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CHAPTER 31
1. And Moshe went [yelekh] and spoke these words to all of Israel,
Went: more literally, walked. Of the two words for walking in Hebrew, this one has the connotation of carrying a burden while one walks, and Moshe clearly had a burden on his heart in regard to Israel’s continuing to follow YHWH after his death. He is probably literally walking throughout the camp, "reviewing his troops" before he "retires". But he is not a weakened old man in a wheelchair; he remains strong and vibrant. (34:7) He had “walked the walk” before them, in addition to all his words, as evidence that they can do the same. His final “pep talk” reminds them to get serious about all he has told them, since few of them are totally ready to enter the Promised Land. It is an exciting time, but also a sad one, because Moshe knows these will be his last words to Israel as a whole. What would you say if you knew you would be talking to your family for the last time? Moshe chooses not just the right words but the prefect words. He mixes rebuke, caution, comfort, and encouragement in the right proportions.
2. and told them, "Today I am 120 years old; I am no longer able to go out or come in; that is, YHWH has told me, ‘You will not cross over this Yarden.'
120 years old: literally, a son of 120 years. This suggests that he had allowed each year to teach him and each experience to build him into what he was now. Is our fruit better this year than it was last, or have we stayed at the same level? Have you been a “son” of this year? YHWH had also set 120 years as the normal limit of human life (Gen. 6:3, though it took a few generations for the full effects of the post-flood atmospheric conditions to have their full effect), so when Moshe reached his 120th birthday, he knew his time had come to die. No longer able: we are told in 34:7 that his natural strength had not abated. Verse 1 also showed that he was clearly able to get around on his own two feet, so he was not saying, “I am just too old for this.” He has lived three neat periods of 40, which symbolizes a time of transition. He served in Pharaoh’s house for 40 years, then in Yithro’s house for another 40, and for the last 40 he has served in YHWH’s house. At age 40, he recognized that he was a Hebrew, but just because he was a prince in the Egyptian court or had killed an Egyptian to defend his own people did not give him a right to become a leader right away. He had to tend someone else’s sheep before he would be qualified in YHWH’s eyes to lead His “flock”. By the time he left Egypt at 40, he was already a relatively old man by their reckoning, because even royalty there rarely lived past 50, according to studies on mummies found there, due to large accumulations of sand in their lungs that caused them to age prematurely by restricting the flow of oxygen. This is why Yaaqov’s age surprised Pharaoh so greatly. (Gen. 47:8) So to die at 120 was nothing to complain about. To “go out or come in” is a Hebrew idiom for leading people into battle (Y’hoshua 14:11; 1 Shmu’el 29:6). He knows he cannot fight anymore, but it is not because he was not capable. His season of war is over only because YHWH told him he would not cross the Yarden (Num. 27:12-14). But despite his shortcomings, his heart had been for YHWH, so He gave him the full allotment of days on earth. He has completed three full cycles. He therefore deduces that his work is done and it is time to die. The tone of his words shows that he is not pleased with this, but, like all great men in Scripture, he is more concerned with YHWH’s will for Israel than with what he wants. He understands that it is the season to step back--and aligns himself with it, as we must do. If everyone is in season, we can all be in unity, despite our many different opinions, and accomplish things that others only dream of doing. Israel needs a different approach as its season of physical warfare is intensifying. They need a leader who excels in battle, and one against whom no one has ever risen up. Y’hoshua has already been leading most of Israel’s battles. He is a military man who will have a different outlook than Moshe. He grew up at Moshe’s feet, learned from him, and always honored him, but he would not put up with as much rebellion as Moshe did. Moshe has given them weapons to use; now he must move on and let them use them. By tradition, he died five weeks before Passover, when Y’hoshua would lead the people across. "This Yarden" he could not cross, but the Yarden of which this one is a shadow, he would cross, for he will be one of the greatest in the Kingdom, since he has spent the past forty years teaching men to obey the Torah. (Mat. 5:19). He reminds Israel that he is not leaving them defenseless:
3. "YHWH your Elohim is the One who will cross over ahead of you. He will overthrow these nations from before you, and you will dispossess them. Y'hoshua is the one who will cross over before you, as YHWH has promised.
"Hebrew" means "crosser-over", so YHWH is the first “Hebrew”. As opposed to Moshe, it is Y’hoshua who will lead you across. It would be an even sadder day when Y’hoshua died than the day Moshe died, for Y’hoshua had no such successor. YHWH is the one... Y'hoshua is the one: The same claim is made for Y'hoshua that is made for YHWH. What he does, YHWH is doing. This is the key to understanding things that Y’shua—and many other prophets, for that matter—said that sounded like they were making claims that only YHWH can fulfill. The law of agency allows one to speak for the one who sent him as if he were that one, and act in his name. (Molwinkel) This is a picture of the later Y'hoshua (of which Yeshua is a shortened version), who would so fully express what YHWH, whom no one can ever see (Yochanan/John 1:18; 6:46; 1 Yoch. 4:12), was like, that he could say, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." (Yoch. 14:9)—because he is following YHWH, and so are we, when we follow those who follow YHWH. YHWH will defeat our enemies when we do. We do not always walk in that oneness with Him. A university sports team is said to have won the championship title two years in a row, though not all the players are the same both years, because both groups represent the university. No single player is the university, though his uniform has the university’s name on it. Clearly Y’hoshua was a man with a job given by YHWH. He represents YHWH, and YHWH fully supports him, but no one would say YHWH became Y’hoshua, yet they say He turned into the one who later bore the same name. Their names mean “YHWH delivers.” Do not make it more complicated than it is. When a child goes as a messenger for his parents, it counts as the parents going. When will YHWH pass over the Yarden? When Y’hoshua does. Not that YHWH goes over because Y’hoshua does, but Y’hoshua is going because YHWH wants to cross with His people. Y’hoshua calls Moshe his master, and up to this point Israel has seen YHWH through Moshe’s actions, but now they will see Him through Y’hoshua’s. But the focus is never to be on the men, but on YHWH. If Y’hoshua does not reflect the intentions of Moshe, something is out of kilter, and in the same way, if “Jesus” does not line up perfectly with the Torah, someone’s focus is wrong. The way he interpreted Torah goes to the root of the problem: the heart; e.g., the love of money (not the money itself) is the root of all kinds of evil. If these issues are not dealt with, all the rules in the world cannot get Israelite society to work properly. So he gave us keys to what underlies and ties together all the aspects of Torah so we can see it as one unit rather than a lot of disjointed responsibilities. Moshe had said, “Love your neighbor as yourself”, and a few astute people picked up on this, but he had tucked it away in the middle of another discussion, so Yeshua brought it out into the open and made it prominent. But Y’hoshua would have gotten nowhere if not trained by Moshe, and likewise, Yeshua receives his authority and mandate from YHWH through the Torah. Both are necessary. Yeshua said he could only do what he saw or heard the Father doing (Yoch. 5:19, 30), but it is not that a window opened up into heaven; he saw and heard it through the Torah, where YHWH lays out His agenda. When everyone was studying the Torah but hating one another because of opposing interpretations, Yeshua said, “Watch me, and see how it is supposed to be done.” That is the “word made flesh”.
