Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 31:14
And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.
14. And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold ] No parallel passage in Deut. (Deu 1:42, Deu 2:9, Deu 3:2; Deu 3:26, Deu 4:10, Deu 5:28, Deu 9:13, Deu 10:1; cp. Deu 2:3; Deu 2:17) includes behold except Deu 31:16.
thy days, etc.] Lit. thy days for dying draw near. Only here and in J, Gen 47:29, and 1Ki 2:1.
present yourselves ] Lit. take your stand, elsewhere in Deut. of standing up to a foe (Deu 7:24, Deu 9:2, Deu 11:25, Jos 1:5), but in JE as here of taking up one’s position before the presence of God (Exo 19:17; Exo 34:5, Num 11:16; Num 23:3; Num 23:15, Jos 24:1), or before Pharaoh (Exo 8:16; Exo 9:13).
tent of meeting ] Heb. mo‘ed denotes what is fixed, ordained either, as in Deu 31:10 ( q.v.), of time, or, as here, of place, where by appointment God meets with man, see Exo 25:22, virtually therefore tent of revelation (Germ. ‘Offenbarungszelt’); both in E, Exo 33:7, Num 11:16; Num 12:4, and no fewer than 132 times in P; not elsewhere in Deut., in which indeed the Tabernacle is mentioned only here.
that I may give him a charge ] In Deu 3:28 Moses is commanded to charge Joshua.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
14 23. Again Joshua’s Commission, with Introduction to Moses’ Song
The composition is very curious. In Deu 31:14-15 ; Deu 31:23 we have an account of the charge to Joshua, which is in substance not the continuation of the deuteronomic one in Deu 31:1-8, but parallel to that, and is couched in a phraseology resembling that of E (see notes), to which source it is generally assigned. It is interrupted by Deu 31:16-22, which have nothing to do with Joshua, but are an address of the Lord to Moses, and without connection with Deu 31:14-15, except that the motive in both cases is the imminent death of Moses. The language, while containing some phrases of E and some deuteronomic formulas, gives to the latter a peculiar turn, and contains besides elements not elsewhere found in the Hex. and speaks of Israel in the masc. sing. in a fashion confined to itself. The passage forms an introduction to the Song in ch. 32. Its source is uncertain.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The transaction recorded in these verses may be regarded as the solemn inauguration of Joshua to the office to which he had some time before Num 27:22 been called, and his recognition in it by God, which were manifested by his being summoned into the tabernacle with Moses while the Lord appeared in the pillar of cloud (compare Num 11:25; Num 12:5).
Deu 31:16
The future apostasy of the people is announced in the presence of Joshua that the latter might be fully aware of the danger and strive in his day to avert it. This he faithfully did (compare Jos 24:31); but we find him in his own last address to Israel repeating Jos 23:15-16 the self-same prediction and warning.
Deu 31:19
A witness for me against them – i. e., an attestation from their own mouths at once of Gods benefits, their own duties, and their deserts when they should fall away. Being in verse it would be the more easily learned and kept in memory. The use of songs for such didactic purposes was not unknown to the legislators of antiquity. Compare also the advice of Paul, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs Col 3:16.
Deu 31:23
He gave – i. e., the Lord gave.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Deu 31:14
Thy days approach that thou must die.
The approach of death
I. Those who live chiefly for this world try not to think of death, because they would like nothing better than to live on here forever. But the shutting of our eyes to the approach of death does not make him turn away from us, and therefore our wisest and safest course is to prepare for his coming, whether it be near or far off.
II. Death does not occupy that place in the Word of God which it does occupy in that religion of ours which professes to be derived from the Word of God. In the New Testament death is simply treated as an abolished thing. The second coming of Christ is always, in the exhortations of the New Testament, substituted for death. Death, in the eye of faith, is not the end, but the beginning, of all; it is the commencement of the life that knows no ending.
III. If Christ has robbed death of its sting, it does not behove us to look at death as if he had not done so. Let us view the approach of death as something which He means should bring us nearer to Him. We must pray Him, since the days approach in which we must die, that death may not find us unprepared. And as we look forward to the future we must commit our way and ourselves into His keeping. (F. E. Paget.)
Nearing the end
There is no day fixed; it is an approach that is spoken of. The word may therefore be addressed to every man well advanced in life. There is a period at which the road becomes a slope downwards, and at the foot of the hill is the last earthly resting place. This is the way of God. He tells them that the end is approaching. Now and again He seems to cut them off suddenly as with an unexpected stroke; yet perhaps the suddenness is in appearance rather than in reality. To be born is to have notice to quit; to live is to die. Every sin takes out of us some portion of life; we cannot have an evil thought without the quantity of life within us being diminished. We cannot think a noble thought, or find a free way in our hearts for a sublime impulse, without increasing the sum total of our life–without beginning our immortality. Thus is a man stronger after prayer than before; thus does every sweet and holy hymn send a thrill of gladness through the soul that sings. Let every man take notice that he must die. From a literary point of view that is a pitiful commonplace; but from the point of view of actual experience and all the issues of death it is a sublime and an appalling announcement. But Moses must die. We have never associated the idea of death with Moses. He has always been so strong: the camp never halted because of his ill health; he was always at the head; his voice was clear and mellow; his eye was bright and darting, and yet so genial–as if it could not conceal the smile that was in his heart. Yet the strongest trees yield to silent time; the mightiest strength bows down itself in weakness and trouble: Samson dies, Hercules becomes but a figure in ancient history; there is no man who abideth forever. Now that Moses is walking up the mountain, we cannot but think of the life-long hardship he has endured. Read the history of his association with Israel, and say if there is one Thank you in all the tumultuous story. Does one man speak out of the host and say, In the name of Israel I give thee thanks? We do not know some men until we see them wandering away from us. What a strain there was also upon the religious side of his nature! He had no recreation: the bow was never unbent; he was always being called up to hear the Lord communicate some new law, some new charge or address. To his veneration a continual appeal was addressed. What wonder if his face wore the aspect of solemnity? What wonder if his eye was alight with the very splendours he had beheld? Then is Moses not to see Canaan? Moses would not care now to see any land flowing with milk and honey. He shall see the upper Canaan–the happy land where the flowers never wither, where the summer is guaranteed to last eternally. Thus God educates men. Moses goes upon the mountain to die. It is well; such a man ought to die upon a mountain. The scene is full of symbolism; it is quick with spiritual suggestiveness. Men may die upon mountains if they will; or men may perish in dark valleys if they like. To die upon the mountain is to die into heaven. The place of our death, as to its significance and honour, will be determined by the life we lead. We die just as we live, and, so to say, where we live. Moses lived a mountain life: he was a highlander; he lived on the hills, and on the hills he died. May it not be so with us? By well-done duty, by well-endured affliction, by well-tested patience, by complete self-surrender, by continual imitation and following of Christ, we may die on some lofty hill, cool with dew or bright with sunshine, the point nearest to the skies. To die at such an elevation is to begin to live. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
In the tabernacle; either properly so called, for though the priests only might ordinarily enter there, yet others might go in upon a call and command from God, which here they had; or in the court of the tabernacle, at the door of which God stood in the cloudy pillar, Deu 31:15, the court coming here under the name of the tabernacle, as elsewhere it comes under the name of the temple.
That I may give him a charge, immediately from myself, for his greater encouragement, and to gain him more authority with the people.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14, 15. the Lord said unto Moses, .. .call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of thecongregationJoshua had been publicly designated to the officeof commander by Moses [Num 27:22;Num 27:23]; and God was pleased toconfirm his appointment by the visible symbols of His presence andapproval. As none but the priests were privileged to enter thesanctuary, it is probable that this significant manifestation of thecloudy pillar was made while the leaders stood at the door of thetabernacle.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Lord said unto Moses,…. Either at the same time, or quickly after; rather, perhaps, the same day:
behold, thy days approach that thou must die; which does not necessarily imply that he had some days to live, though but few; but that the time of his death drew nigh, his last moments were approaching; the time of his death being, as every man’s is, fixed by the Lord, with whom is the number of his years, months, days, and moments, beyond which he cannot pass, Job 14:5;
call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge; this looks as if the people had been dismissed after the above exhortations given; and now Joshua was called, and Moses with him, to have a charge given him:
and Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation; before the Lord. Aben Ezra says, Moses went from the camp of Israel where he was, to the camp of the Shechinah; the Jews pretend to know in what form they walked thither. Moses, they say a, went on the left hand of Joshua; and they went to the tabernacle, and the pillar of cloud descended and separated between them.
