deuteronomy 31-32

Read Deuteronomy 31-32 at Bible Gateway.

The theme running through Deu 31, Moses’ charge to Joshua, the Levites, and the elders, and Deu 32, the Song of Moses, is the coming apostasy of Israel and the resultant devastation they will face because of it. But it is interesting that at the end of the Song of Moses, the LORD will have compassion on His servants (vs. 36), and will make alive and heal, what He has killed and wounded (vs. 39).

We have seen this same theme in the past few days in Deuteronomy. Curses will come upon Israel if they forsake the LORD and His covenant, and are not careful to obey His commandments and walk in His ways (Deu chapters 27-29), however, the day will come when those who are His will wake up in the land of their exile and return to the LORD, and He will also return to them, and return them to their land, and their future blessings will be greater than their former blessings (Deu chapter 30).

In other words, the evil that comes upon us in this life, even if it is of our own making, is not the final word with God. He will have the final word, and for His people, His final word is restoration, return, blessing, life, healing, rejoicing, and atonement. He is good, He is good, and His love endures!

For further study: Find the LORD’s paragraph divisions for these chapters and mark them in your Bible (the Hebrew Bible in English has them). There is a chiastic structure from Deu 31:7-30, which is revealed by the paragraph divisions. Can you find it? What is the central axis, and why has Scripture put neon flashing lights around that passage?

Finding Messiah: Moses inaugurated Joshua, the son of Nun. We learned that his name in Hebrew is Yeshua. If we were reading Deuteronomy in Hebrew instead of English, we would read:

Then Moshe called Yeshua and said to him in the sight of all Yisrael, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which Yehovah has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it.” Deu 31:7

Israel to this day is still fighting to inherit their land. It is because Yeshua is the one who causes Israel to inherit it. It is Yeshua who causes God’s people to inherit the Promise, whether of land or of the kingdom of heaven or of eternal life!