And Jehovah said to Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the strange gods of the land into which they enter, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
God's word to Moses is double: the leader will die, and the people he led will turn away. It comes before Israel has even crossed into the land. That raises the hard question of the chapter: why bring a nation into a place He already knows they will ruin?
The news arrives with a new leader already appointed. One writer notes what it cost Moses to hear it:
Israel had a new leader. Even so, God tells Moses that after his death Israel would become unfaithful. They would follow the idols of the nations, forsake God and break His covenant. This must have spoken deeply to the heart of Moses. He had spent time and labour declaring the law and pleading with Israel to keep it.
God did not discover Israel's failure later. He announced it in advance and went ahead anyway. That knowledge takes nothing off the people's account:
God knew men would break the law; yet He gave it, so that what was in man's heart might be shown. God knew that Israel would, by their sins, forfeit the land of Canaan, and would have to be scattered, as they are now. He told them that He knew this before He brought them in. Still, He brought them in. He knew that they would reject the prophets and messengers by whom He spoke to them, and offered them forgiveness and mercy, if they would only repent. Even so, He sent them, rising up early and sending. Did God's foreknowledge of how they would treat the messengers of His mercy lessen their responsibility? Surely not.
This is not a change of opinion about religion. The verse uses the language of a broken marriage:
The prophets dwell largely upon Israel's conduct as a wife, and upon the Lord's jealousy on that score... Her unfaithfulness has been made plain. She has broken her vows. She has gone aside from her Husband, the Holy One of Israel, whose burning jealousy has been poured out on the faithless nation. He is a jealous God, and cannot bear the thought that the heart He claims as His own should be given to another.
This was not a warning that might or might not come true:
Scripture clearly traces the line of Israel's history, and it followed the line predicted... Because of their sins, God gave the ten tribes into the hand of the king of Assyria, who took them captive. The two tribes He gave into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, who took them into Babylon.
What God said through Moses is not an oddity of one nation. The same shape appears wherever God entrusts something good to people:
How strange, how unlike man! God chooses instruments to bring in something from Himself, and those same instruments predict its failure in man's hands.
The same writer applies this to the age after the apostles. He quotes Paul: "I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them" (The Bible Treasury).
The prediction of ruin is not God's last word:
But Moses does not end without a song. This song rests on the secret things of God's grace, though it also takes in the judgments of the last days. Not ignorant of the evil, he looks on to the blessing that would surely come to them. He deeply feels what they would do against the Lord in their stubborn folly and ingratitude. But he sees in prophetic vision what He will do for them.
For anyone reading now, the practical edge is simple:
Their history in the past, their present scattering and desolation, and beyond all the great tribulation they have yet to pass through at the time of the end — all confirm and illustrate one truth. The sure and certain way to multiply our sorrows is to turn away from the Lord and look to any created resource.
- Told first. God announced the failure before Israel entered the land. Nothing that followed surprised Him.
- Still brought in. Foreknowledge did not stop the gift. He led them in anyway, and their responsibility still stood.
- Whoring, not wandering. The verse pictures idolatry as a wife leaving her Husband. That is why God answers with jealousy.
- Fulfilled to the letter. Assyria took the ten tribes, Babylon took the two. The same pattern appears again after the apostles.
- Grace outlasts it. Moses answers the forecast of ruin with a song. He sees not only what they will do against God, but what God will yet do for them.
And 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, and they will say in that day, Have not these evils befallen me because my God is not in my midst?
Before Israel enters the land, God tells Moses what will happen after his death. The people will turn to other gods, God will hide His face, and they will name the cause of their troubles without turning back.
One writer stresses who is speaking and what He already sees:
The all-knowing One, who knows everything from the beginning, announced that the nation would fail and fall away. He had treated them with wonderful kindness. They had seen His power and glory for themselves. They would break the covenant and abandon Him. He would forsake them also, because they turned away from Him to run after other gods. He would hide His face. All the predicted and threatened evils and troubles would come upon them. Their past history, and their present history too, prove the solemn truth of these divine words.
Knowing this did not stop God from bringing them in, and it did not reduce their responsibility:
God knew that Israel would lose the land of Canaan by their sins and be scattered, as they are now. He told them He knew this before He brought them in. (See Deut. 31:16-21). Still, He brought them in. He knew they would reject the prophets and messengers He sent. Through them He spoke to Israel and offered forgiveness and mercy, if they would only repent... Did God's foreknowledge of how they would treat the messengers of His mercy make them any less responsible? Surely not.
The covenant itself had already set out what disobedience would bring:
It was fully in keeping with the old covenant itself that Jehovah should hide His face from His people. Their disobedience would provoke His anger. The result would be a course of discipline. Its sharpest edge was this: He took back the favour He had shown them, and without it they were defenceless prey before their enemies.
Commenting on the same warning elsewhere, one writer shows why God's presence could not stay with a disobedient people:
The presence of God should always have been their shield and defence. No weapon formed against them could succeed. But only an obedient people could enjoy that presence. Jehovah could not give His approval to disobedience or wickedness by His presence. The nations around them, who had no part in His covenant, might depend on their own strength and their armies. Israel had only the arm of Jehovah to depend on. That arm would never reach out to shield unholiness or disobedience.
Israel would name the cause of their trouble, and God would still hide His face:
God's anger would rise, and He would leave Israel to the painful results of their rebellion. Many evils would befall them, so they would realize that God was no longer among them (v.17). Yet, even then God would hide His face from them to make them feel their serious condition as they ought (v 18).
One writer presses how far confession alone falls short:
They confess, but God is faithful, and He must show them that getting away from Him is one thing, and getting back is quite another. It is one thing to have left Him and to admit the power of the enemy. But confession by itself will not undo my departure from God.
The chastening has lasted, but it is not the end. One writer marks the difference between God's government and His heart:
At a point like this we must mark the difference between God's ways in government with His people and His ways in grace. In the righteous government of God, the Jews have been and still are under His chastening hand, because of their sins and their refusal to repent. Yet the grace and love of His heart towards them stay the same and never change. Note the terms of the covenant: "And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever."
But these words do not describe the Christian's place before God:
God's faithfulness is always true, of course. But the Spirit of prophecy here speaks about the people of Israel and their state — for example, God hiding His face from them. We know this does not apply to us in a literal way. He cannot hide His face from us. His face is shining on us in Christ. Does He hide His face from Christ?
