Pray Thru the Bible

God Speaks

 When Moses had finished giving these instructions to all the people of Israel, ² he said, “I am now 120 years old, and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has told me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan River.’ ³ But the Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy the nations living there, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua will lead you across the river, just as the Lord promised.

⁴ “The Lord will destroy the nations living in the land, just as he destroyed Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites. ⁵ The Lord will hand over to you the people who live there, and you must deal with them as I have commanded you. ⁶ So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

⁷ Then Moses called for Joshua, and as all Israel watched, he said to him, “Be strong and courageous! For you will lead these people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors he would give them. You are the one who will divide it among them as their grants of land. ⁸ Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

⁹ So Moses wrote this entire body of instruction in a book and gave it to the priests, who carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, and to the elders of Israel. ¹⁰ Then Moses gave them this command: “At the end of every seventh year, the Year of Release, during the Festival of Shelters, ¹¹ you must read this Book of Instruction to all the people of Israel when they assemble before the Lord your God at the place he chooses. ¹² Call them all together—men, women, children, and the foreigners living in your towns—so they may hear this Book of Instruction and learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully obey all the terms of these instructions. ¹³ Do this so that your children who have not known these instructions will hear them and will learn to fear the Lord your God. Do this as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.”

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “The time has come for you to die. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the Tabernacle, so that I may commission him there.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the Tabernacle. ¹⁵ And the Lord appeared to them in a pillar of cloud that stood at the entrance to the sacred tent.

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die and join your ancestors. After you are gone, these people will begin to worship foreign gods, the gods of the land where they are going. They will abandon me and break my covenant that I have made with them. ¹⁷ Then my anger will blaze forth against them. I will abandon them, hiding my face from them, and they will be devoured. Terrible trouble will come down on them, and on that day they will say, ‘These disasters have come down on us because God is no longer among us!’ ¹⁸ At that time I will hide my face from them on account of all the evil they commit by worshiping other gods.

¹⁹ “So write down the words of this song, and teach it to the people of Israel. Help them learn it, so it may serve as a witness for me against them. ²⁰ For I will bring them into the land I swore to give their ancestors—a land flowing with milk and honey. There they will become prosperous, eat all the food they want, and become fat. But they will begin to worship other gods; they will despise me and break my covenant. ²¹ And when great disasters come down on them, this song will stand as evidence against them, for it will never be forgotten by their descendants. I know the intentions of these people, even now before they have entered the land I swore to give them.”

²² So that very day Moses wrote down the words of the song and taught it to the Israelites.

²³ Then the Lord commissioned Joshua son of Nun with these words: “Be strong and courageous, for you must bring the people of Israel into the land I swore to give them. I will be with you.”

²⁴ When Moses had finished writing this entire body of instruction in a book, ²⁵ he gave this command to the Levites who carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant: ²⁶ “Take this Book of Instruction and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, so it may remain there as a witness against the people of Israel. ²⁷ For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Even now, while I am still alive and am here with you, you have rebelled against the Lord. How much more rebellious will you be after my death!

²⁸ “Now summon all the elders and officials of your tribes, so that I can speak to them directly and call heaven and earth to witness against them. ²⁹ I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and will turn from the way I have commanded you to follow. In the days to come, disaster will come down on you, for you will do what is evil in the Lord’s sight, making him very angry with your actions.”

³⁰ So Moses recited this entire song publicly to the assembly of Israel:

Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com

We Respond

Reflection: Consider the following questions regarding Deuteronomy 31:

1. What does this chapter tell me about God?

2. What does this chapter tell me about the human beings He created?   

Here is one possible answer to each of these questions. Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any others for you personally to ponder.  

1. God loves people too much to let them get away with disrespecting Him and His ways.

2. People are fickle; God knew and told Moses and the people of Israel in advance that they would prosper as long as they depended on and obeyed Him, but whenever they would turn from Him and follow other gods or even their own ideas, He would turn away from them.  

Prayer:

3. How might I pray regarding Deuteronomy 31?  

Thank You, LORD God, for loving and providing for me throughout all of the ups and downs of my life. Please, as You promised the Israelites, go ahead of me and deal with the enemies (seen and unseen) that would stand in the way of Your plans for my life. Do that as well for others for whom I am praying. Help us all to be strong and courageous! To not be afraid or panic in the face of the difficulties of life. Help me not to believe the lies, but to expose any deception with Your truth. Help me to reach out and train the next generation of leaders to follow You and Your instructions. May these new leaders courageously teach all the people to fear You and obey the commands written down for us in the Bible. May I develop such a close relationship with You, LORD, that I take it well when You tell me it is time for me to move on or the time of my death. In that case, may all involved (both the group and individuals) be strong and courageous by depending on You. Please give me something to leave behind that points people back to You, bringing You glory, LORD. AMEN   

Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)

4. What action does the LORD want me to take in response to Deuteronomy 31? With the help of God’s Holy Spirit:

• I will spend significant time this week apologizing to God for how I have disrespected Him and disobeyed the commands He has given for my own good.
• I will spend eternity telling the people I was supposed to honor that I am sorry for disrespecting them.
• I will thank Jesus for dying on the cross to cancel my sin-debt and take away my sins, naming specific ones as the Holy Spirit brings them to mind. 
• I will tell someone how they can be set free and adopted by God as well.

Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.