Hey, it is Shelby and Paul here. We are just about to wrap up the book of Deuteronomy. Today, we're talking

through chapters 29 through 31. Paul, what's happening in these chapters? Yeah, so we're getting

kind of the current circumstance of Israel, finally.

We're not so much talking about laws anymore, but talking specifically about, you know, how the people respond to these laws, which they formally commit themselves, recommit themselves to the covenant.

And we also get, you know, Moses kind of passing the torch to Joshua, so to speak,

in terms of leadership of Israel. Yeah, big moment. Okay, what do you think is important for us to

note or understand about these chapters? Yeah, so I want to highlight kind of here chapter 30.

And we get, you know, in verses 1 through 10, this kind of description about

this idea of return. So we see this word return or turn come up lots in these verses. And

essentially it's this idea that, hey, you know, in these blessings and curses that you will

receive for your obedience and disobedience,

it's always this call to return to the Lord, your God, right? And I think it's important to note that it's this call to return in both blessing and in curse, right? So even when they disobey, yes,

they're supposed to return to God, but even in their, the blessings that they receive,

they're meant to give gratitude, to return to God to say, hey, you're the one that gave this to us,

right? And I think, you know, this word return is really important in the Old Testament. We'll see it

a lot in the prophets, where the prophets will basically tell Israel, hey, return to God, you're

sinning. You know, return to God.

But, you know, I think really for us, this shows us God's compassion, that, yes, there's

blessings and curses, there's consequences for the way you live, but there's always the invitation

to return. There's always the opportunity to turn back from our sin or to turn from our blessings

and give gratitude, right? And that's why, you know, the results of our behavior can often

take our focus, but remembering that God is the one that commands us to do these things in the

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