- Foreseen. God announced Israel's turning away before they entered the land. He brought them in anyway, and it excused them nothing.
- Forfeited. His presence was their only shield. That shield was never stretched over disobedience.
- Felt. The hidden face means favour taken back. It left them open prey to their enemies, just as the covenant had said.
- Half-confessed. They could name the cause of their troubles and still not return; saying it is not the same as coming back.
- Fixed term. The affliction belongs to God's government, not to the end of His love — "not forever". For the believer, God's face now shines in Christ.
And I will entirely hide my face in that day for all the evils that they have wrought, because they turned unto other gods.
Moses is near death, and God tells him what Israel will do once he is gone: they will turn to other gods. Verse 18 raises the hardest question in the chapter — does hiding His face mean God has left them for good?
If God already knew Israel would fail, why keep warning them at all?
It is amazing how much care God took to make Israel see their responsibility to Him, from every angle. And He knew full well that they would rebel.
God's answer was a song. It turned Israel's role inside out.
Israel should have been a witness for the Lord before all nations. Instead, the song of Moses would be a witness for the Lord against the children of Israel. They were called to be His witnesses. Their task was to declare His Name and show His praise in the land He brought them into, in His faithfulness and sovereign mercy.
What did Israel actually lose when God hid His face?
Under the old covenant, the Lord hiding His face from His people matched the terms of the covenant itself. Their disobedience would provoke His anger. The effect would be a course of discipline. Its sharpest edge was the withdrawal of that visible favour. Without it they were defenceless prey before their enemies. So they would say when suffering this way: "Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?"
Notice that the hiding continues even after Israel says those words in verse 17. God's aim in verse 18 goes further than making them notice.
Yet, even then God would hide His face from them, to make them feel their serious condition as they ought.
The verse gives its own cause, and one commentator draws the lesson out for any reader.
"The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply." So says the Spirit of Christ in Psalm 16. Israel has proved, is proving, and will yet prove more fully how solemnly true these words are. Look at their history in the past, at their present scattering and ruin, and beyond all that at the "great tribulation" they must still pass through at "the time of the end". It all confirms one truth: the sure and certain way to multiply our sorrows is to turn away from the Lord and look to any created thing.
One book of the Bible never mentions God's name. Readers have long linked that silence to this verse.
This book especially teaches us God's invisible care for those of His people who chose to stay in the land of exile. They could have returned to Palestine ever since the days of King Cyrus of Persia. The Lord watched with tender goodness and care over this large part of the Jews. He could no longer recognise them as His people in front of the world. He hid Himself from them, as it were. This is why God is not mentioned once in this book. Long ago the Jews already saw this striking feature as the fulfilment of the prophecy in Deuteronomy 31:18.
A hidden face is not an absent God. The two truths stand together.
The importance of Esther is most evident, besides its typical instruction. Nothing could be more so in its place. It is the providential care of Israel scattered among the nations, when God could not own them at all outwardly or publicly. That is why He does not appear in the book. It is His unseen hand that does it, in a providential way.
The warnings run all through Scripture. One writer points to the time limit set inside them.
The law, the Psalms, and the prophets are clear about it. Israel would fail as God's witness so completely that He would disown them for a season.
And through the hiding, God is watching for the first sign of a turn back.
The Lord had to hide His face from His people. He handed them over for a time to the nations around them. Yet His loving heart was always turned towards them, always ready to notice and recognise the faintest traces of a repentant spirit.
- Foreknown. God said Israel would turn away before they ever crossed into the land. He brought them in anyway, and pressed their responsibility on them from every angle.
- Forfeited. Hiding His face means the loss of visible favour under the covenant. Without it they were defenceless prey. That was the sharp edge of His discipline.
- Felt. Verse 17 is Israel noticing; verse 18 is God continuing, so they would feel their condition as they ought.
- Followed. Even hidden, He is not absent. In Esther His name is never spoken, yet His unseen care guards a people He could not own before the world.
- Finite. The disowning lasts for a season. The heart behind the hidden face is watching for the faintest trace of repentance.
And now, write ye this song, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.
The command comes right after God told Moses that the people will turn away once he dies. Why would God give a nation words that convict them — and why as a song?
The word "witness" turns Israel's calling upside down.
How deeply moving, how solemn all this is! Instead of Israel being a witness for Jehovah, before all nations, the song of Moses was to be a witness for Jehovah against the children of Israel. They were called to be His witnesses. It was their responsibility to declare His Name and to display His praise in the land into which He brought them, in His faithfulness and sovereign mercy. But they failed completely and shamefully.
God could have given the warning as a command. Instead He gave it as a song, and joy is what lives in the heart.
A "song" means joy in itself, not sorrow: a battle-song means victory over enemies; a funeral song, victory over death. The song of Moses joins these together. Above all it is a song of joy in God, and that explains everything and assures us that all of it must be so. Because it is joy, it is made to live in the heart. And because it is a joy that does not ignore sorrow or make light of sin, the presence of sorrow and sin will only help to keep it alive and give it power over the soul. It is truly a "song in the night," and for the night, such as God alone could give — a witness to the Giver.
The song was not only written down. Learned by heart, it would still be there when the people grew rich and drifted.
Moses was to write it down for Israel to learn (v.19). When God has brought them into the land, they will become well fed and wealthy, turning to idols and provoking God. Then this song would testify against them. If they learned it by heart, they would remember it, and its words would at least shame them when they disobeyed.
The song predicts ruin. God gave it in the hope of preventing that ruin.
Moses is also to write out the song which Israel is to learn. For those who really learn it, it is the remedy against the evil it predicts. God's love would so gladly have its own prophecy proved untrue, if that were possible, and see the One who does not change His mind turn back from what He is forced to do.
The song exists because God already knew the outcome. Knowing it changed nothing about what He gave them or what they owed Him.
God knew that Israel would, by their sins, forfeit the land of Canaan, and be scattered, as they still are today. He told them that He knew this before He brought them in. Still, He brought them in. He knew they would reject the prophets and messengers through whom He spoke to them and offered them forgiveness and mercy, if only they would repent. Even so, He sent them, rising up early and sending them again and again. Did God's foreknowledge of how they would treat the messengers of His mercy make them any less responsible? Certainly not.
