ETB Deuteronomy 30:11-20

Session 12: Fully Committed p.109

One of the best ways to pick the favorite is to not consider multiple options at once. [ETB:PSG Fall '25](p. Page 109)

If you have ever taken an eye exam, the process described in the book is the method they use to help you find the best prescription for your new lenses.

Ask: In what situation have you had so many options that it was overwhelming to pick only one? (p. Page 109)

Transition: This week’s passage would be Moses’s last formal message to Israel. It was not for a select few but applied to everyone.

Understand the Context

Last week we read from the beginning of Chapter 28 about some of the blessings and consequences of obeying God’s commands that were to be presented to the people after they crossed over the Jordan and were standing on opposing hillsides.

Chapter 29 begins another series of pleas and reminders from Moses, but these take place in the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho.

Moses gathered the Israelites and reminded them again of all they had experienced (Deut. 29:1-9). They had personally witnessed God’s great works in Egypt and in the wilderness. The Lord had protected them from harm and provided for them every step of the way, yet some still failed to understand His purpose for them. They had defeated Sihon and Og, two mighty kings east of the Jordan River. Because of all this, Moses encouraged the people to embrace God’s covenant.

Moses affirmed that God’s people were standing before Him that day (29:10-15). The Lord had established His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; but He was confirming it with this generation centuries later. He was ready to ratify His covenant with all who would follow Him. [LifeWay Adults (2025). Explore the Bible: Adult Leader Guide, Fall 2025]

Chapter 30 continues that final speech of Moses as he once again obeys the Lord’s directions of reminding the people of all that He has commanded and written down for them to take with them.

Explore the Text

Deuteronomy 30:11–14 ESV

11 “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

I command you today

You have to go back to the beginning of chapter 29 for a clearer context for this statement.

Deuteronomy 29:1–2 “1 These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant that he had made with them at Horeb. 2 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land,”

These last chapters are Moses’ last reminders of all the commandments from God and he speaks to all the people one last time.

He knows, for God has told him, that many of the people will not obey but like we do with our own children we tell them again anyway hoping that they will remember and turn back to God’s ways before any permanent harm comes to them.

not too hard for you

Isaiah 45:19 “19 I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right.”

Following God’s Laws would be much more difficult if we did not have them all written down for us to refer back to and re-read at any time.

Isaiah 48:16 “16 Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there.” And now the Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit.”

The Open Bible Chapter 30

It is not because God’s commands are so unusual or difficult that we find it so hard to obey them, but because of a sin-hardened heart. God intends to change that for true believers (

Even though we have God’s Word written down, the believer’s life is still not easy but what is God’s promise here?

1 Corinthians 10:13 “13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

When we are struggling against that same sinful habit yet again, this is the verse God can use to remind us that He may not have made the way to holiness easy, but it is attainable through obedience to His Word.

Who will ascend to heaven....

The actions described here sound much like the mythical and medieval quests from ancient literature. They describe two different contrasting arduous trips meant as examples of how hard other religions make knowing their gods wishes know. Paul used similar language and contrast in his letter to the Romans.

Romans 10:6–8 “6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);”

The Moody Bible Commentary B. The Call to Decision: Life and Blessing or Death and Cursing (30:1–20)

The Jewish people could not say that the law was too obtuse or inaccessible to them in Moses’ day and thereafter. God made every provision to make it readily available to them. Paul’s point in citing this text was to draw a parallel with the gospel of Jesus Christ. God, through Paul and the other apostles, had made the gospel available and accessible. The problem was not that God had not done enough; the problem was (and remains) the refusal of people to embrace Jesus as their Messiah.

the Word is very near you

At the time of Moses saying this to the people, where was the visible display of God’s presence?

John 1:1 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 5:46 “46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.”

For us as New Testament believers, is “The Word” closer or farther away than when Moses spoke this?

I think that is a great blessing but also adds to our responsibility to obey it. Especially in regard to the next part of verse.

It is in your mouth… in your heart… you can do it

One of the more basic English translations has “You know it and can quote it, so now obey it.”

Psalm 119:9 “9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.”

Psalm 119:11 “11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

James reiterates Moses’ pleas to the people to obey God’s word in his epistle

James 1:25 “25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

Because God’s Word is like God and does not change, the same promises of blessing when we align our lives with His Word still apply to His adopted people as well as His chose people. James’ letter also reminds us that these things are not “too hard” for he could not command us to “be doers” if it were not attainable. It is not an easy task, but by God’s empowering is accomplishable.

Ask: How can you respond to people who say it is too difficult to know God’s will or to obey His commands? (p. Page 112)

Deuteronomy 30:15–18 ESV

15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.

I have set before you today life

Moses was telling them the Words that God had told him to write down which became the Bible. But the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us for a period of time and then ascended back to heaven. Today the Word before us and in our hands hold for us not only a blessed life, but an eternal one.

1 John 5:11–12 “11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

If you obey the commandments

The ESV adds the first phrase I read “if you obey the commandments.” Many of the newer translations start verse 16 with, “I command you today to love the LORD your God,”

All the forms of obedience and worship mentioned are the same in a believer’s heart, but they are manifested differently in the actions performed to show God’s prominence.

Do you see or can you think of any differences between “obeying God, loving God, walking in His ways or keeping His commandments?”

