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15 “See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. See Deut 11:26-28; Jer 21:8-9.
Here we have an example of what is sometimes referred to as “two ways teaching”; popular in the moral and wisdom literature of Judaism, Christianity, and Paganism. The name is derived from the fact that the image of a “way” (i.e., a road or path) was used to provide a contrast between the actions or fate of the good and bad, the righteous and the wicked. Some famous examples of two ways teaching using the road image are: Psalm 1, which is today’s Responsorial Psalm, and Matt 7:13-14. The term is often applied to any image which contrasts the good and the bad, evil and righteous. In this extended sense, today’s Gospel passage is “two ways teaching” (see Luke 9:22-25, especially verses 24-25). Another famous example would be the contrasting foundation image of Matt 7:24-27. Probably the most famous example from non-biblical Christian literature is the opening line of the Didache (late 1st, early 2nd century)~”Two ways there are: one leading to life, the other leading to death; and great is the difference between the two ways.”
CCC #1696: The way of Christ “leads to life”; a contrary way “leads to destruction”(see Matt 7:13; Deut 30:15-20). The Gospel parable of the two ways remains ever present in the catechesis of the Church; it shows the importance of moral decisions for our salvation: “There are two ways, the one of life, the other of death; but between the two, there is a great difference.”(Didache 1, 1).
Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life #28: For us too Moses’ invitation rings out loud and clear: “See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. … I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life,that you and your descendants may live” (Deut 30:15,19). This invitation is very appropriate for us who are called day by day to the duty of choosing between the “culture of life” and the “culture of death”. But the call of Deuteronomy goes even deeper, for it urges us to make a choice which is properly religious and moral. It is a question of giving our own existence a basic orientation and living the law of the Lord faithfully and consistently: “If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live …therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you and length of days” (Deut 30:16,19-20). (Evangelium vitae 28)
Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life #48: It is not surprising, therefore, that God’s Covenant with his people is so closely linked to the perspective of life, also in its bodily dimension. In that Covenant, God’s commandment is offered as the path of life: “I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of” (Deut 30:15-16). What is at stake is not only the land of Canaan and the existence of the people of Israel, but also the world of today and of the future, and the existence of all humanity. In fact,it is altogether impossible for life to remain authentic and complete once it is detached from the good; and the good, in its turn, is essentially bound to the commandments of the Lord, that is, to the “law of life” (Sirach 17:11). The good to be done is not added to life as a burden which weighs on it, since the very purpose of life is that good and only by doing it can life be built up (Evangelium vitae 48).
16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you this day, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it.
Verse 15 introduced a challenge that had been “set before” the Israelites. This present verse (16) is an attempt to get them to make the right choice by indicating what will fall to them if they do. Verses 17-18 are also intended to get them to make the right choice by indicating to them what will befall them if they make the wrong choice.
CCC#2057: The Decalogue must first be understood in the context of the Exodus, God’s great liberating event at the center of the Old Covenant. Whether formulated as negative commandments, prohibitions, or as positive precepts such as: “Honor your father and mother,” the “ten words” point out the conditions of a life freed from the slavery of sin. The Decalogue is a path of life: “If you love the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply” (Deut 30:16). This liberating power of the Decalogue appears, for example, in the commandment about the sabbath rest, directed also to foreigners and slaves: “You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out thence with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” (Deut 5:15).
If you obey the commandments…by loving the LORD your God.
In the book of Deuteronomy, obedience and love are nearly synonymous.
Then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it. Life and security in the land are constantly held out to the people as a reward for obedience to the commands (Deut 5:33; Deut 6:23-24; Deut 8:1; Deut 16:20; Deut 30:5-6; Deut 32:47). Multiplying and taking possession of the land recall the original blessing upon mankind: “And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it” (Gen 1:28 DRV).
17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,
But if your heart turns away. Contrasts nicely with the previous verse which spoke about obeying the commandments “by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways“.
And you will not hear. Thus disobeying the first word of the famous shema, based in part on Deut 6:4-9~’Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart:” (DRV, quoting verses 4-6). Note also the reference to heart in the shema, which is also used in this verse.
But are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them. Also violating the shema which speaks strictly of “our God,” who must be loved with the whole heart, soul and strength. Additionally, part of the shema comes from Deut 11:17 which reads~”Beware lest perhaps your heart be deceived, and you depart from the Lord, and serve strange gods, and adore them” (DRV).
Serving (worshiping) other gods would be a repudiation of the primary reason for the Exodus (Ex 3:18; Joshua 24:14).
18 I declare to you this day, that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.
You shall perish; you shall not live long in the land. Directly contrasts the promised blessings for fidelity in verse 16.
19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live,
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day. See Deut 4:26; Deut 8:19. The words “heaven” and “earth” may be intended as a merism: all creation is to witness against you. It’s possible that the phrase relates to the prohibition of making idols of things in heaven or on earth (see Deut 4:15-19).
Pope Benedict XVI: For true life – our salvation – can only be found in the reconciliation, freedom and love which are God’s gracious gift. This is the message of hope we are called to proclaim and embody in a world where self-centeredness, greed, violence, and cynicism so often seem to choke the fragile growth of grace in people’s hearts. Saint Irenaeus, with great insight, understood that the command which Moses enjoined upon the people of Israel: “Choose life!” (Deut 30:19) was the ultimate reason for our obedience to all God’s commandments (cf. Adv. Haer. IV, 16, 2-5). Perhaps we have lost sight of this: in a society where the Church seems legalistic and “institutional” to many people, our most urgent challenge is to communicate the joy born of faith and the experience of God’s love (Homily at St Patrick’s Cathedral, NY, April 19, 2008).
20 loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
The previous verse ended with the appeal “choose life that you and your descendants may live.” Life involves loving, obeying, and cleaving to God.
