Key Verses: Deuteronomy 31:6, 31:8, 31:21
As his death nears, Moses, now 120 years old, prepares Israel for the transition. He publicly commissions Joshua, charging him and all Israel to “be strong and courageous... for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Moses writes down the law and gives it to the priests, commanding that it be read aloud to all Israel every seven years at the Feast of Booths, so that every generation, including children and sojourners, may hear and learn to fear the LORD. But God also foretells that after Moses’ death Israel will turn to other gods and break the covenant, so He gives Moses a song to teach the people, that it may stand as a witness against them when they fall.
The chapter provides for the continuity of God’s people beyond Moses through a commissioned leader, a written law, and its regular public reading. The charge to Joshua, “be strong and courageous... he will not leave you or forsake you,” becomes one of Scripture’s great words of assurance, repeated to Joshua by God Himself and echoed to believers in Hebrews 13:5. The command to read the law publicly every seven years guards the covenant across the generations, ensuring the word is not lost. Yet the chapter is shadowed by God’s realistic foreknowledge of Israel’s coming apostasy, which prompts the giving of the Song as a witness — a sobering reminder that even the best provisions of law and leadership cannot change the human heart, deepening the longing for the heart-transformation promised in chapter 30.
Key Terms & Words:
- חִזְקוּ וְאִמְצוּ (chizqu ve’imtsu) - Deuteronomy 31:6 - “Be strong and courageous”; the charge to Israel and Joshua
- לֹא יַרְפְּךָ (lo yarpekha) - Deuteronomy 31:6 - “He will not leave you”; God’s abiding presence
- לְעֵד (le’ed) - Deuteronomy 31:19 - “As a witness”; the song testifying against Israel
Cross-References:
- Joshua 1:5-9 - God repeating “be strong and courageous” to Joshua
- Hebrews 13:5 - “I will never leave you nor forsake you”
- Deuteronomy 31:11-13 - The public reading of the law every seven years
- Deuteronomy 31:16-21 - God foretelling Israel’s apostasy
Discussion Questions:
- How does Moses provide for God’s people to continue after his death?
- What makes “be strong and courageous, for he will not leave you” such an enduring assurance?
- Why does God give a song as a witness, foreseeing Israel’s future unfaithfulness?