Having recited what God had done for the Israelites, Moses now called on them to respond and make a commitment to Him.
"The structure of the passage reveals an enveloping pattern in which injunctions to obey God (vv. 12-13; 20-22) embrace the corollary command to exhibit proper care and concern for other people, especially the socially and economically disadvantaged (vv. 14-19). The motive clause and that which binds the whole together is v. 17, a confession of the sovereignty of God and of his justice."129
10:12-13 In view of His past grace to His people, what did God require of them? Moses summarized Israel's responsibility: fear, walk, love, serve, and keep. God expected total allegiance to Himself and obedience to His covenant.
"These are the central ideas not only of Deuteronomy but of the whole Pentateuch in its final shape."130
The fear of the Lord (v. 12) includes the response that springs from one's knowledge of his personal sinfulness as he realizes that he stands before a holy God.
"Reverence, obedience, total commitment are the ingredients of the fear of the Lord."131
10:14-19 The rationale behind this response was that as God had demonstrated love for her so Israel was to demonstrate love for God (vv. 14-15). The phrase "highest heavens"(v. 14) is a Hebrew idiom indicating the totality of heaven; it does not mean that there are multiple levels of heaven.132
"Above all, therefore, they were to circumcise the foreskin of their hearts, i.e., to lay aside all insensibility of heart to impressions from the love of God (cf. Lev. xxvi. 41; and on the spiritual signification of circumcision, see vol. i. p. 227), and not stiffen their necks any more, i.e., not persist in their obstinacy, or obstinate resistance to God (cf. chap. ix. 6, 13). Without circumcision of heart, true fear of God and true love of God are both impossible. As a reason for this admonition, Moses adduces in vers. 17 sqq. the nature and acts of God."133
"God chose Israel to be an elect nation, not true of any other nation in this world. However, national election does not guarantee the salvation of every individual member of that nation. Individual salvation is based on individual election on God's part and faith on man's part. In verse 16, individual members of the elect nation are encouraged to circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart.' Whereas circumcision of the flesh is a sign of one's membership in the elect nation, circumcision of the heart is a sign of individual election."134
10:20-22 ". . . Moses emphasized a vital relationship with God as fundamental to all other issues in life. Second to this was a genuine love relationship with fellow-man."135