4. "Then YHWH will do to them as He did to Sikhon and Og, kings of the Emorites, and to their land, which He devastated along with them.
Which He destroyed: yet chapter 3 described how the Israelites defeated them in battle, and no distinction is made between what He accomplished and what they carried out. It is teamwork; we act as His hand. Again, this was a precedent to give them confidence to fight more of the same kind of battles.
5. "And YHWH will deliver them over before your face, so that you may deal with them according to all the orders that I have commanded you.
Outside the Land, the protocol was to offer the terms of peace: an unconditional surrender. If they try to resist, they are to be destroyed, though their virgin daughters and animals could be kept. But once we are in the Land He gives us to inherit, there are no such offers. Now we are dealing with people who no longer belong there. Everything that breathes must be destroyed. You will not profit from anything of theirs that you find; therefore do not take their wealth, or your children will learn that it is all right to kill for the sake of profit. In the book of Esther we see the results of King Sha'ul's failure to carry out the same type of complete destruction of the Amaleqites, against whom YHWH had sworn eternal enmity. They always remained a thorn in Israel's flesh. This slaughter is completely just, and YHWH takes responsibility for it. Deliver them over: If YHWH had done the whole job Himself, the surrounding nations might say it was just a natural occurrence. If He used Israel, they knew it had to be YHWH, because this people alone was not capable of such an accomplishment.
6. "[So] be resolute and courageous; do not be terrified or tremble at their faces, for YHWH your Elohim is the One who goes with you. He will not [release His grip and] withdraw from you, nor will He abandon you."
This is not just advice or a command, but a blessing upon Israel. Moshe blesses them with courage; what a great gift to be unafraid to do what has to be done or to be the kind of persons we need to be in order to accomplish these things! Resolute: or strong, bold, grabbing hold, holding on tightly, and not letting go. This is a grip so tight that nothing can tear it from our hands. When situations arise that threaten to make us lose our grip, hold tightly to what YHWH has already done. Start by grasping it between your ears, processing it mentally as you do it, and using whatever system you need to remember it well. Courageous: fully alert, on the watch, aware of our surroundings, of who YHWH is and what He has done, of who we are called to be and what He has promised to make us, and therefore prepared and confident. He has already arrived there and is waiting for us, so step in. He makes us capable, but not by magic; He goes on ahead and arranges for everything to be in place for our enemies’ overthrow, but if we do not draw the sword, He will not conquer our enemies. If we do not recognize who we are fighting for (YHWH and our brothers and sisters) and that we are fighting for an eternal Kingdom, we are less likely to “fight for our lives”. If we are lulled to sleep, we will be taken captive, even if we are strong, like Shimshon (Samson). So we fight together and are given our instructions as one unit. Do not be terrified: Hirsch, "Do not panic"; it can also mean, “do not be in awe or show respect", because to fear anything but YHWH is to give it more recognition than it deserves, when He has already promised to do what it looks like they will interfere with. 90% of warfare is psychological, 9.9% is training, and only 0.1% is the actual fighting. We will only fail if we are fearful, so that is the real battle. He will not slacken (compromise) or loosen: He will not let go of us. We are in His hand, which is a fist against them, and He will not open it and give them access to us. YHWH is holding onto us, enabling us to do things that would be downright suicidal in any other scenario. We are not to compare the enemies to ourselves, but to YHWH. He will provide manna or a pillar of cloud to shade us, if that is what is necessary to fulfill His promises, if we keep our part of the contract. We do not need to even consider any other possible outcome.
7. Then Moshe summoned Y'hoshua, and told him in the sight of all Israel, "Be resolute and courageous, because you must go with this people into the Land that YHWH swore to their ancestors that He would give to them, and you will cause them to acquire it.
In the sight of all: This is not done behind closed doors. All of Israel saw Moshe commission and inaugurate Y’hoshua as the next leader. He wanted them all to understand who YHWH’s choice was, in case his own sons came back and wanted to claim a dynastic position, or even if Aharon’s sons tried to take a role that was not theirs, making claims that Moshe had said they could. When YHWH makes His position clear, there is no more voting about it. We are grateful for democracy and the advantages it gives us in our exile, but it is not Torah. One day it will be set aside. No other opinion but YHWH’s counts. And if the leader grabs on and holds firmly, those under his jurisdiction are likely to do the same. Fear is extremely contagious, but so is courage. When one person speaks the truth even when it is unpopular, others become brave enough to do the same. Cause them to: or, let them—i.e., “Let them do the work!” Do your part as if you were the only one fighting, but make sure you are not; do not fight their battles for them. Train them, then make sure they are doing their part, because then it is their inheritance too.
