Deuteronomy 10

Even under the Law, God gave Israel a second chance. If God were not merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, Israel would have been utterly destroyed by His justice long before they reached the promised land. God used the intercession of Moses to save His people. The people needed to survive, and the Lord was determined to send a Messiah from the descendants of Jacob.

The Lord told Moses to cut a second set of tablets, and the Lord Himself again inscribed the Ten Commandments with His own finger upon those tablets. The tablets would be kept in the ark of the covenant at the center of worship and life for Israel.

The time of the Law continued, but one generation passed away and another came of age. Aaron died in the wilderness. Eleazar ministered in his place. The account of death that began after the fall continued to make its way even through the ranks of the chosen people. Yet from this nation, the Redeemer would one day be born. The life He would bring would not come from the ten commandments. Law exposes sin, and sin leads to death. But Christ brings righteousness, and righteousness wins life for the Lord's chosen people. How? God has given us life and peace through the death of the Righteous One.

God said to Israel, “circumcise the foreskin of your hearts.” Israel was a communal entity, the chosen servant of the Lord. The nation was created to obey the commandments with a heart that was fully ready to hear and to follow the voice of God.

The evidence of their life together did not give any reason for optimism that this way of national obedience would ever be achieved. An entire generation had died in the wilderness because of faithlessness and disobedience. Where would the Lord find the righteousness that He demanded?

Jesus was the only answer for Israel and for the world. He alone had a “circumcised” heart. He heard the Voice of His Father and obeyed. His submission even included His death on the cross as the Lamb of God. His keeping of the Law has brought a permanent grace to Israel and to all those from the nations who will hear Him. All who receive Him, who believe in His Name, have been given the rights of the sons of God. In Him they have become one body, both Jew and Gentile together as the new servant of the Lord, the church. Christ lives in them by His Holy Spirit, and they have the true circumcision of the heart.

The God who gave a new beginning for Israel over and over again is not only the God of the Jews. He is also the God of the Gentiles. But whether Jew or Gentile, the only way of life comes to us through a Jewish Messiah.

Israel started as only seventy people going down to Egypt. By the days of Moses they were over 600,000 fighting men. In our day there are millions of Jews all over the earth, But more than that, there is a new Israel of millions upon millions who have bowed the knee to an everlasting Jewish King, the true Son of David and Son of God. God's good plan of salvation has come to the whole world through Jesus Christ.