Deuteronomy 31:1-30

Moses is at the end of his life and is now one-hundred and twenty years old.  He has lead the children of Israel for these last forty years but because of His anger and disobedience in striking the rock instead of speaking to it he will not lead the people into the promised land.  However, before he dies, he has a few more tasks that God wants him to accomplish as a means of preparing the people to go into the Promised Land.  Moses must have really wanted to go into this land that he had worked so hard towards, but we don’t see him harboring bitterness because of God’s discipline.  He continues to serve the Lord faithfully to the best of his abilities because he loves and fears the Lord.  Moses has not been distracted from his eternal goals because of his frustration or disappointment over his present circumstances.  He now turns to the task of preparing the people for what is to come with the transition in leadership.  It is a time for instructions as well as warnings concerning the future.

RECEIVE THE LAND: The goal of the children of Israel from the time they have left Egypt has been to enter this land that the Lord had promised to Abraham.  This was the purpose for which the left Egypt and they are now, once again on the threshold of entering this land.  The last time they were here they became weak and fearful and refused to enter.  Now, forty years later, they are here again only this time Moses will be taken away from them at this crucial time.  Moses wants to make sure that his death does not discourage them from going forward and cause them to falter in fear once again.  He calls the people together and he challenges them to be strong and courageous.  He calls Joshua and tells him to be strong and courageous because the task at hand does not depend on Moses; it depends upon the Lord.  Transitions are often hard for us and they often become excuses for us to lose focus on that which is of eternal importance.  We use the transitions in human leadership as an excuse to succumb to doubts and fears.  God wants us to trust Him and be strong and courageous because our eyes are fixed on Him and obeying His will.

READ THE LAW: The second instruction was for the people to gather together on a regular basis and read the Law.  Every seven years the people were all to come before the priest and hear the reading of the books of Moses so that they would be reminded of all that the Lord had done as well as all that He had commanded.  It is of vital importance that the Word of God be read on a regular basis.  At that time it was not possible for every person to have a copy of the Law.  Therefore, the teaching of the Law would happen in the family through oral repletion and stories that would be told from one generation to the next.  However, there is a danger in this oral repetition because the stories can change and many can be forgotten.  By reading the Law every seven years it was a guarantee that all of the people would hear all of the Law and know all of the stories.  Today we continue to need to be reminded of the will of God through the reading of His Word.  We must be careful not to just depend of devotional books or even just messages we hear at church.  We must faithfully and regularly read the entire Word of God.

REMEMBER THE LORD: God tells Moses to bring Joshua into the tent of meeting for a commissioning service, but this is a very strange commissioning.  God starts out by telling both Moses and Joshua that the children of Israel are going to be a disobedient people and that His anger will burn against them and that He will punish them just as He has promised.  He then gives Moses a song that He wants the children of Israel to sing and remember so that when the punishment comes they will all know that the Lord had warned them about this judgment.  They key is that the Lord wants them to remember Him.  He wants them to remember His promises of blessings as well as His promises of judgment.  It is so easy for us to forget the Lord and leave Him out of our lives in both times of prosperity and in times of difficulties.  One of the key functions of leadership is to constantly remind their people of the Lord.  Leaders must point to the Lord in good times and in bad so that He will be remembered, feared and loved.  Joshua knows right from the start that leading this nation will not be an easy task.  He goes into the job with His eyes wide open that these are a rebellious people.  Any leader who desires to minister in the lives of people must be very aware of the fact that all people are sinners and that leading them is never going to be an easy task.  As we work with men in their various stages of rebellion; we must recognize that it is our job to remind them of the Lord.