8. "Moreover, YHWH is the One going before you; He will be with you. He will not withdraw from you nor abandon you. Do not be terrified or panic."
He tells Y’hoshua much the same as he told the people, but this word “panic” is different. It could be translated "go to pieces", because the word means to shatter or break up, because this is what becomes of our minds when we are dismayed and confounded. But it comes from a root word meaning to prostrate ourselves or lie down. We are not to fall on our faces when our enemies come against us, when we can see no way out, or when everyone around us is bowing to the ways of the world, to their own hearts, to what they need, or to what makes sense.
9. Then Moshe wrote down this instruction, and entrusted it to the priests--the descendants of Levi who carried the ark of YHWH's covenant--and to all the elders of Israel.
He had written some of it earlier. (Ex. 24:7; 34:27) But this is where he stops writing; thus Moshe’s last written words were, “Do not be afraid.” If we walk in fear, we cannot take the Land. Y’shoshua probably finished writing this scroll.
10. Moshe had also given them orders, saying, "At the end of [every] seven years, at the appointed time of the year of release [from debts], during the feast of Sukkoth,
Sukkoth (booths or temporary dwellings) is at the beginning of a new civil year, but the end and beginning overlap in Hebraic thought. Release: when YHWH has commanded us to let the land lie fallow for a year (15:1) so we will have time to stop and actually think about its implications, rather than hurrying back to our ordinary work and letting the cares of life choke it out. When Nehemyah had brought the people back after the Babylonian captivity (7:73), they read this two weeks earlier, giving them time to recognize and do what they needed to do to keep Sukkoth on schedule.
11. "when all Israel has come in to present themselves before YHWH your Elohim at the place where He will deem acceptable, you shall read this instruction in the presence of all Israel, within their hearing.
Within their hearing: literally, "into their ears". Hearing the Torah and understanding it is how we learn to fear YHWH. Read: or recite, proclaim. The king would later be the one to sit and read it in the Temple courts. This instruction: at least the entire book of D'varim (which tradition says), though since Nehemyah's audience knew what species of plants to bring, it seems they also read from Leviticus, if not the whole Torah.
12. "Call the nation to assemble together--men, women, toddlers, and the sojourner who is within your gates--so that they may hear and learn, and stand in awe of YHWH your Elohim, and take pains to carry out all the words of this instruction [Torah].
Every seven years does not sound very effective for memorizing something that one is responsible to remember. But if it is in one’s native language and you are used to a story-telling campfire culture, it might sink in better than it would today with our short attention spans and barrage of competing information. Also, if one knows he will not just be able to go look it up, but is still responsible to carry it out, he is more likely to listen carefully and attentively. YHWH knows familiarity breeds contempt; if we have to wait so long to hear something, we will miss it and not take it for granted. We would also discuss it more often with one another and pool our remembrances of what it says. When difficult questions arose, one could go to the elders, who could also turn to the priests for rulings too difficult for them.
13. "Then their children, who have not been acquainted [with it] will hear and learn to reverence YHWH your Elohim all the days which you live on the Land that you are crossing the Yarden over there to take possession of."
This seems like a long time to expect children to remain quiet and listen, but it may have been sung or read in a dramatic way to avoid monotony. If those who only heard this read every seven years were expected to learn it and understand it, it must be meant to be understood in the most straightforward, simple manner, that even children can comprehend. There are deeper meanings which have their place, but “don’t eat pigs” means “don’t eat pigs”! This is how our children will learn to be in awe of YHWH: by hearing the penalties for disobeying His Torah. If we read the instructions (which is all “torah” means), we will never have to wonder what He really wants.
14. Then YHWH told Moshe, "Indeed, your days are drawing near when you must die. Summon Y'hoshua and [both of you] present yourselves at the Tent of Appointment so that I may give him his orders." So Moshe and Y'hoshua went and presented themselves at the Tent of Appointment.
Give him his orders; i.e., officially appoint him to his position and give him My strategy.
15. Then YHWH appeared at the Tent in a cloudy column, and the cloudy column remained above the door of the Tent.
They knew this was not just a conspiratorial scheme of Moshe and Y’hoshua, because YHWH was clearly present.
16. And YHWH told Moshe, "Behold, you are going to lie down with your ancestors, but this people will rise up and commit adultery, following the elohim of the strangers of the Land into whose midst they are going, and will leave Me behind, and violate My covenant which I have cut with them.
Commit adultery: Hirsch, "become addicted to". The word comes from a root meaning to be satiated. As soon as Moshe is laid to rest, we sink back into our natural inclination to evil. This is every parent’s concern. That this is foremost in his mind as he reaches his death is clear throughout the whole chapter. How depressing, that the people he had spent 40 years on would soon be ignoring everything he said. At least he will not live to see it, but was it all just a waste? Yet the technicality that the Torah actually ends at verse 8 (see note on verse 9) leaves YHWH the loophole for the Renewal of the Covenant as described in Yirmeyahu 31:31. The only specified way in which it would “not [be] like the covenant I cut with their ancestors” is that the ancestors broke the first covenant. This appendix to Torah, although it offers us much in the way of warning, may not necessarily apply if we indeed do not break the Covenant this time.
17. "Then My nostrils will burn against it on that day, and I will leave them behind and conceal My face from them, and they will be [given over] to destruction and encounter many miseries and distresses, so that they will say on that day, ‘Haven't these miseries come upon us because our Elohim is not in our midst?'
It: i.e., this people. Leave them behind: a term also used for loosing a wife from her marriage so that she is no longer bound to one's house. We see this theme in the book of Hoshea. Destruction: literally, being consumed. The Hebrew numerical value of "haven't these miseries come upon us" is the same as that of "the four exiles".
