A FINAL ADVICE WITH A WARNING The prophet Moses confirmed that God is the true Leader of His people. As He led them in the days of Moses, He will lead them through Joshua. He also commanded the priests and all the elders of Israel to read the ‘Torah’ in the year of release, at the feast of the Tabernacles. He did not mention here, anything concerning the renewal of the covenant, except for writing the Law and reading it (9-13). The Lord appeared to Moses, and warned the people against diversion from faith after his departure. 1. Encouraging the people and Joshua 1–8. 2. Reading the ‘Torah’ in the year of release 9–13. 3. The appearance of the Lord in the tabernacle 14–23. 4. Delivering the book of the ‘Torah’ 24–30. 1. ENCOURAGING THE PEOPLE AND JOSHUA The decisive moments came when the prophet Moses proclaimed that he has reached the age of one hundred and twenty years, and that he no longer can go out and come in. Delivering the leadership to Joshua; he encouraged him and the whole people. “Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. He said to them: ‘I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer go out and come in. Also the Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross over this Jordan. The Lord your God Himself crosses over before you. He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over before you, just as the Lord has said” Deut. 31:1-3) (1) Moses lived 120 years like Noah who preached righteousness in an evil world. He lived 40 years in the palace of Pharaoh learning the wisdom of the Egyptians (Acts 7:20, 23); 40 years in the land of Midian preparing himself for ministry (Acts 7:29, 30); and 40 years as the leader of the people under God Himself. The prophet Moses revealed to us his view of those years in his prayer that came in Psalm 90; in which he does not count his age in years, but according to the blessing of God, saying: “For a thousand year in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night” (Psalm 90:4). He looked back at his early eighty years of age, as bearing, together with physical strength, labor and sorrow; whereas his last forty years; together with physical frailty, it bore strength in the Spirit; God’s gift to minister. He said, “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years; yet their boast is only labor and sorrow. For it is soon cut off, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10). (2) Moses considers God’s work with his successor Joshua as with him personally; Joshua’s enjoyment is his enjoyment as well. Although admitting that he grew too old to go out and to come in, yet he says that God is crossing over before him. How? Because God is working in Joshua! That is the spirit of true leadership that bears no selfishness. He considers the success of the future leadership as his own success. Moses did not ask for a single day to be added to his life, to consummate his work, and to bring the people into the Promised Land; but he sought that his successor would realize what he had began. So, we should not worry about the shortness of our days, but we should ask and do our best to prepare the future leaders to consummate 9 what we began, or what we have received from the previous generation. (3) The prophet Moses often repeats the divine verdict: “You shall not cross over this Jordan” (2). He undoubtedly yearned to cross; yet he considered the crossing of the people as though he did it himself. (4) You will never find a leader who encourages his soldiers so strongly before his departure from this world as Moses did; confirming to them that the conquests, which were realized in his days, will increase after his departure, because the conquest does not depend on him but on the divine presence. “And the Lord will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites and their land, when He destroyed them. The Lord will give them over to you, that you may do to them according to every commandment, which I commanded you. Be strong and of good courage, do not fear or be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you” (Deut. 31:4-6) God who dwells in the midst of His people, as He worked in the days of Moses, He will go on working among the generations; according to the words of the apostles: “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear what man can do to me” (Hebrew 13:6). (5) Moses called Joshua; set him as his successor, commanded him before all the people; and confirmed to them their continuous success. “Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ‘Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you nor forsake you; Do not fear nor be dismayed” (Deut. 31:7-8) When the Lord is with them and goes before them, there is no reason for fear because of the possibilities of the enemy or their long experience. Although Joshua has already proved his good leadership in several situations, yet, as he was getting into a new stage of his life, he was in need of reminding him continuously that God is on his side. Moses demanded from him to be a living example of courage to his people. For if the leader gets dismayed all his people will follow him in his frustration. The most serious set backs for the leaders and the ministers of the word are losing their trust in God; the fear of the leader destroys the soul of his men and shakes their faith. A leader of God’s people should always believe that God goes before him, leads him along the royal way; accompanies and supports him; would never forsake him; nor allow him to collapse. “Do not fear nor be dismayed” (8). As fear would naturally come to man, he is continuously in need of a word of encouragement. We find examples of this in the Holy Bible, from the Book of Genesis to the Book of Revelation (Genesis 15:1; Revelation 1:17). 2. THE TORAH TO BE READ IN THE YEAR OF RELEASE “So Moses wrote this Law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel” (Deut. 31:9) The Jewish Mishna states that the first five chapters of the book, together with other parts, were read on the days of the feasts. The prophet Moses, in his last days, wrote down his sermons and the 10 commandments mentioned in the last chapters. He wrote down 13 copies of the five books; delivered one to every tribe, and put the thirteenth copy in the Ark of the Covenant. Others believe that he wrote down only two copies; delivered one of them to the priests and the Levites for public use; and the other copy he put in the Ark of the Covenant as a reference; especially in case the people break the Law, and divert to idolatry. This second copy was called ‘The copy of the Lord.’ Bishop Patrick believes that Moses wrote down the five books, or consummated them1. “And Moses commanded them, saying, ‘At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the feast of the tabernacles, when all Israel come to appear before the lord your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this Law before all Israel in their hearing” (Deut 31:10, 11) He fixed the year of release – the seventh year – as the time for a public reading of the Torah for the whole people; besides a daily reading by the families, of some excerpts of the Law; and Moses has been read in the synagogue every Sabbath (Acts 15). Yet, these private readings at homes or at weekly local meetings were not enough, the whole congregation were also committed to a public reading. The year of the release was convenient for reading the whole Law; when slaves were set free; debtors were granted a release of their debts; pledged lands were given back; and everyone; the rich through generous giving, and the poor through being supported, would all feel that their souls are prepared for obedience of the divine commandment. If the commandment incites man to do good; doing good incites the soul to accept the commandment and to respond to it. On that day, the whole book of Deuteronomy was most probably read, together with excerpts of the other five books of Moses. During the days of the tabernacles, the entire congregation rejoiced before the Lord their God (Leviticus 23:40). They used to dwell for a whole week in tents made of tree branches; in order to feel that they are but sojourners in this world; and when they hear the divine commandment, they say together with the Psalmist: “I am a stranger in the earth. Do not hide Your commandments from me” (Psalm 119:19). The Torah is read, as God’s commandment is the true source of joy; and everyone would listen to it with joy and pleasure of the heart. The Torah is read once every seven years; the Sabbath of the years, as our true comfort and Sabbath is in the commandment of the Lord. The seventh year refers to the evangelic work, in which we attain the freedom in Christ Jesus, and the forgiveness of sins; it is the year well accepted before the Lord (Luke 1:74-75). Women and children, although not committed to join in the other feasts; in the feast of the tabernacles, they were committed to ascend together with the men, in order that all hear the reading of the Law. “Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all words of this law” (Deut. 31:12) When all the congregation are gathered together, men, women and children, beside the proselytes who newly joined faith, to hear the word of God, and to learn to fear the Lord, the leaven that raises the whole dough of the new generations is offered, and the children are raised in a Scripture atmosphere; to learn to be preoccupied only by the love of God, and the enjoyment of his true promises in awe and respect. Unfortunately people did not obey this commandment and did not practice that 1 Matthew Henry Commentary. 11 tradition, except on very limited number of occasions, between the days of Joshua and the coming of the Lord Christ; several centuries passed without practicing that awesome right. Joshua did read all the words of the Law before the people of Israel: the congregation, the elders, the officers, the judges, the priests, and the Levites, bearers of the ark of the covenant; and before the strangers who were living among them and newly entered into faith (Joshua 8:33-35). When king Solomon built the temple, he gathered everyone and read the words of the law; that is why he called himself ‘the preacher’ (Ecclesiastes 1:1, 2, 12; 7:27; 12:8; 10:9). King Jehoshaphat sent the leaders of Judah throughout all the cities of Judah where they taught, and had the book of the Law of the Lord with them (2 Chronicles 17:9). King Josiah went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the priests and the Levites and all the people, great and small; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant, which had been found in the house of the Lord. Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord (2 Chronicles 34:30, 31). When the people returned from captivity, all the people gathered together as one man in the open square, and Ezra the scribe read from the book of Law of Moses (Nehemiah 8:1-3). “And that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess” (Deut. 31:13) 3. THE LORD APPEARS TO MOSES IN THE TABERNACLE “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, the days approach when you must die; Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tabernacle of meeting, that I may inaugurate him;’ So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tabernacle of meeting” (Deut. 31:14) When the time came for Moses to finalize his talks with his people, the Lord said to him, “Behold, the days approach when you must die.” With the approach of the days when Moses was to die, the Lord appeared to him more and more, to realize that his departure was just a crossing over to the Lord, to see Him face to face. What a joyful gift from God! With the transfiguration of the Lord in the depths of the soul, man’s heart becomes prepared to die with joy and the pleasure of heart. Moses, together with Joshua were called to present themselves to the Lord; one to prepare for departure by delivering leadership into the hand of his disciple; and the other to prepare to receive the burden of leadership, and the spirit of true fatherhood from his mentor. The glory of the Lord appeared to the prophet Moses. That was the only time in this book we read about the appearance of the Lord; whereas we read about it three times in the previous books. Some scholars believe that the appearance of the Lord here, just before the departure of the prophet Moses, was a reference of the appearance of the new Law; the New Covenant when the Old Covenant grew old. “Now the Lord appeared at the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood above the door of the tabernacle” (Deut. 31:15) Whenever we enjoy the evangelic life, and realize our crossing over to heaven, the Lord appears in our tent, as sojourners; and proclaims His glory in us. What did the Lord say to Moses? 