Deuteronomy 30:19

_SEE, I HAVE SET BEFORE THEE THIS DAY LIFE AND GOOD, AND DEATH AND EVIL;_ See, I have set before thee this day life ... and death - i:e., the alternative of a good and happy, or a disobedient and miserable life. Love of God and compliance with His will is the only way of securing the blessings and avoiding the evils described. The choice was left to themselves; and in urging upon them the inducements to a wise choice, Moses warned, as he proceeded, into a tone of solemn and impressive earnestness similar to that of Paul to the elders of Ephesus (Acts 20:26)....

19._I call heaven and earth to record this day against you_. Though the verb is in the past tense, it indicates a present act. It is in order to deal with them with greater urgency that he calls heaven and earth to witness the vengeance of God. In these words he does not address men and angels, as some tamely expound it, but in amplification attributes sense to things inanimate. I pass this over briefly, because I have (288) treated it more fully before; as also what soon afterwards follows about life and death. For the Law, as respects its doctrine, contains in it life and death; for the reward of eternal life is not promised in it in vain; but since no one is found worthy of the promised reward, Paul justly teaches that the Law ministers death. Still this is accidental, and proceeds not from any fault in the doctrine, but from the corruption of men. Nevertheless, it is asked how, if th...

15-20 What could be said more moving, and more likely to make deep and lasting impressions? Every man wishes to obtain life and good, and to escape death and evil; he desires happiness, and dreads misery. So great is the compassion of the Lord, that he has favoured men, by his word, with such a knowledge of good and evil as will make them for ever happy, if it be not their own fault. Let us hear the sum of the whole matter. If they and theirs would love God, and serve him, they should live and be happy. If they or theirs should turn from God, desert his service, and worship other gods, that would certainly be their ruin. There never was, since the fall of man, more than one way to heaven; which is marked out in both Testaments, though not with equal clearness. Moses meant that same way of acceptance, which Paul more plainly described; and Paul's words mean the same obedience, on which M...

Verse Deuteronomy 30:19. See the note on the preceding verse. See Clarke on De 30:15...

Ignorance of the requirements of the law cannot be pleaded Deuteronomy 30:10; hence, Deuteronomy 30:15 life and death, good and evil, are solemnly set before the people for their own choice; and an earnest exhortation to choose the better part concludes the address. Deuteronomy 30:11. “The righteousness which is of faith” is really and truly described in these words of the Law; and, under Paul’s guidance (see marginal references) we affirm was intended so to be. For the simplicity and accessibility which Moses here attributes to the Law of God neither is nor can be experimentally found in it except through the medium of faith; e

EXPOSITION DEUTERONOMY 30:1 Though rejected and exiled because of rebellion and apostasy, Israel should not be absolutely or forever cast off. When dispersed among the nations, if the people should return to Jehovah their God, he would again receive them into favor and gather them from their dispersion (cf. Deuteronomy 4:29, etc.; Leviticus 26:40, etc.). Moses, looking into the future, anticipates that both the blessing and the curse would come upon the people according as they were faithful to their covenant engagement and obedient to God's Law, or were disobedient and unfaithful. But even when the curse came upon them to the full, this would not amount to final re

I CALL HEAVEN AND EARTH TO RECORD THIS DAY AGAINST YOU,.... Either, literally understood, the heavens above him, and the earth on which he stood, those inanimate bodies, which are frequently called upon as witnesses to matters of moment and importance; see Deuteronomy 4:26; or figuratively, the inhabitants of both, angels and men: [THAT] I HAVE SET BEFORE YOU LIFE AND DEATH, BLESSING AND CURSING; had plainly told them in express words what would be the consequence of obedience and disobedience to the law of God; long life, and the blessings of it in the land of Canaan, to those that obey it; death, by various means, and dreadful curses, to those that disobey it; of which see at large Deuteronomy 28:16; therefore choose life, that thou and thy seed may live

26. THE DISPERSION, THE RETURN AND THE FINAL APPEAL CHAPTER 30 _ 1. The message of hope (Deuteronomy 30:1)_ 2. The final appeal (Deuteronomy 30:11) These things, which Moses spoke into the ears of the people were to come to pass. And they have been fulfilled. The people Israel are scattered among all the nations, and yet they have not been assimilated by the nations. They are kept as a separate people. Connected with the prediction of their dispersion is the message of hope, the prophecy relating to their return. The Lord promises, that if they return unto Him and obey His voice, that He will return unto them. “Then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD

DEUTERONOMY 30:11 was probably intended to close Dt. Deuteronomy 30:11 is applied and adapted by Paul in Romans 6-8. Prefix to Deuteronomy 30:16 the following words found in the LXX and necessary for the sense: If thou wilt listen to the commandments of Yahweh thy God (which, etc.). Deuteronomy 30:19 = Deuteronomy 4:26. Deuteronomy 30:20. to love:...

I CALL. Figure of speech _Deasis,_ or, _Obtestatio._ App-6. HEAVEN AND EARTH. the heavens and the earth. One of thirteen occurrences. See note on Deuteronomy 4:26. TO RECORD. to witness....