18. "But I will indeed hide My face on that day, because of all the evils that they have brought about in having turned to other elohim.
Repentance would not be granted at this time. This was a temporary measure, even if it lasted 2 to 3 millennia, but this is not the place or the season to discuss the possibility of return, because his point is to motivate the people to never get to this point, as seen in the next verses:
19. "So write down this song for yourselves, then, and teach it to the descendants of Israel. Put it in their mouths so that this song will be a witness for Me among the descendants of Israel,
YHWH postpones Moshe’s death long enough for him to compose a song, which is quoted in chapter 32. This may seem like a strange time to do so, but a catchy tune is the most effective memory aid that there is.
20. "because I will bring them into the Land that I swore to their ancestors--[one] gushing with milk and honey--and they will eat and be satisfied, and grow robust. Then they will turn [their face] toward other elohim and serve them, and despise Me and violate My covenant.
21. "Then when many miseries and distresses have found them, this song will serve as evidence in their faces as a witness [against them], since it will not be forgotten from the mouths of their descendants--because I know the plan that they are [already] concocting today, before I [even] bring them into the Land as I swore [I would]!"
Plan: inclination, purpose they are forming, even if not actually thinking it yet. A scary thought! He knows what we consider most important by what we do. After we hear the Torah taught, do we write it down and explain it to others, or just go off and play games? Be forgotten: or fade; a song stays in one's mind much longer than mere spoken words. This way no one could claim that they had not heard it. They must have stopped singing it at some point, however, for we no longer know the melody.
22. So Moshe wrote down this song that [same] day, and taught it to the descendants of Israel.
23. Then he gave orders to Y'hoshua the son of Nun, and said, "Be resolute and courageous, because you will bring the descendants of Israel into the Land that I promised to them, and I myself will be with you."
I myself: that is, Moshe, on YHWH’s behalf, but we must not forget the merit Moshe had before YHWH. When anyone walks in the Torah, it is on his side, and this will get you across the river. Moshe is thus “with him”, and Y’shua said the same thing to us. Y’hoshua is the only other man who got to ascend Mt. Sinai, and he, rather than Moshe’s own son, would take his place as leader.
24. And so it was that when Moshe had finished writing the words of this instruction in a document until they were complete,
This instruction: Heb., torah—possibly all five books, possibly only one of the five, or possibly only the part since v. 9 if another particular set of instructions was being discussed there. Complete: This does not mention an oral Torah; rather, he wrote down all its words. Tradition is valuable in clarifying what some of the words meant, or how they were interpreted in ancient times, but as we can see in the Mishnah and Talmud in which it was finally written down, oral tradition often draws on many opinions, and so is not as authoritative as Torah is. Those added documents are “snapshots in time”, but things were not always done the same way, for circumstances required different ways of carrying it out, and these commentaries give us examples of the possible range of meaning. YHWH did not see fit to mandate the “how to” at the same level as the simple command. It might not always be possible to do things exactly as they used to be done, and YHWH does not want us to feel guilty about that.
25. Moshe ordered the Levites who carried the ark of YHWH's covenant,
Levites: the ones who had the most authority to ensure that the scroll was kept in the right place--a spot where no one else could go to remove it, and thus they would always know where to find it. Later in our history, a Torah scroll was found in the Temple, which had fallen into disrepair, showing that it had been kept right where he told them to leave it--so it was not really lost, only forgotten. (2 Kings 22; 2 Chron. 34)
26. "Take this document [scroll] of the instruction, and place it at the side of the ark of the covenant of YHWH your Elohim, so that it may become a witness against you there,
The ark of the covenant was in the Holy of Holies—a place only one man would ever see it and only once a year! It was in a very valuable place, but how practical was this? How was it to be a witness to anyone there? But it was in a very private place, and therein lies the picture: When we are alone in the dark and there is no one else present to watch what we are doing, that is when we need the Torah most. That might be a time when we are tempted to steal something, but the eighth commandment is still there even if no one else catches us, and we said “Amen” to the blessings and curses that come with the instructions. (11:29ff) That means we agreed to this set of ways to take care of one another, and if we knowingly break with it, we will reap what we sow, even though no other human being knows what we did. Stealing dishonors YHWH (Prov. 30:9), because if we have to steal, it appears that He is not providing for us. There is another side of this picture: When you are alone and feel like you are in the dark, you need to keep the Torah close to you. If we keep the Torah, it can be a witness for us instead of against us. Can people look at our lives and say, “Oh, so that’s what it means!”? YHWH listed the names of the men who wept when they compared themselves to the Torah when they rediscovered it (Nekhemyah 8). Is your name listed as one who upholds it? The Torah is set beside the Ark; Exodus 25:16 specifies that the testimony should be put inside the Ark of the Covenant when Moshe would receive it. He himself built another chest out of only wood, without the gold, possibly to hold this second witness.
27. "because I am [well] acquainted with your rebellion and your stiff neck. Look how rebellious you have been against YHWH while I am still alive with you today! So how much more [will you do so] after I have died?
Again, this is addressed to the Levites, who are meant to uphold what he has put in place after he is gone. He should be able to trust them, but Qorakh was a Levite too. How will they get along without Moshe, the only one who is really taking all of this seriously? So he sets up this “first line of defense”. He has done all he can do, and hopes they will step up the challenge. He does not tell them that YHWH has said this would take place (v. 16), because then they would just say, “Oh, well, it’s going to happen anyway; who can resist it?” He wisely used reverse psychology, saying, “I bet you can’t do any better!”, thereby motivating them to beat the odds. When they heard their children singing the song that follows, they should respond by saying, “Not on my watch, we won’t!”