Moses had led Israel in song before, at the Red Sea. He wrote this one at the end of his life, and it reads very differently.
He and the children of Israel sang the first one at the start of his forty years of ministry, when they had crossed the Red Sea. From beginning to end it is full of what God is, what He had done, and what He was going to do to fulfil His purpose. He composed the second at the end, just before he died. It does not appear that anyone ever sang it… They would not be likely to sing it. The earlier part celebrates God's kind dealings with them, and the closing part His final intervention and deliverance. But the main weight of it is their folly in forsaking God and turning to idols.
The song is not only an accusation. Under the charges lies something Israel's failure cannot touch.
But Moses does not end without a song. This song is grounded on the secret things of God's grace, though it also takes in the judgments of the last days. He is not blind to the evil, yet he looks on to the blessing that would surely come to them. He feels deeply what they would do against Jehovah in their stubborn folly and ingratitude. But in prophetic vision he sees what He will do for them.
- Witness reversed. God called Israel to witness for Him among the nations. When they failed, a song had to witness for Him against them.
- Witness sung. God chose a song, not a rule. Joy lives in the heart, and a song that faces sin honestly keeps its power over the soul in the night.
- Witness memorised. Moses wrote it, taught it, and put it in their mouths, so their children would not forget it.
- Witness as remedy. For anyone who truly learned it, the song was the cure for the evil it foretold. God would gladly have seen His own prophecy proved untrue.
- Witness grounded in grace. The song rests on what God will do for them. He knew they would fail, yet He still brought them in — and they were still responsible.
For I shall bring them into the land which I swore unto their fathers, which floweth with milk and honey; and they will eat and fill themselves, and wax fat, and will turn unto other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant.
God tells Moses about a day still far off. Israel will be settled in the promised land, well fed and prosperous — and will turn to other gods. He says this before the nation has even crossed the Jordan, which raises a hard question: why bring them in at all?
This is not a reaction to something Israel had already done. It is said in advance.
God knew that Israel would, by their sins, forfeit the land of Canaan, and be scattered, as they are now. He told them He knew this before He brought them in. (See Deut. 31:16-21). Still, He brought them in. He knew that they would reject the prophets and messengers He spoke to them through, who offered them forgiveness and mercy if they would only repent. (See Ezek. 3:7-9). Even so, He sent them, rising up early and sending them. Was their responsibility lessened because God foreknew how they would treat the messengers of His mercy? Surely not.
The collapse comes not in famine or war, but with a full stomach.
In Scripture, fat is always the symbol of a prosperous condition — though it may be the kind of material prosperity that ends in the opposite state of soul. "Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked," says Moses in his last prophetic song.
Hardship and plenty pull in opposite directions.
Sadly, then as now, and now as then, the very fullness of the blessing enjoyed might make them forget the gracious hand that gave it. Long ago, "excess of food" destroyed Sodom. Trial and need wake a man up to how much he depends on God. When he lacks nothing, he can easily lose the sense that he still depends on Him.
This danger is not Israel's alone.
There is a solemn voice in all this for the writer and the reader. Each of us is in danger of walking the same moral path these words describe. We are surrounded on every side by the rich and varied mercies of God, and we tend to use them to feed a spirit of self-satisfaction. We make use of the gifts to shut out the Giver. In a word, we, too, like Israel, grow fat and kick. We forget God.
God answers a failure He can see coming with a song.
Moses was to write it down for Israel to learn (v.19). God would bring them into the land. There they would become well fed and wealthy, turn to idols and provoke God. Then this song would testify against them. If they learned it by heart, they would remember it, and its words would at least shame them when they disobeyed (vs.20-21).
This turns Israel's calling inside out.
Israel should have been a witness for the LORD before all nations. Instead, the song of Moses was to be the LORD's witness against the children of Israel. They were called to be His witnesses. Their task was to declare His Name and to show His praise in the land He brought them into, in His faithfulness and sovereign mercy.
God treats the coming sin as something already present.
God told Moses what the people would do. Instead of choosing life so that they might live, they would turn to other gods, provoke Him, and break His covenant. He speaks of these future acts of evil as only the showing of what He already knew was at work in their hearts at that very moment.
Joshua must now lead the very people this forecast condemns.
He was to fix his eye not on Israel's ways, but on the eternal stability of God's covenant with Abraham. Had Joshua filled his mind with Israel, he would have thrown down his sword and given up in despair. Instead, he had to strengthen himself in the Lord his God, and serve in the power of a faith that endures as seeing Him who is invisible.
- Foreknown. God said Israel would turn away before they ever crossed the Jordan. That did not cancel His gift of the land, and it did not reduce their responsibility.
- Fed. The danger is not hardship but plenty. Need keeps us aware of God; having everything dulls that sense.
- Fat. A well-fed body pictures a prospering life that can end in the opposite state of soul. The gifts get used to shut out the Giver.
- Forgotten. They would forget God, so He gave them a song to learn by heart. The nation meant to witness for Him would carry a witness against itself.
- Faith. God sent Joshua into that future anyway. He was to look at God's covenant, not at Israel's ways, and serve by faith.
And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles have 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 are forming already this day, before I bring them into the land which I have sworn [unto them].
God tells Moses that Israel's turning away is not a possibility but a certainty. He says this while they are still outside the land He swore to give them. That raises a hard question. If God already knows their hearts, why bring them in at all? And why give them a song about it?
God does not speak of these future sins as surprises. One writer reads the verse as God's verdict on what is already at work inside the people, long before any idol goes up.
God declared to Moses that instead of choosing life so they might live, the people would turn to other gods, provoke Him, and break His covenant. And He speaks of these future acts of evil as only the display of what He knew was at that present moment working in their hearts. "I know their imagination."
(Older translations read "imagination" where the ESV has "what they are inclined to do.")
If God announced the failure in advance, does that make Israel less to blame? The same writer answers from what God did with the law and with the land.
God knew men would break the law. Yet He gave it, so that what was in man's heart would come out into the open. God knew that Israel would, by their sins, forfeit the land of Canaan and have to be scattered, as they are now. He told them that He knew this before He brought them in. Still, He brought them in.
