G n 1-3-. Yahaveh to go before.
o p -3-. Yahaveh to act.
q -3. Joshua.
o p 4-6. Yahaveh to act.
q 7. Joshua.
n 8. Yahaveh to go before.1452 B.C.
and He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall possess them:
and Joshua, he shall go over before you, according as the Lord has said (Cp. the references to past statements: 2:9; 3:28. Ex. 23:2,23; 33:2. Num. 27:15-23).
4: And the Lord shall do to them as He did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and to the land of them, whom He destroyed.
5: And the Lord shall give them up before your face, that you all may do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you.
6: Be strong and of a good courage (Cp. vv.7,23. Josh.1:6,9,18; 10:25. 1 Chron.22:13; 28:20. 2 Chron. 32:7. Isa. 35:3,4), fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord your God, He it is that does go with you; He will not fail you, nor forsake you." (Cp. 4:31. Josh. 1:5. 1 Chron. 28:20. See note on 4:31. This is the end of Moses' 7th address. You have nothing to fear, if the Lord is with you. If God be for you, who can stand against you? You can always count on God to keep His promises.)
7: And Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, 'Be strong and of a good courage: for you must bring this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it.
8: And the Lord, He it is that does go before you; He will be with you, He will not fail you, neither forsake you: fear not, neither be dismayed.' " (With promises like this from Your Father, you have nothing to fear.)
F r 31:9-30. Laws re the Song.
s 32:1-43. The Song itself
r 32:44-47. Laws re the Song.
r t1 9-13. Laws written and read.
u1 14-18. Charges to Moses and Joshua.
t2 19. Song to be written.
u2 20,21. Charge to People.
t3 22. Song written.
u3 23. Charge to Joshua.
t4 24. Song written.
u4 25-29. Charge to Levites.
t5 30. Song recited.
9: And Moses wrote this law (See note on Ex.17:14), and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi (= the Kohathites. Num. 4:1-15), which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.
10: And Moses commanded them, saying, "At the end of every seven years (Cp. 15:1), in the solemnity (= appointed time) of the year of release (So called in 15:9. The "release" is referred to in 15:1,2,3. The noun "release" occ. only in these two passages. The verb occ. in Ex. 23:11), in the feast of tabernacles, (= booths. Every 7th year was to be a sabbatical year. The land was to rest and all things were to be renewed.)
11: When all Israel is come to appear (See Ex.23:15 and 34:20.) before the Lord your God in the place which He shall choose, you shall read this law (Cp. 16:13-15, and see Neh. 8:1-18.) before all Israel in their hearing.
12: Gather the people together, men, and women, and children (= little ones), and your stranger that is within your gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and love the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: (The law was to be read so the people could learn that God is never going to leave them. As long as you don't unfasten yourself from God, He isn't going to unfasten from you. You hold up your part of the covenant, and you can count on God to uphold His part.)
13: And that their sons, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to love the Lord their God, as long as (= all the days) you all live in the land to which place you all go over Jordan to possess it." (Unfasten yourself from the troubles of the world. We have the victory in Father.)
14: And the Lord said (see 2:9) to Moses, "Behold, your days approach that you must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle (= tent. Heb. 'ohel. The only reference to it in Deuteronomy) of the congregation, that I may give him a charge". And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tent of the congregation.
15: And the Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of a cloud (The only reference to it in Deuteronomy): and the pillar of the cloud stood over the entrance of the tent.
16: And the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, you shall; sleep with your fathers (= shall lie down to sleep. A beautiful Euphemism for death. This is the first occ. It is used alike of good people and evil: of Ahab as well as David; of all the kings, even Jehoiakim, who had no burial.); and this people will rise up, and go a whoring (the constant idiom for idolatry) after the gods of the strangers of the land, to which place 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 (Cp. 2 Kings 22:17. Hos. 5:3-6. Mic. 3:4) against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them (Cp. 32:20. Isa. 8:17; 54:8; 59:2; 64:7), and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall find them; so that they will say in that day. 'Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?' (Should be "Have not these evils found me out, because my God is not in my midst?")
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 to other gods.
19: Now therefore write you all this song for you (First reference to the "Song of Moses". See Chapter 32. The last in Rev. 15:3), and teach it (to be both written and taught) the sons of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel.
20: For when I shall have brought them on to the soil which I swore to their fathers, that flows with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn to 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 (2nd mention of this song) shall testify against them (= answer them to their face) as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten (This song quoted and referred to more than any other part of Pentateuch) 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 swore to their fathers."
22: Moses therefore wrote this song (The 3rd reference to it) the same day, and taught it the sons of Israel.
23: And He (i.e. Yehovah) gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, "Be strong and of a good courage (See v.6): for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swear to them: and I will be with you."
24: And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book (See Ex. 17:14. This was the "book" found by Hilkiah. 2 Kings 22:8. 2 Chron. 34:14), until they were finished,
25: That Moses commanded the Levites (= the Kohathites, v.9. Cp. Num. 3:31,32. 2 Sam.15:24), which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,
26: "Take this book of the law (See the effect of finding it by Jeremiah's father, 2 Kings 22:8, and note the references to it in vv. 13,16,17 [Deut. 29:25-27], v.19 [Deut. 28:36,37,45, words used]. Cp. also 2 Kings 23:1-3 with Deut. 29:1; and v.21 with Deut. 16:1-8; and v.24 with Deut. 18:10,11 ["put away" occ. only in Deut.]; and v.25 with Deut. 30:10), and put it in (or by) the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against you.
27: For I know your rebellion, and your stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, you all have been rebellious against the Lord; and how much more after my death?
28: Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them.
29: For I know (Cp. Acts 20:28,29) that after my death you all will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days (Cp. Gen. 49:1 [Num. 24:14]. Used by Moses, 4:30. Found also in Jer. 23:20; 48:47; 49:39. Ezek. 38:16. Hos. 3:5. Mic. 4:1); because you all will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands." (viz., idolatry and other evils)
30: And Moses spoke (The beginning of the 8th address) in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song (the 4th reference to it. It is the key of the Apocalypse, Rev. 15:3. It will be sung on the first day of Millennium [i.e. "the day of the Lord"] by the elect and over-comers. See note on Ex. 15:1), until they were ended.