28. "Assemble together for me all the elders of your tribes, along with your officials, so I may speak these words in their hearing, and invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against them,
Invoke: or "summon". Calling forward the strongest witness available was the common way to end a covenant-ratifying ceremony.
29. "Since I am aware that after my death you will ruin [yourselves] with perversion, and turn away from the course [of life] that I have placed upon you, and misery will meet you in later times, because you will do evil in the sight of YHWH, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands."
But they did not stop following YHWH until after Y’hoshua died (Judges 2:7). While Y’hoshua was still leading, it was as if Moshe was still alive through him. Evil in the sight of YHWH: Until we read the Torah, what we do rarely seems evil to us, but very logical! Our own experience and morals cannot be our standard; the Tree of Knowledge looked very appropriate to Chawwah (Eve). Worshipping on Sunday under a phallic symbol and facing the insignia of Tammuz came to seem very righteous to us, but it turned YHWH’s stomach. It is His world, He made us, and He redeemed us, so what He thinks goes.
30. Then Moshe quoted the words of this song in the hearing of all Israel, up to [their] conclusion:
TORAH PORTION
Va-Yelekh
(Deuteronomy 31:1-30)
INTRODUCTION: Moshe knows he is at the limit of the time human beings are allotted breath (Gen. 6:9), and YHWH has told him very directly that he will be no exception, for he also has to live out the picture that there is one who can take us further than what was later called (as shorthand) "Moshe" can. But take us he will if we allow him to. There is no reason for fear (despite genuinely frightening prospects) if we maintain the right confidence in YHWH's ability to choose the optimal times for us to act, when He would bring the right factors together that we could not even imagine in advance. The One who is with us is greater than anything the world can throw at us. He will not withdraw from us; that would be the only thing worthy of our fear, and He has already promised this will not occur.
But the leader must maintain courage if the followers are to do so. And after that battle is won, there are other battles, but the solution remains the same: Moshe is giving us all the weapons here, but each generation must be aware not only of the threats but of the tools at our disposal and how to use them. So while he is still with us, Moshe puts safeguards in place to ensure--if we maintain them--that this knowledge will not be lost, even when it is deliberately sidelined as he knows it will be. And thus, despite our long history of doing just what he predicted would occur, we still do have these words and their supernatural power at our disposal.
What will we do with such an unimaginably-valuable treasure? It is our turn to decide.
“Moshe’s Swan Song”
Over and over Moshe has tried to drum the point into this fickle and stubborn people: “YHWH Himself is going with you; what more could you ask for? You’ve seen what He can do, and He will do the same again! You’ll have a very capable leader; you have no reason to be afraid! Life can be wonderful if you just follow these orders! Don’t throw away the gains that YHWH is handing you on a silver platter!” (Deut. 31:3-8)
But Moshe knows the human tendency to want to find out the hard way that he was right, because we think we could somehow come up with a better plan. But he knows the way of perfect balance is very narrow, and every other way leads to disaster of one kind or another. And he’s seen everything in his very long life. (31:2)
Now he is told that it is his time to depart the present age, and he’s heard the news nobody wants to hear: “You’re right; they will do even worse after you depart the scene. Your worst hunches (31:27) will be realized.” (31:16) So he not only writes the whole Torah down with his own hand and arranges for it to be read publicly at regular intervals with everyone together (31:9-11) as witnesses so no one can claim that he said something different. He also summons all his creative energies and writes a song so catchy that it will ring in the ears even of those who don’t want to hear it. (31:19) You know that kind of song that gets stuck in your head and keeps repeating over and over almost ad nauseam. But this time it is a beneficial melody, meant to keep them out of trouble—to keep Moshe’s voice, which will soon be silenced, alive for generations to come.
What is the song about? We will see it in detail in the next chapter, but this prologue summarizes it as, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you!” (31:21) There’s more than a hint here of, “You got yourself into this; why are you coming to me for help now?” When they do correctly identify the source of the calamity and are open to turning things around, they will be met with, “Sorry, you’re too late! We’re closed; come back another day!” (31:18) But there’s no other place to go anymore. Everything else, it‘s been confirmed, is a dead-end street. Bad, very bad news indeed.
Now, YHWH won’t let that be the end of the story, but, especially since if, as in common practice, we leave the next chapter until next week, it leaves us hanging, “rubbing in” the fact that He will let them stew in the bed they have made for long enough that it may seem that way—long enough to recognize that He wasn’t kidding and this wasn’t just some fluke or coincidence.
That’s why the song. It’s supposed to be a deterrent—to make them afraid that this will really come about, and take precautions to keep from falling into the pits that come with the territory. (31:16) There’s still a spark of hope left in Moshe that maybe, just maybe they will listen and take preventive action. Not likely, but “as long as there’s life…”
And now you are the one alive. That means the ball is in your court. So show Him that you mean business.
Study Questions:
1. Other than the reason he gave in 31:2, what else made Moshe realize that his time was up (for this era), though his health was not particularly bad for his age (34:7)? (Compare Gen. 6:3.)
2. What picture or allegory is there in the fact that Moshe could not take us all the way but Y’hoshua could? (31:3) Yet Who was ultimately the One who accomplished all of this (31:3-6), no matter whom He used?
3. How does the latter Y’hoshua also go with us into what the Promised Land is a shadow or illustration of, and how does he enable us to inherit it? (31:7)
4. Why do you think Sukkoth in the year of Release was the time Moshe designated for the Torah to be read to all of Israel together? (31:10-13) If they heard it only once every seven years, what factors (which we might not have to the same degree) helped them to retain it in their memory? If they needed to check on details, where could they go? (31:9; 27:3)
5. The song YHWH tells Moshe to write (31:19-22) appears in the next chapter, but there seems to be no hope held out here that it will serve as a deterrent, but only as evidence against the nation when we do fall. (31:21, 26-27) It even seems like YHWH will not even listen when we realize we have not been following Him as we should have. (31:17-18) What counter-arguments to this can you marshal from this Torah portion, the one before it, or any others, to show that our apparently-inevitable failure (31:16, 27, 29) is not the whole story—or the final outcome?
