Deuteronomy 31 The Charge
1-2 Moses went on and addressed these words to all Israel. He said, “I’m 120 years old today. I can’t get about as I used to. And God told me, ‘You’re not going to cross this Jordan River.’
3-5 “God, your God, will cross the river ahead of you and destroy the nations in your path so that you may oust them. (And Joshua will cross the river before you, as God said he would.) God will give the nations the same treatment he gave the kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, and their land; he’ll destroy them. God will hand the nations over to you, and you’ll treat them exactly as I have commanded you.
6 “Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.”
7-8 Then Moses summoned Joshua. He said to him with all Israel watching, “Be strong. Take courage. You will enter the land with this people, this land that God promised their ancestors that he’d give them. You will make them the proud possessors of it. God is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t worry.”
* * *
Moses knows his time is short. Moses feels as if the last few grains of sand are draining from the top to the bottom of a divine hour glass. Facing eternity, Moses is bending all his efforts to teach the Israelites one last time, hoping and praying that they are listening and will take these teachings to heart. But Moses is a prophet and has led these people for forty years; he has few illusions left. The Israelites are a mixed bunch of people. There are those who are passionately devout and willing to follow God’s commands. Then there are those who are moderately devout, as long as following God’s commands doesn’t inconvenience them. And then there are the rest of the bunch, many of whom have hauled small statues all the way from Egypt, even though God has expressly forbidden idolatry. That last group frightens Moses, for he knows full well that when faced with opposition, the idolaters will turn and flee at the first opportunity.
Now Joshua must assume leadership, and Moses knows the challenges he will face. That’s why Moses is urging Joshua to be strong and take courage. Joshua will need strength and courage and faith before he’s through.
9-13 Moses wrote out this Revelation and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the Chest of the Covenant of God, and to all the leaders of Israel. And he gave these orders: “At the end of every seven years, the Year-All-Debts-Are-Canceled, during the pilgrim Festival of Booths when everyone in Israel comes to appear in the Presence of God, your God, at the place he designates, read out this Revelation to all Israel, with everyone listening. Gather the people together—men, women, children, and the foreigners living among you—so they can listen well, so they may learn to live in holy awe before God, your God, and diligently keep everything in this Revelation. And do this so that their children, who don’t yet know all this, will also listen and learn to live in holy awe before God, your God, for as long as you live on the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to possess.”
God repeatedly warns His people to study His commandments and teach them to their children; otherwise, the Israelites are only one generation away from losing their identity as God’s chosen people.
14-15 God spoke to Moses: “You are about to die. So call Joshua. Meet me in the Tent of Meeting so that I can commission him.”
So Moses and Joshua went and stationed themselves in the Tent of Meeting. God appeared in the Tent in a Pillar of Cloud. The Cloud was near the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.
16-18 God spoke to Moses: “You’re about to die and be buried with your ancestors. You’ll no sooner be in the grave than this people will be up and lusting after the foreign gods of this country that they are entering. They will abandon me and violate my Covenant that I’ve made with them. I’ll get angry, oh so angry! I’ll walk off and leave them on their own, won’t so much as look back at them. Then many calamities and disasters will devastate them because they are defenseless. They’ll say, ‘Isn’t it because our God wasn’t here that all this evil has come upon us?’ But I’ll stay out of their lives, keep looking the other way because of all their evil: they took up with other gods!
19-21 “But for right now, copy down this song and teach the People of Israel to sing it by heart. They’ll have it then as my witness against them. When I bring them into the land that I promised to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey, and they eat and become full and get fat and then begin fooling around with other gods and worshiping them, and then things start falling apart, many terrible things happening, this song will be there with them as a witness to who they are and what went wrong. Their children won’t forget this song; they’ll be singing it. Don’t think I don’t know what they are already scheming to do, and they’re not even in the land yet, this land I promised them.”
22 So Moses wrote down this song that very day and taught it to the People of Israel.
23 Then God commanded Joshua son of Nun saying, “Be strong. Take courage. You will lead the People of Israel into the land I promised to give them. And I’ll be right there with you.”
24-26 After Moses had finished writing down the words of this Revelation in a book, right down to the last word, he ordered the Levites who were responsible for carrying the Chest of the Covenant of God, saying, “Take this Book of Revelation and place it alongside the Chest of the Covenant of God, your God. Keep it there as a witness.
27-29 “I know what rebels you are, how stubborn and willful you can be. Even today, while I’m still alive and present with you, you’re rebellious against God. How much worse when I’ve died! So gather the leaders of the tribes and the officials here. I have something I need to say directly to them with Heaven and Earth as witnesses. I know that after I die you’re going to make a mess of things, abandoning the way I commanded, inviting all kinds of evil consequences in the days ahead. You’re determined to do evil in defiance of God—I know you are—deliberately provoking his anger by what you do.”
30 So with everyone in Israel gathered and listening, Moses taught them the words of this song, from start to finish.”
Forty years! For forty years Moses has led the Israelites and now God is informing both Moses and Joshua that as soon as the Israelites begin to prosper, they will sink into gross idolatry. What must Moses be thinking as he sees the future? And yet, Moses and Joshua must both be faithful. Moses is to teach the Israelites a song that will stand as a witness against them. Joshua is to lead the Israelites, faithless as many of them are, and to conquer Canaan. What must these two men be thinking?
Hard work does not guarantee great results. We can serve faithfully, only to have charlatans come in, spoiling the work of decades. We can watch golden moments, windows of physical and spiritual opportunity, evaporate. We are not responsible for other people’s choices, but we are responsible to remain faithful and to follow God’s commands. It’s shocking and amazing that a group of people who have witnessed divine manifestations on a daily basis can remain so faithless; however, the Israelites have taken God for granted. Even though God has warned the Israelites that He has not chosen them because they were so gifted or attractive but because He wants to make something of them. Meanwhile, the Israelites are still strutting around, basking in the glow of being special.
Moses is nearing the end of his ministry, and he must complete his teaching and then die without ever entering the Promised Land. While we might think God is being unduly harsh, we must remember that God is holding Moses to the highest standard possible, and that Moses agrees with this penalty. Eventually, Moses will enter the Promised Land when Elijah and he join with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Until then, Moses must teach and then die, leaving us an example of extreme faithfulness. Sometimes, people will try to use aging as an excuse for slacking off spiritually; however, we should look at Moses. Here’s this 120-year-old man giving everything he’s got to teach a recalcitrant bunch of people one last time. May all of us be as faithful as Moses so at the end of our lives we can say that we have given God our very best efforts!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to remain faithful, even unto death. We ask this in the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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