[Deuteronomy 10]: To Circumcise Your Heart – Is this Possible? In this chapter Moses rehearses the giving of the Law. The commandments were originally given directly to the people from a mountain covered with the fire of God’s glory. That same glory is what Paul declares in Col. 1:26,27 is ON THE INSIDE OF US. God writes on our hearts today and the result is what we call “circumcision of the heart”. Man cannot circumcise his heart with religious exercise – it is a supernatural act of the Holy Ghost as we yield ourselves to Him.
[Deu 10:1-22 KJV] 1 At that time the LORD said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. 2 And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark. 3 And I made an ark [of] shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. 4 And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the LORD spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the LORD gave them unto me. 5 And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the LORD commanded me. 6 And the children of Israel took their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera: there Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest’s office in his stead. 7 From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of rivers of waters. 8 At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day. 9 Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD [is] his inheritance, according as the LORD thy God promised him. 10 And I stayed in the mount, according to the first time, forty days and forty nights; and the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also, [and] the LORD would not destroy thee. 11 And the LORD said unto me, Arise, take [thy] journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them. 12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 13 To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? 14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens [is] the LORD’S thy God, the earth [also], with all that therein [is]. 15 Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, [even] you above all people, as [it is] this day. 16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. 17 For the LORD your God [is] God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: 18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. 19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. 21 He [is] thy praise, and he [is] thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen. 22 Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.
When God originally gave the people the commandments He wrote on the tables of stone Himself as He spoke out of the supernatural fire on the mountain. What do we know about the fire that appeared on the mount of God at this time? It was not a natural fire because the mountain was not destroyed. It was the same fire the appeared in the bush that was not consumed at the time Moses was called to be a prophet. It was the fire of God’s glory. When God spoke to the people He spoke out of His glory and what He said constituted commands and directions for their lives. The Old Testament saints then experienced the outward glory of God. We may ask for this but from God’s perspective this is not what He ultimately desires. Col. 1:26,27 tell us that the heart of Paul’s gospel was “Christ in you the Hope of Glory”. God is not interested in manifesting something on a mountain somewhere – He wants His glory to be resident within you which is why He offers us the new birth through Jesus. In this way He fulfills the words of the Prophet Jeremiah:
[Jer 31:33 KJV] 33 But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
This is something different than mere conscience. Before Jesus came men had a conscience. There are times that the conscience can be unreliable and in fact contaminated with evil.
[Heb 10:22 KJV] 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Religion arises from the conscience. Relationship with God arises from the heart. Until the conscience is sprinkled or influenced by the blood of Christ it will actually impede you from coming near to God. The voice of conscience and the voice of God are two separate things and we have to know the difference or we confuse our inward religious sense with the guidance of the Holy Ghost.
In vs. 6-9 we read of Aaron’s death and the appointment of the Levites as priests before God. We likewise are kings and priests unto God (Rev. 19:16; Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 1 Pet. 2:9). Jesus is the King of kings; we are kings under Jesus. Kings have kingdoms. You have a kingdom. You have a jurisdiction that you are to superintend as God Himself superintends the universe – under the authority of Jesus Christ who sits at the right hand of the Father. This is the authority of the believer. There is little understood about this and even less taught. You are also a priest unto God. As the Levites bore the ark of the covenant so we bear the ark of God’s presence in the earth. We are to bear His presence within us; stand before Him to minister to Him and to bless His name. These are the three tasks of those who are called to be priests unto their God. It is a personal responsibility not just a corporate one. This role exists independent of church involvement or religious activity. If there was no church to gather in you are still a priest of God with a charge that must be carried out to minister before Him and carry His presence in the earth. Because of this the Lord himself is your inheritance.
In vs. 10-14 we read of Moses spending 40 days on the mountain – twice in a row. If you read carefully you will see that Moses went 80 days without food and without water. He did this under the fading glory of the Old Covenant. How much more might be available under the new covenant? The royal law is reasserted here as well – what does God require of you:
1.Fear the Lord – with the fear that draws you TO Him not away from Him.
2.Walk in His ways – John 14:6 Jesus is the way, truth, life.
3.Love and Serve Him – with all your heart and soul (mind, will, emotions).
4.Keep His commandments (Logos/Bible) and statutes (Holy Spirit’s personal leading in your life).
Verse 14 mentions the “heavens of heavens” which tells us there is more than one heaven.
Here are references to three heavens:
1.First Heaven: Natural Realm
2.Second Heaven: Intermediate Realm of Angels and Demons (Ge. 28:12)
3.Third Heaven: Throne of God. (Luke 17:21)
In v. 15 Moses admonishes the people that circumcision was not just an outward but an inward thing. In this verse God commands THEM to circumcise their hearts. In De. 30:2 He promises that HE will circumcise their hearts. Rom. 8:3 says that the law could not accomplish this because it was weak concerning the flesh. However, in sending Jesus God made it possible for our hearts to be circumcised through the New Birth and life in Christ. The purpose of circumcision of the heart is that we be “no more stiff-necked” or willful. In Christ it is possible to yield our will to His will and learn to follow the example of Jesus in John 5:19 and “do only what we see the Father do…”
In vs. 17-22 Moses reminds the people that when the patriarch Jacob went to live with Joseph in Egypt 400 years before, that they numbers 70 souls in all. Seventy is a number representing two things – unity and disunity, oneness and division. The wording here is that they were “seventy souls” but actually the word for persons here is “soul” in the singular. On the other hand, when God divided the languages at Babel there were seventy nations that came out of that disunity. So, in bringing the people to Egypt God both united them and separated them. The result was they were multiplied and increased. If you wish to see increase in your life two things need to happen: unity and separation. There are people you need to unite with and in so doing be prepared for separation. There are people who are not thrilled about what you think God is doing in your life. They will become even more offended when He begins to do those things and bring those promises about. Egypt feared what those 70 souls became. But in the end they came out by a mighty hand and so will you.