a Debarim Rabba, sect. 9. fol. 244. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
After handing over the office to Joshua, and the law to the priests and elders, Moses was called by the Lord to come to the tabernacle with Joshua, to command him ( ), i.e., to appoint him, confirm him in his office. To this end the Lord appeared in the tabernacle (Deu 31:15), in a pillar of cloud, which remained standing before it, as in Num 12:5 (see the exposition of Num 11:25). But before appointing Joshua, He announced to Moses that after his death the nation would go a whoring after other gods, and would break the covenant, for which it would be visited with severe afflictions, and directed him to write an ode and teach it to the children of Israel, that when the apostasy should take place, and punishment from God be felt in consequence, it might speak as a witness against the people, as it would not vanish from their memory. The Lord communicated this commission to Moses in the presence of Joshua, that he also might hear from the mouth of God that the Lord foreknew the future apostasy of the people, and yet nevertheless would bring them into the promised land. In this there was also implied an admonition to Joshua, not only to take care that the Israelites learned the ode and kept it in their memories, but also to strive with all his might to prevent the apostasy, so long as he was leader of Israel; which Joshua did most faithfully to the very end of his life (vid., Josh 23 and 24). – The announcement of the falling away of the Israelites from the Lord into idolatry, and the burning of the wrath of God in consequence (Deu 31:16-18), serves as a basis for the command in Deu 31:19. In this announcement the different points are simply linked together with “ and,” whereas in their actual signification they are subordinate to one another: When thou shalt lie with thy fathers, and the people shall rise up, and go a whoring after other gods: My anger will burn against them, etc. , to rise up, to prepare, serves to bring out distinctly the course which the thing would take. The expression, “ foreign gods of the land,” indicates that in the land which Jehovah gave His people, He (Jehovah) alone was God and Lord, and that He alone was to be worshipped there. is in apposition to , “ whither thou comest, in the midst of it.” The punishment announced in Deu 31:17 corresponds most closely to the sin of the nation. For going a whoring after strange gods, the anger of the Lord would burn against them; for forsaking Him, He would forsake them; and for breaking His covenant, He would hide His face from them, i.e., withdraw His favour from them, so that they would be destroyed. , it (the nation) will be for devouring, i.e., will be devoured or destroyed (see Ewald, 237, c.; and on in this sense, see Deu 7:16, and Num 14:9). “ And many evils and troubles will befall it; and it will say in that day, Do not these evils befall me, because my God is not in the midst of me? ” When the evils and troubles broke in upon the nation, the people would inquire the cause, and would find it in the fact that they were forsaken by their God; but the Lord (“but I” in Deu 31:18 forms the antithesis to “they” in Deu 31:17) would still hide His face, namely, because simply missing God is not true repentance.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Apostasy Foretold. | B. C. 1451. |
14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation. 15 And the LORD appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle. 16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. 17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? 18 And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods. 19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. 20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant. 21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.
Here, I. Moses and Joshua are summoned to attend the divine majesty at the door of the tabernacle, v. 14. Moses is told again that he must shortly die; even those that are most ready and willing to die have need to be often reminded of the approach of death. In consideration of this, he must come himself to meet God; for whatever improves our communion with God furthers our preparation for death. He must also bring Joshua with him to be presented to God for a successor, and to receive his commission and charge. Moses readily obeys the summons, for he was not one of those that look with an evil eye upon their successors, but, on the contrary, rejoiced in him.
II. God graciously gives them the meeting: He appeared in the tabernacle (as the shechinah used to appear) in a pillar of a cloud, v. 15. This is the only time in all this book that we read of the glory of God appearing, whereas we often read of it in the three foregoing books, which perhaps signifies that in the latter days, under the evangelical law, such visible appearances as these of the divine glory are not to be expected, but we must take heed to the more sure word of prophecy.
III. He tells Moses that, after his death, the covenant which he had taken so much pains to make between Israel and their God would certainly be broken. 1. That Israel would forsake God, v. 16. And we may be sure that if the covenant between God and man be broken the blame must lie on man, it is he that breaks it; we have often observed it, That God never leaves any till they first leave him. Worshipping the gods of the Canaanites (who had been the natives, but henceforward were to be looked upon as the strangers of that land) would undoubtedly be counted a deserting of God, and, like adultery, a violation of the covenant. Thus still those are revolters from Christ, and will be so adjudged, who either make a god of their money by reigning covetousness or a god of their belly by reigning sensuality. Those that turn to other gods (v. 18) forsake their own mercies. This apostasy of theirs is foretold to be the effect of their prosperity (v. 20): They shall have eaten and filled themselves; this is all they will aim at in eating, to gratify their own appetites, and then they will wax fat, grow secure and sensual; their security will take off their dread of God and his judgments; and their sensuality will incline them to the idolatries of the heathen, which made provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts of it. Note, God has a clear and infallible foresight of all the wickedness of the wicked, and has often covenanted with those who he knew would deal very treacherously (Isa. xlviii. 8), and conferred many favours on those who he knew would deal very ungratefully. 2. That then God would forsake Israel; and justly does he cast those off who had so unjustly cast him off (v. 17): My anger shall be kindled against them, and I will forsake them. His providence would forsake them, no longer to protect and prosper them, and then they would become a prey to all their neighbours. His spirit and grace would forsake them, no longer to teach and guide them, and then they would be more and more bigoted, besotted, and hardened in their idolatries. Thus many evils and troubles would befal them. (Deu 31:17; Deu 31:21), which would be such manifest indications of God’s displeasure against them that they themselves would be constrained to own it: Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us? Those that have sinned away their God will find that thereby they pull all mischiefs upon their own heads. But that which completed their misery was that God would hide his face from them in that day, that day of their trouble and distress, v. 18. Whatever outward troubles we are in, if we have but the light of God’s countenance, we may be easy. But, if God hide his face from us and our prayers, we are undone.
IV. He directs Moses to deliver them a song, in the composing of which he should be divinely inspired, and which should remain a standing testimony for God as faithful to them in giving them warning, and against them as persons false to themselves in not taking the warning, v. 19. The written word in general, as well as this song in particular, is a witness for God against all those that break covenant with him. It shall be for a testimony, Matt. xxiv. 14. The wisdom of man has devised many ways of conveying the knowledge of good and evil, by laws, histories, prophecies, proverbs, and, among the rest, by songs; each has its advantages. And the wisdom of God has in the scripture made use of them all, that ignorant and careless men might be left inexcusable. 1. This song, if rightly improved, might be a means to prevent their apostasy; for in the inditing of it God had an eye to their present imagination, now, before they were brought into the land of promise, v. 21. God knew very well that there were in their hearts such gross conceits of the deity, and such inclinations of idolatry, that they would be tinder to the sparks of that temptation; and therefore in this song he gives them warning of their danger that way. Note, The word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of men’s hearts, and meets with them strangely by its reproofs and corrections, Heb. iv. 12. Compare 1 Cor. xiv. 25. Ministers who preach the word know not the imaginations men go about, but God, whose word it is, knows perfectly. 2. If this song did not prevent their apostasy, yet it might help to bring them to repentance, and to recover them from their apostasy. When their troubles come upon them, this song shall not be forgotten, but may serve as a glass to show them their own faces, that they may humble themselves, and return to him from whom they have revolted. Note, Those for whom God has mercy in store he may leave to fall, yet he will provide means for their recovery. Medicines are prepared before-hand for their cure.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 14, 15:
Jehovah summoned Moses and Joshua to the Tabernacle, for a final word to Moses and a charge to Joshua. This was likely a private meeting, with only Moses and Joshua present to hear Jehovah’s charge.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
14. And the Lord said unto Moses. Joshua is now substituted in the place of Moses by a solemn ceremony, not only that he may be held in greater reverence by men, but also that he may be presented before God, and thus may acknowledge that he is dedicated to His service; for his being brought before the door of the tabernacle was a kind of consecration; and God also declares that He will give him a charge, which is equivalent to saying that He will instruct him in the performance of his duties. The appearance also of the glory of God in the cloud, was not less effectual for encouraging himself personally, than for giving public distinction to his high office. For he would never have been recognized as the successor of Moses, unless this visible approbation of God had fastened the yoke upon the people.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
3. JOSHUA COMMISSIONED (Deu. 31:14-23)
a. GOD CONFERS WITH MOSES AND JOSHUA (Deu. 31:14-15)
14 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourself in the tent of meeting, that I may give him a charge, And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. 15 And Jehovah appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud: and the pillar of cloud stood over the door of the Tent.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 31:14, 15
542.
What tent is the tent of meeting? Cf. Exo. 40:7, Num. 11:16; Num. 12:4.
543.
Do we have a tent of meeting today? i.e., a place where Jehovah has promised to meet us?
AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 31:14, 15
14 And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, your days are nearing when you must die. Call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may give him his charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tent of meeting.
15 And the Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud; and the pillar of cloud stood over the door of the tent.
COMMENT 31:14, 15
The tent of meeting is not to be confused with the tabernacle. Compare Exo. 33:7-11, and note that Joshua is involved in that conference also. The tent of meeting (Heb. eth baahel) is there referred to before the Tabernacle (Heb. eth hammishcan) was erected (Exo. 40:17). Nor should it be confused with Moses own abode. Moses went to it without the camp, and returned again. Rather, it was a simple place of revelation and of the meeting of the people with Jehovah. See also Num. 11:16; Num. 12:4.
Usually, the distinction between the two tents is quite apparent from the context. It should be noted, however, that both are referred to as the tent of meeting or the Tent: with reference to the tabernacle in such passages as Exo. 39:32-33; The field office of Moses in such scriptures as Exo. 33:7.
Many commentators hold, however, that the phrase tent of meeting consistently refers only to the tabernacle proper after that structure was erectedthat is, it superseeded or replaced it, and took on its predecessors name. It could be so in the present case; but normally none but the priests were privileged to enter the sanctuary, and Moses and Joshua presented themselves in the tent (Deu. 31:14).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Deu. 31:14-23. JOSHUA IS APPOINTED BY JEHOVAH TO MOSES PLACE.
(14) Thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves.What Moses had already done before Israel (Deu. 31:1-8) is now ratified by Jehovah to Joshua and Moses.
Moses and Joshua went.We may compare this scene with that which is described in Num. 20:25-28, when Aaron and Eleazar went up to Mount Hor, in order that the priesthood might be transferred from one to the other. Elijah and Elisha, in like manner, went together over Jordan, when Elijah was about to depart (2 Kings 2). For the last time it is recorded here that Jehovah met Moses face to face in the tabernacle. Their next meeting was on Mount Nebo, and the next within the veil !