They are not really the same and there are slight differences in our applying these actions but they are also inseparable in their context in regard to God. It is very difficult to do only one of these an,d not the others. Or to put it another way, you cannot disobey one without disobeying them all.

you shall live and multiply

We studied briefly last week about the blessing of obedience and Moses reiterates them again. The way the blessings are continually linked to obedience of the commands it is easy to see how a person could become legalistic in following God’s laws. Thankfully, we know now that these blessing “may” be a result of our obedience and following God’s Word, but it could also just be God being exceedingly gracious to us in our sinful state as well. A blessed life may be a result of righteously living, but righteous living is never the “cause” of a blessed life. God is gracious and has given us a clear message and pattern to follow and He has told us beforehand what the consequences for following or disobeying will be. As He says later in the passage, the choice is ours.

if your heart turns away

Verse 17 contains a progression of action. The expression “if your heart turns away” describes the people abandoning their commitment to the Lord. When that happened, the people would no longer “listen” to His words. Once they abandoned God’s righteous standards, they could easily be “led astray” into sin. They would give in to the temptation to “bow in worship to other gods and serve them” in the land of Canaan. The book of Judges records how this happened (Judg. 2:10-23). [ETB:ALG Fall '25]

I am glad that there is more in this verse before getting to the result in verse 18. Although God has every right and would be just in causing us to “perish” as soon as our hearts begin to drift away from Him, He gives us two more warning signs to look for before He punitive promised comes to pass.

First, we drift a little with our desires. Then we began stop listening with our ears. But because we are spiritual beings we will worship something. therefore when we stop listening to The God, we will end up turning to “a god” of some variety, but it will never satisfy and the search will continue in the downward spiral further and further from the Only One that can truly fulfill our spiritual yearnings.

Thankfully, we know that although our fellowship and close communion with God is all that will “perish” from our disobedience as believers, it is still grievous error on our part to allow our hearts to drift. Let us heed the warning from the writer of Hebrews.

Hebrews 3:12 “12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.”

The quarterly has a great description of how this falling away takes root and displays itself in the life of a believer.

false gods will get the person’s time, attention, energy, and resources. This is what it means to serve them. [ETB:PSG Fall '25] (p. Page 113)

That is a great test to see how we are doing in our service to God. Does He take up of our time, attention, energy, and resources?

Ask: How are people today fooled into thinking there is no penalty for sin? (p. Page 114)

Deuteronomy 30:19–20 ESV

19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

heaven and earth to witness against you

The courtroom like testimony of the expert witness of Creation, is that God “has” told us how we can live a blessed life and that they are “not” too hard for us to do and that His Word “is very near” to us, contrary to all the lies that we tend to try and tell ourselves and that the Israelites had voiced to Moses more than once.

choose life

If you had to summarize all of Moses’ pleas and reminders down to one phrase, this is it. God is life and He can give us life eternal, if we choose it. Not only does God give His people the options that can be chosen, but He also tells them which one to choose to have all the blessings of righteous living.

When temptation comes, attempts to make our heart drift - choose life.

Moses’ repeated words and phrases to aid in memorization, so does rhyming and meter like in a poem or a song. I asked Google’s Gemini to assist me in creating a poem with same refrain “choose life”, and it did a decent job. I did change a few words to correct the theology.

The path is set, a choice we face,

Between the shadows and God's grace.

One leads to darkness, cold and deep,

While other promises will keep.

He offers mercy, pure and rife,

And whispers to our souls, "Choose life."

The world may tempt with fleeting things,

With false desires that pride it brings.

It promises a quick reward,

A shallow, fleeting, false accord.

But in the struggle, and through strife,

He guides our steps and bids, "Choose life."

The chains of sin may hold us fast,

A heavy burden from the past.

But Jesus came to break them all,

To answer every weary call.

He gives us freedom, keen and bright,

And calls to us to, "Choose life."

So turn away from fear and shame,

And call upon the Savior's name.

Embrace the hope that He provides,

Allow His Spirit to lead and guide.

Keep the faith and not with sight,

And with all your heart,

Choose life.

One more reason to choose God’s path is clearly stated in verse 20.

He is your life

The “Bible Skill” on p.116 is centered on this phrase. It is difficult to pick just a few verses that exemplify how important God is to our ability to live, but those listed are good start.

Psalm 27:1 “1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

John 11:25 “25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,”

Reflect on what it means that God is our life. Practically speaking, what does that look like? How does the truth these verses communicate challenge you to adjust your priorities? [ETB:PSG Fall '25] (p. Page 116).

Later, Moses would tell the people that God’s Word was their life (Deut. 32:47). The Israelites needed to yield to God through His Word. Jesus also affirmed that eternal life consisted in knowing God through Him (John 17:3). Wholehearted devotion begins with a recognition that God is life. [ETB:ALG Fall '25]

Apply the Text

“I Surrender All” (Baptist Hymnal 2008, No. 433).

Life Application Bible Notes Chapter 30

Have you ever complained that obedience is too difficult for a mere human? These are unacceptable excuses. God’s laws are written in the Bible and are clearly evident in the world around us. Obeying them is reasonable, sensible, and beneficial. The most difficult part of obeying God’s laws is simply deciding to start now.

The enemy lures people away from God incrementally rather than in one huge leap. [Lifeway Adults (2025). (p. Page 116)

How do we prevent this wandering away from becoming a lifestyle change? What can we do to make sure will only take a few steps “off the path?”

Encourage adults to identify silently one person they know who needs to choose life in Jesus.

Pray: Lord, we choose You today. Help us to remain focused on that commitment in the coming week. Lord, show us how to act and tell us what to say to encourage and guide those that have not ever “chose life” in Christ or have wandered far away. God, we know that keeping Your law is an impossible task on our own, so we plead for Your empowerment for the ability and desire to obey Your commands. Lord, not only do we choose life in You for our own benefit, but we desire like You for our descendants for many generations to come to make the same choice. Thank for Your Word that will be present for them to read, hear, and heed as long as the earth remains.