(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 31:14–21, “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 I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation. And the LORD appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle. And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go 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. Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? And I 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. Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. 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 have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant. And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten 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 sware.”
Moses had just about finished his job, at this stage. He had gone to Egypt and confronted Pharaoh. He demanded, in the Name of the Lord, that Pharaoh set Israel free from slavery. Eventually he had sent them away but changed his mind. The Egyptian armies were completely destroyed by the Lord so Israel could move on without any fear of retribution from Egypt. The Lord gave Moses the Law and Moses taught Israel the Law. In spite of this, Israel refused to go into the Promised Land because they were afraid of giants. Moses led them through the wilderness and trained the next generation. The Lord told Moses to train his successor and Moses did that. Now Moses was ready to die but, before he died, he needed to ensure that Joshua, his assistant, was ordained and accepted by Israel as their leader. Moses took Joshua and the presented themselves before the Lord in the Tabernacle. The Lord demonstrated His approval by appearing in the pillar of cloud. This had been the way that the Lord showed His presence since they left Egypt. He warned Moses and Joshua that Israel would not always remain completely true to the Law of the Lord. The Lord would deal with them according to the penalty clauses of their contract so that they would realise that they were rejecting the Lord and come back to Him. The Lord told Moses to write a song that the people could learn, sing and remember. Songs are easier to remember than prose. They would be able to sing the song and remember that everything good that existed in their Land was a gift from the Lord.
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