Commentary - Deuteronomy 30:11-14

Bird's-eye view

In this profound passage, Moses, standing on the plains of Moab, brings the covenant renewal ceremony to a sharp point. After laying out the blessings for obedience and the comprehensive curses for disobedience, he presents the fundamental choice between life and death. But right here, he addresses the central problem that would plague Israel and, indeed, all of humanity: the apparent impossibility of obedience. Is God's law an unattainable ideal, a standard placed in the heavens or across the sea, forever out of reach? Moses declares that it is not. The commandment, the very word of God, is intimately near. It is in their mouths and in their hearts.

This is not, as some might mistakenly think, a declaration of man's innate ability to keep God's law through sheer willpower. The entire history of Israel, which Moses himself anticipates, proves the opposite. Rather, this is a profoundly christological text. The apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, picks up this very passage in Romans 10 and identifies "the word" that is near as "the word of faith which we preach." The law is not far off because Christ has come down from heaven. The law is not beyond the sea because Christ has risen from the dead. The accessibility of the commandment is found not in human strength but in the finished work of Jesus Christ, which is received by faith. This passage, then, is a glorious Old Testament proclamation of the gospel. Obedience is possible, not because the law is easy, but because the Lawgiver has drawn near to us in His Son.

Outline

Context In Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 30 comes at the climax of the book. The entire book is structured as a covenant renewal document, given to the new generation of Israelites poised to enter the Promised Land. Moses has systematically restated the law (the Deuteronomic "second law"), recounted Israel's history of rebellion, and established the terms of the covenant. Chapters 28 and 29 detail the blessings and the terrifying, exhaustive curses of the covenant. Chapter 30 then pivots to the promise of restoration. Even after Israel inevitably fails and is sent into exile under the covenant curses, God promises to circumcise their hearts and bring them back (Deut 30:1-10). Our passage (vv. 11-14) immediately follows this promise of a new heart. It serves as the basis for the famous choice set before the people in the following verses: "I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life" (Deut 30:19). The accessibility of the command is what makes this choice a genuine, responsible one.

Key Issues

The Word of Faith Preached by Moses

When the modern evangelical reads a passage like this, he is often tempted to read it through a particular lens of law and grace, where the Old Testament is all about impossible law and the New Testament is all about grace. But this is to flatten the Scriptures and miss the genuine continuity of the gospel. Moses is not setting up a system of salvation by works that he knows is impossible just to teach them a lesson. He is preaching the gospel.

The apostle Paul certainly saw it this way. In Romans 10, he contrasts two kinds of righteousness: one from the law ("the one who does them shall live by them") and the righteousness that is from faith. And to describe the righteousness of faith, what passage does he quote? He quotes this one, from Deuteronomy 30. For Paul, Moses is not describing the righteousness of works here; he is describing the righteousness of faith. The word is not far off because Christ has already done the impossible work. The word is near you. This is "the word of faith that we proclaim." This means that the gospel of grace through faith was not a Pauline invention; it was there in the Torah all along. Moses was a preacher of Christ. The unbelieving heart hears Deuteronomy and sees either an intolerable burden or a checklist for self-improvement. The believing heart hears Deuteronomy and sees Christ, the end and purpose of the law.

Verse by Verse Commentary

11 “For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it far from you.

Moses begins with a startling assertion, especially after the litany of laws and the dire warnings of curses. This commandment is not too difficult. The Hebrew word here can mean wonderful, extraordinary, or beyond your power. It's not some esoteric mystery. Nor is it geographically distant. God has not given Israel a set of instructions that are fundamentally beyond their grasp. Now, this cannot be a statement about their unaided, fallen, natural ability. The whole book, and the whole subsequent history of Israel, is a testament to their profound inability to keep this commandment. The difficulty was never in the law itself, but in the hardness of their hearts. So what does Moses mean? He means that in the economy of the covenant, within the sphere of grace God was providing, the way of life was not an impossible riddle. God was not playing games with them. The path was laid out plainly.

12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us and get it for us and make us hear it, that we may do it?’

He elaborates on the nearness of the command with this first piece of poetic imagery. You don't have to say, "If only someone could ascend into the heavens and bring down the secret knowledge for us." This is not Gnosticism. God's will is not a secret wisdom hidden in the clouds that requires a spiritual superhero to retrieve it. Paul tells us exactly what this means in Romans 10:6: "But the righteousness of faith says, 'Do not say in your heart, "Who will ascend into heaven?"' (that is, to bring Christ down)." The reason you don't have to ascend to heaven is that Christ has already descended. The Incarnation has happened. In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The ultimate revelation of God's will is not a tablet of stone, but a person. And that Person has come down to us.

13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us and get it for us and make us hear it, that we may do it?’

The second image reinforces the first. The "sea" here likely refers to the "deep," the abyss. You don't have to say, "If only someone could venture into the underworld, into the realm of the dead, and bring back the answer for us." Again, Paul interprets this for us with apostolic authority. "Or 'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)" (Romans 10:7). Why don't we have to journey into the abyss? Because Christ has already gone there for us and has returned in triumph. He descended, and on the third day, He rose again, victorious over sin, death, and hell. The two great obstacles to man's fellowship with God, the distance between heaven and earth, and the chasm of death, have both been bridged by Jesus Christ. His incarnation and His resurrection are the reasons the commandment is no longer "far off."

14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.

Here is the glorious conclusion. The word is not out there somewhere; it is right here. It is intimately, personally, accessibly present. It is in your mouth. This refers to confession, to the spoken word of testimony and faith. And it is in your heart. This refers to internal belief and trust. This is precisely the language of saving faith. As Paul says, "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9). The word is near because the Holy Spirit takes the finished work of Christ and applies it directly to the believer's heart. The promise of the new covenant, to write the law on the heart (Jer. 31:33), is being foreshadowed here. When the word is in your heart and in your mouth, then, and only then, can you truly "do it." Obedience flows from a regenerated heart that believes the gospel. This is not a ladder of works to climb; it is a gift of grace to be received by faith, which then results in grateful obedience.

Application

This passage demolishes two persistent and deadly errors that plague the church. The first is legalism. Legalism is the attempt to make the commandment accessible through our own effort. It is to say, "Who will ascend into heaven? I will! I will climb there on a rope of my own good works." The legalist believes the law is near because he has shrunk it down to a manageable size, ignoring its spiritual depth and convincing himself that external conformity is enough. He thinks he can "do it," but he is blind to the filth of his own heart. He is the Pharisee polishing the outside of the cup.

The second error is antinomianism, or lawlessness. The antinomian looks at God's law and says, "It is too difficult! It is in heaven, and I am on earth. It is impossible, so I am not even going to try. I am under grace, so it doesn't matter." He uses the difficulty of the law as an excuse for disobedience, and turns the grace of God into a license for sin.

The gospel of Deuteronomy 30 provides the only true answer to both. To the legalist, it says, "Stop trying to climb. Christ has already come down. Your efforts are an insult to His finished work. Rest in Him." To the antinomian, it says, "Stop making excuses. Christ has risen from the dead and put His word and His Spirit in your heart. The law is not far off; it is your family business. Now get to it. Because the word is near you, you are now equipped to 'do it.'" The Christian life is not one of straining to reach a distant God, but of walking in the power of a God who has, in Christ, come all the way to us.