Deuteronomy: the Second Giving of the Law (XXXII)

The Lord (31:1-29)

Neal Pollard

Moses has reached the end of the line. He’s 120 years old, immobile, and unable to cross the Jordan (1-2). So now, as the one who is about to become their erstwhile leader, Moses tackles his last items of business. It is a series of reminders about God.

• The Lord will go before you and destroy the nations of Canaan (3-4)
• The Lord will deliver them up for you (5)
• The Lord goes with you and will not fail nor forsake you (6,8)
• The Lord will fulfill His vow to your fathers (7)
• The Lord will meet with them at the tabernacle in Canaan (11-12)
• The Lord will be feared by their children (13)

These constitute the words of motivation by which Moses sums up his life’s work. He’s about to pass the baton (3) and go no further (2). The Lord tells Moses that his time to die has come (14), to bring Joshua to the tent of meeting to be commissioned as Israel’s new leader. There, God previews what will come next (15-21). He instructs Moses to write a song of remembrance that would serve as a witness to them (19). It is not a feel-good, toe-tapper. It is a way for them to memorize God’s Word and have a testimony against themselves if they fulfill the things God warns against. That song is recorded in chapter 32. But verse 22 says Moses wrote the song the day God told him to.

All that is left for Moses to do is formally commission Joshua, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you” (23). At this point, we have a powerful picture about how the canon of Scripture developed. No one voted on which books were inspired. These five books of Moses were God-breathed (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16). When Moses finished them, he instructed the Levites to place them alongside the ark of the covenant. It is true, “The ark of the covenant, which contained the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, resided in the holy of holies of the tabernacle, that sacred place that marked the focal point of the Lord’s residence among his people (cf. v. 9; Exod 25:16; 26:33). It was fitting that the central text of the Horeb covenant be housed there and fitting likewise that ‘this Book of the Law’ be delivered over to the Levites and placed beside the ark, for this was a covenant renewal document, one appropriate to the new generation and to life in the land of promise to which they were headed” (Merrill, NAC, 404). But more than that, its placement in the most holy place indicated that it was not merely Moses’ words. These were God’s words written down by Moses.

The Lord’s hand in this process is clear. He punished the disobedient, but preserved a new generation. He was patient with all of them, but Moses’ record shows us that His perfect patience can be exhausted (2 Pet. 3:9-10). Yet, through these words and the song which follows, we are reminded of God’s promises! He wants to bless. He wants us to be close with Him. He tells us how, much as He did with Moses on this day recorded in Deuteronomy 31.