Deuteronomy 31: Was It Worth It?

Happy Birthday to me!!!

30 years young!

I am exactly 1/4 as old as Moses is at the start of this chapter.

He’s 120. Dang. Nice work, Old Man. Well done.

We are coming up on the last words he ever speaks. These are important. This is like the last things you say to your kindergartener before the first day of school. This is Polonius talking to Laertes in Hamlet. Optimus Prime to the Autobots.

Important stuff!

Moses appoints Joshua to be the leader who will take Israel across the Jordan into the Land. Then he writes down the law.

He. Writes. Down. The. Law.

Anyone want to guess how long that took? Anyone ever seen a 120-year old’s knuckles?

How Moses Feels About His People

God spends a good deal of time telling Moses how awful everything is going to be when he dies. The people will prostitute themselves to foreign gods. They will forsake him. They will despise God and break his covenant.

I don’t know about you, but that is just the kind of stuff I want to hear before I die.

This is depressing! Doesn’t God know it’s my birthday?

But Moses agrees and lays into the Levites for a while about their rebellious and stubborn ways.

If you already have been so rebellious toward the LORD while I am still alive among you, how much more after my death!

I really hope Joshua isn’t around to hear this.

Moses’ Hit Single

You know, it’s good to know that Moses doesn’t go out as a one-hit-wonder. Remember that song he sang back in Exodus 15? Well, now he gets to sing another one. I’m guessing I’ll cover that tomorrow.

But this is no ordinary song. No ordinary sooooooong. (bonus points if you can sing that to the song that I have in my head.)

This song is going to be taught to all the people as a witness against them. It will confront them in their sin.

So who’s up for a rousing rendition of “We screwed up and we all know it so now we are doomed?”

Was It Worth It?

For I know what they are inclined to do even now, before I have brought them into the land that I promised them on oath.

So God knows what they are capable of and knows what they are going to do. He knows their hearts. He knows they are going to betray him. He knows he is going to have to punish them.

So why did he bother in the first place?

It makes me want to revisit this whole book and read it like it is a witness against them. It is a legal document that God can use to say “look, here is what you did wrong. This is why you are being punished.”

It is like a receipt so he can return the defective product to the store. Or like a lawsuit for false advertising.

So why did he do it?

Oh, and Happy Birthday to me!