What does “I set before you life and death” mean in Deuteronomy 30:19?

Answer

God presents life and death to His people, Israel, at the borders of the Promised Land. Like all people, the children of Israel had a decision to make: they could either obey God or disobey Him. One option would lead to life, while the other would lead to death.

Deuteronomy is Moses’ final address to the people of Israel as his life nears its end. The people had been wandering in the wilderness for about 40 years as the unbelieving generation of Israelites who had refused to enter the land passed away (see Numbers 14). Only those under 20 years old at the time of Israel’s refusal survived, and many other Israelites were born during those years and did not witness the plagues in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, or the remarkable display of God’s power and glory at the giving of the Law. Moses reminds them of these events and of what God requires of them.

In Deuteronomy 28, Moses describes the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience. In chapters 29 and 30, he further cautions the people about the consequences of abandoning their covenant with the Lord but also assures them that, if they repent and return to Him, they can be forgiven. In Deuteronomy 30, Moses assures that, upon repentance, “the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. You will once again obey the Lord and follow all His commands that I am giving you today. Then the Lord your God will make you very prosperous in all the work of your hands, in the offspring of your livestock, and in the produce of your land. The Lord will once again take pleasure in you and make you prosperous, just as He delighted in your ancestors, if you obey the Lord your God, keep His commands and decrees written in this Book of the Law, and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul” (verses 7–10).

Then Moses calls on the people to renew the covenant and personally commit to follow the Lord. It is in this context that he says, “Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees, and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess” (Deuteronomy 30:11-18; emphasis added).

Simply put, if Israel obeys and follows the Lord, they will have life and blessing. If they disobey and forsake Him, they will experience death and destruction. God set before His people a choice: life or death, based on the conditions of the Old Covenant. We see the consequences of death and destruction playing out in the rest of the Old Testament with very few bright spots.

Although the terms of the Old Covenant were specifically for Israel in the Promised Land and are not applied to all humanity today, the choice is still very much the same. God still sets life and death before us. Romans 6:23 tells us that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Those who accept Christ by faith will

Experience eternal life and blessing, while those who reject Him will experience eternal death and destruction “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”, (John 3:18). There is a clear choice with eternal consequences.