The Fifth Book of Moses, called Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 31
Chapter XXXI · Vol. I, pp. 531–533
1 Moses encourageth the people. 7 He encourageth Joshua. 9 He delivereth the law unto the priests to read it in the seventh year to the people. 14 God giveth a charge to Joshua, 19 and a song to testify against the people. 24 Moses delivereth the book of the law to the Levites to keep. 28 He maketh a protestation to the elders.
1 AND Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.
2 And he said unto them, aI am an hundred and twenty years old this day;1 I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me, bThou shalt not go over this Jordan.
a ch. 34.7. Ac. 7.23,30,36. Nu. 27.17. ver. 11.
A.M. 2553. B.C. 1451.
1 During an equal period of one hundred and twenty years did Noah preach righteousness to the antediluvian world. The life of Moses divides itself into three remarkable periods: (1) Forty years of education in the literature and sciences of Egypt, Ac. 7. 20, 23. (2) Forty years in the retirement of Midian, in the management of a flock and the cares of a family. (3) Forty years in instructing and governing an ignorant and unmanageable generation; a chequered, an eventful, a toilsome, a troublous, but a glorious life—exhibiting especially the triumphs of grace in the temper, and shadowing out to the church in the wilderness the patience and meekness of Jesus.—C.
b Nu. 20.12; 27.13 ch. 3.27; 1.37; 4.21,22. Ps. 106.32,33.
3 The LORD thy God, he cwill go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath said.
4 And the LORD dshall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed.
d Ex. 3.8; 23.28-31; 34.11,24. ch. 7.2,16,23,24; 9.3; 11.23,24. Ge. 15.18-21. Nu. 21.24,34.
5 And the LORD shall give them up before your face, that ye emay do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.
e ch. 7.2,16,23; 20.16,17. Ex. 23.32,33; 34.12-16. Nu. 33.52-56.
6 Bef strong, and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, ghe it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
f ver. 7,23. Jos. 1.6-9; 10.25. 1 Ch. 22.13; 28.20. 2 Ch. 32.7. Ps. 27.14. Ep. 6.10. 2 Ti. 2.1.
g ver. 3,8. Ex. 13.21,22; 33.14. Jos. 1.5. He. 13.5,6. Is. 41.10,15,16. Ro. 8.31. Pr. 21.30.
7 And Moses hcalled unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong, and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.2
h Nu. 27.18. ch. 3.28; 34.9. Jos. 1.1-9. 1 Co. 16.13.
2 Moses, as the giver and representative of the law, is not privileged to lead the people into the land of promise; Joshua, whose name is also Jesus, leads them over Jordan, and secures the inheritance.—C.
8 And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: ifear not, neither be dismayed.
9 And Moses wrote kthis law,3 and delivered it lunto the priests the sons of Levi, which mbare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel.
k Mal. 4.4. Mat. 5.17. Jn. 1.17,45.
3 The scope of the whole passage shows that by the 'law' is here meant the Pentateuch. Its composition had been gradual. The compilation of Genesis was the first task, and it formed the basis. It was followed by the diary of the journeys recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. With the diary was mixed the laws, moral and ceremonial, revealed at Sinai and elsewhere. Then came Moses' great address to the Israelites on the Arboth Moab, contained in Deuteronomy. It was now finished, and added to the sacred roll. At its close this record was made—'Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests.' They were its natural guardians.—P.
l ch. 17.18. Mal. 2.7.
m Jos. 3.14-17; 6.12. 1 Ki. 8.3. Nu. 10.33.
10 And Moses commanded them, saying, Atn the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,
n ch. 15.1,2. Le. 23.34.
11 When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose, othou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.4
4 This public septennial reading did not supersede any more private instructions by the Levites in their several cities, nor by fathers in their houses, De. 6. 6-9. 2 Ch. 35. 3.—C.
12 Gather the people together, pmen, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law;
p 1 Sa. 1.21-24. Lu. 2.41,42. Zec. 14.16-19. Ps. 78.5-8; 19.7-11. ch. 6.6,7. Pr. 22.6. 2 Ti. 3.15-17. Ex. 12.49. Is. 38.19. Nu. 15.29.
13 And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
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 qI may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.
15 And the rLORD 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 ssleep5 with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and tgo 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.
s Heb. lie down, Is. 57.2. Ge. 25.8. 2 Sa. 7.12. Ac. 7.60.
5 The word sleep being employed by the Lord as descriptive of death, evidently implies the doctrine of the resurrection, and consequently of that future state, which Moses has by some been supposed never to adduce as a principle of fear or hope, or motive of obedience.—C.
t Ex. 34.15,16. Le. 20.3,6. Ju. 2.11-19. Nu. 15.39. 2 Ch. 21.13. Eze. 6.9; xvi. xxiii.
17 Then umy anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will xhide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall6 them; so that they will say in that day, yAre not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?7
u Le. 26.14-39. ch. 28.15-68; 29.18-28; 32.21,22. Ju. 2.14,15.
x ch. 32.20. Ps. 104.29. Ho. 9.12; 5.15. Is. 57.17; 59.1,2. ver. 18,29.
6 Heb. find them.
y Ju. 6.13. ch. 29.24,27. Ho. 9.12.
