Deuteronomy 31:1-30
1 And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.
2 And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.
3 The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath said.
4 And the LORD shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed.
5 And the LORD shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.
6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
7 And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.
8 And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
9 And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel.
10 And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,
11 When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
12 Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:
13 And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.
15 And the LORD appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle.
16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleepa with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
17 Then my anger shall be kindled 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 befallb them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?
18 And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.
19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.
20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.
21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify againstc them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.
22 Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.
23 And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.
24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,
25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,
26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.
27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death?
28 Gather unto 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 record against them.
29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.
30 And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.
Deuteronomy 31:2. I can no more go out and come in. Though Moses's senses were in vigour, yet he felt the infirmities which admonish aged men to retire.
Deuteronomy 31:7. Moses called to Joshua, to encourage and strengthen him. This we should also do to younger men, though Joshua was now growing old. The elders must honour the magistrate and the minister, that the people may follow their example.
Deuteronomy 31:10. At the end of every seven years; when apprentices became free, and must for themselves hear the law and swear to it, as their fathers had done before them. Those septennial convocations were wise and salutary guardians of the Hebrew covenant. Christian ministers, at proper times, should do the same to all the young people.
Deuteronomy 31:16. Thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after other gods. The English follows the LXX, as do most other versions. But the Pharisees, in their long-continued disputations with the Sadducees, respecting the resurrection of the dead, by varying the punctuation, gave the text a sense widely different. הנךְ שׁכב עם אבתיךְ וקם hinnecha shokab im abtecha ve-kam, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and rise again; and this people will go a whoring after the gods of strangers. If this promise were designed in any sense to comfort Moses at the close of life, it assuredly must designate a consolation higher than that of corruption in the grave. We cannot admit that Moses had less light than Joseph, who gave a command for the removal of his bones. For thus varying the punctuation from that of the Sadducees, the Pharisees had the whole weight of reason and revelation on their side.
Deuteronomy 31:19. Write ye this song: the song in the next chapter. The history of great men and of illustrious deeds, was from the earliest periods of society celebrated in verse, or poetic composition. While the original copy of the law was deposited in the ark, Moses gave this poem to the elders, that copies might be multiplied among the people. The Greeks abounded with hymns in praise of the gods, once but men. The ancient laws were also often celebrated in verse.
Deuteronomy 31:26. Take this book; namely, the Deuteronomy, except the last chapter, finished by authority. This, with the four former books, formed the Pentateuch of Moses, which was put in the side of the ark, that it might be easy of access.
REFLECTIONS.
Moses here comes forward with all the weight of great age and long experience to encourage and comfort the people. He could no longer go before them; but the Lord's presence would be with them, to destroy the enemy, and to qualify Joshua for the high duties of a prince and leader, and for all the exigencies of great occasions. It is good when aged men and dying saints encourage young people, by recounting the grace of former times, and by adducing past victories as pledges of the future. This is the way to make them strong and of good courage.
In the charge to Joshua, accompanied with promises, we see how christian magistrates and ministers should be exhorted to acquit themselves in all the duties of their profession. So St. Paul, about to be offered up, charged Timothy; and the greatness of the occasion inspired him with the sublimest language which can possibly be uttered. 1 Timothy 6:13; 2 Timothy 4:1. In like manner our blessed Lord charged the apostles to keep his commandments, and abide in his love.
Besides the reading of the law every sabbath in the synagogue, Acts 13:15, he required the covenant, or rather the blessings and curses of the covenant, to be read and subscribed every seventh year, and he required this to be done in the most solemn manner by a full convocation of the people and their little ones, for the preservation of piety and religion. It is good, extremely good, for religious assemblies to avow their faith, and own the sovereignty of God in the most public manner.
Moses was the more solicitous to do this because he saw, that after his death they would utterly corrupt themselves. More could not be said, and more could not be done, to preserve them in the religion of their fathers. St. Paul, animated by the same spirit, was the more earnest in giving charges to the churches, for he knew that after his death, grievous wolves would enter in among them, not sparing the flock. The frequent renewal of covenant is the best barrier we can oppose to the encroachments of the world. Where this is neglected, the divine institutions fall into decay, and would be utterly lost, if God did not in every age and nation frequently raise up blessed instruments to revive his work. And when a people who once walked in the truth, afterwards become degenerate, not only the sacred writings, but the hymns, the sermons, and theology of their ancestors shall remain as monuments of the glory of former times; and permanent evidence against their apostasy from sound doctrine, and rectitude of conduct.