14
God is sure to regather his people because he will see to it that they repent by
circumcising their hearts. In this way, God will show his covenant commitment to his
people, or in other words, he will reveal his righteousness.
The eschatological focus of this passage is further supported in that the language
of vv. 1-10 is used by the prophets to speak of the latter days in which God will regather
Israel from the far corners of the earth. For example, Jeremiah and Ezekiel associate
regathering of the people with the reception of new hearts (Jer. 29:12-14; Ezk. 11:16-21;
36:24-28), reflecting the promise in Deut. 30:6. The prophet Micah foresees that God
will regather Israel and make them more numerous than before (Mic. 2:12), reflecting the
promise in Deut. 30:4-5.
Just when the picture of Israel's dispersion among the nations seems hopeless and
beyond repair, God holds out the promise of restoration, providing a glimpse into the
"secret things" of God. Though Israel would break God's covenant through disobedience
to the law, God would never break it (Deut. 4:31). The covenant blessings were not
simply held out as an impossible goal, unattainable because of human sin. The
eschatological promise in Deut. 30:1-10 demonstrates that included in the covenant was
Yahweh's guarantee, on the basis of his grace, that his people would receive its blessings
and that the onus to accomplish this would rest on him. Thus, the prophecy in 30:1-10
looks ahead to the work of the Messiah in whom the righteousness of God would be
revealed for the salvation of his people, though at this point the fullness of God's work is
still "secret."
A second conditional statement appears in v. 10, and here the results have
preceded it. The absence of the temporal indicator
K\KZ suggests that this statement is