He pushes it further. Did God's knowing in advance how they would treat the messengers of His mercy make them any less responsible? His answer: "Surely not."
Israel's calling was to testify about God to the nations. The song turns that testimony the other way round.
How deeply moving, how unusually solemn all this is! Instead of Israel being a witness for the Lord before all nations, the song of Moses was to be a witness for the Lord against the children of Israel. They were called to be His witnesses. Their responsibility was to declare His Name and to make His praise known in that land. He brought them into it in His faithfulness and sovereign mercy.
The verse says the song "will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring." One writer shows what a memorised song does to a person in the act of disobedience.
God would bring them into the land. There they would grow well fed and wealthy, turn to idols, and provoke God. Then this song would testify against them. If they learned it by memory, they would remember it, and its words would serve at least to embarrass them when they acted in disobedience. It is amazing how hard God worked to press their responsibility on Israel from every angle. And He knew perfectly well that they would rebel.
The song did not stop working when that generation died. Another writer says it still speaks.
It was a witness against them. It is so today. How striking that they read this great final book of the law! They read their own curses and their own history — past, present and future — and still remain in unbelief.
The song does more than convict. One commentator shows what it rests on, and what Moses saw beyond the failure.
But Moses does not end without a song. This song is grounded on the secret things of God's grace, though it also takes in the judgments of the last days. Not ignorant of the evil, he looks onward to the blessing that would surely come to them. He deeply feels what they would do against the Lord in their stubborn folly and ingratitude. But in prophetic vision he sees what He will do for them.
Joshua must now lead these very people into the land. The warning could have crushed him. Instead it gave him somewhere else to look.
Joshua was called to serve in the faith of it. He was to fix his eye not on Israel's ways, but on the eternal stability of the divine covenant with Abraham. Had Joshua occupied his mind with Israel, he would have had to throw down his sword and give up in despair. But no — he had to encourage himself in the Lord his God.
- Known — Their turning away is God's reading of a heart already at work, not a guess about an accident. He says He knows it before they enter the land.
- Given — Knowing it, He still brought them into the land He swore to give. Foreknowledge did not cancel the gift, and it did not reduce their responsibility.
- Sung — He put the warning in a song, so it would live in their mouths and their children's. It would stand against them when wealth and idols came.
- Reversed — They were called to witness for God before the nations. Instead, the song became a witness against them.
- Held — Under the warning runs God's grace. Moses saw not only what they would do against God, but what God would still do for them. That is the ground Joshua had to stand on.
And Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel.
God had just told Moses that Israel would turn away after his death. Instead of sending him to argue with them, God gave him a song to write — and this verse says Moses wrote it and taught it the same day.
One writer notes both halves of Moses' response, then turns the point on the reader:
Jehovah was to give Moses a song, and Moses was to teach it to Israel. The song is in the chapter that follows. It is built on the words of the Lord in verses 16-21. Moses obeyed. He wrote it the same day and taught it to the children of Israel. It was a witness against them. It is so today. How striking that they should read this great final book of the law — read their own curses, their own history, past, present and future — and still stay in unbelief.
God could have given another list of commands. Instead He gave a song. One commentator asks what a song is by nature:
The Song itself was to have a special place as a testimony for God and a warning to His people. Yet it is a "song," and that is significant. A song means joy in itself, not sorrow. A battle song means victory over enemies; a funeral song, victory over death. The song of Moses brings these together, and above all it is a song of joy in God. That explains everything, and it assures us that all must be so. As joy, it is made to live in the heart. And as a joy that does not ignore sorrow or make light of sin, the presence of sorrow and sin will only do more to keep it alive and give it power over the soul.
Another writer finds the same choice of form in other parts of the Bible:
It is announced in the form of a song, because the spirit of praise must run through even the most solemn condemnations of evil. So the whole book of experience, the Psalms, is written as poetry, and the same is partly true of the Prophets.
"Taught it" is the key phrase here. The song went into Israel's memory, where it would do its work later:
God would bring them into the land. There they would grow well fed and wealthy, turn to idols and provoke God. Then this song would testify against them. If they learned it by heart, they would remember it, and its words would at least embarrass them when they disobeyed (vs.20-21). It is amazing how carefully God worked to impress on Israel from every angle their responsibility to Him, though He knew perfectly well that they would rebel.
Israel's calling was to testify to God before the nations. The song reverses the direction of that testimony:
How moving, how solemn all this is! Instead of Israel being a witness for Jehovah before all the nations, the song of Moses was to be a witness for Jehovah against the children of Israel. They were called to be His witnesses. They were responsible to declare His Name and to show His praise in the land where He brought them, in His faithfulness and sovereign mercy. But sadly, they failed completely and shamefully.
The next line of the chapter hands Joshua his commission — immediately after a song predicting the nation's collapse. The same writer explains how a man serves under those conditions:
He was to fix his eyes not on Israel's ways, but on the unshakable covenant God made with Abraham. He was to lead Israel across the Jordan and settle them in the good inheritance God had purposed for them. If Joshua had filled his mind with Israel, he would have thrown down his sword and given up in despair. Instead, he had to strengthen himself in the Lord his God, and serve in the energy of a faith that endures by seeing Him who is invisible.
Moses wrote; the book of the law was also laid beside the ark. The same pattern appears elsewhere in Scripture, and a principle is drawn from it:
In the same way Moses, just before he left them, gave the Levites the book of the law. Here it was to be a testimony against them when, after his death, they had corrupted themselves... On the evidence of these witnesses one all-important principle stands firm: God Himself, and the word of His grace, are all His people need in the darkest days of their history.
- Written — Moses obeyed the same day; the song of chapter 32 rests on God's own words in verses 16-21.
- Sung — a song carries joy, and joy lives in the heart; a joy that does not make light of sin holds power over the soul.
- Taught — learned by heart, the song would rise in Israel's own mouth and embarrass them when they disobeyed.
- Witnessed — a people called to be witnesses for God ended up with a song that was a witness against them.
- Kept — Moses left behind the written word, and one writer draws from it that God Himself and His word are enough in the darkest days.
And [Jehovah] commanded Joshua the son of Nun, and said, Be strong and courageous; for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I have sworn unto them; and I will be with thee.
Moses has just written a song. It foretells how Israel will turn away from God after entering the land. Right then, with that failure already announced, Joshua receives his commission. How is a leader meant to move forward on news like that?
