Deuteronomy 30

Why? Because that knowledge was in the word of God that Moses had been proclaiming to them. And that word was with them; it was in their possession. They didn’t need someone to ascend into heaven to find the word; they didn’t need someone to cross the sea to get it (verses 12–13). No, the word was very near them (verse 14); it was in their mouth (so they could speak it) and in their heart (so they could obey it). That word—God’s word⁸²—would be a lamp to their feet and a light to their path (Psalm 119:105). That word would enable them to make the right choices not only then and there on the plains of Moab but also every day of their lives thereafter.

God’s word, delivered through Moses, was one of God’s greatest gifts to the Israelites. For other people, the meaning of life was hidden and uncertain; blessings and curses came at random and the people felt helpless in the hands of fickle gods. Not so for the Israelites—and not so for us, for whom God’s Word has come in a new way in the person of His Son Jesus Christ (John 1:1–2,14).

15–16 Moses now reaches the climax of all his teaching—the setting forth of Israel’s two choices: life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and destruction on the other (verse 15). To choose life, the Israelites must love God and walk in His ways; loving God and walking in His ways are two sides of the same coin; you can’t have one without the other. To love God is to obey Him; to obey God is to love Him (see Deuteronomy 6:4–5 and comment). We show our love for God by our obedience (John 14:15,21,23). If we love and obey God, we will live (verse 16)—live abundantly in this life and eternally in the next (see Leviticus 18:5 and comment).

17–18 But the opposite is also true: if the Israelites disobeyed God and turned from Him to worship other gods, they would certainly be destroyed (verse 18). They would not live long in the land. Sadly, as history has shown, the Israelites increasingly turned to the worship of other gods, and after about seven hundred years God finally drove them out of the land and into exile (2 Kings 17:1–23; 25:1–21).

19–20 It was Israel’s choice to make—life or death, blessings or curses. Here Moses makes his final appeal to the Israelites: Now choose life (verse 19). Choosing life meant choosing the Lord, loving Him, listening to Him, holding fast to Him. To choose the Lord was to choose life, because the Lord Himself was their life (verse 20).

These words were not meant just for the Israelites; they are meant for all people of all times. The Lord is the Creator of life, the Source of life, the Sustainer of life. His Word creates, sustains, and gives life (John 1:3–4; Colossians 1:16); indeed, His Word is life to those who believe (Deuteronomy 32:46–47; John 14:6). And the promise of the land that God swore to give to . . . Abraham, Isaac and Jacob still stands for us who believe in Jesus; but we have been promised an even better “land” than Canaan, a heavenly Canaan where we shall life with God forever.

There is no more important choice that a man or woman can make than the choice between life and death. The time for making the choice is now—“today.” . . . now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).