Why does Moses say Israel does not need to go to heaven or cross the sea to obtain the commandment?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

The commandment is not above Israel or far away. The word is already very near, in its mouth and heart, so it may do it. Moses therefore directs Israel to choose life by loving the Lord, obeying his voice, and adhering to him.

Chapter breakdown

When the blessing or curse has come upon Israel and it feels repentance of heart among the nations where the Lord scattered it, and it and its children return and obey that day’s commands with all heart and soul, the Lord will reverse its captivity, have mercy, and gather it from all those nations. Even from heaven’s poles he will fetch it, take it to himself, and return it to its fathers’ land to possess it, blessing it and making it more numerous than its fathers. He will circumcise its heart and its descendants’ hearts so it may love him with all heart and soul and live. He will turn all these curses on its enemies and those who hate and persecute it.

Israel must return, hear the Lord’s voice, and do all commands given that day. He will give abundance in all work of its hands, children, cattle, fruitful land, and plenty of all things. He will again rejoice over it in good things as over its fathers, provided it hears his voice, keeps the precepts and ceremonies written in the law, and returns with all its heart and soul.

The commandment given that day is not above Israel or far away. It is not in heaven, requiring someone to go up and bring it so they can hear and fulfill it in action. Nor is it beyond the sea, giving an excuse to ask who can cross and bring it so they can hear and do the command. The word is very near, in their mouth and heart, so they may do it.

Moses sets before Israel that day life and good, and death and evil. He directs it to love the Lord, walk in his ways, and keep his commandments, ceremonies, and judgments so it may live, be multiplied, and be blessed in the land it will possess. If its heart turns away, refuses to hear, and is deceived into adoring and serving strange gods, he foretells that it will perish and remain only a short time in the land across the Jordan. Calling heaven and earth to witness that day, he sets out life and death, blessing and cursing, and calls Israel to choose life so it and its descendants may live. It must love the Lord, obey his voice, and adhere to him, for he is its life and length of days, so it may dwell in the land sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The story inside

The speech gives return and obedience as conditions for the promised gathering and abundance. The Lord’s circumcising the hearts of Israel and its descendants is stated with the purpose of wholehearted love and life; the chapter does not describe how this inward act works. Moses then answers the idea that someone must fetch the command from heaven or across the sea: it is already near, in mouth and heart, for action. The closing summons sets out two pairs of alternatives and calls for choosing life through love, obedience, and adherence. These are promises and commands, not a record of a particular exile returning or the people making the choice.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The return promise names both Israel and its children. Repentance and wholehearted obedience among the nations accompany gathering, mercy, and return to the fathers’ land. Even the extreme distance of heaven’s poles is included.
2
Nearness has a stated purpose. The word in mouth and heart is near so Israel can do it; Moses contrasts this with fetching it from heaven or across the sea.
3
Choosing life includes concrete duties. Love, walking in the Lord’s ways, keeping commandments, ceremonies, and judgments, hearing his voice, and adhering to him appear in the summons. The Lord is called Israel’s life and length of days.

Test your recall

Why is there no need to fetch the commandment from heaven or across the sea?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 21808–21838
Deuteronomy Chapter 30 Great mercies are promised to the penitent: God’s commandment is feasible. Life and death are set before them. 30:1. Now when all these things shall be come upon thee, the blessing or the curse, which I have set forth before thee, and thou shalt be touched with repentance of thy heart among all the nations, into which the Lord thy God shall have scattered thee, 30:2. And shalt return to him, and obey his commandments, as I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul: 30:3. The Lord thy God will bring back again thy captivity, and will have mercy on thee, and gather thee again out of all the nations, into which he scattered thee before. 30:4. If thou be driven as far as the poles of heaven, the Lord thy God will fetch thee back from hence, 30:5. And will take thee to himself, and bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it: and blessing thee, he will make thee more numerous than were thy fathers. 30:6. The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed: that thou mayst love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayst live. 30:7. And he will turn all these curses upon thy enemies, and upon them that hate and persecute thee.
Lines 21840–21851
30:8. But thou shalt return, and hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and shalt do all the commandments which I command thee this day: 30:9. And the Lord thy God will make thee abound in all the works of thy hands, in the fruit of thy womb, and in the fruit of thy cattle, in the fruitfulness of thy land, and in the plenty of all things. For the Lord will return to rejoice over thee in all good things, as he rejoiced in thy fathers: 30:10. Yet so if thou hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and keep his precepts and ceremonies, which are written in this law: and return to the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.
Lines 21853–21865
30:11. This commandment, that I command thee this day is not above thee, nor far off from thee: 30:12. Nor is it in heaven, that thou shouldst say: Which of us can go up to heaven to bring it unto us, and we may hear and fulfil it in work? 30:13. Nor is it beyond the sea: that thou mayst excuse thyself, and say: Which of us can cross the sea, and bring it unto us: that we may hear, and do that which is commanded? 30:14. But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayst do it.
Lines 21867–21891
30:15. Consider that I have set before thee this day life and good, and on the other hand death and evil: 30:16. That thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and keep his commandments and ceremonies and judgments, and thou mayst live, and he may multiply thee, and bless thee in the land, which thou shalt go in to possess. 30:17. But if thy heart be turned away, so that thou wilt not hear, and being deceived with error thou adore strange gods, and serve them: 30:18. I foretell thee this day that thou shalt perish, and shalt remain but a short time in the land, to which thou shalt pass over the Jordan, and shalt go in to possess it. 30:19. I call heaven and earth to witness this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Choose therefore life, that both thou and thy seed may live: 30:20. And that thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and obey his voice, and adhere to him (for he is thy life, and the length of thy days,) that thou mayst dwell in the land, for which the Lord swore to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give it them.