This chapter is one of very deep interest and importance. It is prophetic, and presents to us some of "the secret things" referred to at the close of the preceding chapter. It unfolds some of those most precious resources of grace treasured up in the heart of God, to be unfolded when Israel, having utterly failed to keep the law, should be scattered to the ends of the earth.
"And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and _thou shalt call them to mind_ among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, and _shalt return unto the Lord thy God_, and shalt obey His voice according to all that I command thee this day, _thou and thy children, with all thine heart and with all thy soul_; that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and _have compassion upon thee_, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee."
How touching, how perfectly beautiful, is all this! It is no question of law-keeping, but something far deeper, far more precious; it is the turning of the heart--the whole heart--the whole soul to Jehovah, at a time when a literal obedience to the law is utterly impossible. It is a broken and contrite heart turning to God, and God, in deep and tender compassion, meeting that heart. This is true blessedness, at all times and in all places. It is something above and beyond all dispensational dealings and arrangements. It is God Himself, in all the fullness and ineffable blessedness of what He is, meeting a repentant soul; and we may truly say that when these two meet, all is divinely and eternally settled.
It must be perfectly clear to the reader that what we have now before us is something as far removed from law-keeping and human righteousness as heaven is above earth. The first verse of our chapter proves in the clearest possible manner that the people are viewed as in a condition in which the carrying out of the ordinances of the law is a simple impossibility. But blessed be God, there is not a spot on the face of the earth, be it ever so remote, from which the heart cannot turn to God. The _hands_ might not be able to present a victim for the altar, the _feet_ might not be able to travel to the appointed place of worship, but the _heart_ could travel to God. Yes; the poor crushed, broken, contrite heart could go directly to God, and God, in the depth of His compassion and tender mercy, could meet that heart, bind it up, and fill it to overflowing with the rich comfort and consolation of His love, and the full joy of His salvation.
But let us hearken yet further to those "secret things" which "belong to God"--things precious beyond all human thought. "If any of thine be driven out unto _the utmost parts of heaven_"--as far as they could go--"from thence will the Lord thy God _gather thee_, and from thence will He _fetch thee_; and the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and _He will do thee good_, and multiply thee above thy fathers."
How precious is all this! But there is something far better still. Not only will He gather them, fetch them, and multiply them--not only will He act in power _for_ them, but He will do a mighty work of grace _in_ them of far more value than any outward prosperity however desirable. "And the Lord thy God will _circumcise thine heart_"--the very centre of the whole moral being, the source of all those influences which go to form the character--"and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart"--the grand moral regulator of the entire life--"and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee"--a solemn word for all those nations who have ever sought to oppress the Jews!--"And thou shalt return, and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all His commandments, which I command thee this day."
Nothing can be more morally lovely than all this. The people gathered, fetched, multiplied, blessed, circumcised in heart, thoroughly devoted to Jehovah, and yielding a whole-hearted, loving obedience to all His precious commandments! What can exceed this in blessedness for a people on the earth?