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Call Joshua, that I may give him a charge Moses and Joshua at the direction of Jehovah present themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that Joshua may be solemnly installed in the responsible position he is to occupy after the death of the great leader. Jehovah appears in the pillar of cloud which stood before the door of the tabernacle. At this solemn moment Moses is told that after his death the nation will abandon Jehovah for the gods of the heathen, and then the terrible retribution that has been threatened will come upon them.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Moses’ Final Charge From Yahweh ( Deu 31:14-23 ).
God now called Moses and Joshua into the Tent of Meeting, and when they had entered, the cloud stood over the door of the Tent of Meeting in order to demonstrate that they were in conference, and to prevent interruption by the priests. Both Moses and Joshua as servants of Yahweh clearly had a unique right of access.
In a book where the emphasis was on the ‘place’ which Yahweh would choose where the people met, this one and only mention of the Tent of Meeting must be seen as significant. It is bringing out the difference at this point between Moses and Joshua on the one hand, and the priests and the people on the other. At this point Moses and Joshua alone went into the Tent of Meeting itself, and went behind the cloud as they had at Sinai, while the remainder stayed away. The priest could minister in the tent but Yahweh owned it. They could only enter with His permission.
And in this private interview a totally different picture was given of the situation that was being presented. In the first half of the chapter all had been confidence and assurance and certainty and encouragement. But in this second half, while the same general pattern is followed as in Deu 31:1-13, a reference being first made concerning Israel as a whole (Deu 31:16-21, contrast Deu 31:1-6), then concerning Joshua (Deu 31:23, compare Deu 31:7-8), then a giving of the Instruction to the priests, which was to include the elders (Deu 31:24-26 with Deu 31:28, compare Deu 31:9), the emphasis is totally different. It is pessimistic rather than optimistic. The first half was full of confidence and expectancy. This second half is filled with doubt and mystery. We can almost again hear the words of Moses, ‘the secret things belong to Yahweh our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us (Israel) and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this Instruction (Deu 29:29).’ While the children of Israel had received what Yahweh had given them, His secrets were only being revealed to Moses and Joshua.
Compare for this sudden switch in mood Deu 28:1-14 with Deu 28:15-68; and Deu 29:1-21 with Deu 29:22-28, the latter leading up into the saying in Deu 29:29.
And the giving of these secrets was then followed by the giving of the book of the law to the priests and a communication to the elders (Deu 29:24-29, contrast Deu 29:9-13), while stressing to both the untrustworthiness of, and stiffnecked attitude of the people, with regard to the covenant. Among other things it was an attempt to remind them that they should not be complacent.
So in this chapter a message of hope is deliberately combined with a communication of doubt, as previously in the book. Compare Deu 4:23-31; Deuteronomy 28 all; Deu 29:1-28; Deu 30:1. Let them go forward confidently but let them beware and recognise what they were in their own hearts.
He begins Deu 31:14-29 by informing Moses that his death is approaching, and called on him to bring Joshua in with him into the Tent of Meeting. And there He informed him prophetically in no uncertain terms of what Israel’s future would be like. His emphasis was on the fact that it was a future that would result in failure. And the purpose for emphasising this was so that he and Joshua (ye) might write a song, which would be available to speak to Israel when that time of failure came. The song was as given in Deu 31:30. This was a main purpose of this secret meeting, the need to write an inspired song to meet future emergencies.
Yahweh then personally called on Joshua, and repeating Moses’ previous assurance, confirmed his appointment as the new leader, and encouraged him with the certainty of His help. At least that part of their future was secure.
Analysis using the words of Moses:
a And Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, your days approach that you must die. Call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may give him a charge.” (Deu 31:14 a).
b And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tent of meeting, and Yahweh appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the door of the Tent (Deu 31:14-15).
c And Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers, and this people will rise up, and play the prostitute after the foreign gods of the land, to which they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them” (Deu 31:16).
d “Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them (Deu 31:17 a).
e And I will hide my face from them, and they will be devoured, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ ” (Deu 31:17).
e And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evil which they will have wrought, in that they are turned to other gods” (Deu 31:18).
d “Now therefore write you this song for yourselves, and teach you it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel” (Deu 31:19).
c “For when I shall have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxed fat; then will they turn to other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant” (Deu 31:20).
b “And it shall come about, when many evils and troubles are come on them, that this song will testify before them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they frame this day, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.” So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel (Deu 31:21-22).
a And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, “Be strong and of good courage; for you will bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore unto them: and I will be with you” (Deu 31:23).
Note that in ‘a’ Moses is to call Joshua and they are to present themselves in the Tent of Meeting so that Joshua can be given a charge, and in the parallel he gave Joshua the charge and told him to be strong and of good courage, for he would bring the children of Israel into the land and Yahweh would be with him. In ‘b’ they went and presented themselves in the Tent of Meeting and Yahweh appeared in the pillar of cloud and it stood over the door of the Tent. (The cloud is the witness to the covenant and His purpose was twofold, firstly to give Joshua a charge and secondly to tell Moses to write a song which would be a witness against the failure of the people to keep the covenant). And in the parallel when trouble comes on them the song will testify against them as a witness. In ‘c’ the people will rise up and play the prostitute after foreign gods and will forsake Yahweh, and break His covenant which He has made with them, and in the parallel they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise Yahweh, and break His covenant. In ‘d’ then His anger will be kindled against them in that day, and He will forsake them, and in the parallel the song which is a charge that they have forsaken Him is to be written as a witness against the children of Israel. In ‘e’ He ‘will hide His face from them’, and many ‘evils’ and troubles will come on them and they will realise that God is not among them, and in the parallel He ‘will hide His face from them’ because of the ‘evil’ that they have wrought in turning to other gods. Note also the repetition in the first statement and the parallel of ‘in that day’.
We should notice that this is the third charge to ‘be strong and of good courage’. Compare Deu 31:6 and Deu 31:7 for the other two. It is giving ‘complete’ assurance. Furthermore the song is referred to four times in this passage, once to be written (Deu 31:19), twice to be a twofold witness against them (Deu 31:19; Deu 31:21), and once in the writing (Deu 31:22). It is central to their purpose in being there, and to the passage.
Deu 31:14
‘ And Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, your (thy) days approach that you must die. Call Joshua, and present yourselves (ye both) in the tent of meeting, that I may give him a charge.” And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tent of meeting.
God first confirmed that Moses must die. He must therefore make preparation. So He called on him to bring Joshua with him into the Tent of Meeting, so that He may ‘give him a charge’. Though he must die for His failure at Meribah, Moses was not rejected. He was still Yahweh’s supreme representative. The Tent was the place of the covenant, and he was safely within the covenant, as Joshua would be as well. And here he must pass on his responsibilities to his successor.
Deu 31:15
‘ And Yahweh appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the door of the Tent.’
And there, alone with them in the Tent, Yahweh appeared in a pillar of cloud, the cloud by which He had led Israel in the way, when also they had not believed (Deu 1:33). It was the same cloud that had hidden Yahweh when He proclaimed the covenant (Deu 5:22), and into which Moses and Joshua had ascended previously as they went up alone and left the children of Israel behind (Exo 24:13; Exo 24:15). Now as then there was again a separating between them and the whole of Israel. To them were to be revealed the secret things.
We should note that the coming of the cloud was in complete contrast to the writing of the song. The cloud was the witness that He was there as the God of the covenant, that Yahweh was with them and with His people. The song would be a witness that at come stage they would break the covenant, and was in order to be ready for that day.
This is the first mention in Deuteronomy of the Tent of Meeting, although there can be little doubt that it was around the Tent that Israel had gathered to hear the words of Moses, in ‘the place’ at that time chosen by Yahweh which the Tent proclaimed. But the people could not enter the Tent. It was unknown territory to them and had thus been ignored in the people’s covenant, being seen rather as ‘the place’. It is mentioned here to confirm its status as the place where Yahweh would be met with, and Yahweh manifested His presence in the Tent, by means of the familiar pillar of cloud which hovered over the door of the Tent (Exo 13:21-22; Exo 33:9-10; Num 12:5; Num 14:14) preventing access. And there He spoke first with Moses.
Deu 31:16
‘ And Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers, and this people will rise up, and play the prostitute after the foreign gods of the land, to which they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.” ’
Yahweh was under no illusions about Israel. Even though they would be given every opportunity to serve Him faithfully, their future was known to Him. He knew that once Moses ‘slept with his fathers’ they would be unfaithful and turn to the gods of the land, and would forsake Him and be unfaithful to the covenant which He had made with them. It had already happened both at Sinai and at Baal-peor. It would not happen immediately while Joshua was around, but it would certainly happen. And He now made this known to Moses so that he would, with Joshua’s help, write the song that could be a blessing to Israel in the future.
It is here made clear to us that God is sovereign over the whole future. Alone in the Tent He can reveal what that future holds, because from that future He intends to finally establish His purposes. But He makes clear that it will not be achieved easily. Outside the Tent was optimism, and entreaty and encouragement, as they looked forward to the short term, the occupation of Canaan. Inside it was the truth as things would be in the longer term. Outside men were called on to choose freely. Inside the inexorable purposes of God are unfolded, the result of the extremes of man’s sinfulness.
“Play the prostitute.” A sign of unfaithfulness and wantonness. Compare Exo 34:15-16; Lev 17:7; Lev 20:5; Num 15:39; Jdg 2:17; Jdg 8:27; Jdg 8:33; etc. It indicates reckless unfaithfulness to a marriage covenant, a covenant which was very similar to Yahweh’s covenant of love with Israel. Cult prostitution would have been well known to Israel from connections with Canaanite religion in parts of Egypt, where Baal was clearly worshipped.
“Foreign gods of the land.” The point here was that although they were worshipped in the land they were foreign to it and should not be there. For this was Yahweh’s land, separated to Him and holy.
