Read | Deuteronomy 31
Then Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel, saying, “I am now 120 years old; I can no longer act as your leader. The LORD has told me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan.’ The LORD your God is the one who will cross ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will drive them out. Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, as the LORD has said. The LORD will deal with them as he did Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and their land when he destroyed them. The LORD will deliver them over to you, and you must do to them exactly as I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous; don’t be terrified or afraid of them. For the LORD your God is the one who will go with you; he will not leave you or abandon you.”
Moses then summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land the LORD swore to give to their ancestors. You will enable them to take possession of it. The LORD is the one who will go before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”
Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the LORD’s covenant, and to all the elders of Israel. Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of debt cancellation, during the Festival of Shelters, when all Israel assembles in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he chooses, you are to read this law aloud before all Israel. Gather the people—men, women, dependents, and the resident aliens within your city gates—so that they may listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and be careful to follow all the words of this law. Then their children who do not know the law will listen and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
The LORD said to Moses, “The time of your death is now approaching. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting so that I may commission him.” When Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting, the LORD appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood at the entrance to the tent.
The LORD said to Moses, “You are about to rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will abandon me and break the covenant I have made with them. My anger will burn against them on that day; I will abandon them and hide my face from them so that they will become easy prey. Many troubles and afflictions will come to them. On that day they will say, ‘Haven’t these troubles come to us because our God is no longer with us?’ I will certainly hide my face on that day because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods. Therefore write down this song for yourselves and teach it to the Israelites; have them sing it, so that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites. When I bring them into the land I swore to give their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. They will turn to other gods and worship them, despising me and breaking my covenant. And when many troubles and afflictions come to them, this song will testify against them, because their descendants will not have forgotten it. For I know what they are prone to do, even before I bring them into the land I swore to give them.” So Moses wrote down this song on that day and taught it to the Israelites.
The LORD commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I swore to them, and I will be with you.”
When Moses had finished writing down on a scroll every single word of this law, he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the LORD’s covenant, “Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God so that it may remain there as a witness against you. For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you are rebelling against the LORD now, while I am still alive, how much more will you rebel after I am dead! Assemble all your tribal elders and officers before me so that I may speak these words directly to them and call heaven and earth as witnesses against them. For I know that after my death you will become completely corrupt and turn from the path I have commanded you. Disaster will come to you in the future, because you will do what is evil in the LORD’s sight, angering him with what your hands have made.” Then Moses recited aloud every single word of this song to the entire assembly of Israel:
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What aspects of God’s character do you see at work in this passage? How do you see God present and working with his people in this text?
Focus
Read this devotional made available from the Story of Scripture team at Dallas Theological Seminary.
Deuteronomy 31 | Moses to Joshua
The Lord is the one who will go before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.
- Deuteronomy 31:8
What an amazing story is embedded in this Scripture! Moses is no longer going to be the leader for God’s people (Deuteronomy 31:2). Moses was called by God at the burning bush when he was eighty years old, and as Israel prepares to enter the Promised Land, he is one hundred and twenty.
But God has a leadership change for his people. Moses is being replaced by Joshua (31:7), who is now probably sixty years old. The new generation that is about to enter the Promised Land is also getting a new leader—seasoned, tested, and ready.
The core message we see is this: flourishing in the wilderness—or beyond—rests on God’s faithful presence, not human strength. For God’s imagers, the key to flourishing depends on whether we trust in God’s abiding faithfulness—the very thing that disqualified the generation that didn’t enter the Promised Land.
As Israel prepares to leave the wilderness after forty years, they stand on the brink of the Promised Land with lessons that still speak to us today.
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God’s presence is not tied to any single human leader. He raises up and sets aside whom he desires to accomplish his purposes.
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Critical transitions—even seasons in the wilderness—do not mean that God has abandoned his people.
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When challenges call for renewed courage, it does not depend on our strength, but on God’s ability to do what He has promised.
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All along the journey—from the wilderness through the Promised Land—the one constant God calls for is faithful obedience.
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The most important question we can ask on our journey is this: Where is God’s presence, and am I aligned with it?
So, no matter if you’re struggling to find your way out of the wilderness or taking bold steps in the exciting new Promised Land, God calls us to love him with every fiber of our being. Flourishing depends on his covenant faithfulness.
"For the Lord your God is the one who will go with you; he will not leave you or abandon you." Deuteronomy 31:6
What stood out to you from today’s devotional? What was familiar to you already and what struck you as new?
Pray
Ask God to help you meditate on his character through reading his word.
Spend some time in prayer meditating on what you learned today. Praise God for one aspect of his character that you see in the passage today (e.g. God’s justice, mercy, protection). Ask God to help you meditate on his character seen through his consistency in a leadership change and the disobedience of his people.
Going Deeper
If you are also following the BibleProject’s One Story That Leads to Jesus reading plan, complete today’s reading.