The order matters. The prediction of Israel's collapse comes first. The word of courage to Joshua comes after it. One writer shows what Joshua was to lean on:
Joshua was not to be discouraged or downcast, even though the song predicted that the people would be unfaithful. He was to move forward with joyful confidence. He was to lean on the arm of Jehovah, the covenant God of Israel, and trust His word. He was in no way to be terrified by his enemies. Instead he was to rest in the precious, soul-sustaining assurance that the God of Abraham would keep His promise and make it good. The children of Abraham might fail to obey, and so bring down judgement on themselves. Even then God would glorify His Name in the final restoration and everlasting blessing of His chosen people.
A leader can look at the people he serves, or at the God who sent him. Only one of the two will hold him up.
He was to fix his eye not on Israel's ways, but on the eternal stability of God's covenant with Abraham. He was to lead Israel across the Jordan. He was to plant them in that fair inheritance God had purposed for them. Had Joshua filled his mind with Israel, he would have thrown down his sword and given up in despair. But no. He had to encourage himself in the Lord his God. He had to serve with the energy of a faith that endures as seeing Him who is invisible.
The promise attached to the charge is not a plan, or an easy road, or a word about Joshua's gifts. It is God's presence. And God gives the leader nothing more than He gives the least-known Israelite:
Joshua needed a special word for himself. He was called to fill a prominent and very distinguished place among the people. But the word to him holds the same precious truth as the word spoken to the whole assembly. He is assured of the divine presence and power with him. This is enough for each, for all; for Joshua as much as for the most obscure member of the assembly. It does not matter in the least what difficulties or dangers may lie before us. Our God is more than enough for them all.
The answer depends on which translation you read. The ESV says the LORD commissioned Joshua. Older translations say only that "he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge." One writer reads that as Moses handing his office over to Joshua:
Moses then wrote the song and taught it to Israel (v.22). At this time he installed Joshua as leader in his place. He encouraged him to be strong and courageous, for Joshua would bring Israel into their land (v.23).
Either way, the office passes to Joshua, and the promise behind it comes from God.
Moses would die outside the land. His disobedience explains part of it. One writer points to something deeper in the two men's roles:
There is a deeper reason than Moses' disobedience for why he would not enter the land. He was the lawgiver, and law cannot bring the people of God into their inheritance. Joshua's name in Hebrew is the same as the Greek name Jesus — Jehovah Savior. He was the leader into the land of promise, because he speaks of the grace that is in Christ Jesus, in contrast to law.
God swore to give Israel the land, and He never took back the charge to bring them in. One writer sees in the two leaders a pattern that reaches beyond Joshua's own lifetime:
Moses, the first leader, could not bring them in. Joshua, the second leader appointed by God, brought them in. Moses is the type of Christ's first coming, and Joshua the type of the second coming of Christ. It is at the second coming of our Lord that Israel will receive the land. He will restore to them the God-given inheritance.
- Timing — The charge comes right after the song foretells Israel's unfaithfulness. Bad news about people never cancels a commission from God.
- Focus — God told Joshua to look at the covenant, not at the crowd. Watching Israel would have made him drop his sword.
- Promise — The strength of the charge is "I will be with you." God gives the same presence to the leader and to the least-known believer.
- Person — The lawgiver dies outside the land. Joshua, whose name matches the name Jesus, leads the people in. Law cannot hand over an inheritance; grace does.
- Outcome — What God swore, He keeps. One writer sees Israel's inheritance secured at the return of Christ.
And it came to pass, when Moses had ended writing the words of this law in a book, until their conclusion,
Deuteronomy 31 records the last acts of a leader who knows he is about to die: Moses names his successor, receives a song, and finishes writing the law in a book. Once his pen stops, a book guides Israel in place of a living voice — so what was that book for?
The words "to the very end" mark a finished work, not a pause. One writer sees all of Moses' writing close here, and treats the five books as one whole:
Moses was the author of all these books, the single author. At their close we see him laying down his life with his pen, as a sign of a completed work. As we go on studying Scripture, we find that this Pentateuch (the word means five volumes) gives us the model on which the whole word of God is written. It is a key to understanding something of His purpose in giving us such a full revelation. I have said that they are one whole. You could not take one of them away without damaging the rest.
This verse is one of the Bible's plainest statements about who wrote the first five books. It also records where Moses had them placed:
When the Pentateuch was completed Moses directed it to be placed in the side of the Ark (Deut. 31:24, 26)… That Moses was the writer of these five inspired records is evident from the testimony of the books themselves (Deut. 31:9, 24), by Joshua (Joshua 1:7), by Samuel (1 Sam. 12:6-8), by David (1 Kings 2:3)… by Daniel (Dan. 9:11-13), by Malachi (Mal. 4:4), by Christ (John 5:45-47), by Peter (Acts 3:22-26), by Stephen (Acts 7), by Paul (1 Cor. 9:9).
The book was not given so that Israel could earn life by keeping it. Moses gives a startling reason for storing it:
Moses said to them, "Take this Book of the Law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God." Why? That they might choose life, and live by keeping it? No — but "that it may be there for a witness against you." "For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are," he goes on. "Even today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD. How much more after my death!"
The book is not the only witness Moses leaves:
Sadly, the book at the side of the ark and the words of the song are alike witnesses against the people of His choice.
Moses wrote the law down for a people he would no longer be there to guide. One writer sets this beside Paul's farewell to the elders of the church at Ephesus:
The apostle, taught by God, made full provision for the elders' future difficulties in the words, "And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace." In the same way Moses, on the eve of his departure, gave the Levites the book of the law, in this case to be a testimony against them when, after his death, they should have corrupted themselves… These witnesses together establish an all-important principle: God Himself, and the word of His grace, are fully sufficient for His people in the darkest days of their history.
Moses finished writing knowing the nation would fail. The book he left is not only a warning; it is also a comfort:
Man is the same always and everywhere. His history is a blotted one, from beginning to end. But oh, it is such a relief and comfort to the heart to know and remember that God is ever the same. His word abides, firmly fixed forever in the heavens. It was hidden in the side of the ark of the covenant and kept there intact, despite all the grievous sin and folly of the people.