Companion Passage:
The Sidewalk
for kids
If you were given a treasure, you would take care of it wouldn’t you? You would guard it and probably pay somebody else to guard it even better than you could, so nobody could take it away from you. You would look at it as often as you could and enjoy it and hold it and look it every detail and tell your friends about how great it was.
But, do you know what? You have been given a treasure—the Torah. Now, a book might not seem as exciting as a chest full of gold and jewels, but an even greater treasure is what it stands for: a direct relationship with the King of the universe who gave it to you and who has even more to give if you need it because He loves you.
And this is also the kind of treasure that when shared makes us richer, not poorer. It teaches us how to make each other stronger, and in the process we get stronger too because all of our strength combined is more than it would be for each of us separately.
But still many people let this treasure slip away because there’s such a thing as “fool’s gold”—iron pyrites, technically, but it’s real of almost no value at all, but because it looks like gold, people get excited when they see it.
There are lots of things in the world like that: at first they’re very exciting and we think they’d be even better for us than the treasures that YHWH gave us, and we trade away the real treasure for the counterfeit.
Moshe wasn’t going to be with Israel much longer. He was about to die, so what he did was very smart. When you try to memorize something—maybe a verse from the Bible or even your homework, like the names of all the presidents—if you set it to music, you can remember it much more easily. So Moshe made up a really catchy song that would keep his voice ringing in the minds of the people long after he was gone, to remind them of what would take place if they traded the treasure for the fool’s gold. And most of Israel throughout history did that anyway.
But even then, YHWH was still merciful. He gave us a way to get the treasure back. It’s not as easy as it would have been if we had kept the treasure all along. It cost YHWH a lot of emotional pain and it cost us many wasted days and years that we could have been doing something more helpful. But He is, little by little, giving it back to those who remember its true value.
Yeshua, who is how YHWH made that possible, said the Kingdom of YHWH is like treasure that would be worth selling everything else you have for. (Matithyahu 13:44)
So while we don’t want to fight each other for it, this time we need to fight to keep the treasure. Fight the urge to give in to the temptation of "fool’s gold" and keep the real “gold”, which might not always be shiny because it is being used, but has real value.
The Renewal of
VA-YELEKH
Israel was about to enter the Promised Land, and Moshe had taken them as far as he could. He needed to bolster every bit of courage that could rise up within them, so he pointed out the two forerunners (one visible and one invisible) who were working in tandem to prepare the way:
“YHWH your Elohim is the One who will cross over ahead of you. He will overthrow these nations from before you, and you will dispossess them. Y'hoshua is the one who will cross over before you, as YHWH has promised.” (Deuteronomy 31:3)
Note the unity yet duality, which carries over very well into the Renewed Covenant. YHWH was indeed going on ahead, but they needed a leader they could see, who was mirroring YHWH’s steps to motivate us to do the same thing he was doing, and to show that it was indeed possible. There is no coincidence that this leader, who manifested YHWH’s every move (compare Yochanan 5:17, 19, 30), has the same name as the one who has gone on ahead to prepare the way for us (Yochanan 14:2-3) as we approach the “river” that must be crossed and the “giants” that obstruct our way to the Kingdom which will be headquartered in that same Land:
“…the hope set before us…we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into what is inside the veil, where the forerunner--that is, Yeshua--has [already] entered for us…” (Hebrews 6:19-20)
“Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Yeshua, the one who [both] initiated and has completed the faithfulness…” to which we are also called. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
There will also be a military aspect to his leadership: “I saw the sky opened up, and there [came] a white horse, and the one sitting on it is called “Faithful and True”, and in righteousness he judges and wages war… And the armies that were in heaven were accompanying him on white horses and were clothed in fine linen, white [and] pure. And out of his mouth proceeds a sharp [swift] scimitar in order that he may strike down the nations, and he will shepherd them with an iron scepter. And he treads the winepress of the intense passion of the wrath of The Elohim, the Ruler of all.” (Revelation 19:11-15)
Victory was guaranteed if we followed his instructions, so he could confidently tell Israel, “Be strong [resolute] and courageous; do not be terrified or tremble at their faces, for YHWH your Elohim is the One who goes with you. He will not [release His grip and] withdraw from you, nor will He abandon you." (Deut. 31:6)
One Renewed Covenant parallel to this is commonly rendered, “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” But there are many words in both Hebrew and Greek that mean some form of “strong”, “power”, or “might”, so I will be more specific with the translation, to bring out the nuances that are here: “[Let yourselves] be filled by the Master with the power to change, and with the force [to overcome resistance] that His dominion exerts. Put on the complete set of Elohim’s armor so that you may be able to stand firm against the [crafty] methods of the accuser, because our wrestling is not against blood and flesh, but against the chief powers, against the authorities, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the spiritual [forces] of wickedness in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:10-12)
To Y’hoshua, Moshe repeats: “YHWH is the One going before you; He will be with you. He will not withdraw from you nor abandon you. Do not be terrified or panic." (31:8)
But though the first generation was enthusiastic and remained faithful as long as Y’hoshua and his contemporaries were alive, Moshe knew the excitement would wear off and before long they would be tempted to go back to their old ways, and they could lose the firm foothold they had on the Land:
“Look how rebellious you have been against YHWH while I am still alive with you today! So how much more [will you do so] after I have died?” (Deut. 31:27) So, with reverse psychology, he wrote a catchy song to remind them to resist the recalcitrance he knew they were likely to succumb to.
