Deuteronomy: Lessons to remember as you walk to the Promised Land - Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31:

There it was. It loomed on the hill making my stomach knot in anticipation. Conquering my fear of heights by completing the high ropes course had not been on the list of things to do when I signed up to help the youth group during their summer team building adventure. But, there I was staring up at the monstrously high obstacle course. Ladders. Ropes. Wobbly plank bridges 30 feet in the air. The dreaded zip line at the end. My heart melted. Surely I could find some other way to be a good role model.

Helmet on, harness tightened, and rope attached, I climbed up the flight of steps to the first obstacle. Wanda and I were probably not the best match for each other that day. She was just as afraid as I was. But at least she could still talk. “Learned any new Bible verses lately?” she asked, trying to distract us both. I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of her question. Yes. I was working on new verse, Jude 25-25: “To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to Him be glory, honor, power, and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Keep me from falling? Isn’t God funny? His words encouraged me, gave me strength and courage to not be afraid as I repeated them over and over that day. That’s what the Israelites were going to need as they entered the Promised Land. There was struggle in front on them. More important than the physical struggle to overthrow the people would be the struggle to remain faithful to the LORD. God was letting them know over and over that what they needed was Him. And He promised to be with them.

Read Deuteronomy 31:1-8.

Who will cross ahead of the Israelites into the land and destroy the nations?

What does God command them to do in verse 5?

What does He command them to do in verse 6?

What does Moses call Joshua to do in verse 7?

Verse 8 reminds them again to be strong and courageous, to not fear and not be dismayed. Dismay means to lose your courage or your resolve to do something. In other words, to give up. If someone keeps telling you to be strong and have courage and don’t give up, then you can assume whatever you are about to do is going to be really difficult.

Read Deuteronomy 31:9-13.

Who did Moses give the written law, the book of Deuteronomy to, and what did he instruct them to do with it?

How often were they to read the book?

What was the purpose of reading the book?


Have you ever thought of this as a reason to read the Bible? Why or why not?
What happens in your life when you don’t know the Word or have forgotten what it says?

Read Deuteronomy 31:14-15.

Moses called Joshua into the tent of meeting to stand before the presence of the LORD. His appearance in the pillar of cloud signaled God’s confirmation of Joshua as the replacement for Moses. God had some things that He wanted Joshua to hear – mainly what was going to happen to Israel. Maybe this was meant to be a disclaimer for Joshua. I’m sure that leaders often question themselves and become discouraged when their people don’t follow. Perhaps God wanted Joshua to know that their coming apostasy was not his fault.

Read Deuteronomy 31:16-21.

Verse 19 gives a reason for the song that Moses is going to give to the people. (This is in chapter 32.) What is his reason?

Verse 20 reveals when the apostasy will happen. What will bring about the Israelite’s turning away from God?

Isn’t this the truth? When we are well taken care of, we don’t seem to seek the Lord as much. Where do you see this happening in your own life?

As the Judge in heaven, the LORD is establishing witnesses against the Israelites and their breach of contract. Who will be the witnesses?

Read Deuteronomy 31:23-30.

Let’s face it. We have the same problem as the Israelites. We put other things in front of God. We have idols. Webster’s dictionary defines idol as “an object of extreme devotion.” I completed Kelly Minter’s Bible study, No Other Gods, several years ago, and to my surprise, I realized I was my biggest idol. Me. I am extremely devoted to myself. In this culture that cries, “It’s all about you,” narcissism is the heart of most of the messages we consume. It is hard to resist the thought patterns that pull us away from God and toward ourselves. It is a subtle trick, easily disregarded and always dangerous.

There is another subtle trick lurking in the shadows that we need to be aware of as well. You know one of the things the LORD kept warning the Israelites about was the act of mixing other worship into their worship of Him. For example, God did not even want the Asher pole beside the altar in Deuteronomy 16:21. He knows that mixed worship will result in half-hearted worship, and eventually no worship at all.

Today, concepts from Buddhism, Hinduism, pantheism, and others are working their way into Christianity. One example is the idea of mindfulness. You see a lot about it nowadays. Headlines of magazines. Workshops in your work place. Schools teaching how to practice mindfulness as a calming and focusing technique. While the qualities of being calm and focused are needed, the practice of mindfulness is a Buddhist principle.

I’ve noticed that many people follow Mindful Christianity Today on Facebook. Their mission statement says, “Mindful Christianity is the spiritual discipline of paying attention on purpose with the goal of being acutely aware of experiencing Christ’s presence.” Paying attention to what on purpose? This is really a fancy word for “focus,” which is a key concept/practice in Buddhism. It is what you do when you meditate. Being acutely aware of experiencing Christ’s presence? This too is part of meditation, reaching the state of enlightenment or nirvana, which is difficult to explain in words, according to Buddhist followers. A sort of out-of-body, other-worldly experience where you become one with a presence bigger than yourself. Do right. Be good. Be useful. Don’t hurt others. Know the bad will end some day. It is a works-based religion.

So when Mindful Christianity Today posts things like “Once you’ve been in the dark, you learn to appreciate everything that shines,” it doesn’t sound unchristian. There are biblical concepts there – dark, light. You must measure this statement next to the Word of God. Does God say we will sometimes be in dark places? Yes. Our hearts are dark. Evil is dark. Darkness is the lack of the presence of God. Does scripture say “appreciate everything that shines?” Lucifer shines. His name even contains light (luc). Should we appreciate him? If we are talking spiritual darkness and spiritual light, the only light is that of Christ, the Word of God. 2 Peter 1:19 tells us to pay attention to the Word, which is “a lamp shining in dark places.” Everything that seems shiny to us is not necessarily the truth of God.

This statement does uphold the ideals of Buddhism: life has a lot of suffering, suffering will end, and keep an attitude of compassion. But, without a direct connection to Christ and God’s Word, this is not a Christian statement. It is just a feel-good thought. There is nothing wrong with that, but don’t let that feel-good thought be your focus for worship. If you do, you’ll be worshipping the creation instead of the Creator, and that is idol worship. That was the mistake the Israelites made; they mixed their worship of the LORD God with the worship of created things, until eventually they filtered God out and all that was left of their worship was an idol.

This is what broke God’s heart. This is what brought evil upon them and made His face turn away. God does not change. He still does not want mixed worship. We must be diligent to keep our focus on Him and on His Word, His truth. Don’t let the feel-good filtered words of the world blind you from the fullness of His character.

“Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face.” (Deuteronomy 7:9-10)

Friends, pay attention! Don’t fall asleep. The enemy will use words to trick us, just like he tricked Eve in the garden with word play. As we grow closer to the ends of time, it will be increasingly important for you to be aware of the words people use, especially in connection with the Word of God. You will need to read the Word and be aware of what He says so that you can identify the subtle word play of the enemy that makes us believe lies. A one-world religion is prophesied for the end and mingling other religions with Christianity is just one way of diluting God’s truth and getting mind’s ready for what is to come. Don’t be like the five foolish virgins in Matthew 25. They fell asleep, didn’t prepare ahead of time by finding oil for their lamp, and missed walking through the open door. Be prepared. Know God’s Word. Teach it to your children. It will be the oil in your lamp when the world is dark. It will be the light that gets you to the open door to be with Him. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Love the LORD. Remember what He has done. Fear Him for He is awesome and powerful. Obey His word. Teach others. Be blessed.

Lesson to Remember: God gives us His Word to bring us strength and encouragement.

A Way to Walk: God’s Word is your lifeline. Choose life! Choose Him every day. Pay attention to the ways the world attempts to steal you away from Him.