But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Moses has just warned Israel what follows if they turn to idols: ruin in the land, and scattering among the nations. Then, at the end of that dark picture, comes a promise — even from exile, they can still find God.
The Turn After Judgment
The verse turns the picture around. One commentator lingers on the small word that opens it, and on the moment he calls the time to find what God is. He quotes an older translation, which reads the promise as a chain of "if" clauses.
C. H. Mackintosh"But," he says — and oh, how lovely some of the "buts" of Holy Scripture are! — "if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him, if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul" — wonderful grace! Moses goes on: "when you are in tribulation." That is the time to find what our God is. "And all these things have come upon you, even in the latter days, if you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice." What then? "A consuming fire"? No. Instead: "the LORD your God is a merciful God, He will not forsake you, nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers, which He swore to them."
Why the Whole Heart
Why does God ask for all the heart and all the soul? One commentator answers from what God is: a consuming fire, and jealous.
C. H. MackintoshTrue, He is a consuming fire, because He is holy. He is intolerant of evil, and must consume our dross. Moreover, He is jealous because He cannot allow any rival a place in the hearts of those He loves. He must have the whole heart, because He alone is worthy of it, and He alone can fill and satisfy it for ever.
Found From Where You Are Scattered
"From there" means from among the nations where God Himself has driven them. That God can still be found in such a place is what sets the tone for His whole way of dealing with Israel.
J. N. DarbyMoses shows them that all who were of full age had died because of their unbelief. He himself could not enter that good land. God is a jealous God, a consuming fire. If they made any carved image, they would utterly perish from the land they were about to enter. They would be scattered among the nations and left to serve the gods they had loved. Still, they would find God if they sought Him with all their heart, for He is a merciful God, who would not forsake them.
The promise rests on a covenant God will not abandon.
J. N. DarbyJehovah never forsakes the unconditional covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He often recalls it in grace. Read Deuteronomy 4:23-31. Passages like this show plainly that judgment has fallen upon Israel because of their sins.
The Latter Days
What Israel knows of God changes as their heart changes.
J. G. BellettIsrael now, because of transgression, knows Him as a "consuming fire." In the latter day, in their broken-heartedness and repentance, they shall know Him as a "merciful God."
Israel's story fills two pages, and this verse belongs to the second.
C. H. MackintoshThe page of history records, with unerring faithfulness, their utter ruin. The page of prophecy unfolds, in accents of matchless grace, God's remedy. Israel's past has been dark and gloomy. Israel's future will be bright and glorious.
Taken Personally
Writers have applied the promise beyond Israel, to any believer or company of believers who has drifted.
W. G. TurnerLet us waste no more time over time-wasters and mere talkers, but remember how God gave His ancient people the gracious assurance that when they were backsliding, "If from there you seek the LORD your God, you shall find Him, if you seek after Him with all your heart and with all your soul." Deut. 4:29.
The condition attached is the part most easily dodged.
Hamilton SmithA half-hearted return will not do. It is useless for God's people to turn to the Lord while they only half admit their fault and make excuses. If we turn to the Lord there can be no compromise about our sin and failure.
Summary
- Fire — God is a consuming fire, and He is jealous. That is why He asks for the whole heart: He will not share it, and nothing else can fill it.
- Scattering — the warning came true. Israel's present condition is the fruit of their own sins.
- But — the verse turns the dark picture around: the time of trouble is the time to find what God is.
- Covenant — the door stays open because God never forsakes the covenant He swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- Whole heart — a half-hearted return will not do, for Israel or for us: no excuses, no half-measures.