Kefa, in the first generation of Yeshua’s “conquest” of a world still in the hands of his enemy, has a more positive, but similar, pep talk as he knows his day to depart is approaching, and he also speaks about ensuring for ourselves a stable place in the Kingdom:
“My brothers, be fervent about making your calling and [the outcome of your] being selected solid; indeed, if you practice these things, you will never stumble. In this way indeed the entrance into the age-long Kingdom of our master and deliverer Yeshua the Messiah will be lavishly supplied to you. Therefore I will be ready on any occasion to remind you about these things, although you have already come to know them and have been buttressed by the truth that is present [in you]. Moreover, I consider it the right [thing to do], for as long as I am [still] in this tent, to stir you up by way of reminder… so that after my departure you may at all times have something [to hold onto].” (2 Peter 1:10-15)
Even Kefa, while waiting for the next step in the coming of the Kingdom after the King won the first and most decisive victory, had gone back to his old job. So he knew how much easier this would be for those who had not been eyewitnesses as he was. I remember how fervent the excitement was 50 years ago about how soon the King would return, but likewise, many have gone back to their old lifestyles because of his delay. Part of what Kefa meant to stir up was the realization that delay did not mean cancellation:
“This now… is the second letter I am writing to you, in which by reminder I stir up your sincere way of thinking, so that you may have recalled to your minds the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets, and [of] a command of the master and deliverer [given] through us, who were sent: Knowing this first, that in the latter days, scoffers will come, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is this promised coming of his? Because ever since the patriarchs fell asleep, everything has stayed the same as [it had been] since the beginning of creation!’ Elohim is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is patient…, not wanting anyone to perish, but [wanting] to leave room for all to change their ways. But the Day of YHWH will come…” (2 Kefa 3:1-10)
So don’t be taken in by the enemy who will again cast doubt on YHWH’s word just because of an apparent slowdown. The obstacles were no problem for Him then, and neither are they now. So “be resolute and courageous!”
Taking Ground Back from the Usurper
"Be strong and courageous; don’t be in awe of or fear them; for YHWH your Elohim is the One who is going with you; He will not fail you nor abandon you.” (Deut. 31:6)
He repeated the same reassurance to Y’hoshua personally (31:7, 23), for he would lead the way across to Canaan. But while YHWH would go with us all, He said He would go before Y’hoshua—to prepare the way. So He was the real spearhead.
What a comfort! Now that may not mean what you think it means. “Comfort” has taken on a sense of warmth, relaxation, security, and painlessness—“like a lullaby” as a friend put it. But the “fort” in “comfort” is actually connected with “fortitude”—strength or resilience, like the related “fortress”. That is what’s spoken of here. The “com” is an assimilative form of “con” (with). Put together, com-fort means “going with us to strengthen”. ”. That’s what Yeshua meant when he said our Father would send the spirit of truth to comfort us. (Yochanan 15:26) This corresponds to the “courageous” here (Heb., imatz), which denotes stoutness, solidity, boldness, bravery. It is a battle He is calling them to—many battles, really, so there needs to be long-term endurance. And that is where the other word, “be strong” comes in: chazaq! It means to grab hold, get a firm grip, hold on tight, and never let go.
It is a long-lasting task, and as we approach our Exodus (Jeremiah 16:14-15), but even in the day-to-day fight against common temptations, we need this endurance and what powers it—the assurance that YHWH Himself is fighting along with us and has prepared the way so that the enemy’s ground is already unstable before we even get to him--because, yes, it is an offensive campaign: we take the battle to him. We are recapturing ground taken by a usurper. In Canaan’s case, the extra-canonical book of Jubilees gives the background:
“The children of Noakh began to divide the world among themselves…He divided the earth by lots…There came forth on the writing as Shem’s lot the middle of the earth… (8:8-12) But Canaan saw the land from Levanon to the brook of Egypt, that it was very good, and he did not go into his own inheritance to the west… And Cham, his father, and…his brothers…said to him, ‘You have settled in a land which did not fall to us by lot… Dwell not in the dwelling of Shem…’ But he did not listen to them.” (10:29-33)
If this is true, it was Shem’s rightful land all along. Apparently Shem himself did live there (the Book of Yasher 16:11 identifies Adoni-tzedeq, a.k.a. the Melkhitzedeq of Gen. 14, with Shem), but not his descendants. Once Canaan’s sin reached its tipping point (Gen. 15:16) 490 years later, YHWH sent its rightful heirs in to get it back.
On a larger scale, in Eden another usurper tricked our first ancestors into committing a deed by which they forfeited their inheritance and their role as rulers of the world. Yeshua called haSatan “the prince of this world” still. (Yochanan 14:30) He did not dispute his tempter’s ability to offer him all the world’s kingdoms, but only the means by which he would have to pay. (Mat. 4:8ff) But after he earned them the right way, his disciple could say, “the Son of Elohim is manifested to destroy the works of the adversary” (1 Yoch. 3:8), for now a man was again worthy of ruling the earth. We can get it back.
The reconquest won’t be complete until the “sins of the Emorites”, as He put it the first time, reach their fullness on a worldwide scale and there is just too much injustice for YHWH to let it go on any longer (Mat. 24:22). But already now, through the new Adam, we can gain ground step by step—at each place we set the sole of our feet. (Y’hoshua 1:3) The latter Y’hoshua gives us access to our part of the inheritance, for now "the weapons of our warfare are not physical, but mighty through Elohim to the pulling down strongholds, …thought-patterns and every lofty thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of Elohim…” (1 Cor. 10:4-5)
As Y’hoshua made Rahav a part of Israel (Y’ho. 6:25), we can rescue individuals from the occupying power, bringing them into the restored race reconstituted by the One “who rescued us out of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son” (Colossians 1:13). Again, YHWH took the initiative, creating the right conditions before it becomes a reality on the ground—so it can.