7 The blame of the evils endured is shifted from themselves, and laid upon God—even as at the first, the woman accused, not herself, but the serpent; and Adam first his wife, and, by implication, God himself who had given her. Each in their statements told truth, yet each by implication 'charged God foolishly.'—C.
18 And zI 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.
z ver. 17.
19 Now therefore write ye athis song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: bput it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.8
a ch. xxxii.; ver. 22.
b Ex. 4.15. 2 Sa. 14.3. Eze. 2.7; 3.17. Ac. 20.27. Col. 1.28,29. He. 5.11. 1 Co. 4.1,2.
8 The book of the law had been written and handed over to the keeping of the priests. Now a new command comes from heaven to compose and write a splendid ode for the benefit of the people.—P.
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 chave eaten, and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.
c ch. 32.15-21; 6.10,11; 8.10,11,19,20; 4.25-27. Ho. 13.6. Ju. 2.11-19. Eze. xvi. xx. xxiii. Ne. 9.25,26.
21 And it shall come to pass, when dmany evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against9 them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for eI know their imagination which they go about,1 even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.
22 Moses therefore fwrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.2
f ver. 19; ch. xxxii.
2 Let Moses be tried by the 'popular literature' he furnished and employed to influence the 'masses' of society; and here, as in all other respects, he stands immeasurably above all other popular leaders; and presents a practical evidence of a divine commission by the continuity of his efforts to lead the people's hearts to God. An impostor may invent and inculcate a religion; but it cannot, like that of Moses, be a holy and a godly religion. Whether Moses write a history, a law, or a song, all is full of God, because he was sent and inspired by God.—C.
23 And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, gBe strong, and of a good courage: for hthou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them; and I will be with thee.3
g Jos. 1.5-7,9. ver. 7,8.
h Nu. 13.16; 27.15-23. ch. 3.28. Ac. 7.45. Jos. 1.1-9. Ep. 1.3-14.
3 The words, he gave, and I sware, do not refer to Moses, but to the LORD, as will appear by comparing ver. 14 and 23, in which the word charge, common to both verses, is shown in ver. 23 to be the charge of the LORD.—C.
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,
25 That Moses commanded the Levites, iwhich bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,
i ver. 9. Nu. 4.14,15; 10.21. Jos. 3.6,7; 6.12. 1 Ch. 15.2.
26 Take this book of the law, and put it kin the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.
k 2 Ki. 22.8.
27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy lstiff neck: behold, while I am myet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD;4 and how much more after my death?
A.M. 2553. B.C. 1451.
l Ex. 32.9. Is. 48.4. Ac. 7.51. ch. 9.24; 32.20.
m ch. 9.7. Ju. 2.10-18.
4 All leaders of great movements, who traffic in popularity, either benevolently, as Solon and Lycurgus in Greece, or Numa at Rome; or selfishly and seditiously, as Absalom at Jerusalem; or fanatically and ambitiously, as Mahomet at Mecca,—all must flatter the people. Moses and the prophets in the Old, and Christ and the apostles in the New Testament, furnish the only examples of legislative effort uniting popular influence with moral honesty. A special evidence of a divine commission not to be overlooked by any who profess to admire moral honesty as an ornament of man, and a feature of the image of God.—C.
28 Gather unto me nall the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and ocall heaven and earth to record against them.
n ch. 29.10; 1.15. Nu. 11.16,17. Ex. 18.25.
o ch. 4.26; 8.19; 30.19; 32.1. Is. 1.2. Je. 22.29. Mi. 6.1,2.
29 For I know that pafter my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evilq will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.
p ver. 27. Jos. 24.31. Ju. 2.10-18. Ac. 20.30.
q ver. 17. Le. 26.14-39. ch. 28.15-68; 29.18-28; 32.15-34. Ju. ii.-iv. vi. ix. x. 1 Sa. iv. xi. xxxi. 1 Ki. xi.-xxii. 2 Ki. viii.-xviii. xxi. xxiv. xxv. Mal. 3.7-9. Pr. 1.25-33. Lu. 19.43,44; 21.22-26.
30 And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.
Notes
[Ver. 26. The book of the law. The Pentateuch, as far as then completed, was put into the safest and holiest spot, beside the ark, in the holy of holies. There it was sacred. It was not merely under the guardianship of the priests, but of God himself, who dwelt in the sanctuary, and who would not permit a stranger's hand to touch it. That very book—the autograph of Moses—may have been preserved down to the close of the Jewish polity and the destruction of the temple. P.]
Reflections.—It highly becomes ministers, or others, to exert themselves to their utmost, that their church and nation may be happy after their death: and, when they become more active in the Lord's work as their end approaches, and wish others the happy enjoyment of that comfort and honour which God hath denied to themselves, it is both honourable to the cause of God and strengthening to his people. Great pains ought to be taken to make those of the present or rising generation to understand, believe and obey God's word: and certain is our success when God is our assistant, and we do nothing but what he has commanded. And the more experience we have of gospel liberty, the more shall we delight to hear and obey him. God graciously warns men of their sin and danger before it come upon them: yet so desperate is the wickedness of men, that they ruin themselves by their apostasy from God, after their own vows, and the most solemn and often-repeated warnings of God and his faithful ministers. These exactly correspond together in discovering the sure consequences of sin, and leave the blame of their ruin entirely upon themselves. It is necessary therefore that God's truths be laid up in men's heart and conscience, that they may hear, and fear, and do no more wickedly.