“Break my covenant.” Compare Gen 17:14; Lev 26:15; Lev 26:44).
Deu 31:17
“ Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they will be devoured, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ ”
The result will be that His anger will be kindled against them, and He will forsake them too. He will hide His face from them and the result will be that they will be at the mercy of the nations and will be ‘devoured’. Many evils and troubles will come on them through invasion and servitude because they have deserted Him. And this will eventually waken them up and will turn their thoughts back to God. The cursings would continue to apply until they awoke a gradual stirring in their hearts.
Deu 31:18
“ And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evil which they will have wrought, in that they are turned to other gods.”
For in that day He would continue to hide His face from them because of all their evil doings and their unfaithfulness. Awareness of Him was not in itself enough. There must be a turning away from other gods. There must be true repentance.
Deu 31:19
“ Now therefore write you (ye) this song for you (ye), and teach you (thou) it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.”
The purpose in bringing all this out is now stated. Moses as a prophet, together with Joshua (this serves to confirm that Joshua was involved in much of what Moses ‘wrote’), had to prepare a prophetic message that Israel would be able to turn to at that time, which would speak to their situation. Moses had written God’s Instruction for Israel. That was to be taught to the children that they may be a part of the covenant and know Yahweh’s will. But now, along with Joshua, he was to write a song. This song was also to be taught to the children, but it was to be of a different nature. It was in fact very much a Complaint Document, a complaint similar to a typical complaint against a vassal written by his overlord in response to a breach of treaty, examples of which are known. It is a call for their restoration having breached the treaty. Such ‘Complaint’ documents would be something that would have been well known to Moses from Egypt.
With the knowledge that Moses had of what the future held as revealed in Deu 4:23-31; Deuteronomy 28 all; Deu 29:22-29; Deu 30:1, we should not be surprised that he would consider the need to prepare for it. And the song format would be a means of doing so without being itself a disillusionment to the people.
Deu 31:20
“ For when I shall have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxed fat; then will they turn to other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant.”
To Moses God outlined what He knew would eventually happen. Whether this was private communication to Moses, or whether Joshua was included, we are not told. Perhaps it was better for Joshua not to know to the fullest extent what was to happen. His part may simply have been to again later record the words of Moses. (He was mainly there for a different purpose).
The news was not good. Having been brought into the land in accordance with Yahweh’s oath to their fathers (it was because of this oath that He was bringing them in at all), into the land flowing with milk and honey, instead of being grateful and remaining faithful to Him for ever, they will lapse. When they have ‘eaten and filled themselves, and waxed fat; then will they turn to other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant.’ Note the sequence. They would first fill themselves with all the good things that He had given them, and then they would turn to other gods and serve them. Having ‘milked’ Yahweh, they would then desert Him. And yet such was His goodness that He would still persevere with them.
Note the contrast here. Yahweh had sworn the oath to their forefathers, and was faithful to His promises. They had sworn to obey the covenant, but would be unfaithful to it.
Deu 31:21
“ And it shall come about, when many evils and troubles are come on them, that this song will testify before them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they frame this day, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.”
As a result of their desertion many evils and troubles would come on them, and it was then that they would turn to the Song that Moses must now write, for it would be a witness to them, both of their infidelity and of God’s continual mercy. Moses need not worry. It would not be forgotten by them. Their seed would sing it continually until one day its significance dawned on them. Meanwhile Yahweh wanted Moses to know that He was perfectly aware of how these people were thinking even before He has brought them into the land. Note again the stress on ‘which I swore’. That is in fact the reason why He was still going to bring them into the land.
Deu 31:22
‘ So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.’
And so Moses did what Yahweh had said, and wrote the song that Yahweh had commanded, and taught it to the children of Israel. This verse is a summary verse simply put in to let us know that Moses will be obedient. Then the passage goes on with the present circumstances. It is typical of ancient literature.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Lord’s Charge to Moses and to the Levites
v. 14. And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die. Call Joshua, and present yourselves in the Tabernacle of the Congregation that I may give him a charge, v. 15. And the Lord appeared in the Tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud, v. 16. And the Lord said unto Moses, v. 17. Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, v. 18. And I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evils, v. 19. Now, therefore, write ye, v. 20. For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat, v. 21. And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness, v. 22. Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, v. 23. And He, v. 24. And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this Law in a book until they were finished, v. 25. that Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the Covenant of the Lord, v. 26. Take this book of the Law, v. 27. For I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck, v. 28. Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, v. 29. for I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, v. 30. And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
DISCOURSE: 229
THE APPROACH OF DEATH
Deu 31:14. And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die.
TO man there is an appointed time upon earth. But the precise measure of our days is in mercy hid from us. On some occasions, however, God has been pleased to make it known, and to declare with precision the near approach of death, that so the persons whose fate was made known might employ their remaining hours in perfecting the work which he had given them to do.
The intimation here given to Moses, we shall consider,
I.
As addressed to Moses in particular
In this view, it comes with peculiar weight to those churches which have been long under the superintendence of an aged minister.
Moses had long watched over Israel
[For the sake of Israel he had renounced all that the world could give him, and subjected himself to many trials, and exposed himself to many dangers: He had refused to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter, and abandoned all the pleasures and honours of a court; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; and esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. From a regard for them, he had braved all the wrath of Pharaoh in his most infuriated state; and had led them forth, unarmed and unprovided, in the hope of bringing them to a land flowing with milk and honey. As Gods appointed instrument, he had made known to them the Trill of God; and had shewn them, by a great variety of ordinances, the means which God had provided for their acceptance with him. He had for the space of forty years together fed them with bread from heaven and with water out of the stony rock. Times without number had he interceded for them, when if his hands had hanged down, and his heart had fainted, their ruin would inevitably have ensued. In a word, he had lived but for them. In all that space of time, not a day had occurred which he had not occupied in their service: and could he but see them happy, nothing that he could forego, nothing that he could do, nothing that he could suffer, was regarded by him as worthy of a thought; so entirely were his interests and happiness bound up in theirs.]
But now his care over them must cease
[God had determined that he should not go over Jordan [Note: ver. 2.]. This was in part the punishment of his sin at Meribah, when, instead of sanctifying the Lord in the eyes of all Israel by a believing expectation of water from the rock in answer to his word, he struck the rock, yea, struck it twice, with an unhallowed irritation of mind [Note: See Num 20:7-12.]. But, in part, this exclusion was intended to shadow forth the nature of that dispensation; and to shew, that one violation of the law was sufficient to exclude a soul from Canaan; and that all who would obtain an entrance into the promised land, must turn from Moses to Joshua (the Lord Jesus Christ), who alone can save any child of man.
Moses was now a hundred and twenty years of age: but he was still, as far as natural strength was required, as competent as ever to watch over the people, and to discharge his duty to them. But his time was come; and he must transfer his office to another. Happily for him, and for all Israel, there was a Joshua ready to fill his place; and God had ordained him to occupy the vacant post, and to take on him the oversight of this bereaved people. And could we but see that the charge we vacate would be so supplied, verily, a summons into the eternal world would be a source of unqualified joy. The most painful thought in the separation of aged ministers from their people is, that they know not on whom the care of them shall devolve, whether on one who will watch for their souls, or on one, who, content with a mere routine of duties, will leave them to be scattered by every one that shall choose to invade the fold.
However this be, a time of separation must come: the pastor who has fed you more than forty years must be taken from you: and how soon, who can tell? It may be, yea, it is highly probable, that this year will be his last. Certain it is, that his days approach, and very rapidly too, when he must die; and when the connexion that has subsisted between you and him must for ever cease. To God he must give account of his ministry among you; as must all of you, also, in due season, of the improvement made of it. And it is an awful thought, that your blood will be required at his hand, as will all his labours for your good be required at yours. The Lord grant, that when we shall meet around the judgment-seat of Christ, we may all give up our account with joy, and not with grief!]
But let us turn from the particular instance, and consider the intimation,
II.
As applicable to every child of man
It is true respecting every child of man: for we no sooner begin to breathe than we begin to die: and the life, even of the longest liver, is but as a span long. Our time passeth away like a shadow: and death, to whomsoever it may come, involves in it,
1.
A dissolution of all earthly ties
[The husband and wife, how long soever they may have been bound together in love, and how averse soever they may be to separate, must be rent asunder; and, whilst one is taken to his long home, the other must be left to bewail his sad bereavement with unavailing sorrow. Perhaps there was a growing family, that needed their united care, and that must be deprived of innumerable blessings, which, according to the course of nature, they were entitled to expect. But the hand of death cannot be arrested by the cries of parental anxiety or of filial love: it seizes with irresistible force its destined objects; and transmits them to Him whose commission it has executed, and whose will it has fulfilled. Methinks it were well for those who stand in any one of these relations, to bear in mind how soon they may be bereaved, and how speedily what has been only committed to them as a loan, may be demanded at their hands.]
2.
A termination of all earthly labours
[We may have many plans, either in hand or in prospect; but death, the instant it arrives, puts an end to all We may have even formed purposes in relation to our souls! we may have determined that we will, ere long, abandon some evil habits in which we have lived, or fulfil some duties which we have hitherto neglected. We may have thought, that to repent us of our sins, and to seek for mercy through Christ, and to give all diligence to the concerns of our souls, was the path which true wisdom dictated; and that we would speedily commence that salutary course. But death, having once received its commission to transmit us to the presence of our God, can take no cognizance of any good intentions: it executes its office without favour to any; and, in the instant that he inflicts the stroke, his victim, whoever he may be, falls; his breath goeth forth, and he returneth to his earth; and in that very day all his thoughts perish [Note: Psa 146:4.].]
