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This IMPERFECT PARALLEL SYMMETRY from Deuteronomy is one of the strongest appeals to follow the Lord in the Bible. The A elements present the choices, the B elements describes how to follow that selected choice, and the C elements describe the consequences.
1) In the CORRELATION OF SEQUENCES, there are two CONTRASTING choices. The first and third sequences are the same, and the second is the opposite:
- A-B-C, the choice to love, walk, and obey the Lord
- A′-B′-C′, the choice to turn away from the Lord in disobedience
- A′′-B′′-C′′, the choice to pursue life: love, obey, and hold fast
2) Within the FIRST/FIRST/FIRST A elements, two choices and their consequences are set before them: life which leads to blessings and death which leads to adversities and other curses. The A′ element is an ABSENCE between verses 17A and 17B. It seems to say that disobedience—the pursuit of other gods—is the pursuit of death and adversity which is no choice at all. There are not two consequences for the A′ element.
3) The three B CORRESPONDING ELEMENTS are a CONTRAST between two approaches towards the Lord God, to love Him and walk in His way and obey Him, versus worship other gods and serve them and disobey the Lord.
4) The LAST/LAST/LAST rule, which applies to the C, C′ and C′′ elements, speak to the command to love and chose the Lord. The consequences are CONTRASTING blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.
5) In the X CENTER POINT in verse 19B, the Holy Spirit implores the reader to choose life! Those words choose life are IMPERATIVE words. The location of the X element is a TRANSPOSITION because the center point is not in its normal location, thereby adding further stress to the argument for obedience.
PARALLEL SYMMETRY (IMPERFECT):
... I have set two choices before you ...
an interjection
BEGINNING MARKER: “See, (v15A)
... the choice to love, walk, and obey the Lord ...
two alternative consequences
A
I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; (v15B)
love, walk and obey
B
in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, (v16A)
blessings: live, multiply, possess
C
that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. (v16B)
... the choice to turn away from the Lord in disobedience ...
a beginning phrase
SUB-UNIT MARKER: “But (v17A)
ABSENCE: one consequence, not two, if worship other gods
A′
no love or obedience; serve other gods
B′
if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, (v17B)
curse: perish and not possess
C′
I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. (v18)
... the choice to pursue life: love, obey, and hold fast ...
two alternative consequences
A′′
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. (v19A)
a beginning phrase
SUB-UNIT MARKER: So (v19B)
TRANSPOSITION: choose life so you may live
X
choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, (v19C)
loving, obeying and holding fast
B′′
by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; (v20A)
blessings: long live in the land
C′′
for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” (v20B)