And now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain. Regrets? I’ve had a few, but then again too few to - Sorry!
It’s just with a title like that, what else can you think of?
Mercies promised to repentant
Deuteronomy 30:1-10
Life and death set before them
Deuteronomy 30:11-20, Numbers 36:13
Joshua replaces Moses
Numbers 27:15-23
Final words of Moses to people
Deuteronomy 31:1-6
Final words of Moses to Joshua
Deuteronomy 31:7-8, 23
Final words of Moses to priests
Deuteronomy 31:9-13
Final words of Moses to Levites
Deuteronomy 31:24-29
Israelites’ apostasy foretold
Deuteronomy 31:14-22, 30, 32:1-18
The appeal of 30:11-20 is so strong - I love these words. Moses tells the people that he’s not asking the impossible of them. It’s easy - just obey God, and you’ll be choosing life and blessing. Don’t, and it’s death and a curse.
He instructs the priests and Levites to keep alive the remembrance of God’s law, then he turns gloomy and warns them that they’ll fail and disobey.
I have to say his song is anything but “My way.” It’s not “Well done, me” but “You’re going to mess it up.” Moses wants this song to be sung in generations to come as a great “I told you so” from the grave.
So the scene is set. It’s going to go well for a while, but it’ll all end in tears. The human story all over.
I definetly sense that these passages seem inserted during a later edit after the return from exile. Otherwise the idea that the Israelites can chose to follow God is flawed, as it states they will fail anyway. The passages seem contradictory unless some insertion occured to show the Jews why they were conquered. Does anyone agree with this idea?
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