Deuteronomy 11:24-32: a reflection

24Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the western sea shall be your border. 25No man will be able to stand before you. The LORD your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you tread on, as he has spoken to you. 26Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: 27the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today; 28and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn away out of the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known. 29It shall happen, when the LORD your God brings you into the land that you go to possess, that you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30Aren’t they beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah near Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh? 31For you are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you shall possess it and dwell in it. 32You shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you today.

As Moses sets before Israel the way of blessing and the way of curse, he makes plain that the blessing comes through listening to and obeying God, walking in his ways. Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse, Moses says: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God; and the curse, if you do not listen, but turn away to other gods. The path of blessing is the path of obedience, of listening to God and walking in his ways; the path of curse is the path of turning away to other gods. God ties the blessing to obedience, not arbitrarily, but because his ways are the ways of life and good. This shows that the path of blessing is the path of listening to and obeying God. Blessing comes through listening to and obeying God. The path of obedience is the path of blessing. God's ways, obeyed, are the way of blessing and good. To walk in God's ways is to walk the path of blessing.

Notice how Moses sets the choice: blessing tied to obedience, curse to turning away. The blessing comes if the people listen to God's commandments and walk in his ways; the curse comes if they do not listen but turn away to other gods. This is not arbitrary. God's commandments are not random rules whose keeping he rewards on a whim; they are the ways of life, of good, of flourishing, given by a God who knows what is truly good for us. To listen to God and walk in his ways is to walk the path that leads to blessing, because his ways are good; to turn away to other gods and other ways is to leave the path of good for what leads to harm. This helps us see obedience rightly. To obey God, to listen to him and walk in his ways, is not a joyless submission to arbitrary demands, but the path of blessing, of true good, because God's ways are good and lead to life. We walk the path of blessing by listening to and obeying the God whose ways are good. Obedience to God is the path of blessing because his ways are good. To listen to God and walk in his ways leads to true good. God's commandments are the ways of life, not arbitrary demands. Walk the path of blessing by obeying the God whose ways are good.

That is worth taking to heart, for the path of blessing is the path of listening to and obeying God, whose ways are good and lead to life. We can see obedience to God as joyless submission to arbitrary demands, and turning to other ways as freedom; but Moses set the blessing on listening to God and walking in his ways, and the curse on turning away, because God's ways are the ways of good and life. Obedience is the path of blessing. Do not see God's commandments as arbitrary demands to resist; walk in his ways, the path of blessing, trusting that his ways are good. Walk in God's ways as the path of blessing, listening to and obeying him rather than turning away to other gods and other ways, as Moses set before Israel a blessing and a curse, the blessing if they listened to the commandments of the LORD and the curse if they turned away, tying the blessing to obedience; for God's commandments are not random rules whose keeping he rewards on a whim, but the ways of life, of good, of flourishing, given by a God who knows what is truly good for us, so that to listen to God and walk in his ways is to walk the path that leads to blessing because his ways are good, while to turn away to other gods and ways is to leave the path of good for what leads to harm, and we do well to see obedience not as joyless submission to arbitrary demands but as the path of true good and blessing, walking in the ways of the God whose ways lead to life.

Lord, as Moses sets before Israel the way of blessing and the way of curse, he makes plain that the blessing comes through listening to and obeying you, walking in your ways. Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse, Moses says: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God; and the curse, if you do not listen, but turn away to other gods. The path of blessing is the path of obedience, of listening to you and walking in your ways; the path of curse is the path of turning away to other gods. You tie the blessing to obedience, not arbitrarily, but because your ways are the ways of life and good. Show me how Moses sets the choice: blessing tied to obedience, curse to turning away. This is not arbitrary. Your commandments are not random rules whose keeping you reward on a whim; they are the ways of life, of good, of flourishing, given by you who know what is truly good for me. To listen to you and walk in your ways is to walk the path that leads to blessing, because your ways are good; to turn away to other gods and other ways is to leave the path of good for what leads to harm. This helps me see obedience rightly. To obey you, to listen to you and walk in your ways, is not a joyless submission to arbitrary demands, but the path of blessing, of true good, because your ways are good and lead to life. Take that to my heart, for the path of blessing is the path of listening to and obeying you, whose ways are good. Keep me from seeing your commandments as arbitrary demands to resist, or from imagining that turning to other ways is freedom; help me walk in your ways, Lord, the path of blessing, trusting that your ways are good and lead to life, listening to and obeying you rather than turning away.