Deuteronomy 30:15 - Meaning and Application

Moses closes with a very bright and forceful appeal, hoping to make his words sink into the minds and hearts of this stubborn people. It could hardly be said more clearly or more earnestly. His approach is wise, careful, loving, and fully fit to win their attention, so it shows he truly means what he says. That leaves them without excuse if they refuse to obey.

I. He states the case very fairly and asks them to judge it for themselves. Had he not put the matter before them as plainly as they could ask? Every person wants life and good and wants to avoid death and evil. So Moses says, in effect, “I have shown you the way to all the happiness you want and the way to avoid all misery. Obey, and all will be well.” Our first parents ate the forbidden fruit hoping to gain knowledge of good and evil, but they gained a bitter kind of knowledge, good only by losing it and evil by feeling it. Yet God’s kindness to human beings is so great that, instead of leaving us to our own mistake, he has given us his word, which teaches us good and evil in a way that can make us truly happy, if we do not ruin ourselves.

Every person is moved by hope and fear, hope of good and fear of evil, whether the thing hoped for or feared is real or only seems real. Moses says he has set both before them. If they will be drawn to obedience by the sure promise of blessing, or driven to obedience by the sure warning of ruin if they disobey, then they will stay close to God and to their duty. If they will not listen, they are fully to blame. So let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter.

If they and their children would love God and serve him, they would live and be happy (Deuteronomy 30:16). If they would love God, and show that love by keeping his commandments, and do so from a heart of love, then God would do them good, and they would be as happy as his blessing could make them. But if they or their children ever turned away from God, abandoned his service, and worshiped other gods, that would surely bring ruin (Deuteronomy 30:17-18). Notice that ruin is not threatened for every failure in duty, but for turning away from God and for idolatry. Every broken command deserved the curse, yet the nation would be destroyed by what breaks the covenant of marriage between God and his people.

The message of the New Testament is much the same. It also sets life and death, good and evil before us. “He who believes will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). That faith includes love and obedience. To those who keep on doing good with patience, seeking glory, honor, and immortality, God will give eternal life. But those who are stubborn and refuse to obey the truth, and instead follow wrong, are in effect worshiping other gods and serving them. For them, God’s anger and wrath will come, and the result for an immortal soul must be trouble and pain (Romans 2:7-9).

II. After stating the case, Moses puts the choice before them and tells them to choose wisely. He calls heaven and earth to witness that he has dealt fairly and faithfully with them (Deuteronomy 30:19). They could not deny that he had done his duty, so he tells them to do theirs and choose life. That means choosing to do what is right, since obedience is their life. Those who choose life will have life. Those who choose God’s favor and fellowship as their joy, and then follow that choice as they should, will receive what they chose. Those who do not have life and happiness must blame themselves. They would have had it if they had chosen it when it was offered. They die because they will not choose life, that is, because they do not want the life God promised on the terms he gave.

III. In the last verse, Moses briefly tells them what their duty is and why they should do it. Their duty is to love God, to love him as the Lord, a being worthy of all love, and as their God, one who has entered into covenant with them. As proof of that love, they must obey his voice in everything and keep clinging to him, never leaving him in heart or in conduct. Their reason for doing this is strong.

First, they depend on God. He is your life and the length of your days. He gives life, keeps life going, restores life, and extends life by his power, even though life is fragile and, by sin, has been forfeited. He also makes life sweet by his comforts, and he is the supreme Lord over life. Our breath is in his hand. So we must work to keep ourselves in his love, because it is good to have him as our friend and dangerous to have him as our enemy.

Second, they should remember what they owe him for the promise of Canaan made to their fathers and confirmed with an oath. Third, they should think about what they can expect from him as he keeps that promise. “Love God, and serve him, so that you may live in that promised land, which he is surely able to give you and keep for you, since he is your life and the length of your days.” All of these are strong reasons for us, too, to keep on loving and obeying the God of our mercies.