See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil,
Israel is camped on the plains of Moab, and Moses brings his whole message down to one choice. He sets two roads before them, and the verse makes us ask what this "life" is and who could ever walk the road to it.
Moses leaves no middle ground. He offers a pair of roads, and the next verse says where the first one leads.
Moses, speaking for God, sets before Israel only two distinct alternatives, on the one hand "life and good," and on the other hand "death and evil" (v.15). This was clear and plain. There could be no other alternative. Verse 16 states the fact. If Israel walked in God's ways to keep His commandments, statutes and judgments, they would live and multiply, and God would richly bless them in the land.
The "life" here is not just a matter of how long a person lives. One writer asks what the choice really changed.
In a later day God gave His rebellious people the choice of "life and good, and death and evil" (Deut. 30:15). I do not suppose their choice changed the number of years they lived at all. But it did change where they stood before God.
Why do good and life belong together? Because this is how God governs, and He always has.
"See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil." This is always the way in the government of God. The two are tied together and cannot be separated. Let no man dare to snap the link.
Some ask whether grace sets this principle aside for the Christian. The same writer says grace does the opposite:
Someone may say, "Are Christians not under grace?" Yes, thank God. But does this weaken the great principle of God's government stated above in the smallest degree? No — it strengthens and confirms it beyond measure.
Many read these words as proof that a person can choose to be saved. One writer asks whether anyone was ever saved that way.
Was anyone, then, ever saved by choosing life in this way so that they might live? That would mean life could come by keeping the law. But Paul says plainly, "For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law" (Gal. 3:21).
The problem was not the offer. It was that the law asked for something it never gave.
The law held out life on the condition of obedience, but it did not give power. Power was exactly what it did not give... The law is holy in what it requires, but it never claims to give strength. So the very need for strength puts what the law could do out of reach.
The offer did not stand forever. One writer explains what became of it once Israel had failed and lost the land.
The reference is to Deuteronomy 30, where the question of responsibility for keeping the law was closed. The people were now in captivity for their sins, so keeping the law to live was completely over. They had been cast out for not keeping it.
Another writer sums up the chapter in one line, and names what came in when everything was ruined under law:
Deuteronomy 30:15 puts it in few words — it was "life and good, death and evil." The chapter points to God's secret purpose, and when all was ruined under law, it brings in the principle of righteousness by faith.
Moses does not leave the choice open. He names the road he wants them to take, and the reason lies in God's heart toward them.
Moses does not say, "Choose what you please," but "Choose life." God did not want them to ruin themselves, but to have an existence of pure blessing. If they refused His overtures of kind concern for them, this was only their own folly.
The appeal ends by naming the one thing that matters most, for everyone and in every age — and it is God Himself.
This is the all-important, essential thing — for each, for all. It is the very spring and power of all true religion, in every age and in every place: "for he is your life and length of days." How close! How vital! How real! How very precious!
- Two, not many. Moses sets only two alternatives before Israel — life and good, death and evil — and there is no third road.
- Linked. God's government ties good to life and evil to death. Grace does not loosen that link; it confirms it.
- Offered, not supplied. The law held out life on the terms of obedience. It never gave the strength to obey, so no one was ever saved this way.
- Closed, then opened. When keeping the law for life was over, this chapter's own words became the ground for preaching righteousness by faith.
- A Person. The appeal ends not with a prize to earn but with God Himself — He is your life.
in that I command thee this day to love Jehovah thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, that thou mayest live and multiply, and that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
Moses names what he is asking for: love for the LORD, shown in walking in His ways and keeping His commandments. Life, growth and blessing in the land all hang on it. So a question follows: was life truly offered on those terms, and could anyone ever gain it that way?
This demand is not a stray rule. It is the theme of the whole book.
From beginning to end, the great burden of Deuteronomy is appeal. Its subject is the word of God. Its aim is obedience — whole-hearted, earnest, loving obedience. And that obedience rests on a relationship the people already knew, and on privileges they already enjoyed.
Verse 16 promises life, and the words just before it set life and good against death and evil. One writer sees a fixed principle of God's government in that pairing.
"See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil." So it always is in the government of God. The two things are inseparably linked together. Let no one dare to break the link.
The same writer then faces the obvious objection.
Someone may say, "Are not Christians under grace?" Yes, thank God. But does this weaken that great principle of God's government in the smallest degree? No. It strengthens and confirms it immensely.