Centuries later Hilkiah the high priest found a book of the law in the temple, in the days of King Josiah. Moses' instruction explains where it turned up:
We learn from this that the book of the law was preserved in the house of God, in the Most Holy place. So Hilkiah found the sacred book just where it might be expected to be found. But it was clearly very little known for many years before the reign of Josiah. It seems to have been lost, covered over with rubbish in the very house of God, and so little valued that no search was made for it!
- Finished. Moses ends his writing with a completed work. The five books form one whole; take one away and you damage the rest.
- Written. The verse states plainly that Moses wrote the law. Joshua, David, Daniel, Christ, Peter and Paul all say the same.
- Witnessed. The book went beside the ark, not as a way to gain life by keeping it, but as a witness against a people Moses knew would rebel.
- Left behind. A dying leader leaves his people a book, not a successor's voice. Paul did the same, commending the Ephesian elders to God and to the word of His grace.
- Enduring. People fail, but the written word stays intact. Even so, a stored book can be buried under rubbish and forgotten, until someone finds it again as Hilkiah did.
that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, saying,
Moses has just finished writing the law in a book. His final act as Israel's leader is not another sermon but a handover. He gives the book to the Levites who carry the ark. Why does God's finished word belong at the very heart of Israel's worship?
Moses' writing was finished. This verse is about where the book went next.
Moses had now finished writing the words of the law — the first five books of Scripture. Then he commanded the Levites to put the Book of the Law beside the ark of the covenant. This was a plain witness for God. It was also a witness against the evils the people would soon embrace, and so against them.
Moses does not speak to the whole nation. He speaks to the tribe that carried the ark, and that duty was itself a mercy.
And then they were to remember the Lord's dealings with Levi, in which grace shines with such marvellous brightness. God took the fierce, cruel, self-willed Levi out of the depths of his moral ruin. He brought him near to Himself, "to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister to him and to bless in his name."
Moses hands the book to the men who carried the ark on their shoulders. Carrying God's testimony is not something to improvise.
It was the Levites' privilege, that of the sons of Kohath, to carry the ark on their shoulders... The testimony of God is to be carried on the shoulders of His saints, borne in the lives of those who are near to Him. Sadly, many today have their own way of carrying God's testimony. Instead of following the divine instructions of the Holy Scriptures with care, they have their own ideas. They think that the end justifies the means.
The stone tablets went inside the ark. Moses' book went beside it, in the most guarded room in Israel.
The stone tablets of the ten commandments were written with the "finger of God," and they were placed inside the ark of the covenant. When Moses completed his fifth book, he told the Levites to put the Book of the Law by the side of that same ark, "that it may be there for a witness against you." So the book of the law was preserved in the house of God, in the Most Holy Place. So Hilkiah found the sacred book just where it might be expected to be found. But apparently hardly anyone knew it for many years before the reign of Josiah. It seems to have been lost, covered with rubbish in the very house of God, and valued so little that no one even searched for it!
The purpose Moses gives is startling. The book is not stored so Israel can climb by it, but so it can testify.
So Moses said to them, "Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God." Why? So that they might choose life and live by keeping it? No, but "that it may be there for a witness against you." "For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are," he goes on. "Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD; how much more after my death!"
Moses is about to die, and the book he leaves is the provision for the days after him.
Moses, on the eve of his departure, gave the Levites the book of the law. Here it was to be a testimony against them, for the time after his death when they would have corrupted themselves and turned aside from the way he had commanded them... God Himself, and the word of His grace, are all-sufficient for His people in the darkest days of their history. God Himself — not any successor of the apostles — is able to sustain them at all times.
The book outlasted everyone it accused.
His word remains, "firmly fixed in the heavens." It lay hidden at the side of the ark of the covenant and stayed intact there, despite all the grievous sin and folly of the people. This gives sweet rest to the heart at all times, in the face of human failure and the wreck and ruin of everything committed to man's hand.
- Written — Moses' last official act is to finish the book and command its safekeeping; the words outlive the man who wrote them.
- Carried — the trust goes to the Levites, lifted from ruin and brought near to God. The testimony travels on the shoulders of those close to Him.
- Kept — the book lies beside the ark in the Most Holy Place. There Hilkiah later found it, buried under neglect in God's own house.
- Witnessing — its stated purpose is not a ladder to climb but a testimony against rebellion God already foresaw.
- Standing — everything trusted to man collapsed, but the word kept beside the ark stayed whole. That is where the heart finds rest.
Take this book of the law, and put it at the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee;
Moses has finished writing the law. His last act with it is to hand it to the Levites who carried the ark — and he leaves it there to testify against the people.
The command comes at the end of a chapter of last arrangements. One writer sets the book beside the song Moses wrote the same day, and gives both the same purpose.
Then Joshua receives his charge at the tent of meeting. As Jehovah directed, Moses wrote a prophetic song that day, His witness against the sons of Israel. Indeed "this book of the law" too was to go by the side of the ark for the same purpose. Moses knew their rebelliousness well, and the evil that would come on them at the end of days. But he rejoiced that Jehovah's purpose never fails and can never be reversed.
Why store a book of guidance as evidence against the people? Moses gives his own reason.
So Moses said to them, "Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God." Why? So that they might choose life, and live by keeping it? No, but "that it may be there for a witness against you." He goes on: "For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck; look, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death?" … We need no further answer to those who use Moses' words to prove that salvation depends on human will. If it did, who could be saved?
The book does not only accuse. It faces two directions at once.
This was a plain witness for God and a witness against the evils that the people would soon embrace, therefore a witness against them.
"This Book of the Law" means the finished law of Moses — the five books he wrote. What became of that scroll?
When the Pentateuch was finished, Moses directed that it be placed at the side of the ark. Was this the very copy of the law that Hilkiah the high priest found seven hundred and fifty years later, among the rubbish in the Temple? Or was it a copy that one of the early kings had made from the original? We believe it was the very copy of the law or Pentateuch written by the hand of Moses.
The people would fail. Where is the comfort in a book stored as evidence against them?
Man is the same always and everywhere. His record is stained from beginning to end. But it is such a relief and comfort to the heart to know and remember that God is ever the same. His word abides and is "settled for ever in heaven." It lay hidden in the side of the ark of the covenant, kept whole there despite all the grievous sin and folly of the people… It bears a true and solemn testimony against man and his ways. It also brings home to the heart the most precious and calming assurance that God is above all man's sin and folly.
