Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
The Choice Is Put To Them Between Life and Death (Deuteronomy 30:15).
Analysis using the words of Moses:
a See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil, in that I command you this day to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land to which you are going in to possess it (Deuteronomy 30:15).
b But if your heart turn away, and you will not hear, but shall be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them, I denounce to you this day, that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land, to which you pass over the Jordan to go in to possess it (Deuteronomy 30:17).
b I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your seed (Deuteronomy 30:19).
a To love Yahweh your God, to obey His voice, and to cleave to Him, for He is your life, and the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them (Deuteronomy 30:20).
Note in ‘a' that the choice between life and death, and good and evil, has been put before them and they are commanded to love Yahweh their God and obey Him so that they might live an multiply, and so that Yahweh their God might bless them in the land which they are going in to possess, and in the parallel they are to love Him and obey Him and cleave to Him so that they might enjoy possession of the land promised to their fathers of old. In ‘b' if their heart turn away from God and His word then he is the witness that they will surely perish, and in the parallel heaven and earth are called in as witnesses to the fact that he has given them the choice of life or death, blessing or cursing. Thus must they ensure that they choose life by responding fully to Yahweh and obeying Him as His covenant people.
‘ See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil, in that I command you this day to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land to which you are going in to possess it.'
And this commandment which he had commanded them set before them ‘life and good, and death and evil'. For they could choose either to love Yahweh and walk in His ways and keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances, or not. And if they did choose to follow Yahweh then they would live and multiply, and receive blessing from Yahweh their God in the land which they were about to enter and possess. They would receive all the good and the blessings which He had promised. But if they did not only evil and death awaited.
The choice rests with us too. We also must decide whether we will serve Him and wholly follow Him, or whether we will side with those who ignore Him and refuse to listen to what He has to say to them, living for the things of the moment and forgetting eternity.
In Scripture we have a constant reminder to us that there are two sides to God's workings. On the one hand He carries out His will and none may deny Him, He carries forward His purposes whatever man may do. It is He Who circumcises our hearts. That is His side of things. And on the other He calls on man to choose Whom he will serve. That is our side of things. We must circumcise out hearts, by submitting to Him and allowing Him to circumcise them. The sheep may hear and follow, and that is what they must seek to do, but it is the Shepherd Who draws them. In the end His will and man's choosing are but two sides of the same coin, with His side predominant.
‘ But if your heart turn away, and you will not hear, but shall be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them, I denounce to you this day, that you (ye) shall surely perish; you (ye) shall not prolong your days in the land, to which you (thou) pass over the Jordan to go in to possess it.'
But there was an alternative to life. The alternative of choosing death and evil happenings as described in the cursings. For if their hearts turned away and they refused to hear, because they were being drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, then he, Moses, could only denounce them. He could only stress that they would surely perish, that their days would not be long in the land that they were passing over Jordan to enter and possess it, that they would endure all the judgments that he has described.
‘ I call heaven and earth to witness against you (ye) this day, that I have set before you (thee) life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that you (thou) may live, you (thou) and your (they) seed.'
Indeed he closed this section by calling on heaven and earth as witnesses. We can compare this with Deuteronomy 4:26 where the witness was to the effect of what would follow disobedience described in terms similar to verse 18. But now there was a choice, a choice between life and death, between the blessing and cursing that he had described in Deuteronomy 28, and they could choose either. And he called on them to choose life and the gracious activity of God that would go with it (compare Joshua 24:14; Jeremiah 8:3; Jeremiah 21:8).
Calling on heave and earth as witnesses was a regular covenant feature in ancient covenants.
‘ To love Yahweh your (thy) God, to obey his voice, and to cleave to him, for he is your (thy) life, and the length of your (thy) days, that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your (thy) fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.'
And what did choosing life consist of? Of loving Yahweh their God, and obeying His voice, and cleaving to Him, for He was their life and the source of long length of days. And it consisted in living faithfully in the land which He had sworn to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and enjoying its promised blessing. Thus they would find fullness of life in God and in His promises.
For us that life consists in even more. It consists in receiving Christ's life, His eternal life, and enjoying His presence daily; in cleaving to Him, and in obeying His voice, and in living with Him under His kingly power (Colossians 1:13).
And so in these words ends his appeal. He has brought them God's covenant, he has pleaded for their response. He can do no more.
Note.
It should be noted that in this futuristic picture as depicted by Deuteronomy there is no hint of the rule of a future king, even though it was expected that they would have a king at some point. There is no Messianic expectation, no reference to a temple. The future is depicted very differently from the later prophets. It is depicted solely in terms of returning to the covenant and the land. This confirms the early date of the ‘prophecies'. It would never have been written like this in the days of the kings or after.
(End of note).