Devarim 11: Two Roads Diverged in the Yellow Wilderness

Moshe concludes the chapter by framing Israel’s future as a stark choice. God presents the people with two possible paths:“See, I place before you today the blessing and the curse.” (Deuteronomy 11:26)רְאֵה אָנֹכִי נֹתֵן לִפְנֵיכֶם הַיּוֹם בְּרָכָה וּקְלָלָהGod then clarifies what each path represents:“The blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you this day; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the path that I command you this day.” (Deuteronomy 11:27–28)אֶת־הַבְּרָכָה אֲשֶׁר תִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶל־מִצְוֹת ה׳ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם הַיּוֹם׃וְהַקְּלָלָה אִם־לֹא תִשְׁמְעוּ אֶל־מִצְוֹת ה׳ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וְסַרְתֶּם מִן־הַדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם הַיּוֹםGod presents the people with a series of blessings and a series of curses. The blessings come from follow God and his ways and the curse comes from refusing to follow God. This verse always reminds me of the famous Robert Frost Poem The Road Not Taken. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood/ And sorry I could not travel both/ And be/ one traveler, long I stood/ And looked down one as far as I could/To where it bent in the undergrowth/ Then took the other, as just as fair/And having perhaps the better claim/Because it was grassy and wanted wear/Though as for that the passing there/Had worn them really about the same…” In Robert Frost’s poem, the poet describes facing a fork in the road. Unable to see past a short length of either side, the poet is forced to make a decision- which to take. He thinks that he could try one and then come back and try the other, yet knows that there is a chance he will not return from the first. The poem ends with the conclusion “I took the one less traveled by/And that has made all the difference.” The reader does not know which of the paths was the least traveled, or why that made all the difference. Was it a good difference? A bad one? The poet’s point is that a choice has to be made in life without knowing what the end of that decision will be. In the poem the paths are there in the woods already. The poet simply has to choose. In chapter 11, God also sets the paths before the people, a good path and a bad path. The key though is that God offers the choice. Just like in the poem, the people have the option to decide which path to take. They can choose to take the cursed path or the blessed one, but the choice is theirs. Unlike in the poem, though, God provides a bit more of a roadmap as to what the end of each path would look like. Whatever the people decide, God promises, that will make all the difference.