3.
A fixing of our eternal doom
[Whatever be the state of our souls in the instant of death, that it will continue to all eternity: As the tree falleth, so it must lie. If we have lived a life of penitence and faith, and devoted ourselves truly unto God, it is well: death will be to us only like felling asleep in the bosom of our Lord. But, if we have neglected these great concerns, or not so far prosecuted them as to have found favour with God, death will be to us only like the opening of our prison-doors, in order to the execution of eternal vengeance on our souls. Prepared or unprepared, we must go into the presence of our God, and receive at his hands our eternal doom. Oh, fearful thought! But so it must be; and, the instant that the soul is separated from the body, it will be transmitted either to the paradise of God, or to the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone. The day of judgment will make no difference, except that the body will then be made to participate the portion of the soul: and the righteousness of God, in the sentence awarded, will be displayed to the admiration of the whole assembled universe.]
Let this subject be improved by us
1.
For the humbling of our souls in reference to the past
[We have known the uncertainty of life; and have seen, in the mortality of those around us, the approach of death: but how marvellous is it, that these sights should have produced such little effect upon our souls! Verily, if we did not know the insensibility of man under circumstances of such infinite moment, we should scarcely be able to credit what both our observation and experience so fully attest.]
2.
For the quickening of our souls in reference to the future
[That the day of death approaches we are sure: at what precise distance it is, we know not. But should not this thought stimulate us to improve our every remaining hour? Yes, verily: we should turn unto God without delay; and apply our hearts to wisdom with all diligence: and so watch for the coming of our Lord, that, at whatever hour it may be, we may be found ready. What I say therefore to one, I say unto all, Watch.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Moses is again admonished of his death. Reader! it is a blessed thing, to be as the Apostle, who died daily. Is it your case? How stands your heart affected to death! If in JESUS, surely you know somewhat of this spirit. 1Co 15:31 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Nearing the End
Deu 31:14
There is no day fixed: it is an “approach” that is spoken of. The word may, therefore, be addressed to every man well-advanced in life. There is a period at which the road becomes a slope downwards, and at the foot of the hill is the last earthly resting-place. This is the way of God. He tells them that the end is “approaching.” Now and again he seems to cut them off suddenly as with an unexpected stroke; yet perhaps the suddenness is in appearance rather than in reality. To be born is to have notice to quit; to live is to die. If men speak of “suddenness,” it is because they have not interpreted the circumstances which have constituted their surroundings: “We all do fade as a leaf.” Every sin takes out of us some portion of life; we cannot have an evil thought without the quantity of life within us being diminished. We cannot think a noble thought, or find a free way in our hearts for a sublime impulse, without increasing the sum-total of our life without beginning our immortality. Thus is a man stronger after prayer than before; thus does every sweet and holy hymn send a thrill of gladness through the soul that sings. Let every man take notice that he must die. From a literary point of view that is a pitiful commonplace; but from the point of view of actual experience and all the issues of death it is a sublime and an appalling announcement. But Moses must die. We have never associated the idea of death with Moses. He has always been so strong: the camp never halted because of his ill-health; he was always at the head; his voice was clear and mellow; his eye was bright and darting, and yet so genial as if it could not conceal the smile that was in his heart. His has been the strong arm and the uplifted hand and the commanding tone, and to associate death with such strength was to be guilty of irony and to perpetrate an almost palpable contradiction. Yet the strongest trees yield to silent time; the mightiest strength bows down itself in weakness and trouble: Samson dies, Hercules becomes but a figure in ancient history; there is no man who abideth for ever. It is becoming, therefore, under an announcement of this kind, that we should revert to the beginning with which we have become so familiar. The woman of the Hebrews hides her little three months’ child in a basket of bulrushes, and trusts him to the river. How weak the child! “The babe wept.” Did he ever weep again? Were those his first and final tears? He never looked like a weeping man; but men who do not look so often weep more than those whose lives are given up to chronic sentimentalism: “Jesus wept.” Compare the child upon the river with the hundred-and-twenty-year-old man, going up the hill never to come down again. He walks up steadily. If he was a weak man, how seldom he showed his weakness! he had a gift of concealing infirmity, so much so that only now and again, in some flashing outbreak of temper, do we find that he was a man of like passions with ourselves. The end is not like the beginning: those who studied the beginning could not have forecast the end. Suppose any ardent imagination had attempted whilst looking at the weeping babe to cast the horoscope of the man, to say what he would be as history has proved him how he would die on the top of Nebo no absurdity could be more glaring. Out of such weakness none could have predicted the issue of such virile might. Is not God always teaching us by these great changes that he is secretly working out a still grander mutation? It doth not yet appear what we shall be: weeping babes have become mighty legislators; poor little outcast lives have towered up into the majesty of leadership and sovereignty; and God by these palpable analogies is for ever suggesting the possibility of our own development and final coronation. Oh that men were wise, that they would read the Bible which God is writing every day, and put together, until they accumulate into massiveness and overwhelming moral authority, the incidents which characterise our varied life. What greater distance is there than between the weeping Moses on the Nile and the culminating Moses as he gathers himself together to obey in sweet patience and uncomplaining resignation the last demand? Regard the whole process: note its variety, swiftness, tumult; and then observe the deep tranquillity, the sabbatic calm, the ineffable dignity, and say whether after such a perusal of historical facts it does not become easier to believe that we ourselves weak, lonely, misunderstood, harshly treated, ill-behaved, unruly, shall one day, by the ministry of the Holy Ghost and through the blood of atonement, become, as it were, princes, priests, kings in the upper spaces the holy sanctuary of the heavens. Let analogy teach; let history become theological; let the palpable incidents of life connect themselves into an argument and vindicate the page of Holy Scripture.
Now that Moses is walking up the mountain, we cannot but think of the life-long hardship he has endured. Read the history of his association with Israel, and say if there is one “Thank you” in all the tumultuous story. Does one man speak out of the host and say, In the name of Israel I give thee thanks? We do not know some men until we see them wandering away from us. The back of Moses is now turned: we shall see his face no more; he will be a great man in Israel now that he is gone: the people may make an idol of him of him whom they have so much abused; they may quote his words, repaint his lineaments, and tell their descendants of his heroic days. When had he any times of peace? When does Moses ever say, Now I am in a green country full of verdure, and flowers, and birds, and this is ample compensation for all the horrors of the way? Marvellous is the providence which calls some men to continual labour and other men to almost continual contemplation, or such monasticism of life as protects them from the roughness of the storm! We owe much to our labourers: we reap harvests which were sown by heroic swords. It is easy to gather the harvest, for we go out in the autumn time when the sky is richest in all brightness and beauty, when the wind is cool and vitalising, and when the fields are white or golden, according to the crops they bear; but these harvests were sown in tears: the seed now fructified was dropped into furrows moistened with blood. Let not the harvester rejoice as if he were the sower: we reap what nobler men have cast into the ground. Some men cannot do without encouragement, but Moses was left to pursue his way in its absence. Who ever cheered him? He was always called upon to cheer others, to stimulate them, to cry, Higher! forward! as if he were bidding them to mountains rich with harvests and to prospects bright as heaven.
What a strain there was also upon the religious side of his nature! He had no recreation: the bow was never unbent; he was always being called up to hear the Lord communicate some new law, some new charge or address. To his veneration a continual appeal was addressed. What wonder if his face wore the aspect of solemnity? What wonder if his eye was alight with the very splendours he had beheld? For the face of Moses not to shine would be a contradiction and a defiance of fact We are ourselves like what we most like or what we most admire. Moses dwelt in the presence of God, entered into the very spirit of the divine purpose, accustomed himself to the throb and music of the divine utterance, and when he came down from the mountain he wist not that his face did shine. We do not know all that we gain by divine communion; we seize only part of the treasure: we do not comprehend or appreciate the unsearchable riches. It is customary to speak of the sternness of Moses, his rigour and his definiteness of command and tone; but we cannot deeply peruse his story without observing the womanly instincts which gave the tenderness of dignity to the man. He was father and mother of that great house of Israel; he did all kinds of work; if there was sickness, he was the man to speak about it in healing tones; if there was bitterness in the pool, he was the man to find the purifying and sweetening plant; in a sense he gathered the lambs in his bosom and carried them with shepherdly solicitude; he was the mother, the nurse, the sister, the woman, in that great and rebellious house of Israel. Such always is the complete man: his tenderness is always equal to his dignity, or by so much he is a defective character. The greatest men in history have, in spirit, temper, and patience, been the greatest women. What was the motive of such a life? Who can explain the inward and all-moving force? We must wait for the keyword until we come to the most eloquent epistle in the New Testament. How is Moses accounted for by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews? “By faith Moses .” Now we begin to get light upon that mysterious word “faith.” It is ascribed to Moses as a motive an animating and sustaining force; it must, therefore, mean insight into the purpose and tendency of things penetration into the very philosophy of right, religion, and duty; it must mean self-surrender, self-abandonment, complete trust of God. Such is the meaning as read in the light of history, and such is the meaning vindicated by the richest learning of philosophy. Faith could find a way through the wilderness; faith could build a sanctuary in the desert; faith could carry a great household of rebellious children through dangerous places; faith could see Canaan with closed eyes, and awaken imagination to sing to adequate music the delights of that promised country. We perish for want of faith. Knowledge we have, and tongues many, and sense of the value of things: nor are we without veneration or prayerfulness of attitude and tone; but we have not the all-firing faith, the all-ennobling trust, the sight that sees the invisible, the hands that clutch the very omnipotence of God; our life is a calculation, an excited prudence, a boastful cowardice. Do we say, “Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest”? He replies: No, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests: but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” “Who follows in his train?” Few men go along that line; if they ever join it, it is because they have come upon it along some incidental path. Christianity is the religion of faith: it is not a new variety of philosophy; it is not a specimen of intellectual legerdemain: its watchword is faith, its keyword is love, its purpose is the pardon of the world.