12 (1) His people will break the covenant with God; the covenant for the sake of which Moses strived for forty years to let the people enjoy divine love, and to have a portion in the Promised Land, the symbol of heaven. The reason why they were going to break the covenant would be their binding to idolatry, and forgetting God their Savior. “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, you will rest with your fathers, and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake me and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then My anger will be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say on that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ And I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil they have done, in that they have turned to other gods” (Deut. 31:16-18) God confirms that breaking the covenant was on man’s side, saying: “They will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.” The blame falls upon man alone. The people of God fell into the worship of the gods of the Canaanites, the previous owners of the land. He calls them ‘foreigners,’ whose land He delivered to His people. But His people rejected God, the Grantor of the land; and worshipped foreign gods who could not protect their subjects. The same way, having received from God every possibility, some of us fall into the worship of wealth, through greed and the worship of their bellies; or the worship of pleasures, through evil lusts. (2) The Lord said to Moses, “You will rest with your fathers” (16), although Moses died on Mount Moab far from where his fathers were buried. This divine saying is not to be interpreted as concerning the mere body; but concerning the rest of his soul in hope together with the souls of his fathers before him. According to the Targum Jonathan Ben Ozel said: [You will rest in dust with your fathers; your soul will rest in the treasure to come with your fathers1.] (3) God with His amazing wisdom gives every man according to his heart. As His people seek to forsake God (16), God gives them the wish of their heart by “hiding His face from them” (17). They gave God their backs and not their faces, and He deprived them of the shines of His love, and the enjoyment of the splendor of His glory. By saying, “I will hide My face from them,” He means taking His grace and His protection away from them. (4) In the introduction to the book of Proverbs, he spoke about the languages by which God speaks to man and teaches him, among which are songs and praises. Here, God Himself demands from Moses in the last moments of his life on the land of Moab, to teach his people by this kind of language. “Now therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel” (Deut. 31:19) Through the proclamation of the Holy Spirit, Moses wrote down the song, by which he warns his people against breaking the covenant with God. This song did not keep the people from turning away from the worship of the living God; yet it opened a door for repentance and returning to God. If they forsake the Lord, and fall into the 1 Adam Clarke Commentary. 13 bitterness, they would remember, through this song, they have learned by heart, that God has previously warned them, that He is not pleased by their fall, and that He is still waiting for their return. It is as though God has prepared for them the medicine beforehand, so that if they did fall, they would find within their hands a divine cure. (5) Instead of offering a sacrifice of thanksgiving for granting them the possibilities of fulfillment and comfort, they fell into apostasy. “When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant. Then it shall be, when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song testifies against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants; for I know the inclination of their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land which I swore to give them. Therefore Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel. Then he inaugurated Joshua the son of Nun, and said, ‘Be strong and of good courage, for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land of which I swore to them, and I will be with you (Deut. 31:20-23) 4. DELIVERING THE BOOK OF THE LAW “So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this Law in a book, when they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying ‘Take this book of the Law, and put it inside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there as a witness against you; for I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the Lord, then how much more after my death?” (Deut. 31:24-27) Moses delivered the words of the book of the Law to the Levites who bore the Ark of the Covenant, not in a formal rite, but with frankness, clarity, and warning. His long experience for forty years has taught him, that the people with their leaders have not opposed him personally several times, but they have opposed God Himself, despite God’s exalted dealings with them through Moses’ hands. Proclaiming to them what will happen to them after his death, he said: “Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing, and call heaven and earth to witness against them. For I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands” (Deut. 31:28-29) When the Lord Christ came to the world and presented the free salvation, He also proclaimed before His death, that false christs and prophets will appear and lead the people astray (Matthew 24:25); The same thing was proclaimed by the apostle Paul, concerning the appearance of false teachers after his death. “Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song until they were ended” (Deut. 31:30) 14 AN INSPIRATION FROM THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY (Chapter 31) GRANT ME THE TRUE SPIRIT OF LEADERSHIP Grant me to follow the example of Moses, the first leader of his people. To consider the success of the new leaderships, as a success for me. Not to refer any success to myself. But, as much success as God granted me, He would grant more to the future generations. God is the One working along the generations. Teach me to bear the spirit of hope in the new generation; To see You strongly working in them Let me incite in them the spirit of courage, to work by You with the spirit of strength. Let us follow the example of Moses who received the Law. Let us present to the future generations the Law of God, inscribed on our hearts, proclaimed in our life and behavior. Let us keep the precious tradition, the practical and true evangelic life. The whole book of Law was publicly read in the year of release. For everyone to hear, even the children, to learn the fear of God. To hear it during the feast of the Tabernacles. Let us read it perpetually to the new generations; So that the word of God become planted in every heart. To find in it their pleasure at the time of their sojourn. Let us present it to them with the spirit of true joy. To see in it the secret of our inner rejoice. During the last days of Moses, You often appeared to him. His heart flared with yearning to set forth to You; And he delivered the same Spirit to the new leader. Moses ended his life by singing a spiritual song. Grant me to bear the spirit of praise, To make the future generations receive the language of praise.
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