(1) And 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 the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
(2) And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
(3) That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
(4) If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
(5) And the LORD 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.

Deuteronomy 30:1-5

Explantation:
In the preceding verses Moses, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has laid out the case for both blessing and curse. Blessing would come as the children of Israel obeyed and followed God. Curse would come as the children of Israel disobeyed God and forgot about Him in the way that they lived. Among the consequences of the curse was that they would be scattered abroad from the land that was promised to them. Moses begins to to list what would need to happen to be brought back into a right relationship with God. First, in verse 1, Moses states that when they are enduring being scattered amoung the nations because of their disobeidence, they should begin to hold to account the nations that take them into captivity or are present wherever they are scattered. They were to witness to the reality, holiness, and goodness of God among those nations. Second, in verse 2, Moses states that they should return to the Lord, and begin to obey the first commandments in a right way with a right attitude.

When the children of Israel would do those two things, God would respond. He would have compassion on them. He would return them back to the land that their fathers had possessed. When they were back, he would continue to bless their right hearted obedience with blessing and prosperity.

Application:
The application of blessing and consequences for the children of Israel was very specific. For disobedience they would experience scattering and exile. For obedience they would experience blessing and prosperity. The specifics here applied to them alone, but the general application for us today is the same. There are natural and God given blessings for living as He commanded, and their are natural and God driven consequences to being disobedient. God applies and allows both of these results as a loving Father. He cares too much about us to let us continue in disobedience without consequences knowing that it will destroy us. Our sin separates us from Him. At the same time, He loves us and wants to bless us for doing the right thing. He loves to give good gifts to His children.
Aren’t you thankful that there is nothing that can separate us from God’s love? Aren’t you thankful that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus? So am I!
But we must remember that even though those ultimate things are true, the expectation is still for us to be obedient to our loving Father.
Joh 14:15
(15) If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 15:9-10
(9) As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
(10) If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

Respond:

1. How has God blessed you because of obeying Him?
2. Have you ever felt the consequences of disobedience to God?
3. Is there any area of your where you need to “return to the Lord thy God, and obey His voice”?

³¹ And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the Lord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do. ³² We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be our’s.

Numbers 32:31-32

Explanation:

Moses had laid out the expectations. They had to fight. If they fought, they could settle in the land that they wanted. They understood that this expectation had its source in God and was given to them through Moses. They were clear on the expectations. They were submissive to God’s authority. When they obeyed their would be blessing.

Application:

Accountability is a key to so much of what it means to be a leader. We seek God’s direction, cast vision, and lead people to follow what God has directed. We are accountable to God with that stewardship, and that means creating ownership, stewardship, and accountability for those who follow us. Paul said it this way:

² And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

2 Timothy 2:2

He also said this.

⁹ Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

Philippians 4:9

We are accountable to God. As leaders we understand that, and as leaders we point that out to others. We provide the example, and teach people how to function accordingly. Part of that is holding them accountable to what needs to be done.

Response:

1. Is there any area of your life that you need to be held accountable in, and who are you going to ask to help?
2. Why do we resist holding people accountable? Is there someone you need to have a conversation with today?
3. What are some wrong ways to hold people accountable? Right ways?

²⁸ So concerning them Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel:

²⁹ And Moses said unto them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle, before the Lord, and the land shall be subdued before you; then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession:

³⁰ But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.

Numbers 32:28-30

Explanation:

Moses wasn’t content to just make the agreement and believe that the Reubenites and Gadites would accomplish what they promised. Moses let people know about their agreement so that they could be held accountable for the promise they made. The two he told about are Joshua and Eleazar the priest. This was smart because they were already set up to be the future leaders after Moses was gone.

In letting them know the details, he told them what was expected and promised by the parties in question. Moses had promised that if they passed over into Jordan ready to fight, they would receive Giliead as they promised. If not, they had to dwell in Canaan.

Moses, Joshua, Eleazar, and the leaders of Gad and Reuben now all had the information to hold each other accountable to fulfill those obligations.

Application:

Setting up ourselves and others for accountability is not necessarily a sign of distrust. Setting up ourselves and others for accountability is really making success possible. Like Dad used to say, “People don’t do what you expect. They do what you inspect.” There is some truth to that statement. Accountability gives us the possibility of success. A lack of accountability often leads to undesired outcomes.

Response:

1. Where is there a lack of discipline in your life? It may be a result of a lack of accountability.
2. Who can you bring into your life for accountability?