I am pleased and privileged to have been given the opportunity to speak to you this morning about the passage from Deuteronomy, which to me is one of the most significant passages in the whole of Scripture.
You need a bit of background to help you see where this passage is coming from. In the course of leading the Israelites through the wilderness for 40 years, Moses at one point seemed to rebel against God. He took credit for performing a miracle himself, rather than attributing it to God’s love, holiness and power. Because of this, God told Moses that he would see but would not enter the Promised Land.
As Deuteronomy begins, the Israelites have arrived on the verge of the river Jordan, in sight of the Promised Land on the other side. They are about to cross over that river. The whole book of Deuteronomy purports to be Moses’ last words to them before his death. Moses of course did not write the book of Deuteronomy. It was probably written or compiled about six centuries after his death. But the authors of the book chose to write using Moses’ name to give weight to their writings, to try with his name to recall Israel to their heritage.
So in the book of Deuteronomy Moses recalls all that God has done for his people, all that they have been through and all that they have been taught by God. He reminds them of the covenant with God and of the commandments given to them through him by God on Mount Sinai. Now the people of Israel face a new beginning, a new way of life. For more than 40 years they have been pilgrims. Now they have reached the goal which God set for them. They are about to become the possessors of land. They will have homes. They will sow and plant and harvest. They will live in a stable community. God’s will for them is that they should enjoy these new blessings.
In the course of those 40 years, Moses has seen how his people will be tempted, how they are likely to go astray. So what he gives them in these concluding words are urgent and compelling basic guidelines for how they must now learn to live in this stable community, as land owners.
Moses sets before them a stark choice: life and prosperity, or death and adversity. Life in this context means far more than actual physical existence. Israel’s life must be centred on their God. They must at all times remember his holiness, his power and, above all, his unfailing love for them. They must always remember all that God has done for them in bringing them out of Egypt and giving them this land flowing with milk and honey. They must respond to God’s goodness with praise and thanksgiving, by worshipping only him, by walking in his ways, with entire obedience to his loving commands. In other words, they must allow their lives to be transformed.
Israel’s life is not, cannot be, just the separate lives of individuals. They are the people of God. Transformation of life must be not only of the lives of individuals but also of the life of the whole community. Observing God’s commandments, decrees and ordinances, which earlier in Deuteronomy Moses has recalled, means living in the love of God, but also living in loving harmony with other people. Those who are materially blessed have a responsibility to share with those within their community who are less so. Compassion and generosity must underpin their communal relationships. And this applies also to the poor, the widow and the stranger from abroad, those who are land-less; they too must be cared for.
They now must also have a care for the land, and for animals and birds. This relates to the ownership and right treatment of land, but even more to the fact that the land, the animals and birds are also part of God’s creation and must be seen and respected as such.
It is right, it has always been God’s will for his people, that they should inherit the land, that they should enjoy the material blessings of a settled life. But it must be a “holy materialism”, underpinned by love of God and of others, and by the constant awareness that all “matter” comes from and belongs to God.
If the Israelites fail, if they turn to worship other gods, if they cease to remember the love of their God and to obey his commandments, they will lose it all. That will lead to adversity and death. They will not live long in the Promised Land.
What Moses is telling them to do, to put it in New Testament terms, is that in the Promised Land they are to create the Kingdom of God on earth. That is life. Think how much of Jesus’ life and teaching reflects this. He healed the sick. He fed the hungry. Think also of the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. Most importantly, Jesus gave us the two great commandments: love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and your neighbour as yourself. In contrast, see how completely the scribes and Pharisees had lost sight of Moses’ teaching. Their concern was not for a right relationship between God and one’s neighbour, but for strict adherence to rules and regulations, many of which were man-made and no part of the original law.
The message of this passage is not simply an ancient one addressed to people of long ago. That is what I find so exciting: these authors of many centuries ago are speaking to us. We too today face the stark choice between life and death. It is right that we should fully enjoy all the blessings of this life which we have been fortunate enough to receive in the stable community in which we live. But we must constantly remember with thanksgiving that we owe these blessings to our gracious and loving God. And we must remember our less fortunate neighbours, not only here in Edinburgh, but in Gaza, in Syria, in Africa for instance. And the condition of life or death remains the same: obedience or disobedience to the voice of God who calls us and all people into loving relationships with himself and with each other.
Therefore choose life.