Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 31: God’s word remains with His people

Begin in prayer

Before hearing Moses prepare Israel for a new leader, let us look to the God who goes before His people. Ask Him to teach our family courage that listens to His word and takes His warnings seriously.

Yes, even when I am old and gray-haired, God, don’t forsake me, until I have declared your strength to the next generation, your might to everyone who is to come.

Psalm 71:18

Father in heaven, human leaders grow old and die, while Your purpose and word remain. Help us understand the courage You gave Joshua and the warnings You gave Israel. Show us Christ’s faithful care and teach us to hear Your voice. Please open our eyes as we read Your Word, make us more like Christ, and bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

At one hundred twenty, Moses tells Israel that he will not cross the Jordan, while the LORD and Joshua will go before them. God will overthrow the nations, so the people and Joshua must be strong and courageous. Moses gives the written law to the priests and elders, commanding its public reading every seventh year at the feast of tents. Men, women, children, and foreigners must hear, learn, fear, and obey. God summons Moses and Joshua to the tent and foretells Israel’s idolatry, His anger, and the hiding of His face. Moses must teach a song that will witness against the people when the foretold troubles come. He finishes the law, orders its placement beside the ark as a witness, and summons the leaders to hear the song.

As you read Deuteronomy 31, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God goes before His people and preserves His word to guide and warn them.

Moses’ approaching death will change Israel’s leader without ending the LORD’s presence or promise. God Himself will go ahead to dispossess the nations, with Joshua appointed to bring Israel into its inheritance. The command for courage rests on His pledged presence, never on Joshua’s ability alone. The written law must also outlast Moses through public reading in the seventh year, at the feast of tents during the year of release. The year of release was the seventh year, when debts were cancelled, and the feast of tents was the harvest feast in booths. The whole community must hear, including children who have not known these things, so they learn reverence and obedience. God nevertheless knows that prosperity will lead Israel to despise Him, serve idols, and break the covenant. He will answer with anger, withdrawal, and troubles that expose their abandonment of Him. The taught song and the law to be kept beside the ark will testify that God warned them before the disaster came.

How does Deuteronomy 31 show us that God goes before His people and preserves His word to guide and warn them?

God’s presence gives courage through change.

Moses will die without crossing the Jordan. The LORD will still go before His people, and Joshua must lead them as God commands. Their confidence rests in the One who will never fail His promise.

God’s word must reach every generation.

Every seventh year, the gathered people must hear the law read aloud. Children who have not known it must learn to fear the LORD. Passing on His word belongs to the community’s obedience.

God’s warnings must remain a witness.

God knows that the people will turn to idols after enjoying His gifts. His anger and hidden face will bring them many troubles. The remembered song will testify that their ruin came as He had warned.

Memorise

Yahweh himself is who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you.

Deuteronomy 31:8

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, when change comes, do I forget that I need Jesus?

“He will not fail you nor forsake you,” Moses tells Joshua. Moses’ service is ending, while the LORD goes before His people.

His people's confidence rests in the Savior who died for them and paid the debt of their rebellion. Jesus rose victorious, and His completed sacrifice is enough to secure their acceptance before God.

Turn from sin and trust Him. All who come to Jesus are forgiven. The God whose promise never fails has given His living Son to sinners who trust Him.

Parent's note

Tell your children why Israel could face a change of leader with courage. Include them in hearing God’s word, and explain why the promised presence never makes idolatry or disobedience safe. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for His faithful promise, and bring the feared change in the heart question before Him. Every child can pray, so welcome each one’s request for courage.

Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.”

Hebrews 13:5

Father in heaven, thank You that Your purpose continues when human leaders can go no further. Bring us to trust Christ’s completed sacrifice. Teach those who believe to face change with courage, hear Your warnings, and pass Your word to the next generation. In Jesus' name, Amen.