Deuteronomy 31:14-32:4
Moses and Joshua were both called to stand before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the Lord appeared in a pillar of cloud which stood over the door. There He spoke to them, telling Moses of how the people would turn aside after his death and worship the idols of the heathen and break the covenant of the Lord. He told Moses, too, of how He would have to deal with them because of their sins, and then gave Moses a song to teach them which would be a reminder of why all the promised trouble came upon them. It is precious, however, to find at the end of the song the promise that, in spite of all, God would bring them into blessing when they turned to Him in repentance.
All Is Sure in Him
Because of this Joshua is again exhorted to “be strong and of a good courage.” Man’s course has always been one of departure from God, of willfulness and sin. Whether it be Israel or the church, what a record it has been of failure and departure from the Lord. The servant of the Lord is to be prepared for this. He is not to have any confidence in the flesh, for as surely as he does, he is bound to be disappointed. He is not, however, to be discouraged, but to labor on in the confidence that God is working in grace and will never fail. Whenever the eye is turned away from self and “man, whose breath is in his nostrils” (Isaiah 2:22), and fastened upon the Lord instead, we have courage and strength. How needful this is! We will never be able to go on steadily in our service to the Lord unless we realize this, for just as surely as we build our hopes upon some man, we will live to see the day when those hopes fail. If, however, we build only upon the Lord, there will be no disappointment and no deluded hopes. All is sure in Him. May the Lord encourage our hearts to go on faithfully in these days when all that is of man is beginning to break down completely.
The book of the law was then taken and put in the side of the ark. The ark, as we know, is a type of the Lord Jesus, and He alone lived in this dark scene for God’s glory every step of His blessed pathway. What a testimony against them it was, but good it is to know that we have been “reconciled to God by the death of His Son” (Romans 5:10). His life here before men only condemned us and showed how guilty we were.
God Is Light
The song which follows ascribes greatness to the Lord and tells of His justice and truth. This is most important. We find the power of God called in question today, and the holiness of His throne denied. On every hand we hear the denial of eternal punishment, and while much is said about “God is Love,” the solemn fact that “God is Light” is forgotten. Let us remember that God cannot pass over sin. He must judge it. If it were not for the marvelous fact that the Lord Jesus bore the judgment of God for sin at the cross, then we must bear our own sins in hell forever. And so we read in our chapter, “All His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He” (verse 4). God will never sacrifice the holiness of His own throne, but, blessed be His name, the One who bore sin’s judgment is now seated “on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3). Divine justice has been fully satisfied.
Further Meditations
1. What did the Lord tell Moses and Joshua at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation?
2. How does the cross of Christ show that God can’t pass over sin to show love?
3. The booklet The Four Judgments by A. H. Burton gives a brief and helpful summary of four separate occasions when God has shown and will show His judgment of sin. Reading it will likely deepen your sense of both His holiness and grace.