Deuteronomy 31:1-13

Moses’ Last Counsel

31 So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. And he said to them, “I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I am no longer able to come and go, and the Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross this Jordan.’ It is the Lord your God who will cross ahead of you; He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, just as the Lord has spoken. The Lord will do to them just as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them. The Lord will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”

Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance.The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

So Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Then Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the time of the year of remission of debts, at the Feast of Booths, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place which He will choose, you shall read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and [a]the alien who is in your [b]town, so that they may hear and learn and fear the Lord your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law. 13 Their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live on the land [c]which you are about to cross the Jordan to [d]possess.”

“Be strong and courageous…” These words are not based upon our own strength, our own abilities, or our ability to be awesome. These words are based upon the fact that God is with us.

Moses reminded the people multiple times, that God would go before them, but we know even further that Jesus was called Emmanuel, which means “God with us”. He is always with us, no matter where we go, no matter how we feel, He is there. Right beside us, walking with us every step of the way, giving us unknown strength when we don’t have it in us, carrying us through the hardest of times, making us stronger yes, but also being our strength. He is everything we need, in a very real sense. We need to let Him be our wisdom, our peace, not to be content ever, always pressing in closer, going up higher, further than we thought possible, but always because it is Him inside us that makes us stronger, wiser, more and more of who we were created to be.

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