Last
week Moses prepared Israel for the renewal of the covenant and encouraged them
to recommit to it. He listed curses for
not keeping the God’s laws and blessings for keeping them. He ended by telling them they have a choice –
life or death, blessings or curses. This
week Moses is about to die. God gave him
2 final assignments: commission Joshua and write a song.
Deuteronomy 31 –Moses' Charge to Israel
Moses’
life was about to end and he wouldn’t get to cross over to Jordan to the
Promise Land with the others. I feel
very sad for Moses. He had served God
faithfully for many years. The first 40
years was spent in Egypt where he was raised in Pharaoh’s palace. Then his life began to grow harder. He spent the next 40 years tending sheep in
the wilderness. His last 40 years he
spent leading Israel through the wilderness.
He had a hard life and now he could not cross to the Promise Land. We may think it’s sad for him not to realize
God’s promise, but I don’t think he looked at it that way. He lived a life of faith (Heb. 11:23-27). Faith
doesn’t live with regrets of earthly comfort.
Faith is living with heavenly hope.
In the book of Hebrews several who were faithful to God are mentioned. In Heb.
11:13-16 we see that all those faithful died in faith without receiving the
promises. “... I
consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” - Rom.
8:18.
Principle: Faith doesn’t live with regrets of earthly
comfort - faith is living with heavenly hope.
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we
do not see.” – Heb. 11:1.
Do you
live a life of regrets or do you live with heavenly hope?
How are
you living by faith?
How
would others describe your faith?
Moses
reminded the people that it was God who got them this far not him. God gave him 2 final assignments: commission
Joshua and write a song. Moses charged
the people to be strong and courageous and not to be afraid, because the Lord
would go with them. “Be strong and courageous.
Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God
goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” – Deut. 31:6. Moses then charges Joshua the same words in Deut. 31:7-8.
How are
you encouraged by others?
Are you
strong and courageous or are you fearful?
Where
do you turn when you are afraid?
How has
this promise help you when you are unsure or fearful?
Moses
charged the priests to read the law every 7 years during the Feast of
Tabernacles. This was “so the people could listen and learn to fear the Lord our
God and follow carefully all the words of this law. Their children, who do not know this law,
must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the
land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” – Deut. 31:12-13. The priests
were to place the law in the Ark of the Covenant.
The
most important thing we can do is keep reading God’s Word. Why should we read and study the Bible? The Bible is “God-breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16). It’s His very words to us. It’s how we get to know God and His
ways. It is a guide for us to live by
and we are to teach it to our children. God
does not change and man’s nature does not change so the Bible is relevant for
us as it was when it was written. There
is a lot of false teaching in the world and the Bible give helps us distinguish
truth from error. It equips us to serve
God. It helps us know how to be saved
from our sin and how to get to heaven.
There are many people in the Bible like Moses that we can learn
from. We can learn from their victories
and failures. We can ignore the Bible or
we can learn from it.
Do you
spend time reading and studying God’s Word each day?
How do
you teach your children about God and His ways?
Principle: God wants us to follow carefully all His
Words.
God knew Israel would rebel in the future and would serve
foreign gods. They would forsake God and
break the covenant. Because of their
rebellion, God would bring disasters and difficulties upon them. So God told Moses to write a song for the
people were to learn and sing so it would be a witness why God would be against
them.
How have you rebelled against God?
Deuteronomy 32 – Moses’ Song to Israel
Moses
recited the song for all the people to hear just as God commanded. He began by calling upon creation to confirm
his message to Israel. He praised God by
calling Him the Rock and said that His works are perfect and all His ways are
just. He is a faithful God who does not
wrong. He is upright and just. These attributes of God show Moses’ love and
trust in God. He knew God could do
anything and was totally dedicated to Him.
Moses recited how God had showed His unfailing goodness to His people;
how He gave them their inheritance through Jacob, how He always protected them,
and how He was always with them. (Deut. 32:1-14)
Are you
totally dedicated to God?
Is He
your Rock?
Principle: God is our Rock and His ways are perfect.
In Deut. 32:15 - “Jeshurum grew fat and
kicked.” In other words when Israel was
blessed, they rejected God. They
abandoned Him and rejected the Rock.
They made God jealous by worshipping foreign gods which angered Him. They rejected Him and He rejected them. He would bring judgments on them. He would bring calamities upon them, spend
arrows against them, and send famine and pestilence and plagues. He would scatter them and blot out their
memory. (Deut. 32:15-26)
When
Moses spoke the words of the song to Joshua and the people, he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you
this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words
of this law. They are not just idle
words for you – they are your life. By
them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
– Deut. 32:44-47.
“The spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and
they are life.” – John
6:63. God’s Words are of great
importance and are words to live by.
Do you
live by God’s Word?
What
has happened in your family or church when you take to heart God’s Word?
Then God
told Moses to go to Mount Nebo to view Canaan.
There he would die and be gathered to his people just as Aaron was. Both of them broke faith with God in front of
the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh.
They didn’t uphold God’s holiness and were not permitted to go to the
Promise Land as we learned back in Numbers
20. Moses would not cross the Jordan
into the Canaan, but was permitted to see it from a distance. Moses would die, but he would live on with
his family and countrymen who have died before.
(Deut. 32:48-52)
Principle: God demands loyalty and obedience.
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