The promise is tied to a place: blessing "in the land that you are entering to take possession of it." Obedience did not bring Israel there. It kept them there.
God's power brought them out of Egypt, and God's promise brought them into the land. Their entrance into Canaan, and their possession of it, did not depend on their obedience. But to stay there, keeping the covenant was an absolute necessity. Standing before God on the ground of law, they had to obey if the land was to support them, and if those to whom God had given it were to go on farming it.
These words are often quoted to prove that life is ours to choose. One writer tests that claim against the rest of Scripture and finds it will not hold.
Was it, then, that any were saved by choosing life so that they might live? That would mean life could come by keeping the law. And Paul says plainly, "If a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law." He also says, "if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." That would indeed be a terrible conclusion to reach. Life was offered to them on condition of obedience to the law, and the Holy Spirit solemnly assures us that "by works of the law no human being will be justified." In other words, they could not have life on the terms Moses proposed.
The problem was not in the terms. It was in the people bound by them. One writer traces the pattern back to the garden.
Here again we find the two great principles of paradise: responsibility and life. But life depended on man meeting his responsibility: "Do this, and you will live." If a man kept God's commandments, he would live. But, as the apostle says, "The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me." The law was the exact rule of what God required from man, but man was a sinner. Keeping it would have brought a man life. Yet no one ever kept it, except Christ.
Deuteronomy 30 does not stop with the offer of verse 16. Later in the chapter that question is closed. That is why Paul reaches for these words.
The law knows nothing except the person under it keeping it. It says, the one who does these things will live by them, and this is entirely righteous. The righteousness that comes by faith speaks in a wholly different way. It says, "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." The real question is the salvation of the sinner, not the keeping of law to live. The reference is to Deuteronomy 30, where the question of responsibility under the law was closed. The people were in captivity for their sins. Keeping the law to live was wholly over, for their disobedience had already put them out of the land.
- Command — Moses asks for loving obedience. It rests on a relationship Israel already had, not on duty owed to a stranger.
- Link — God's government joins life and good, death and evil. Grace does not loosen that link; it confirms it.
- Land — Obedience was never the price of entering Canaan. It was the condition of staying there.
- Limit — Life was truly offered on these terms, yet no one ever gained it that way. Only Christ ever kept the law.
- Christ — The same chapter closes the question of earning life. Righteousness by faith speaks another way: believe in the heart, confess with the mouth, and you will be saved.
But if thy heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and thou shalt bow down to other gods and serve them;
Moses is speaking his last words to Israel on the edge of the promised land, and he has just laid two roads before them. Verse 17 traces the second road step by step: a heart that turns, ears that stop listening, then other gods served.
This verse is the dark half of a pair. Moses set out two ways of living and two ends. One writer sees a standing rule of God's government in that:
"See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil." So it always is in the government of God. The two things are inseparably linked together. Let no one dare to break the link. God "will render to each one according to his works."
Notice the order: the heart moves first, then the hearing fails, then the worship goes elsewhere. One writer traces the same steps in an earlier warning in Deuteronomy, and shows why the heart is the place to guard:
"Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them." What a sad downward progress! The heart deceived. This is the beginning of all decline. "And you turn aside." The feet are sure to follow the heart. This is why there is such deep need to keep the heart with all diligence; it is the fortress of the whole moral being. As long as you keep it for the Lord, the enemy can gain no advantage; but once you hand it over, everything is really gone. Then comes the turning aside; the practical ways prove the heart's secret departure. People serve and worship "other gods." The descent down the slope is terribly fast.
"Other gods" sounds like a danger belonging to an age of carved images. One writer applies the same pull to people who would never bow to a statue:
Such is the result of departure from God — a sorrowful result that is not limited to God's ancient people, Israel. If we get away from the Lord and seek the things of this present world, we expose ourselves to the enemy. Someone might say, surely Christians would not choose new gods? But the apostle John writes to us, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21). Everything that would challenge Christ's right to fill the heart is an idol.
History proved the warning true. One writer lists this passage among those that show judgment falling on Israel, and marks what was not cancelled:
The Lord never abandons the unconditional covenant which He made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and He often recalls it in grace. Read Deuteronomy 4:23-31; 8:19-20; 28:63-68; 29:28; 30:17-18. All these passages show plainly that judgment has fallen on Israel because of their sins. By this judgment the relationships formed between God and Israel under the law have been entirely interrupted and even ended. The existence of those relationships depended on the people's obedience (Exodus 19:5).
