Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of Deuteronomy Chapter 30
Metaphysically Interpreting Deuteronomy 30:1-10
30:1And 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 Jehovah thy God hath driven thee, 30:2and shalt return unto Jehovah thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul; 30:3that then Jehovah thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the peoples, whither Jehovah thy God hath scattered thee. 30:4If any of thine outcasts be in the uttermost parts of heaven, from thence will Jehovah thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: 30:5and Jehovah 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.
30:6And Jehovah thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. 30:7And Jehovah thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, that persecuted thee. 30:8And thou shalt return and obey the voice of Jehovah, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day. 30:9And Jehovah thy God will make thee plenteous in all the work of thy hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, for good: for Jehovah will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers; 30:10if thou shalt obey the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law; if thou turn unto Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.
Metaphysically Interpreting Deuteronomy 30:11-20
30:11For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not too hard for thee, neither is it far off.30:12It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it? 30:13Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it? 30:14But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
30:15See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; 30:16in that I command thee this day to love Jehovah thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, that thou mayest live and multiply, and that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in the land whither thou goest in to possess it. 30:17But if thy heart turn away, and thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; 30:18I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish; ye shall not prolong your days in the land, whither thou passest over the Jordan to go in to possess it. 30:19I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed; 30:20to love Jehovah thy God, to obey his voice, and to cleave unto him; for he is thy life, and the length of thy days; that thou mayest dwell in the land which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
September 14, 1902: Deuteronomy 30:11-20
In order to love and obey God we must realize the presence and character of Spirit. “It is not hidden.” If you believe that Spirit is invisible, deny it and affirm Spirit to be the very substance of visibility. “Neither is it far off.” If you think that Spirit is absent; and affirm the presence of Spirit, and God as indwelling Substance. “The Father within me, he doeth the works.” “It is not in heaven.” If you believe that Spirit, or God, dwells in some far-away heaven, deny it; and affirm the “kingdom of heaven is within me.” Neither can Spirit be revealed to you by another. This is a most subtle mental error, and leads to idol worship, making idols of persons who have boldly grasped the truth about Spirit, and have not feared to proclaim it. Timid, ignorant mentalities think that such are divinely inspired, have in some divine way “gone up to heaven” and brought it to us. Remember that God is no respecter of persons. “Neither is it beyond the sea.” The “sea” represents mortal thought. It is not hidden from you by the ocean of human ignorance. Deny the power of the belief in personal ignorance, and affirm the revealing word of Omnipresent Intelligence.
The Word of God is not the Bible. When the scribes quoted the Scriptures to Jesus as authority he said, “Ye study the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, but they are they which testify of me.” The Scriptures are the letter; the Word itself is the real thing. Seek to know that spiritual Word which “giveth life.” It is your inmost conviction, “in thy heart;” it is every true word that you utter, “in thy mouth.” Jesus said, “Keep my words.” When we affirm our unity with God as he affirmed it, we put ourselves in right relation for receiving the highest revelation of Spirit.
A literal rendition of the fifteenth verse would make God the author of death and evil. Jesus said, “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Paul explains how death came into the world through the sin of Adam, and will go out as a “last enemy.” To take this verse literally would be to attribute to God these mortal errors, which the highest Scriptural authorities, Jesus and Paul, say are not from Him. Metaphysically, we interpret “life” as the positive and “death” the negative attributes of mind. Pleasure is “good,” and pain is “evil.” These are not a part of the Eternal Bliss of Being, but every ego that manifests is free to choose its relation to the One Cause.
We can demonstrate “love the Lord thy God” by affirming love as a constantly flowing substance proceeding forth from our heart centre. This thought [Transcriber's note: the PDF is incomplete and some of this lesson has been left out.].
– UNITY magazine.
December 9, 1951: Deuteronomy 30:15-20
What measure of free will has the average person? The average person is free to choose what he will believe.
Is free will dependent upon personal or physical freedom? Not necessarily. A prisoner is free to react to his imprisonment in either a constructive or a negative way, so long as his power to think remains unimpaired.
What is the last vestige of free will that remains to the victim of arbitrary authority and despotic power? He is free to forgive those at whose mercy he is, or withhold his forgiveness.
Is the connection between life and good and death and evil always plainly evident? No. Experience is required to enable anyone to make a wise choice. Lacking this, earnest prayer and affirmation of divine wisdom open the mind to receive unmistakable guidance to the right choice of allegiances.
Why are “life and good” and “death and evil” linked in Moses’ charge to his people? Moses was trying to show them that the choice of the good leads to consciousness of spiritual life, whereas choice of evil leads to death.
How is choice of the good further outlined in this lesson? The Children of Israel were commanded to love Jehovah, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances.
What is the outcome of such a choice? To choose faith in God and to follow up that faith with works that express it in such a manner as to observe the divine law brings consciousness of abundant life and blessing.
Is the same choice set before each of us today? Yes, it is the universal choice of good or evil. We can choose spiritual consciousness with its inherent blessing, or material and sense consciousness with its resulting loss of all that makes life worth living and full of meaning.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 02-01-2014
