Choices 1
Here is the 2005 list of Darwin Awards:
1. In Detroit, a 41-year-old man got stuck and drowned in two feet of water after
squeezing head first through an 18-inch-wide sewer grate to retrieve his car keys
2. A 49-year-old San Francisco stockbroker “totally zoned when he ran,” and
accidentally jogged off a 100-foot-high cliff on his daily run
3. In Bixton, NC, a man died on a beach when an 8-foot-deep hole he had dug into the
sand caved in as he sat inside it. Beach goers said, that Daniel Jones, age 21, dug
the hole for fun, or protection from the wind, and had been sitting in a beach chair
at the bottom of the hole when it collapsed, burying him beneath five feet of sand.
People on the beach tried to dig Jones out but couldn’t reach him. It took rescued
workers using heavy equipment almost an hour to free him while about 200 people
watched. He was pronounced dead at a hospital
4. Santiago Alvarado, 24, was killed in Lompoc, CA, as he fell face first through
the ceiling of a bicycle shop he was burglarizing. He was killed when the long
flashlight he had placed in his mouth (to keep his hands free) rammed into the base
of his skull as he hit the floor.
5. HONORABLE MENTION: Paul Stiller, 47, was hospitalized in Andover
township, NJ, and his wife Bonnie was also injured, when a quarter-stick of
dynamite blew up in their car. While driving around at 2:00 AM, the bored couple
lit the dynamite and tried to toss it out the window to see what would happen, but
apparently failed to notice the window was closed.
6. RUNNER-UP: In Tacoma, WA, Kerry Bingham had been drinking with several
friends when one of them said they knew a person who had bungee-jumped from
the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the middle of traffic. The conversation grew more
heated and at least ten men trooped along the walkway of the bridge at 4:30 AM.
Upon arriving at the midpoint of the bride, they discovered that no on had brought
the appropriate bungee cord. Bingham volunteered to jump using a coil of
lineman’s cable that was nearby. One end of the cable was secured around
Bingham’s leg and the other end was tied to the bridge. He fell 40 feet and then the
cable tightened and tore his foot off at the ankle. He miraculously survived his fall
into the icy river water and was rescued by two nearby fisherman. According to
news reports, his foot was never located.
7. WINNER: There was an overzealous zookeeper in Germany who fed his
constipated elephant 22 doses of animal laxative and more than a bushel of berries,
figs, and prunes. Thinking the treatment had not worked, he was attempting
another procedure standing directly behind the elephant when he was buried in the
avalanche that was released. The force knocked him to the ground where he hit his
head on a rock and lay there unconscious during the whole process. He died by
suffocation because he was alone and wasn’t discovered until an hour later by a
watchman making his rounds.
1. We all make choices every day
2. Some are mundane; others make the difference between life and death.
III. SUCCESSFUL EXPEDITION
A. Going back to our scripture today, we need to understand its background before we can understand its’ teaching
1. The words we heard are from Moses’ farewell speech to the Israelites
a. He has followed God and God allowed him to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, through 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, and they now stand at portal of entering the Promised Land
b. Moses will not enter the Promised Land
--Because of something he did that focused the glory on him instead of God, Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised
c. Only two people who were alive at the time of the Exodus from Egypt – Joshua and Caleb - will be allowed in
--Only those born after that time are being allowed in because of the rebellion against God by their parents
d. The message Moses gives is important because it will affect the Israelites for centuries to come
2. The children of Israel stand at an important juncture
a. What they choose will determine what will happen for a long time to come
b. The important thing is they not only hear the message but also be obedient to what God asks them to do
--They will have to decide: do we want to stay in the desert or do we want to enter the Promised Land? The difference will be in whether we make the journey from the desert to the Promised Land
30:11–14 In order to make clear the possibility of knowing and doing the will of God in this respect, Moses spoke of the accessibility of the Lord’s requirements (vv. 11–14). These were not remote, abstract, esoteric principles but a word that was among and within them. The “word” (v. 14) is the commandment (miṣwâ) of the Lord, that whole body of stipulation that Moses was commanding that very day (v. 11). This single word “commandment” occurs regularly in Deuteronomy as a term denoting the entire covenant text (cf. 4:2; 5:29; 7:9; 8:2, 6; 11:8, 13, 22, 27; 13:4, 18; 15:5; 26:13, 18; 27:1; 28:1, 9, 13; 30:8).
The point at issue here was not the ease or even possibility of keeping the word of the Lord (though theoretically the latter is so) but of even knowing what it was. Contrary to the inscrutable and enigmatic ways of the pagan gods, the Lord’s purposes and will for his people are crystal clear. They are not “too difficult” (lō˒ niplē˒t, lit., “not too wonderful,” i.e., beyond comprehension) or beyond reach (v. 11). That is, they can be understood by the human mind despite its limitations.
Though originating in the transcendent glory of heaven, the word of the Lord need not be pursued there by a messenger sent to inquire of God’s covenant expectations (v. 12). Nor need such an envoy be sent to some distant place on earth to learn of God’s revelation (v. 13). Instead, Moses said, the word is “very near you” (v. 14a), so near, in fact, that it was in their mouth and heart (v. 14b). This conjunction of mouth and heart calls to mind the injunction to Israel following the exposition of the Shema: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them” (Deut 6:6–7a). All that God wants for his people to know is contained in his covenant revelation, a “word” that is disclosed to their hearts (i.e., minds) and that is to be communicated to others by their mouths.
