For several chapters, Moses has been delivering some bleak news to the people. The Israelites are going to go into the future (and the Promised Land) without him, and they face a stark choice between blessings and curses. Moses has been doing his best to lay it all out for them impartially and dispassionately. But now, at the end of his matter-of-fact speech that has included prophecies of cannibalism and national exile, Moses makes his feelings and concerns quite clear: he comes down squarely and decisively on the side of life.
Even after all of the doom-and-gloom that he knows awaits the Israelites for their inevitable disobedience to the covenant, Moses concludes his address with some surprisingly good news: God's heart for His people will be renewed if and when their hearts return to Him. In spite of all their rebellion and His punishments, it is God's ultimate plan to bless and prosper the Israelites (vs. 9): "Even if you are exiled to the ends of the world, from there the Lord will gather you, and from there he will bring you back" (vs. 4).
(This promise was given over 3000 years ago. Yet haven't we seen it fulfilled through the ages? When the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 586 B.C., that could have been the end of the story. What other nations returned from that kind of defeat and exile? Yet, the land was returned to the Jews and they rebuilt. When the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D., that could have been the end of the story. They were dispersed throughout the world. But the people of Israel have been called back to the Holy Land in recent generations and rebuilt their nation. Is Israel truly a sign of God's justice and mercy? Have the words of these ancient scriptures come to fruition again and again over the centuries?)
Moses ends his speech with a stirring call to follow the Lord: "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live" (vs. 19).
The way of life is not always chosen in this world, yet God always urges His people to take that path! Are you choosing life in the Lord today?
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