Moses tells them to choose life. One writer asks whether choosing life ever saved anyone:
Was it, then, that anyone was saved by choosing life in order to live? That would be to say that life could come by keeping the law. Paul says plainly, "If a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law" (Galatians 3:21)… Life was then offered to them on condition of obedience to the law. And the Holy Spirit solemnly assures us that "by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight" (Romans 3:20). In other words, they could not have life on the terms Moses proposed.
The chapter does not stop at the threat. One writer shows where Deuteronomy 30 turns next:
After describing in Deuteronomy 29 the total breakdown of the whole nation on that ground, he turns in Deuteronomy 30 to show how God would come in on an entirely different ground — the ground of grace. Israel's final earthly blessing is to depend, not on their doings, but on God's faithfulness to His word. Righteousness and blessing are for them to be gained, not through works of law, but through faith in God's word.
- Heart — decline begins out of sight. The heart is the fortress; hand it over and everything else follows.
- Ears — the deceived heart stops listening; refusing to hear God's word is the second step down, not the first.
- Worship — what the heart has already chosen comes into the open. Anything that challenges Christ's right to fill the heart is an idol.
- Loss — the relationship God formed with Israel under the law depended on obedience, and judgment did fall; yet His promise to Abraham stood.
- Grace — the same chapter turns to another ground. Israel's blessing rests on God's faithfulness to His word, not on their doings.
I denounce unto you this day that ye shall surely perish; ye shall not prolong your days upon the land whereunto thou passest over the Jordan to possess it.
Moses is about to send Israel over the Jordan. Here he spells out the dark half of the choice he has just set before them. Verse 18 is the verdict on a heart that turns away. It is not just a warning of loss. It is a sentence announced in advance, about a land they had not yet entered.
Verse 18 does not stand alone. It is the darker of the only two roads Moses names.
Moses, speaking for God, sets before Israel only two clear choices (v.15). On one side, "life and good." On the other, "death and evil." This was clear and plain. There could be no other choice.
The threat has force because Israel did not hold the land unconditionally. They had taken their stand before God on the ground of law.
From the start, their possession was conditional. Those conditions made staying in the land impossible. For fallen man had promised to be perfectly obedient to God. This was the ground Israel had chosen, and this was the tenure on which they presumed to hold the land.
The Hebrew word behind "land" is the ordinary word for ground or soil. Scripture uses it again and again for the territory God gave Israel. (The samples below quote an older English version.)
Adamah usually refers to the earth as ground or soil… But it often means the "land" of Israel: "prolong your days upon the land"… "the land which I swore to their fathers." Deut. 30:18, 20.
Perishing is the end of a process, not the start. One writer traces that order, commenting on a similar warning earlier in Deuteronomy.
Sad downward progress! The heart deceived. This is the beginning of all decline. "And you turn aside." The feet are sure to follow the heart. So there is deep need to keep the heart with all diligence. The heart is the fortress of the whole moral being. As long as you keep it for the Lord, the enemy can gain no advantage. Once you surrender it, everything is really gone.
History proved the announcement true. But one writer marks off what ended from what did not.
Jehovah never forsakes the unconditional covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He often recalls it in grace. Read Deuteronomy 4:23-31; 8:19-20; 28:63-68; 29:28; 30:17-18. All these passages show plainly that judgment has fallen upon Israel because of their sins. This judgment has entirely interrupted, and even ended, the relationships formed between God and Israel under the law. Those relationships depended expressly on the people's obedience.
Some would say this belongs to an older arrangement and no longer touches us.
Someone may say, "Are not Christians under grace?" Yes, thank God! But does that weaken this great principle of God's government in the smallest degree? No, it strengthens and confirms it immensely… The fact set out in Deuteronomy 30 and confirmed by Romans 2 stands untouched. Life and good, death and evil are bound together by a link that cannot be broken.
The sentence of verse 18 fell, and Israel went into captivity. One writer shows what that closed, and who takes its place.
But here the special point is that He is the end of law. It is finished as a way of righteousness: Christ takes its place… The reference is to Deuteronomy 30. There the question of responsibility was closed as to keeping the law. The people were in captivity for their sins, so keeping the law to live was completely over. They had been cast out for not doing it.