Paul cited this passage to speak of the accessibility of Christ and the gospel (Rom 10:6–8). There is no need, he said, to go to heaven to bring Christ down or to descend to the deep (i.e., the netherworld, the “great deep” [tĕhôm] of the sea) to bring him back from the dead. The incarnation and resurrection have already occurred and need not be repeated. Instead, there is the powerful, life-changing message of the gospel, the word of faith that is to be believed in the heart and confessed with the mouth (Rom 10:9). Just as the gospel message represents the very presence and purpose of Jesus Christ, so the word of covenant, Moses said, is as close and authoritative as the Lord himself is.
30:15–16 That word, again, was the one being offered to the Moab assembly, a command to be acted upon here and now (vv. 15–16). The options are most clear. Acceptance and obedience would bring life and prosperity (lit., “good”), but rejection and/or disobedience would result in death and destruction (lit., “bad” or “harm”). In this succinct manner Moses challenged the nation to both the blessings inherent in undertaking the privileges and responsibilities of the covenant relationship and the curses that must inevitably follow should that gracious offer be rejected. The challenge presented here is precisely the same as that given to the first generation of Israelites at Sinai (Exod 19:5–8) and is typical of the choices offered to those whom the Lord would call to salvation and service (cf. Josh 24:14–18; 1 Sam 12:19–25; 1 Kgs 18:21, 39; Matt 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 18:22).
The linkage between this passage and the Shema and its context, already noted earlier (v. 14), is confirmed by the appeal to “love the Lord your God,” a command that lies at the very center of the covenant relationship (Deut 6:5; cf. 5:10; 7:9; 10:12; 11:1, 13, 22; 13:3; 19:9; 30:6, 20; Josh 22:5; 23:11). What this means, as always, is to “walk in his ways and to keep his commands [miṣwôt], decrees [ḥuqqôt], and laws [mišpāṭîm]” (v. 16), that is, the covenant in all of its particulars (for the same three terms, cf. 6:1; 7:11; 8:11; 11:1). The result of such fastidious compliance with the divine mandate would be life and increase in the land of promise, circumstances that together are described as the blessing of the Lord. This is suggested in v. 15, where “life and prosperity,” by way of metonymy, represent blessing in its most significant forms—quantity and quality of life (cf. 4:1; 5:33; 8:1; 16:20; 30:6, 19–20).
30:17–18 The opposite choice, that of turning away from and disobeying the covenant stipulations—especially those, again, that lie at the core of covenant faith, namely, recognition and worship of the Lord alone (v. 17b)—would bring destruction most sure and certain (v. 18a). This is in sharp contrast to the blessing of prosperity or increase. Even worse, the nation shortly would be evicted from the land given as its possession (v. 18b), a curse that reverses the blessing of long life there (vv. 15–16).
30:19–20 Once more Moses announced that there and then he was offering the covenant to Israel, doing so as the agent of the Lord and in his name (vv. 19–20). This time, however, the offer was couched in the formal terms of a legal setting in which witnesses were invoked to bear testimony in the future to the response of Israel to the Lord’s gracious overtures. In similar ancient Near Eastern legal transactions the witnesses usually were the gods of the respective litigants, but the monotheism of Israel’s faith dictated that such appeal be to creation, to heaven and earth, for only it would endure into future ages. Such appeal to creation is attested elsewhere in the Old Testament when the Lord enters into some kind of formal legal encounter with his people (cf. Deut 4:26; 31:28; 32:1; Isa 1:2; Mic 1:2).
Witnesses were always a part of the ceremony of covenant enactment (cf. Gen 31:44–49; Deut 31:19; Josh 24:27). But it was particularly important that they be present to hear the oaths of those who pledged themselves to covenant commitment, for in articulating such pledges they invoked upon themselves the blessings and curses that attended obedience and disobedience respectively. Legally speaking, the superior party to the pact would have no grounds for dispensing either reward or punishment if there were no witnesses to the oaths of fealty that encompassed these results. Even the Lord, therefore, called his people to swear before witnesses that they were inviting divine beneficence or displeasure upon themselves, depending on the extent of their loyalty to him.
In light of the formal solemnity of covenant transaction, then, Moses set before Israel “life and death,” that is, the blessings or curses that follow covenant obedience or disobedience. Obedience brings life in all its fullness whereas disobedience causes the greatest curse of all, death now and forever (v. 19). The appeal, therefore, was to choose life so that life might result. Underlying this rather cryptic way of expressing the matter is the expanded idea of choosing to obey God, for doing that brings the greatest of all blessings, life itself. One cannot choose life (or even death), but he can choose a path that will lead to one or the other (cf. Matt 7:13).
To Moses, choosing life meant choosing to enter into the covenant with the Lord and to be true to its principles. Such a choice also would enable Israel to love the Lord, to obey him (not “listen” as in NIV), and to hold fast to him (v. 20a). It is striking that these are not prerequisites to becoming God’s people but the results of having become such. This, of course, is in line with the whole notion of Israel’s election by God to be his people long before he formalized the relationship by covenant (cf. Exod 4:22–23; 6:2–9; 19:4–6). It is clear, however, that had Israel refused to accept the Lord’s offer of covenant, all blessings of such a privileged status would never have come to pass. Even here at Moab the second generation, like the first, had to heed the divine invitation to servanthood if it was to enter into the intimacies as well as burdens of that relationship.
The nub of the matter is at the end of the passage—“the Lord is your life” (v. 20), in terms both of mere existence and of longevity in the land. He is the life of his people because he has created and redeemed them, but he is also their life insofar as they capitulate to his sovereignty and live out their lives in compliance with his gracious covenant mandates.
"There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way that leads to death." (Proverbs 16:25, NET)
"Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." (Matthew 12:30, NET)
"Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long are you going to be paralyzed by indecision? If the Lord is the true God, then follow him, but if Baal is, follow him!” But the people did not say a word." (1 Kings 18:21, NET)
"From that time Jesus began to preach this message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”" (Matthew 4:17, NET)