We’ve just kickstarted our study of Deuteronomy Chapter 29.
As I mentioned yesterday, this chapter deals with the themes of REPENTANCE and RESTORATION.
The first thing you should know is there are different levels of repentance and restoration.
One level is coming into a conscious realization that we have disobeyed the Lord and repenting simply because we want relief from a bad situation our disobedience has caused us.
Another deeper level is desiring a complete change in our entire being.
In this case, we want our whole life to reflect our newfound relationship with HASHEM, a life focused on obedience to the Lord.
This is a huge difference than simply wanting our circumstances to change because we’ve been a naughty child.
Obviously, Israel while in exile desperately wanted their circumstances to change.
Who the heck would want to be an unwanted alien in a foreign land under the rule of some heathen king?
However, just hoping for change didn’t soften Hashem’s stance towards His people.
They had to make a conscious decision to turn away from the path of wickedness they had chosen and and return back to God.
The good news is…
…and this is what Moses is saying here, IF an exiled Hebrew repents, then the Lord will stretch out His hands and bring that person back.
And it doesn’t matter where the Hebrew in question is physically located.
He or she could be located at the ends of the earth as farthest away from the Promised Land as you can get and He will still bring the repentant Hebrew back home.
Listen to these words of Messiah.
“So he (Yeshua) told them this parable:
‘If one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them,
doesn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?
When he does find it,
he joyfully hoists it onto his shoulders;
and when he gets home,
he calls his friends and neighbors together and says,
‘Come, celebrate with me,
because I have found my lost sheep!’
I tell you that in the same way,
there will be more joy in heaven
over one sinner who turns to God from his sins
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need to repent.'”
-Luke 15:3-7
Bottomline, God will restore ANYONE (yes, even you who are reading this) who repents of his or her sins back to the Kingdom of God.
This principle is central to the faith of every Believer and it matches the pattern established in Torah and continues on to the very last chapter of the Book of Revelations.
What is this pattern I’m talking about?
The pattern is that there is no human or spiritual force on earth that can forcefully take you away from the Lord.
However, you do have the freedom to walk away from and renounce the God of Israel.
On the other hand, if the person who walks away from the Lord wakes up and comes to his or her senses and sincerely repents of the apostasy he or she committed, God will take the repentant soul back.
In fact, the Lord will joyfully take him or her back.
That is the pattern established in the Scriptures in both the OT (the “Only” Testament) and the NT.
Read these words of James.
“My brothers,
if one of you wanders from the truth,
and someone causes him to return,
you should know that whoever turns
a sinner from his wandering path
will save him from death
and cover many sins.”
-James 5:19-20
Whenever Israel in their rebellion got closer and closer to that invisible line in the sand that once crossed would destroy their relationship with God, the Lord sent prophets and judges to warn them.
Yet, when Israel went overboard and did cross that line and as a result were exiled, the Lord still sent prophets to them begging and pleading with them to repent and turn back from their sins.
So, YES…while you are on this side of heaven (this includes you are reading this), it is NEVER too late.
Adonai’s arm is not too short to save you.
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