Then is Moses not to see Canaan? Moses would not care now to see any land flowing with milk and honey. He shall see the upper Canaan, the happy land where the flowers never wither, where the summer is guaranteed to last eternally. Thus God educates men. He promises them something for the end, and under the animation of that promise they pursue their duty, and they so pursue it that at the last they ask for something for the heart; the hand could not hold what they want: it is not equal to the answer of their bolder prayer. The Lord promises a land flowing with milk and honey, the only promise that could then be understood. Men arose to search for the land, and by daily education, gracious discipline, gentle admonition, continual and regulated instruction, they came to say what God at first meant them to say, We seek a country out of sight: we seek a city on high a city whose Builder and Maker is God. We have seen that a time comes when by right spiritual education and true spiritual sympathy with Christ the world shrivels into mean proportions, and is hurried into contempt by the very religion which we supposed would enable us to enjoy it. After a certain period of well-received lessons we say, We will not have the earth: we do not feel that it is worth carrying; it is but a handful of dust, it is but a flutter in the air, let it return to the nothingness out of which it came; we yearn for God, we sigh for the infinite, we cannot rest without the eternal Father.
Moses goes upon the mountain to die. It is well: such a man ought to die upon a mountain. The scene is full of symbolism; it is quick with moral and spiritual suggestiveness. Men may die upon mountains if they will; or men may perish in dark valleys if they like. To die upon the mountain is to die into heaven. The place of our death, as to its significance and honour, will be determined by the life we lead. We die just as we live, and, so to say, where we live. Moses lived a mountain life: he was a highlander; he lived on the hills, and on the hills he died. May it not be so with us? By well-done duty, by well-endured affliction, by well-tested patience, by complete self-surrender, by continual imitation and following of Christ, we may die on some lofty hill, cool with dew or bright with sunshine, the point nearest to the skies. To die at such an elevation is to begin to live. Men can die in the valleys if they please; by meanness of life, by self-consideration, by baptised prudence, by bastard piety, by feigned prayer, they can hasten swiftly down into deep places and die in the shadows and gloom of despair. We can so live that none will care where or how we die: the only gospel they ever hear of us will be that we are dead. But who will live this life? Who can think of it? Who that knows the value of influence, who that regards the love of children and the love of posterity, could live a life so ignoble, so devoid of practical sentiment, so wasteful in all that is most sacred in energy?
Moses died with a song upon his lips. What that song was we shall in our next reading see. The image, however, may now, for the moment, be detained before the mind as full of the best suggestion. Moses died singing: a song was part of the last utterance of the heroic man. What a song it was we may be eager to know, How strong; how tender; how valiant; how nearly a law; how next to a judgment; how close to a cross! The song of Moses marks a period in the progress of the soul. The song tells what the life has been, and the song touches with infinite delicateness the future of the spirit. We may die with a song upon our lips, or we may die in cruel silence in the dumbness of despair. By a song do not understand the term literally: he dies singing who dies contentedly, hopefully, at peace with the world, at rest in Christ, confident that the Cross he has served will light him through the valley; it may be no sound of a vocal kind, no triumph, no rapture, as commonly understood; but tranquillity may be music, resignation may have about it the triumph and gladness of a song.
Die we must: there is no discharge in that war. How we shall die may be determined by ourselves, as to its moral characteristics and benedictions; where we shall die, as to elevation of thought and mind, is left to ourselves very largely to decide; but know this, that if any man believe in Christ Jesus with his whole soul, he cannot die: he that liveth and believeth in him, though he were dead, yet shall he live. “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” “Believest thou this?” Let the question be the most solemn appeal ever addressed to the attention of the soul.
Prayer
Almighty God, thou hast been eyes unto us: thou hast seen the way when it was hidden from our vision; the darkness and the light are both alike unto thee. We delight to worship thee as the God ruling among the armies of heaven and among the children of men, for we are all thy creatures: we represent thy breath: thy life is in us, and thy touch is even upon our ruin. We are still thy children, fashioned by thee, redeemed with blood by thy Son, and to us are revealed the unsearchable riches of Christ. We desire, therefore, to claim every privilege, and to rejoice in every honour, and to say, This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes; this is the gift of God, this is the light of heaven, this is the miracle of the Holy Ghost. So there is no boastfulness: we are humbled in the dust; when thou dost show us how thou hast loved us we are the more cast down in our own esteem: but thou dost recover us and re-establish us, yea, thou dost set our feet upon a rock, and thou dost put a song into our mouth: we will sing of thy goodness and mercy; we will bless thee for thy judgments too, often strange and heavy, yet every one needed to chasten and subdue the soul on which it falls. We bless thee for thine house: we love every stone of it; its light is sanctified; its very air is charged with a ministry of light. Thy Book is wide open before us, and we can understand somewhat of it, and can respond to its great appeals; and above all that it unfolds and reveals we see the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ the Priest of the universe, our Advocate with the Father, the Daysman between God and our souls laying his hand upon both and making reconciliation. We love the Cross because of its representation of God’s love, God’s pity, God’s omnipotence; may we cling to it, and glory in it, and magnify it, and die under the inspiration of its holy mystery. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
(See the Deuteronomy Book Comments for Introductory content and Homiletic suggestions).
XV
THE SONG, PRAYER, AND BENEDICTION OF MOSES
Deu 31:14-33:29
This section has its scope from Deu 31:14-33:29 , and in connection with it we study the ninetieth Psalm. The theme of this section is the Song of Moses, Prayer of Moses, and Benediction of Moses.
The introduction gives the origin, reason and purpose of the song. The origin is God; God commanded it and God inspired it. The reason is that he foresaw the apostasy of Israel. The purpose was that the song should be a witness.
The poetic and prophetic form of this inspired piece of writing was well adapted to secure the object that God had in view. The songs of the people were memorized by the people. I suppose that every Israelite child learned that song by heart, so that from the lips of any child in the nation there could be a recitation that would witness against the people if they did apostasize from Jehovah.
It is not my purpose to discuss here the prayer of Moses, but merely tell you that Psa 90 , ascribed to Moses and rightly so, was composed about this time. It contrasts the eternity of Jehovah with the transitory life of man, and it accounts for the transitory life of man by his sin. Sin made his life short. The Psalm concludes with a prayer that God would so teach us the number of the few days here so as to apply our hearts unto wisdom, and that he would establish the work of our hands upon us. It is a masterly production. The benediction is also poetic and prophetic. It softens the hard parts of the song. It is more hopeful but does not reach so far into the future.
Before concluding these introductory remarks, it is necessary to compare the song, the ninetieth Psalm and the benediction with a previous song of Moses which you will find in the book of Exodus, and which we considered when we went over that book, and with the book of Job, which this author ascribes to Moses. The Exodus song Moses wrote to commemorate the deliverance of the children of Israel from Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s destruction in the Red Sea. In Rev 15 we have this reference to this first song of Moses: “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that come off victorious from the beast, and from his image, and from the number of his name, standing by the sea of glass, having harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the ages.”
The sea of glass mingled with fire was the Red Sea in a type. The Red Sea divided, standing up in frozen walls, Israel passed through that grave like canyon, and the pillar of fire being the lid of it, the light of the pillar of fire shone on the icy walls and was reflected back and forth, so that it looked like a sea of glass mingled with fire. They were baptized in that sea and that cloud, and escaping in that way Moses writes the song of deliverance. Now, in the book of Revelation John uses that passage through those icy walls mingled with fire and the song that commemorated it to typify the deliverance of the saints in resisting the oppressions by an apostate church. So we have this clear assurance that Moses is the author of a song that will be sung in heaven. It is a great thing to be the author of the ballads of a nation here on earth; it is a greater thing to be the author of songs that we shall sing in the land of everlasting deliverance. Now, these matchless hymns all show clearly a common author; the Exodus song of deliverance, the song that we are now about to study, the ninetieth Psalm composed about the same time, and the benediction. These poetic and prophetic hymns of Moses are not to be surpassed in the poetry of the world. He was great in prose, he was great in history, he was as great as any man upon whom the afflatus rested as a writer of poetry.
The next thing in our introduction is that Moses is described as having finished the Pentateuch, including the song, and filing the book with the priests, and having it placed inside the ark of the covenant, so that throughout their future it should be a witness. When we come to study 2 Kings we learn that the finding of the lost Pentateuch in the days of Josiah and the reading of it brought about a great reformation among the people of Judah. After that monarchy fell, after Judah went into captivity, and on their return from captivity, through the decrees of the Persian king in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, the same Pentateuch, a copy of which Ezra brought back with him, is read in the hearing of all the people, causing them to reestablish the commonwealth of Israel. A song is not so susceptible of analysis as a logical argument, hence all attempts at an analytical summary of this song fail to satisfy, but I am sure that we can agree on these things:
The song commences with invoking heaven and earth as auditors. All heaven might well listen, all earth might well listen, should listen to this song, so sweet that it might be compared to the falling rain in the time of a drought, or the distilling dew upon the parched ground. The theme of the song is evident: Jehovah’s fidelity and Israel’s infidelity. It not only commences with a statement of that fact, but it goes on to develop in the thought just what Jehovah did to prove that he was faithful and just what Israel did to prove that he was unfaithful.