The ark held the law; the book lay at its side. One writer follows both to Christ.
So we have the purpose of the ark — a lasting home for the law, then also for the pot of manna and Aaron's rod that budded. Along with these, the book of the law was laid up, to be a witness against them on the day they turned away from God. God's word is nothing but the enlargement of His law, the one unchanging expression of His will… It was enshrined in the heart of our Lord. He always honoured the whole word of God, and said of it all, "Scripture cannot be broken."
The book beside the ark was not the only witness there.
It has been well suggested that each of the articles kept in the ark was a reminder and a witness of the people's failure. The tablets of the law recalled the sin of the golden calf, since the first tablets were broken then. The manna recalled their murmuring and unbelief. The rod that budded recalled Korah's rebellion against the priest of God. Yet these reminders of sin are closely and for ever linked with the blessed One who has secured pardon and blessing at the very time of all this evil.
- Written. Moses finished the law in a book and handed it to the Levites who carried the ark.
- Placed. It went beside the ark. One writer traces it to the scroll found in the temple centuries later, and holds it was the copy Moses wrote himself.
- Witness. It stood as a witness for God and, because of what the people would become, a witness against them.
- Kept. The people failed, but the book did not. It stayed whole beside the ark — the assurance that God is above man's sin and folly.
- Christ. The One who said Scripture cannot be broken kept that same law enshrined in His heart.
for I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck. Lo, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against Jehovah; and how much more after my death!
Moses has finished writing the law. His last act is to place the book beside the ark — not as a trophy, but as evidence. The reason he gives is both a verdict on the people in front of him and a forecast of life without him.
Moses is not reacting to a bad week. From Egypt onward, the people honoured him in word and refused him in fact.
The people of Israel, despite their boasted reverence for Moses, did not truly receive him as the messenger of God. They rejected him in Egypt, saying, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us?" (Exodus 2:14). Later God sent him, and he presented himself again with clear proofs that his mission was real. Still they murmured against him again and again. At the close he also testifies to them, "You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you" (Deuteronomy 9:24).
The sharpest proof came at the very start, at the mountain itself.
The very generation that stood and heard the Ten Words set up the golden calf and worshipped it straight afterwards. This was before Moses brought the tablets of stone down. He did not treat them as healed of every blemish. In his closing words (Deuteronomy 31) he told them: "I know your rebellion and your stiff neck."
The verse begins with "For" — it explains the order in verse 26. Moses gives his reason for placing the law beside the ark, and it is not confidence in the people.
So Moses said to them, "Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God." Why? So that they might choose life and live by keeping it? No, but "that it may be there for a witness against you."
Moses leaves no room for a hopeful reading of their future.
Moses kept no hope at all that Israel would be obedient. He says he knew they had been rebellious during his life. Their rebellion would only increase after his death.
Something here runs against the whole grain of human nature:
How strange, how unlike man! God chooses people to introduce something from Him, and they themselves predict its failure in man's hands.
Writers set this verse beside Paul's farewell at Ephesus.
Paul speaks in the same way to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:29-30. He says: "I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them." The history of the church has proved this just as true as Moses' prophecy about Israel.
One writer explains why the loss of such leaders makes things worse:
In their days the worst evils worked in secret. Those evils would only take firmer shape once their discernment and authority were no longer there to detect and resist them.
"Stiff neck" is God's own word for Israel from Sinai onward. What Moses states here as an accusation, he had earlier used as an argument in prayer.
"I have seen this people," said the LORD to Moses at Mount Sinai, "and behold, it is a stiff-necked people" (Exodus 32:9)… But Moses the mediator skilfully turns this very fact into a plea: "If now I have found favour in Your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your inheritance" (Exodus 34:9).
The chapter does not end in despair. The book that testifies against them also outlasts them.
It is such a relief and comfort to the heart to know and remember that God is always the same. His word stands and is "settled for ever in heaven." It lay hidden in the side of the ark of the covenant and stayed intact, despite all the grievous sin and folly of the people.
And Moses himself does not stop at their failure:
He deeply feels what they would do against the LORD in their stiff-necked folly and ingratitude; but he sees in prophetic vision what He will do for them.
- Known — Moses speaks from forty years of evidence, not suspicion; the same people who had just heard God speak made the calf.
- Witnessed — Moses filed the law beside the ark for a stated reason: to testify against them, not to guarantee their obedience.
- Predicted — if they rebelled under his eye, his death would only remove the restraint; the decline was certain, not possible.
- Repeated — Paul warned the Ephesian elders in the same words, and the same failure followed; this is man's story, not only Israel's.
- Outlasted — the book in the side of the ark survived every failure it recorded. Moses' song looks past what they will do to what God will do.
Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and take heaven and earth to witness against them.
Moses is at the end of his life. His last official act toward the nation is to call its leaders together and put something on record. He calls the tribal leaders. He also calls heaven and earth. Why call witnesses when the verdict is already known?
The elders and officers are not simply an audience.
Note, first of all, that they are a representative company. The elders, both in the Old and New Testaments, stand (or act) for the whole company of God's people (Ex. 4:29; Deut. 31:28; Acts 11:30).
So when Moses speaks into the ears of this gathering, he is speaking into the ears of the nation.
The summons is not a last try at a better outcome.
Moses retained no hope whatever that Israel would be obedient. He says he knew their rebellion in his lifetime would only grow after his death (v. 27). So he asked for the gathering of the elders of all the tribes, not to give them any false hopes, but to tell them he knew that after his death Israel would become utterly corrupt and turn aside from God's commandments. Paul speaks in the same way in Acts 20:29-30 to the Ephesian elders: "I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them." This has proven just as true in the history of the Church as the prophecy of Moses did for Israel.
Calling creation to witness is not just a figure of speech.
The New Testament declares that the Creator Himself is the Word — and so the Revealer — of God. Creation is therefore a revelation too. God's witness is twofold. On the face of heaven and earth He has written Scripture out again, in signs that nothing can corrupt and that He can appeal to. God has not done this in vain. He can still "call to the heavens above and to the earth, that He may judge His people" (Ps. 50:4). He can rebuke the unbelief that raises itself against Him in the face of such evidence.