In the Steps of Our Forerunner(s)
It has been common for some to regard “crossing the Jordan” into the Promised Land as a metaphor for leaving this life, with whatever pain and difficulty that may involve, and going on to our reward. Many songwriters have gotten a lot of mileage out of this comparison.
And I can see where they get it. Verse 3 of this week’s chapter (31) says, “YHWH is the One who will go across before you, and He will destroy those nations… Y’hoshua, too, will cross over ahead of you.” YHWH does indeed accompany us on that final journey, and the Yeshua we know has indeed gone over before us and defeated every enemy, even death. (1 Cor. 15:23, 25-26)
But is this really talking about our dying and going to heaven? There are many levels on which it could be taken, and maybe that is one. But I’d like to focus on another, because Torah does speak of battles after we cross that river, and the possibility of still going astray in that Land, and one would think that when we arrived at our final home, our battles would already be over and done with, things of the past.
When we studied parashat ‘Eqev we saw that conquering the Land can be idiomatic of bringing different areas of our lives under YHWH’s authority.
Indeed, yelekh does mean to walk, and YHWH did tell the first Y’hoshua, as leader and forerunner of the whole nation (Deut. 11:24), “Every place the sole of your foot treads I have given to you.” (Joshua 1:3) And the passage I alluded to above does say the same thing about the latter Y’hoshua:
“Messiah the firstfruits… will hand over the Kingdom to the Elohim and Father, once he has rendered anything that is pre-eminent, every authority, and all show of force ineffective. For it is necessary for him to reign as long as it takes to put all of his enemies under his feet.” (1 Cor. 15:23-25)
Yeshua is also called our “forerunner”, entering in behind the veil (Hebrews 6:20) to anchor for us a place there so that we can hold firmly through much adversity with our hope still intact. (6:18-19) This does parallel those brave soldiers who go on ahead to establish a beachhead so the rest of the army can safely cross into hostile territory.
This metaphor can be extended to other “territory” we need to conquer--outside of ourselves, for once we are in a safe position, YHWH wants us to turn our attention to those who are not yet there. (Mat. 18:12) Certainly “these nations that He will destroy” (31:3) include strongholds the enemy has over other people who need to be delivered from bondage of many kinds into the “glorious liberty of the children of Elohim” (Romans 8:21):
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through Elohim to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of Elohim, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of the Messiah” (1 Cor. 10:3-5)—not just in ourselves, but in others.
Our first natural response is to see these “high things” as giants, knowing our own shortcomings, and dread having to confront them. But what is the Torah’s exhortation as we face such challenges? “Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be frightened at them; for YHWH your Elohim, He is the One who is going with you; He will not fail you or forsake you.” (31:6) They are not insurmountable. He is much bigger than all of them, and Y’hoshua is promised success at causing us to inherit the Land. (31:7)
It may not all be done until we get past today’s strongholds and into the Kingdom, but the anchor is already there, and it will hold--if we don’t dislodge it by our unbelief, as our ancestors did. (Heb. 3:19)
How Do We Avoid This?
“YHWH is the One who is going ahead of you. He will be with you; He will not fail you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or panic.” (Deut. 31:8)
How did we get from that to “I know [for certain] that after my death you will bring about utter corruption and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you, and evil will befall you in the times after [that], because you do what is evil in the eyes of YHWH, to anger Him with the works of your hands”? (Deut. 31:29)
Well, Moshe knew human nature and the history of this particular nation very well (31:27), and could already see their tendencies. YHWH confirmed that his hunch was an accurate analysis. (31:16) He had previously warned that if they did not utterly destroy the foreign idols they would encounter in the Land He was giving them, they would become a snare to them, and here He tacitly reveals that they would indeed fail to remove all the paganism, and their curiosity would get the better of them. Because those religions were so alluring (they usually involved sexual “sacraments”), they would even end up turning the people away from YHWH, who was still so real to them at this point.
Moshe put stopgaps in place to try to mitigate this downward trend: the succession of strong leadership (31:3), public encouragement of the leader (31:7), training each new generation (31:13), the hearing of a repetition of all of YHWH’s words when we are all together (31:10-12), the vivid manifestation of YHWH’s reality (31:15), His words written for posterity (31:24) and stored where they could not be lost (31:26), ensuring that representatives of all the people heard the warning (31:28), and even a catchy tune to anchor the message in our memory (31:19).
These did work for a while; if we read ahead in our history books, we see that they did stick with YHWH for another whole generation (Joshua 24:31ff; Judges 2:7-10) before they started slacking off and merely enslaving the Canaanites rather than driving them out (Judges 1:28-33), after which the Canaanites regrouped and started pushing Israel back out of their cities. (1:34ff) And YHWH called them to account for it, withdrawing His hand since they had withdrawn theirs. (Judges 2:1-3) After a few years, the next generation, which had not seen YHWH at work as their fathers had, started following the idols that their fathers had not fully eradicated. (Judges 2:10-12)
That tells us what the solution is. We may not be able to carry out such a complete purging of false ideas while in exile under other nations’ laws. But we can keep the memory of YHWH’s deeds alive for our children, and He can take them from there into a more vivid, personal relationship that we can only introduce them to. He has no grandchildren, as the saying goes, but (like Moshe) we can bring them to the brink of crossing over into their own walk with Him.
But what if they are already falling victim to the lies of the “Canaanites” where we live? The haftarah tells us where we can begin: call a fast, gather all of YHWH’s people, and pray together (Joel 2:15ff), and from there He may respond and do great things for us again.
This is very timely, as Yom Kippur (the only non-optional fast) is only a few days away. Be sure to make your repentance real, sincere, and complete. That is where to start. The chapters of Joel that follow this one describe the return of both houses of Israel to the Land and the judgment of the nations to whom we had been sold. These are great things indeed—greater than any ever yet seen—so let us not fail to do our part and start the process the way He says to build the foundation, so He can take it from there.
