He has put His word “in your mouth and in your heart”. We have been saved because the word of faith has been preached to us. The content of the preaching is: confess Jesus as Lord with the mouth and believe with the heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9).

The order is remarkable: first the mouth and then the heart. The mouth is mentioned first because our faith can only be perceived by others through what they hear and see from us. You can’t say that someone is saved if you don’t notice anything of it in his speaking and behavior.