EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

Deuteronomy 31:1-30

Deuteronomy: God’s Law of Love

Love and Obey the *LORD your God

Deuteronomy

Philip Smith

Chapter 31

v1 Then Moses continued to speak to all the *Israelites. v2 ‘I am now 120 years old. I cannot continue to lead you. The *LORD has said to me, “You shall not go across the River Jordan.” v3 The *LORD your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will *destroy the nations that are in front of you. Then you will possess their country. Also, the *LORD has told you that Joshua will lead you across the river. v4 Sihon and Og were the kings of the *Amorites. The *LORD will do to those nations what he did to those kings and to their country. He destroyed them. v5 The *LORD will hand over those nations to you. You must do to them everything that I have ordered you to do. v6 Be strong. Have courage. You must not be afraid of those nations. The *LORD your God goes with you. He will always help you and he will not leave you.’

v7 Then Moses called Joshua. And Moses spoke to Joshua in front of all the *Israelites. ‘Be strong. Have courage. You will go with these people into the country. The *LORD has promised it to their *ancestors. And you must cause them to possess it. They will continue to possess it in the future. v8 The *LORD himself will lead you and he will be with you. He will not leave you and he will always help you. Do not be afraid. Do not lose courage.’

Moses had finished his work. He was now 120 years old and he could not continue to lead them. Moses appointed Joshua as the new leader, although God was their actual leader. God had caused them to defeat Sihon and Og. In the future, he would cause them to defeat other nations. God had helped them to *destroy nations when Moses led them. In the future, God would help them to *destroy nations under the leadership of Joshua. Both Joshua and the people should be strong and have courage. God would be with them. They need not be afraid.

Paul talks about the Christian’s war against evil things in Ephesians 6:10-18. He encourages Christians. He says to them, ‘Be strong in the *Lord and be strong in his great power.’

v9 So Moses wrote down this law. He gave it to the priests, who were the sons of Levi. They carried the box of the *covenant of the *LORD. He also gave the law to the leaders of *Israel. v10-11 Moses gave this command to them. ‘At the end of every 7 years, in the year when you cancel debts, read these laws. Do it at the *Festival of Shelters when all *Israelites come to give honour to the *LORD your God. They must come to the place that he will choose. Then read this law aloud to them, so that they will hear it. v12 Call all the people. Call the men, women, children and foreigners who are living in your towns. Then they will listen, and they will learn to *fear the *LORD your God. They will learn to obey all this law carefully. v13 So their children, who do not know the law, will hear it. And the children will learn to *fear the *LORD your God for as long as you live in the country. You will go across the River Jordan in order to possess this country.’

‘Moses wrote down this law.’ But Moses probably had people to help him. The priests kept the laws safely. Every 7 years, during the *Festival of Shelters, they would read the laws aloud. Everyone, even the children, would hear the laws. As a result, they would respect and obey God.

v14 The *LORD said to Moses, ‘You will die soon. Call Joshua. Go with him to the tent where you meet. Then I will give to him his instructions.’ Moses and Joshua went to the tent.

v15 The *LORD appeared to them there in the shape of a cloud. The cloud was at the entrance to the tent. v16 The *LORD said to Moses, ‘You will die soon. Then the people will serve the foreign false gods in the country that they had entered. The people will not be loyal me. They will not *keep the *covenant that I made with them. v17 Then I will be angry with them. I will leave them and I will not help them. I will *destroy them. Many *disasters and troubles will happen to them. When those things happen, they will say this. “These *disasters have happened to us because our God is not with us.” v18 I will not help them because they have done evil things. They have served false gods.

v19 Now write down this song. Teach it to the *Israelites and make them sing it. It will be a *witness for me against the *Israelites. v20 I will take them into a country that has plenty of good things. I promised that to their *ancestors. They will have plenty to eat. They will fill themselves and they will become fat. Then they will start to follow false gods. And they will serve those gods. They will leave me. They will refuse to obey my *covenant. v21 Many *disasters and difficulties will happen to them. This song will remind them about what I said to them. Their *descendants will not forget it. I promised to give the country to them. But I know what they intend to do. They are thinking it, even before I take them into the country.’ v22 Then Moses wrote down the song that day and he taught it to the *Israelites.

v23 Then the *LORD gave this command to Joshua the son of Nun. ‘Be strong. Take courage. You will bring the *Israelites into the country that I promised to give to them. I will be with you.’

God made Joshua the next leader of the people. God wanted Joshua to be certain about it. The cloud had guided them through their journey. Now the cloud was at the entrance to the tent. That showed that God was there. God told Joshua to be strong and to have courage. God promised Joshua that he, Joshua, would lead the people into the country. God also said that he would be with Joshua. God warned Moses that the people would not continue to follow God. He told Moses to write a song. People remember the words of a song more easily than ordinary speech. Then people would know why God would not help them. The song would remind them about all that God had done for them. The song would warn them not to leave God. If they refused to obey the *covenant, then the *curses of the *covenant would happen.

v24 Moses wrote in a book all the words of God’s laws. v25 Then he gave a command to the *Levites. They carried the box of the *covenant of the *LORD. Moses said, v26 ‘Take this book of the law. Place it next to the box of the *covenant of the *LORD your God. It will remain there as a *witness against you. v27 I know this. You refuse to obey and you will not change your behaviour. You have refused to obey the *LORD while I am still alive. You will refuse even more after I die! v28 Gather all the leaders of the *tribes and your officials and come together in front of me. Then I can say these things to them. I will call heaven and earth as my *witness against them. v29 I know that after my death you will become completely wicked. You will not continue to do the things that I have ordered you to do. The *LORD will see the evil things that you will do in the future. So you will suffer *disaster. The *idols that you will make will cause the *LORD to be angry.’

The priests had to look after the book of God’s law. They had to put the law next to the box of the *covenant. Then the *Israelites would know when they had done wrong things.

v30 While all the *Israelites listened, Moses spoke the words of this song from the beginning to the end:

Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the word ‘Adonai’ in the Hebrew language, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It is the Covenant name for God. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has always been here.

covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.