Deuteronomy 29
1These are the words of the covenant that the LORD commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant He had made with them at Horeb. 2Moses summoned all Israel and proclaimed to them, “You have seen with your own eyes everything the LORD did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to all his land. 3You saw with your own eyes the great trials, and those miraculous signs and wonders. 4Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear. 5For forty years I led you in the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out. 6You ate no bread and drank no wine or strong drink, so that you might know that I am the LORD your God. 7When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us in battle, but we defeated them. 8We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 9So keep and follow the words of this covenant, that you may prosper in all you do. 10All of you are standing today before the LORD your God—you leaders of tribes, elders, officials, and all the men of Israel, 11your children and wives, and the foreigners in your camps who cut your wood and draw your water— 12so that you may enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, which He is making with you today, and into His oath, 13and so that He may establish you today as His people, and He may be your God as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14I am making this covenant and this oath not only with you, 15but also with those who are standing here with us today in the presence of the LORD our God, as well as with those who are not here today. 16For you yourselves know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we passed through the nations on the way here. 17You saw the abominations and idols among them made of wood and stone, of silver and gold. 18Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure there is no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit, 19because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. 20The LORD will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The LORD will blot out his name from under heaven 21and single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law. 22Then the generation to come—your sons who follow you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land—will see the plagues of the land and the sicknesses the LORD has inflicted on it. 23All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger. 24So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’ 25And the people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. 26They went and served other gods, and they worshiped gods they had not known—gods that the LORD had not given to them. 27Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against this land, and He brought upon it every curse written in this book. 28The LORD uprooted them from their land in His anger, rage, and great wrath, and He cast them into another land, where they are today.’ 29The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.
Life is short. Where are you going?
You just read God’s own words, and one day every one of us will stand before Him. “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). This life will be over sooner than you think — do you know where you are going when it is?
The Bible says, “Man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). If you died today, would you be ready?
Are you a good person?
Most of us think we are. But God doesn’t measure us against other people — He measures us by His Law. Look honestly at the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3–17):
- You shall have no other gods before Me.
- You shall not make for yourself an idol.
- You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
- Honor your father and mother.
- You shall not murder.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not bear false witness.
- You shall not covet.
Have you ever told a lie — even a small one? Have you ever taken something that wasn’t yours? Have you ever used God’s name as a curse word? Have you ever wanted what belongs to someone else? Jesus said that anyone who looks with lust “has already committed adultery … in his heart” (Matthew 5:28), and the Bible says “everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15).
If we’re honest, we have all broken God’s Law — and “whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). “There is no one righteous, not even one … there is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10–12).
That leaves every one of us guilty before a holy God. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and “whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). This is why our world is full of tragedy — and without Christ, every life ends in the greatest tragedy of all.
But God made a way
“God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Jesus lived the perfect life we never could, and on the cross He took the punishment we deserved: “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Three days later He rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3–4).
It’s like standing guilty in court when the judge steps down and pays your fine himself. Forgiveness is a free gift — you can’t earn it: “It is by grace you have been saved through faith … it is the gift of God, not by works” (Ephesians 2:8–9). “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.” Jesus — John 10:10
What will you do with Jesus?
“Repent and believe in the gospel!” (Mark 1:15). Turn from your sin, and put your trust in Jesus alone — “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Don’t put it off — “now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
And when you turn to Him, you won’t be met with a frown — you’ll be met with a celebration. Jesus said, “there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). God says, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live” (Ezekiel 33:11). He is “mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness … He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). Like the father who ran to embrace his lost son, He is waiting with open arms — and heaven throws a party when you come home (Luke 15:20–24).
If you died today, where would you spend eternity? Today you can be forgiven, made new, and have real, abundant life — now and forever.
Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), which is in the public domain.