Deuteronomy 31:14-29--Joshua Commissioned to Lead Israel

Deuteronomy 31:14-30
English Standard Version

Joshua Commissioned to Lead Israel
14 And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. 15 And the LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud. And the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent.

16 And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. 17 Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ 18 And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods.

19 “Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. 20 For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. 21 And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.” 22 So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.

23 And the LORD commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you.”

24 When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book to the very end, 25 Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, 26 “Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against you. 27 For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD. How much more after my death! 28 Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them. 29 For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And in the days to come evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”​

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Verse 30 is a transitional verse that fits better with the next chapter, so I'll try to remember to post that in the beginning of tomorrow's passage, but this passage basically finishes out chapter 31 for us, and we are quickly approaching the end of the book of Deuteronomy as we are now seeing the transition of leadership from Moses to Joshua.  In today's passage, we'll see that Joshua will be commissioned by the LORD to lead the people and will do so in a way where no one will be able to refute that the LORD had chosen him.

The LORD tells Moses to call Joshua to the tent of meeting and the LORD's presence both filled the tent and guarded the entrance so that no one could enter.  The LORD tells Moses in the presence of Joshua what is coming for the people of Israel.  Moses is about to die and the people are soon going to rebel against the very Law that they swore to obey.  The LORD's anger will come upon them, mostly because they will turn to idols and false gods and the LORD is a jealous God.  Trouble and calamity will come upon the people and the LORD will not bless them, the meaning of "will hide My face from them."  The people will assume this means that the LORD no longer is among them and while He will in some ways forsake them in their disobedience, He will never forget His eternal, unbreakable covenant that He made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and for the sake of Abraham and for the sake of His own Name will be faithful to complete the eternal covenant that would be fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus, the Christ.

Moses' final act was to write a song to teach to the people (that will be our next chapter we study together) and they are to sing it so that there will be a witness that the LORD has warned them of all the things that are to come when they do what they are going to do.  What a bleak outlook to give Moses right before he dies.  It sounds like the LORD is saying all the work that he has put in to lead the people and teach them was all for naught as they are going to quickly forget everything that was taught to them, but that Moses shouldn't be surprised because he knows they are a rebellious people and experienced their rebellion more than a few times himself and was often mediating for the people asking God not to destroy them completely but to give them another chance.  The LORD is going to make sure that the Jews don't forget this song so that it will be a witness against them when they become like the people that the LORD defeated.

The LORD then again tells Joshua to be strong and courageous and that he will lead Joshua and the people in the same way that He did for Moses and that He will bring His people into the Land that He had promised to them.  This is the end of "The Book of the Law" (the portion that Moses wrote).  We see that Deuteronomy actually tells us that Moses finished and gave a copy to the Levites to put in the Tabernacle next to the Ark of the Covenant or the Ark of the Testimony as a witness against the people, and it was to be read before all the people every seven years like we studied last time.

Moses then wants to call all the elders of the people together one last time so that he can give the people one final message and a final blessing (and some final warnings) before he dies.  These will be our final chapters of the book of Deuteronomy (chapters 32-34) where Moses teaches the people the final song that the LORD has given him, gives each tribe a final blessing, and then dies and the LORD takes his body away so that the people will not make a shrine out of it and stay there where Moses' body rested--they needed to continue to move forward in obedience as the LORD would continue to lead them with Joshua as their new leader--a military leader well-suited for the next phase of the journey where the main focus will be conquest and battle--a battle and a victory which belongs only to the LORD.