(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 30:15–20, “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
Before Israel entered the Promised Land they were given a choice. The choice was between good and evil, as defined by the Lord. God is associated with life and evil is associated with death. The first time that we encounter death in the Bible is in Gen 2:17 (“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”) This shows that dying is a consequence of rejecting the Lord’s commands. There are only two possibilities: obeying the Lord or not. Obeying the Lord leads to life, not just physical life but a rich spiritual life as well while disobeying the Lord leads to death both physical and spiritual. Both good and evil are defined in these terms as well. Good is to accept that the Lord God has the authority to tell us what to do while evil is to reject the Lord God and His wisdom. Just before this section the Lord told Israel that His commandment was not hard and there is nothing hard about these definitions. If the Lord God is Israel’s Maker, and He is, then He knew what was best for them. He didn’t have to tell them what to do but, in grace and love, He gave them the instructions to get the best out of the life that He gave them in the Promised Land. As long as they were willing to trust His wisdom they would enjoy all the benefits of His goodness. As soon as they decided to be evil and reject His wisdom then they would lose the benefits of His goodness. After all the Lord has perfect integrity and will give anyone exactly what they choose. This is overridden by the fact that, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” (Psalm 103:8) He takes His time to give a chance to be sure that we want to follow the way of death, that is, everlasting separation from God and all the good things that He has in store for us.
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