God Running is a place for anyone who wants to love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.
In our last few blog posts on Romans 10, we saw how Paul used scripture from Deuteronomy Chapter 30 to point his Jewish brothers and sisters to Jesus. (If you’re interested, you can read those blog posts at the following links: Where can I find God?–Romans 10:5-8, The Greatest Threat to Christianity–Romans 10:9, Relationship Is A Two-Way Street — Romans 10:11-13.)
So before we move on to the next passage of scripture from Romans, I just want to share some insights that answer the question: “Why Deuteronomy? Why on earth would Paul refer to Deuteronomy chapter 30 to communicate Christ to the Jews?”
What Paul was Thinking
Yeah, so, maybe after a first look, it doesn’t seem to be a great choice on Paul’s part, to use Deuteronomy 30 to communicate the Gospel. I’ve read Deuteronomy maybe two or three times in my life, while I was engaged in a through the Bible reading program. But I wouldn’t describe myself as being familiar with that particular book of the Bible.
But for the ancient Jews, it was different, very different. Paul would expect his readers, the ancient Jews of his day, to be familiar with those passages in Deuteronomy. Because Deuteronomy is a part of the Torah, believed to have been written by Moses himself. By 64 a.d., all Jewish boys were required to attend Hebrew school from the age of six or seven up to age 13, where they would memorize the Torah. And we know that, no matter what kind of teacher you talked to – Pharisee, Sadducee, Essene, parents – everyone taught the Torah as an integral part of the faith. So it would be a natural choice on Paul’s part to use these passages. And, it’s also possible that Paul was engaged in his own through-the-Bible reading program, and at the time he wrote Romans, he was reading Deuteronomy chapter 30.
But most importantly, Paul wants his readers to recognize the arc of Israel’s story from Deuteronomy. First they receive the covenant and they enjoy the presence of God and all the associated blessings that come with God’s presence. Second, they fail in their part of the covenant, and they experience the curses.
Then finally, in the third part of their story, they turn to the Lord with all their heart and all their soul. And here in this prophetical part of Deuteronomy 30 God promises to circumcise their heart and the heart of their offspring, so they’ll have power to love the Lord with new enthusiasm and inspiration, with all their heart and with all their soul.
In other words, what Paul is doing here, is he’s pointing his Jewish brothers and sisters to the third part of the Old Testament story where God’s mercy prevails. Paul sees the prophetic mercy described in Deuteronomy 30 as being fulfilled by Jesus. Because that’s what happens when we enter into relationship with Jesus, the Messiah, and receive him as our Lord and Savior.
When we do that, we receive Christ as our Lord.
And when we receive Christ as our Lord, we receive God’s mercy.
God’s mercy prevails.
(Deuteronomy 30, Jeremiah 4:4, Romans 2:29, Hahn p. 179-181)
Notes:
Scott W. Hahn and Curtis Mitch, Romans: (A Catholic Bible Commentary on the New Testament by Trusted Catholic Biblical Scholars – CCSS) (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture), Baker Academic, November 7, 2017
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