Moses continues his sermons on entering Jordan.
Deuteronomy 31: 1-6, Be strong and courageous
Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: "I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The LORD has said to me, `You shall not cross the Jordan.'The LORD your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the LORD said. And the LORD will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land.
The LORD will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
Moses gives a brief charge to the Israel, aware of his impending death. His life is described in three forty-year periods: forty years in Egypt, forty years in the desert of Midian, forty years leading the Israelites. According to Currid, the number 40 often represents, in the Old Testament, a period of testing. (See Genesis 7: 17, I Samuel 17: 16, indeed even, Matthew 4: 1-2, for a testing period in days.)
"Be strong and courageous" will be the theme of Joshua.
Deuteronomy 31: 7-9, Joshua summoned
Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."
So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.
Moses is passing on the mantle of leadership to Joshua. YHWH will continue to lead Israel but now Joshua is leader number two, the human leader following YHWH's instructions.
Currid says that verse 9 is the clearest statement in Scripture to the claim that Moses is the human author of the law. It is unclear here how much of the Torah (or even Deuteronomy) is being described by "this law."
Deuteronomy 31: 10-13, Read the law every seven years
Then Moses commanded them: "At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. Assemble the people--men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns--so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law.Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."
The Israelites are to publicly read the Law together every seven years. Centuries later, in Nehemiah 8, at the end of the Babylonian exile, Ezra and other priests will bring out the Law and read it to the people, as the people celebrate their return to their homeland.
Deuteronomy 31: 14-15, Tent of meeting
The LORD said to Moses, "Now the day of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting, where I will commission him." So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting.
Then the LORD appeared at the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the Tent.
Joshua, the people, and then YHWH, come together at the Tent of Meeting. YHWH appears and prepares to officially commission Joshua. The Tent of Meeting is not the Tabernacle, but the place set up outside the camp for YHWH to meet with Moses. (See Exodus 33: 7-11.) Here it is Joshua whom God meets, no longer Moses.
Deuteronomy 31: 16-21, A final song
And the LORD said to Moses: "You are going to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them.
On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask, `Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?' And I will certainly hide my face on that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.
"Now write down for yourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them. When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their forefathers, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant. And when many disasters and difficulties come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath."
Moses is to sing a new song for the people in preparation for their years of desertion. This is one of three songs attributed to Moses. A triplet of instructions require that the song be written down, taught, then sung. The song, itself, is a "witness" to the covenant since the singing of the song indicates the people's agreement to the blessing of obedience and the curses of disobedience.
Deuteronomy 31: 22-23, Commissioning of Joshua
So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.
The LORD gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: "Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you."
After the song is taught to Israel, it is now Joshua who is the representative of YHWH. The instructions to "be strong and courageous" are repeated.
Deuteronomy 31: 24-26, The Law next to the ark
After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end, he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD: "Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God. There it will remain as a witness against you.
The book of the law is to be placed beside the ark, as a witness.
Deuteronomy 31: 27-29, Rebellious and stiff-necked
"For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the LORD while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to testify against them. For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster will fall upon you because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD and provoke him to anger by what your hands have made."
Currid translates, in verse 29, the phrase "disaster will fall upon you" as "evil will summon you", that is, evil is personified, explicitly inviting the nation to evil and the curses that follow.
Deuteronomy 31: 30, The song before the assembly
And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:
Moses, repeating the issues of blessing and curse, prepares to recite the song YHWH has given him. That song will be in the next chapter. (Currid argues that this verse is really the heading for the song and should really be the first verse of the next chapter.)
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