There are two illustrations in that song that need to be studied by a public speaker. Nine times in the song Jehovah is compared to a rock, indicating stability, his being the place of refuge. Then the eagle upon the mountaintop, wishing to brain her young, will scatter the sticks of her nest and push the young birds over the precipice, and they shrieking seem about to fall to destruction, but she swoops down under them and carries them on her wings and soars away; then she gets far under them and lets them fall again. After a while they learn to fly and are very proud of themselves. This illustration is to show how Jehovah has borne this ever falling people on his wings. Both of these illustrations are very beautiful. This song sets forth the character of Jehovah in his sovereignty, in his holiness, in his justice, in his fidelity, and in his mercy. The song also sets forth the character of the people as foolish, perverse, ungrateful, wicked, and rebellious. The song then submits evidence to prove these affirmations of distinction between the character of Jehovah and the character of his people. It tells us what Jehovah did and what they did. Jehovah, when he divided the nations, away back yonder soon after the days of Noah, as we learned when we passed over Genesis, at the time when he divided the nations of the earth, he allotted Palestine, which we call the Holy Land, to his foreseen people. He intended at that time that they should have this territory. They were not yet in existence except in their ancestors, and their direct ancestor, Abraham, had not yet been born, but even then God, who owned all the land, selected that strategic, eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea connecting Mesopotamia and its great cities, Babylon and Nineveh, with Egypt. It was a passageway between nations north and south as well as of commerce and caravans east and west. It was the best place in the world to plant a people that should become the religious teacher of all nations.
The song tells how he found them, referring to their history in Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy; they were a desolate people in the howling wilderness, utterly helpless, and as an eagle bears up her young, he bore them up and brought them safely to the point where this song is now being sung. Then he made that nation his inheritance, Jacob being God’s portion. He selected a particular line from Adam, Seth, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve sons all the way down, and he said, “These people shall be my lot, my inheritance, and I will use them in carrying out my purposes for the salvation of the world.” He regarded this nation as the very apple of his eye. He was just as sensitive with reference to them as the eye is sensitive to an unfriendly touch. Finally, this song, which is prophetic and regards the future as if it were present, states that he put them in possession of the land and blessed them beyond the power of words to express. Now, the song tells us what they did:
“When Jeshurun waxed fat he kicked.” A very expressive proverb. You may see a poor, gaunt hack horse that you may safely approach and lead by the mane, without a bridle. But when you feed him and care for him, and curry him, and he becomes sleek, the first thing that you know he kicks. The bounding life within him abhors restraint. This illustration shows what the people did. Their prosperity under good treatment becomes the occasion of their revolt. They sacrificed to idols, things that were nothing, and they sacrificed to demons who were the authors of this idolatry. Now, having contrasted what he did with what they did, the song, still looking far ahead into the future, tells what he will do; inasmuch as they have provoked him to jealousy by selecting a people that have hitherto been no people. In other words, here is a plain intimation of the things fulfilled in the New Testament days, viz.: The kingdom of heaven is taken away from the Jews and given to a people that will bring forth fruits of righteousness.
The song tells us that he will make expiation for the land, foretelling the time when the Antitype of their sacrifices in the person of the true Lamb of God shall make the great expiation for sin. The song tells further that they, on account of their sin, referring, of course, to their sin against this expiation, will be dispersed among all nations and there have an awful time for an awful length of time.
Having thus shown what he would do, he now discloses through the song what his mercy will be in the last day; that there is coming a time when he will look with pity upon this poor downtrodden, oppressed people, and have compassion and pour out upon them the grace of supplication, and when in their penitence they look to him whom they have pierced, he will forgive them.
The last great thought of the song is similar to the thought of Paul in Rom 11 , viz.: that if the casting off of the children of Israel be life to the Gentile world, what shall their restoration be but life from the dead? If their downfall brought Joy to other nations, how much more shall their restoration bring joy to other nations? And so this song calls upon all people to rejoice when his people are forgiven and restored. Benediction, Deu 33 . Here you must compare our text with Gen 49 and also Rev 7 . In Gen 49 , Jacob, the old dying patriarch, summoned his children before him and pronounced a benediction upon each of them. And in Rev 7 there is an account of the 144,000 redeemed by the power of the gospel out of the twelve tribes of Israel. Now, when we look at these lists as given in Gen 49 , Deu 33 and Rev 7 , we find that the order in which the names come is not the same in any two accounts. In Genesis, Jacob blesses them in this order: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph and Benjamin. Moses blesses them in this order: Reuben, Judah, Levi, Benjamin, Joseph, Zebulun, Issachar, Gad, Dan, Naphtali and Asher. He leaves out Simeon. In Revelation the order is this: Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph (which is Ephraim) and Benjamin, leaving out Dan.
Why does Moses leave out Simeon? You will remember that in submitting to the seductive counsels of Balaam, Zimri of the tribe of Simeon committed the presumptuous sin punished by Phinehas. It may be that all of the 24,000 people that perished in that plague were of the tribe of Simeon, which in turn may account for the fact that this tribe, according to the first census numbering 59,300, is found by the second census, immediately following, to be only 22,000. Now, I say that the sin of Zimri may have prompted Moses to leave out Simeon.
But I will give you a reason much more probable. In the allotment of the tribes Simeon got no special territory, and as Moses is thinking of the tribes as they occupy the land, we can see how he might leave out Simeon, since Simeon’s territory is included in Judah’s. When we come to Revelation, it is hard to tell why Dan is left out. It may be because that after going over to the Promised Land Dan left his territory by a migration which you will discover in Judges, went outside of the Promised Land and captured a home and there set up an alien worship. It may be that on this account he is left out. I do not dogmatize on that. Jewish Christians say that Dan was left out because of the character of the tribe as described by Jacob: “A serpent in the way, an adder in the path.” When we were going over Genesis, I called your attention to that awful secret band among the Mormons called the “Danites,” based upon the prophetic character of Dan in Genesis, and the song of Joaquin Miller, which utterly wiped them off the face of the earth.
The next thought arising from a comparison of these lists is that some who in Jacob’s blessing had a dark prospect ahead of them found a brighter prospect in the case of their descendants in Moses’ time. For instance, read what is said about Reuben in Gen 49 and immediately following with what Moses predicts concerning him. Reuben’s prospects brighten in the Mosaic account, and so with some other. Levi, in the prophecy of his father Jacob, in Gen 49 , has a dark prospect before him, but in the Mosaic blessing his prospects are intensely brightened. In this case the children are doing better than the fathers.
Without going over it all, it is my suggestion that the reader take Gen 49 and Deu 33 and compare tribe by tribe, and see what the variations are in this lapse of time. The lesson to be learned from this is that a family through its head may start out bad and give taint to all the descendants of that man, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations, but after a while some of the children will establish themselves in righteousness and bring honor to that name. And likewise a family may start out with a distinguished head and for quite a long time the descendants of this man will share in his fame and glory, but if they do nothing themselves to keep up his reputation, then they become more exposed in their worthlessness by the very fact that they had an illustrious sire.
I can illustrate: There was once a canvass going on in McLennan County for County Attorney, one of the candidates was accustomed in opening his speeches to refer to his progenitors; that as far back as records went they were illustrious people. The opposing candidate got up and said: “Fellow citizens, I know but little about my progenitors. If they were good men they ought to have held office in their time, but on account of their goodness I should not hold office now; so, replying to all that my very well-descended opponent has said in favor of his candidacy, I will just make this remark: I would rather be a horse without a pedigree than a pedigree without a horse.” He was elected.
QUESTIONS
1. What the literary form of the sixth and seventh addresses of does the introduction to the sixth address contain?
2. What does the introduction to the sixth address contain?
3. What the origin, reason and purpose of this song?
4. Why was the poetic and prophetic form of this address well adapted to secure its object?
5. What the subject of Psa 90 , how does it account for the transitory life of man and whose exposition of it was commended?
6. What the form of the benediction, and how does it compare with certain parts of the song?
7. With what preceding song of Moses should the sixth address be compared?
8. What other book besides the Pentateuch does the author ascribe to Moses and what the similarity of the problem in this book with the problem of his own people when he wrote it?
9. Expound the allusion to this preceding song in Rev 15:2-4 .
10. What can you say of Moses as a poet?
11. How was the Pentateuch, when finished, preserved and when do we hear of it again?
12. Give an analysis of this song as follows: (1) The invocation. (2) The theme. (3) The illustrations. (4) The characters set forth. (5) The strategic position of God’8 people. (6) God’s care for his people. (7) The prophecies.
13. With what other scripture must the benediction be compared? the prophecies concerning the names?
14. In comparing the tribe lists in these three scriptures, what variations do you find as to the order of names, omission of names and the prophecies concerning the names?
15. What lessons on heredity and individuality may be learned from the fact that in the Mosaic benediction when compared with the benediction of Jacob, the prospect brightens for some tribes and darkens for others? What illustration given by the author?
16. Why did Moses leave out Simeon, and Revelation omit Dan?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Deu 31:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.
Ver. 14. In the tabernacle, ] i.e., Before the door of it; and this was before the Lord himself. Deu 31:11
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Deu 31:14-18
14Then the LORD said to Moses, Behold, the time for you to die is near; call Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may commission him. So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. 15The LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the doorway of the tent. 16The LORD said to Moses, Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. 17Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?’ 18But I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods.
Deu 31:14 call. . .present These are two IMPERATIVES.
