Day 46: Deuteronomy 30-34

Summaries:
If someone returns to God and vows to follow Him, God will have mercy and bless this person.  God's commands are not out of reach, but are graspable, and the choice between life and death, to follow God or not, is laid before Israel (30).  Moses tells the people that the Lord, not Moses himself, will lead them into the land, and Joshua will take Moses' place, and Moses encourages Joshua not to fear, and handed over the written law to the levitical priests, instructing them to read it aloud on the feast of Booths for all to hear and to teach and observe, and to place the law in the Ark of the Covenant.  Joshua is commissioned, and God gives Moses a song to teach to the Israelites to keep future generations from turning from God (31).  Moses recites the song for all to hear, in which God recalls his past blessings on his people, his punishment on those who turn away from him, and the blessings to come for those who follow him.  Moses gives a final appeal to the people to follow the Lord, then from the top of the mountain is able to see the land of Canaan  before he dies (32).  Moses pronounces blessings on each of the tribes of Israel (33). Then God showed Moses the land from the mountaintop, and Moses died (34).

Reflections:
The mercy that God displays as he tells the Israelites that anyone who chooses to follow him will be blessed equally to the Israelites is remarkable.  It's the concept that, despite what you've done, anyone can follow God.  But of course, he must first choose life, choose God, and not fall into the evil ways that are against God.  This is the mercy I see in the sacrament of Reconciliation.  It is incomparable love.

I also found it slightly sad that Moses dies at the very end, though it was very fitting.  God was true to his word, that since Moses failed him when he struck the rock the second time due to lack of faith and God made the water appear, he would not come into the land.  But still, I felt like I was rooting for a last minute change of heart, where God would be like "Okay, come on in."  But that's not how God works.  It says that no prophet had arisen like Moses , and his eyes were undimmed even at his death.  He did not die because he was a bad person, and he surely shares eternal life in heaven.  But it shows the reality of the consequences for our sins.  The real consequences that we so often do not think about.  God loved Moses.  But because he had let him down, he had to serve only as the bridge for the people to the land of Canaan, without himself partaking in its glory.