These warnings were faithful. Israel forgot them anyway.
How solemn is all this! What faithful warnings are here! Heaven and earth are summoned to witness. Alas! how soon and how completely all this was forgotten! And how exactly all those heavy threats have come true in the history of the nation!
These words are a song. Its role reverses the role Israel was meant to have.
How deeply affecting, how especially solemn is all this! Instead of Israel being a witness for Jehovah before all nations, the song of Moses was to be a witness for Jehovah against the children of Israel. They were called to be His witnesses; they were responsible to declare His Name, and to show forth His praise in that land into which, in His faithfulness and sovereign mercy, He brought them. But they utterly and shamefully failed. So a song was to be written. First it sets out the glory of God in magnificent strains. Second it records, with unbending faithfulness, Israel's deplorable failure at every stage of their history.
Yet a song means joy, even when the song is a warning.
A "song" means joy in itself, not sorrow: a battle song means victory over enemies; a funeral song, victory over death. The song of Moses joins both. Above all it is a song of joy in God, and that explains everything and assures that all must be well. As joy, it is made to live in the heart. And it is a joy that does not ignore sorrow or make light of sin. So when sorrow and sin are present, they only preserve the song the more and give it power over the soul. It is truly a "song in the night," and for the night, such as God alone could give — a witness to the Giver.
Israel failed, but the word kept by the ark did not.
Man is the same always and everywhere. His history is a blotted one from beginning to end. But it is such a relief and comfort to know and remember that God is always the same. His word remains, "firmly fixed in the heavens." It lay hidden in the side of the ark of the covenant and stayed there intact, in spite of all the grievous sin and folly of the people… It bears a true and solemn testimony against man and his ways. At the same time it brings home to the heart the most precious and calming assurance that God is above all man's sin and folly.
- Summoned — elders stand in for the whole nation. What they hear, everyone hears.
- Sober — Moses expects no obedience and offers no false comfort. Paul later warned the Ephesian elders the same way.
- Sealed — heaven and earth witness the words. Creation already testifies to God, in signs nothing can corrupt.
- Sung — the witness comes as a song. A song about sin can still carry joy in God, and joy lives in the heart.
- Standing — the people fail, but the word kept by the ark stays intact. It testifies against man and assures the heart that God is above man's folly.
For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and will turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and mischief will befall you at the end of days; because ye do evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.
Moses is days from death. He gathers Israel's leaders not to bless them, but to tell them how they will fail, and how far the damage will reach.
Moses was not guessing. The people were rebelling while he was still alive, and Paul later warned the elders at Ephesus in the same terms.
Moses retained no hope at all that Israel would be obedient. He says he knew that, since they had been rebellious during his life, this would only increase after his death (v. 27). So he called together the elders of all the tribes. He gave them no false hopes. He told them he knew that after his death Israel would become utterly corrupt and turn aside from God's commandments. Paul speaks in the same way to the elders of the church at Ephesus. He says, "I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them" (Acts 20:29-30). This has proved just as true in the history of the Church as did the prophecy of Moses about Israel.
The closing phrase points to manufactured gods — objects people make and then bow to.
"The works of their hands," which they did not repent of, is a phrase that belongs only to pagan idol worship (Isa. 2:8; Jer. 1:16; 25:6-7, 14; Deut. 4:28; Ps. 115:4-7; 135:15).
Older translations render "in the days to come" as "the latter days." It is a set phrase, and it points past the near future to the close of Israel's trouble and the kingdom that follows.
"The last," or "latter days," is an expression with a very distinct prophetic connection. It occurs just 14 times (Gen. 49:1; Num. 24:14; Deut. 4:30; Deut. 31:29; Isa. 2:2; Jer. 23:20; Jer. 30:24; Jer. 48:47; Jer. 49:39; Ezek. 38:16; Dan. 2:28; 10:14; Hosea 3:5; Micah 4:1). In all of them the reference is clearly to the closing scenes of Jacob's time of trouble and the setting up of the Millennial kingdom. A study of the context of these passages will show it.
One writer draws that line forward into the present.
The predicted evil was about to be fulfilled to the letter, as it had already been. The latter days have not yet run out, so this evil is not finished either. "This generation" still repeats the same sad tale of unbelief and turning away from the living God.
Moses had urged Israel to choose life. God told him what they would choose instead.
God declared to Moses that the people would not choose life so that they might live. Instead they would turn to other gods, provoke Him, and break His covenant. And He speaks of these future acts of evil as only the display of what He knew was already working in their hearts at that moment... Surely we need no further answer to those who use Moses' words to prove that salvation depends on human will. If it did, who could be saved?
The failure was certain. Even so, God's word went into the side of the ark — the chest holding the covenant. It stayed there as a witness against them, and it outlasted their sin.
Man is the same always and everywhere. His history is a blotted one from beginning to end. But what a relief and comfort it is to know and remember that God is ever the same. His word stands, "settled for ever in heaven." It was hidden in the side of the ark of the covenant and kept there intact, despite all the grievous sin and folly of the people... It bears a true and solemn testimony against man and his ways. But it also brings home to the heart the most precious and calming assurance that God is above all man's sin and folly, and that His resources are completely inexhaustible.
Joshua now had to lead the very people this prediction condemned. His courage had to come from somewhere other than the nation's prospects.
He was to fix his eye not on Israel's ways, but on the eternal stability of the divine covenant with Abraham... Had Joshua occupied his mind with Israel, he must have thrown down his sword and given up in despair. But no, he had to find his encouragement in the Lord his God. He had to serve with the energy of a faith that keeps going because it sees Him who is invisible.
- Foreknown. Moses gave the elders no false hope. Israel's rebellion in his lifetime told him what would follow his death. Paul later warned the Ephesian elders in the same terms.
- Foretold. "The work of your hands" names idolatry — gods people manufacture and then serve.
- Far-reaching. "In the days to come" — "the latter days" in older wording — points to the close of Israel's trouble and the coming kingdom. The warning is not yet spent.
- Foreclosed. God announced the failure in advance as something already in their hearts. So salvation cannot rest on human will; if it did, no one could be saved.
- Furnished. God's word stayed in the side of the ark — a witness against man, and proof that His resources outlast every failure. That is the ground on which Joshua could keep serving.