1. call – BDB 894, KB 1128, Qal IMPERATIVE
2. present – BDB 426, KB 427, Hithpael IMPERATIVE (this refers to an official commissioning by YHWH, cf. 1Sa 10:19, or covenant renewal, cf. Jos 24:1)
the tent of meeting There seems to have been two special tents connected to YHWH:
1. the tabernacle described in Exodus 25-27, which housed the Ark of the Covenant and was positioned at the center of the Israelite camp
2. the tent of meeting described in Exo 33:7-11, erected outside of the camp of Israel, where Moses went to meet with YHWH
3. usually the cloud (i.e., which the rabbis call the Shekinah Cloud of Glory), which symbolized YHWH’s personal presence, manifested itself at #1, but here at #2 (cf. Deu 31:15; Exo 33:9)
4. It is possible that several other references relate to #2-Exo 18:7-16; Num 11:16; Num 11:24; Num 11:26; Num 12:4
that I may commission him In Deu 31:7 Moses calls Joshua before the people. Here YHWH calls Moses and Joshua before Himself.
Deu 31:15 a pillar of cloud This same pillar of cloud was what separated the children of Israel from the army of Egypt (cf. Exo 13:21-22; Exo 14:19-20). This pillar is what filled the Temple when Isaiah saw God high and lifted up in Isaiah 6. This was a physical symbol of the presence of God. It stayed with the Israelites throughout their wilderness wandering. It functioned in several ways:
1. it showed YHWH’s presence
2. it led the Israelites from place to place
3. it shaded them by day
4. it lit up their camp by night
Once they crossed Jordan, YHWH’s presence was manifested over the Ark of the Covenant, but the cloud disappeared.
Deu 31:16 this people will arise and play the harlot This reveals YHWH’s foreknowledge of Israel’s continuing sin of idolatry (cf. Deu 4:15-28; Deu 31:29). Notice the progression of the idolatry in the VERBS:
1. will arise – BDB 877, KB 1086, Qal PERFECT, e.g., Exo 32:6
2. play the harlot – BDB 275, KB 275, Qal PERFECT
a. act as a harlot
(1) Lev 21:7; Lev 21:9; Lev 21:14
(2) Deu 22:21; Deu 23:18
b. metaphorically of the Promised Land, Lev 19:29
c. metaphorically of foreign alliances
(1) Isa 23:17
(2) Jer 3:1
(3) Eze 16:26; Eze 16:28
d. metaphorically of fertility idolatry
(1) Exo 34:15-16
(2) Lev 17:7; Lev 20:5
(3) Deu 31:16
3. will forsake Me – BDB 736, KB 806, Qal PERFECT, cf. Deu 28:20; Jdg 10:6; Jdg 10:10; Jer 1:16
4. break My covenant – BDB 830, KB 974, Hiphil PERFECT, cf. Deu 31:20; Lev 26:15; Jer 11:10
Deu 31:17 My anger will be kindled This VERB (BDB 354, KB 351, Qal PERFECT) is often used of YHWH’s anger:
1. against Moses, Exo 4:14
2. against Israel, Exo 22:24; Exo 32:10; Num 11:1; Num 11:10; Num 32:10; Deu 6:15; Deu 7:4; Deu 11:17; Deu 31:17
3. against the spies, Num 12:9
4. against Balaam, Num 22:22
5. against the land, Deu 29:27
I will forsake them and hide My face from them These two VERBS describe anthropomorphically YHWH’s nullification of the covenant. YHWH does to them what they did to Him (cf. Deu 31:16).
1. I will forsake them – BDB 736, KB 806, Qal PERFECT
2. hide My face from them – BDB 711, KB 771, Hiphil PERFECT, cf. Deu 31:18; Deu 32:20; Isa 59:2; Isa 64:7). This is an idiom for the removal of covenant fellowship and blessing.
The consequences are:
1. they shall be consumed
a. VERB, to be – BDB 224, KB 243, Qal PERFECT
b. consumed/devoured – BDB 37, KB 46, Qal INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT
2. many evils and troubles will come
a. will come – BDB 592, KB 619, Qal PERFECT
b. evil – BDB 949
c. troubles – BDB 865 I
3. YHWH’s presence (cf. Deu 31:6; Deu 31:8) will not be with them (i.e., our God is not among us)
Deu 31:18 The threat from Deu 31:17 (i.e., I will hide my face from them) is emphatically repeated (Hiphil INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and Hiphil IMPERFECT).
other gods The Jewish Study Bible asserts that our God of Deu 31:17 should be translated our gods and relate to other gods in Deu 31:18 (cf. P. 439).
The first term (BDB 43) seems to be a singular form derived from Elohim (BDB 43) in Deu 31:18. The first term can be used of a pagan god (cf. 2Ch 32:15; Dan 11:37), but also for YHWH (cf. Deu 32:15; Deu 32:17; Psa 50:22; Psa 114:7; Psa 139:19; Pro 30:5; Isa 44:8).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
said. See note on Deu 2:9.
tabernacle = tent. Hebrew. ‘ohel. App-40. The only reference to it in Deuteronomy.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the Charge to His Successor
Deu 31:14-29
Moses had already announced that Joshua would succeed him; but in view of the great difficulties which confronted the new leader, it was expedient that the guiding pillar should give him the symbol and pledge of Gods endorsement.
Two other sources of their allegiance were proposed. First, a song. National songs lay hold on memory and have a powerful effect in stirring the deepest emotions. This song, composed under the divine impulse, embodied the substance of the preceding pleadings and exhortations, and was suitable to be taught to the generations that followed. Be sure that nothing more efficiently preserves religion than noble hymns! Learn and teach them! Secondly, the book. See Deu 31:24, etc. We have already heard of this. See Exo 17:14; Exo 24:4-7. No doubt it was to this necessity of recording the Law and chronicling the story of the Exodus that we owe the origin of the sacred books which bear the name of Moses. See Joh 5:46.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
that thou must die: Deu 31:2, Deu 34:5, Num 27:13, Jos 23:14, 2Ki 1:4, Ecc 9:5, Isa 38:1
I may give: Deu 31:23, Num 27:19, Num 27:20, Act 20:28-31, 2Ti 4:1-4
presented: Exo 34:2, Jos 24:1, 1Sa 10:19, Job 1:6, Job 2:1, Rom 12:1, Jud 1:24
Reciprocal: Gen 47:29 – must die Exo 6:13 – General Num 13:8 – Oshea Num 27:16 – set a man Deu 1:16 – charged Deu 1:38 – encourage him Deu 31:3 – and Joshua 1Sa 26:10 – his day 1Ki 2:1 – the days 1Ch 22:6 – charged him 1Th 2:11 – charged 2Ti 4:6 – and 2Pe 1:14 – shortly
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
DEATH APPROACHING
Behold, thy days approach that thou must die.
Deu 31:14
I. Those who live chiefly for this world try not to think of death, because they would like nothing better than to live on here for ever. But the shutting of our eyes to the approach of death does not make him turn away from us, and therefore our wisest and safest course is to prepare for his coming, whether it be near or far off.
II. Death does not occupy that place in the Word of God which it does occupy in that religion of ours which professes to be derived from the Word of God.In the New Testament, death is simply treated as an abolished thing. The second coming of Christ is always, in the exhortations of the New Testament, substituted for death. Death, in the eye of faith, is not the end, but the beginning, of all; it is the commencement of the life that knows no ending.
III. If Christ has robbed death of its sting, it does not behove us to look at death as if He had not done so.Let us view the approach of death as something which He means should bring us nearer to Him. We must pray Him, since the days approach in which we must die, that death may not find us unprepared. And as we look forward to the future, we must commit our way and ourselves into His keeping.
Rev. F. E. Paget.
Illustration
(1) The life of Moses breaks into three forties: the first in Egypt; the second in the wilderness; the third as leader of the Exodus. His natural force was not abated; but his career was closed by the Divine decree. He, however, comforts the people by saying that though he could not go with them into the promised land, yet Israel would have the presence and care of God, with the assurance that He would precede them, destroy before them, and give their enemies into their hands. Does not God always treat His people thus? Expect it to-day!
(2) Unrealised hopes, frequent disappointments, unfulfilled purposes, often characterise human life, and to the affections and to the philosophy of life are so mysterious and painful. Mark the conditions under which death came to Moses. (1) He died while as yet his physical strength was undiminished. His eye was not dim, and his natural force unabated. (2) Moses died while as yet there seemed a great work for him to dothe Jordan to be passed, Jericho to be conquered, the Canaanites driven out, the tribes led to their inheritance, the social, legislative, and religious organisation of the people to be completed. (3) Moses died just when bright prospects of realisation filled his eye; when all the hope of his life was about to be fulfilled the cup was dashed from his lips, just as it was lifted that he might drink.
(3) There is a thing Moses will do for the people before he leaves them, which may help to fix the words of God in their memory. He is to write a song and teach it to them. Sometimes the words of a song linger in the memory longer than do the words of a sermon; and Israel was to have a song setting forth the same things as Moses sermon. God leaves nothing undone to fortify Israel at every point against turning unto other gods.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Deu 31:14. That I may give him a charge Immediately from myself, for his great encouragement, and to gain him more authority with the people.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3. The commissioning of Joshua 31:14-23
Whereas previously Moses had presented Joshua to the people (Deu 31:1-8), now God officially commissioned him to his new responsibility as Moses’ successor. He did this at the tabernacle, the appropriate place for this official ceremony.
The bulk of this section concerns God’s revelation to Moses concerning Israel’s future apostasy (Deu 31:16-22). Hiding the Lord’s face (Deu 31:17-18; Deu 32:20) is the opposite of making His face shine on His people and turning His face toward them in blessing (cf. Num 6:25-26). To discourage this departure God gave Moses a song that he was to write down and teach the people to remind them of God’s faithfulness. As a song the people would have repeated these words frequently and remembered them easily. The singing of it would haunt them with how much they had lost for disobeying Yahweh.