Deuteronomy · chapter 31 of 34
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Deuteronomy 31 tells of the handover of leadership from Moses to Joshua. Moses, aged 120, encourages the people and Joshua to be strong because the Lord will go with them. He gives the law to the priests and commands that it be read every seven years at the Feast of Booths. The Lord foretells that the people will rebel and orders a song to be written as a witness against Israel.
Moses has given his long speeches and the renewal of the covenant, and now comes the time of his farewell. Deuteronomy 31 has a calm tone, almost that of a last testament: he will not cross the Jordan, but he leaves the people with a written law, a successor and a song. It shows that the Lord guides his people beyond the life of any leader.
Moses tells the people he is 120 years old, can no longer go out and come in, and that the Lord has told him he will not cross the Jordan. The Lord himself will cross before them, destroy the nations and Joshua will lead them. He asks them to be strong and courageous, because the Lord their God goes with them and will not leave or forsake them. Then he calls Joshua before all Israel and tells him the same: be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land, and the Lord will go before you.
Moses writes down this law and gives it to the priests who carry the ark and to the elders. He commands that every seven years, in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, it be read before all Israel, men, women, children and foreigners, so that they hear, learn to fear the Lord and keep his words.
The Lord calls Moses and Joshua to the tent of meeting, where he appears in a pillar of cloud. He tells Moses that he is about to die and that the people will go after other gods and break the covenant. Then the Lord will hide his face from them, and evils will come upon them. So he orders a song to be written, to be taught to the children, as a witness against them. The Lord commissions Joshua, and Moses finishes writing the law and commands the Levites to place it beside the ark of the covenant as a witness. Moses knows they will be rebellious and stiff-necked, and he gathers the elders to speak the song to them.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Moses tells the people to be strong and courageous, because the Lord their God goes with them and will not leave or forsake them. Courage rests on God's presence, not on one's own strength.
The Lord goes before Joshua, will be with him and will not leave or forsake him, so that he need not fear or be dismayed. The same encouragement given to the people now applies to the leader who will carry on the work.
The law will be read before all the people, even children and foreigners, so that they hear, learn to fear the Lord and keep his words. God's Word is taught to everyone, and new generations receive it from childhood.
The book of the law is placed beside the ark of the covenant as a witness against Israel. God's word serves as both guide and testimony: what the Lord has said cannot be forgotten or denied.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: One hundred and twenty years old. — Deuteronomy 31:2
Answer: Joshua, with the Lord going before them. — Deuteronomy 31:3
Answer: To be strong and courageous because the Lord goes with them and will not leave or forsake them. — Deuteronomy 31:6-8
Answer: Every seven years, in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths. — Deuteronomy 31:10-11
Answer: That they will turn to other gods and break the covenant. — Deuteronomy 31:16
Answer: Beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord, as a witness against the people. — Deuteronomy 31:26
Moses does not leave his people without a guide or a word. He prepares his successor, writes the law and gives a song so the children will remember it. A good Christian leader forms those who will follow after him. In a church you can ask whom we are helping to grow to take up the relay in service.
The promise that the Lord goes with us does not depend on who leads. Joshua, who was not Moses, receives the same assurance. Whoever faces a new stage, a change of job, church or responsibility, can lean on that promise: the Lord goes before and does not forsake.
Deuteronomy 31 bids farewell to Moses as leader and establishes Joshua, with the promise of God's presence and a written law. The next chapter brings the song of Moses, a long poem recalling God's faithfulness and Israel's rebellion.
Numbers 20 tells that Moses and Aaron did not honor the Lord as holy at Meribah, when they struck the rock instead of speaking to it as commanded. Although God forgave them, they did not enter the land. Moses saw it from Mount Nebo, as Deuteronomy 34 tells.
It was the tent where the Lord spoke with Moses and where his presence appeared in the pillar of cloud. Here the Lord appears there to commission Joshua and entrust the song.
So that all the people, even children born later, would hear the word of the covenant and learn to fear the Lord. The Feast of Booths, a time of gathering and joy, was a good moment to renew the commitment.