Scripture Daily

Context No. 2079 of 4322 · Deuteronomy

Context · Reflection

Deuteronomy 29:17-21: in context

17and you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them); 18lest there should be among you man, woman, family, or tribe whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that produces bitter poison; 19and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, “I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart,” to destroy the moist with the dry. 20The LORD will not pardon him, but then the LORD’s anger and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book will fall on him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under the sky. 21The LORD will set him apart for evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law.

Moses warns against a particular danger among the covenant people: someone whose heart secretly turns from God to idols, a root that bears bitter poison. And he describes the self-deception of such a person: when he hears the words of this curse, he blesses himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart. He hears the warning, yet reassures himself that all will be well with him even as he persists in his own willful way, presuming on a peace he has no right to claim.

The self-deception Moses describes is worth examining closely: I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart. Here is a person who hears God's warning against sin and, instead of being moved to turn, reassures himself. He blesses himself in his heart; he tells himself that he will be fine, that judgment will not touch him, that he can persist in his own willful way and still have peace with God. It is a false assurance, a peace he grants himself while continuing in deliberate sin, presuming on God's blessing even as he walks in stubbornness. And Moses warns that this presumption is grave. This is a self-deception we are all prone to. We can hear God's warnings against some sin, and rather than turning, quietly reassure ourselves that it will be alright, that we can continue as we are and still be at peace with God, that the warning applies to others but not to us. We bless ourselves in our hearts, granting ourselves a peace we have not made with God, presuming on his mercy while persisting willfully in what he has warned against. It is a comfortable lie: I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart. Scripture exposes it as false. They say peace, peace, Jeremiah warns, when there is no peace. The peace we grant ourselves while walking in willful sin is not real peace; it is a self-deception that leaves the sin unaddressed and the danger unremoved. Do not be deceived, Paul says; God is not mocked; whatever a man sows, that he will reap. This searches our own hearts. Do we hear God's warnings and turn, or do we reassure ourselves, blessing ourselves in our hearts, telling ourselves we will have peace while we walk on in stubbornness? The false assurance that presumes peace while persisting in sin is a dangerous self-deception. The call is not to bless ourselves with a peace we have not made, but to heed the warning and turn, so that the peace we have with God is real and not the comfortable lie of a heart that presumes on mercy while refusing to change.

When I hear God's warning against some sin, do I turn, or do I quietly reassure myself, blessing myself in my heart, telling myself I shall have peace while I walk on in the stubbornness of my heart, and can Moses' warning against this self-deception expose the false assurance that presumes on God's mercy while persisting in willful sin, so that I heed the warning and turn rather than granting myself a peace I have not made with God?

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