“Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.” Deuteronomy 29:4
As we begin Chapter 29 we read the following: “These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He had made with them at Horeb.” And so Moses “summons all Israel” there on the plains of Moab, and begins addressing them regarding it. We read that this is to “all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and the stranger”, “so that you may enter into the covenant with the Lord your God, and into His oath which the Lord your God is making with you”. This is pretty inclusive! Unless you were there knowingly in Rebellion, the Covenant they made that day was the Official and Legal Ceremony of identifying as “the Children of Israel”.
This is the context in which we read Today’s Verse: “Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear”. Don’t you find that Absolutely Amazing? These ARE God’s People. These ARE His Children, selected out of “all the Nations of the earth”! Here they are, on the brink of entering the Promised Land, all set to enter in and receive the Promise, and yet,…Lacking Grace!!! THIS, more than anything else you’ll find in the Bible, depicts the difference between the Old and New Covenants. One “might” save, as we see in Characters like Noah, Abraham, and Moses; but the other “Does” save, and it Saves “Everyone” that is part of it. This is “Why” the writer of Hebrews calls it a “Better Covenant”.
Now, consider the Ministry of Christ. He lived during that Transitional Period between the Old and the New. When He spoke to Nicodemus the Words “You MUST be born again”, this is what He was referring to; a Work of Grace upon the Heart. The Old Covenant People did not have “a heart to know”; the New Covenant People “Must”. Consider how many times Jesus uses the phrase “Eyes to See and Ears to Hear”. Again, part of the Dynamics of the New Covenant that would be “Inaugurated” with His Blood! Moses makes clear the Necessary Ingredients to “Knowing God”, and Jesus came to “Fulfill” them. May God give all those that read this, “Hearts to Know, Eyes to See, and Ears to Hear”!