- Two roads. Moses set out only two ends: life and good, or death and evil. Verse 18 is the second road, named in advance.
- One condition. Israel held the land on one stated term: obedience. They chose that ground, and it decided how long they could stay.
- The heart first. Decline starts with a deceived heart. The feet follow. Give up the heart, and everything is really gone.
- The word kept. Judgment fell just as announced. Yet God never withdrew the promise He swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
- The end of the road. Once keeping the law to live was over, Christ came in as the end of law for righteousness. That is where this chapter points.
I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you life and death have I set before you, blessing and cursing choose then life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed,
Moses has laid out the two ends of Israel's road: obedience with blessing, or turning away with ruin. Now he closes his teaching of the law with a formal summons. He calls heaven and earth to witness what he has set before the people. Is God simply laying out two options and standing back? And could a choice like this ever give life?
Moses puts the choice in the plainest terms.
Moses, speaking for God, sets before Israel only two choices: on one side "life and good," on the other "death and evil" (v.15). This was clear and plain. There could be no other alternative. Verse 16 shows it. If Israel walked in God's ways and kept His commandments, statutes and judgments, they would live and multiply, and God would greatly bless them in the land.
The two pairs are joined, and one writer urges us never to forget it.
Life and good, death and evil are bound together by an inseparable link. May we never forget it! May it ever abide in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts!
Moses calls in witnesses, but he does not leave the choice open.
Moses declared that he called heaven and earth as witnesses. He had faithfully set before Israel these two choices: either life or death, blessing or cursing (v.19). He does not say, "Choose that you please," but rather, "Choose life." God did not want them to ruin themselves, but to have an existence of pure blessing. If they refused His kind approaches to them, this was only their own folly.
The force of this appeal matches the book it closes.
Nothing can be more solemn than this closing appeal to the congregation: it is in full keeping with the tone and character of the entire book of Deuteronomy — a book filled from end to end with the most powerful appeals human ears have ever heard... The great burden of Deuteronomy, from beginning to end, is exhortation. Its theme is the word of God. Its aim is obedience — whole-hearted, earnest, loving obedience — grounded on a known relationship and enjoyed privileges.
These words are often quoted to prove that life or death rests on our own choice. One writer answers from what the law could not do.
Was it, then, that any were saved by choosing life so that they might live? That would be to claim that life could come by keeping the law. Paul says plainly, "if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law" (Gal. 3:21). But he also says, "if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose" (Gal. 2:21). That would indeed be a terrible conclusion to reach... Life was then offered to Israel on condition of obedience to the law. In other words, they could not have life on the terms Moses proposed.
Another writer shows what has taken the law's place.
The law is finished as a way of righteousness: Christ takes its place. The law knows nothing except the person under it fulfilling it. It says, the one who does these things shall live by them; and this is entirely righteous. The righteousness that is by faith speaks quite differently. It is, "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." The real question is the salvation of the sinner, not the keeping of law to live. The allusion is to Deuteronomy 30, where the question of responsibility over keeping the law was closed. The people were already in captivity for their sins, so keeping the law to live was wholly over. They had been cast out for not doing so.
The same appeal shapes how believers speak to others today.
In the same way, when believers preach the gospel to the unsaved, we must make it clear that receiving the Lord Jesus as Savior brings them great blessing, and refusing Him brings eternal remorse. But we are not wise to tell them to choose whichever they please. We should lovingly urge them to make a firm decision to receive the Lord Jesus and be saved.
- Two, not three. Moses sets before Israel only "life and good" or "death and evil." There is no third road.
- Witnessed. Moses calls heaven and earth as witnesses that he set both choices plainly before the people.
- Weighted. God does not say "choose as you please." He says "choose life," because He wants their blessing, not their ruin.
- Powerless. The choice itself could not give life. If any law could have given life, righteousness would have come that way, and Christ died for nothing.
- Answered. Christ takes the law's place. Confess Him as Lord, believe God raised Him, and you are saved — the real question is the sinner's salvation, not law-keeping to live.
in loving Jehovah thy God, in hearkening to his voice, and in cleaving to him -- for this is thy life and the length of thy days -- that thou mayest dwell in the land which Jehovah swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.