Deuteronomy 31

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Deuteronomy 31:1-30

“And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel. 2 And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan. 3 The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath said. 4 And the LORD shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed. 5 And the LORD shall give them up before thy face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 7 And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it. 8 And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed. 9 And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, 11 when all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: 13 and that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it. 14 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. 15 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. 16 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. 17 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? 18 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. 19 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. 20 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. 21 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. 22 Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel. 23 And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee. 24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, 25 that Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, 26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee. 27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death? 28 Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them. 29 For I know after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. 30 And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.”

Introduction: He Will Not Fail Thee Nor Forsake Thee

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED611]

“Deuteronomy chapter 31, Moses it says “And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel. And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.” (verses 1-2) That’s a lot of candles on the cake. He’s gotten to the big 1, 2, 0 there, a 120 years old. The last chapter is going to tell us that his natural forces, his eye was not dim, and his natural forces were not abated, evidently he could have gone on for awhile. But God said ‘Your job description is filled, you’re done, you’ve accomplished your task, now things will be handed to Joshua.’ Ah, his natural forces were not abated, his eye was not dim, I needed glasses at 40, he’s 120 years old. I want to find out what diet he was on. He was 40 years in Egypt, 40 years in Midian, on the back side of the desert, and then 40 years we see wandering, but they were following the pillar and cloud, there’s no wandering in that sense at all. A hundred and twenty, 40 years of I’m sure the worst diet in the world, in Egypt, had everything he wanted, indulged in every way, Egypt famous for beer, the Pharaohs had their own brew masters, they never had a cold one, it was Egypt, but beer was more prominent than wine in Egypt as a drink. I’m sure he indulged for 40 years. I’m sure much more on the backside of the desert his diet was simplified, and I think I could eat lamb for 40 years. Then Manna, some quail here and there, some things, but 40 years then in the wilderness journeying, he was 120 years old. As you look at this man you think what moderation, prayer, God’s sustaining him. He’d come down from the presence of God with his face glowing, 80 days in the presence of God without food or water, sustained miraculously. So certainly something I need to learn, this man spending a lot of time in the presence of God, that gave such evidence that he was glowing. That has to be wonderful for us, his body, soul and spirit. But he says ‘I’m 120 years old this day.’ “I can no more go out and come in:” the idea is, leading them, “also the LORD hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.” Now he doesn’t say he can’t lead them anymore because of physical frailty, he said ‘This is the end,’ this is what the LORD had spoken to him. “The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath said.” (verse 3) And as we come to the Book of Joshua, beside the character himself, those wonderful types and shadows, of course Moses representing the Law, unable to bring God’s people into God’s promises, the first Book in the Bible named after a person, Joshua, Yeshua, Jesus, the one who was able to bring them into the promises of God. So now he’s telling the nation, ‘I’ve reached full age, God has told me I’ve finished my course, you’re going to go over, you’re going to destroy these nations before you, Joshua is going to go over before you, he will lead you as the LORD has said.’ “And the LORD shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed.” (verse 4) Now 40 years before this they had turned away at Kadesh-barnea, 38 years earlier, and one of the reasons they turned away was that they saw giants in the land. And they said ‘The sons of Anak are there, and we look like grasshoppers in their sight, they eat up the inhabitants of the land.’ Well this time God brings them back in the area of Moab, they face Sihon and Og, who were both giants, and their armies, and God allows them to defeat the things they were most afraid of on the other side of Jordan this time, so they have no excuse not to go in. So they have these tremendous victories, and when you hear about Og, even in the Psalms he’s still being spoken of, and Sihon. So God has removed their excuse as it were at Kadesh-barnea. He’s brought them back to the edge of the land. “And the LORD shall give them up before thy face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you. Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” (verses 5-6) The reason not to fear, because the LORD will go over with you, ‘Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,’ it’s always the same…when you study that through the Scripture, to push fear aside. “And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.” (verse 8) Now it seems in this crowd, where he’s telling them he’s 120 years old, then he calls Joshua’s name, in front of everybody, it says. And in front of everybody he challenges him, and we’re going to hear the challenge again in Joshua chapter 1. “And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.” Now what a remarkable scene. Joshua back in Exodus 43:11 was called there “the servant of Moses.” In fact they had come into the Tabernacle, God’s presence was there, Moses went out to deal with the people, and it says Joshua, the young man, the servant of Moses, remained there, in the presence of the LORD. Evidently he and Moses go all the way back to Egypt. So he was not a new kid on the block, he, in Exodus 17, there led the armies of Israel against Amalek in the victory that they had there. In chapter 24 of Exodus he was one of those who went with Moses up to the mount, past where the others were allowed to go. Numbers chapter 13:14, it was he and Caleb who didn’t want to turn away at Kadesh-barnea, he said ‘Let’s go up, the LORD is with us, we can defeat these giants.’ So Joshua is one of those whose been around for a long time, added 38 years to his time with Moses. You wouldn’t have any indication that Joshua knew that he was going be the one ultimately to lead the people of God into the Promised Land. Moses wanted to do that with all of his heart. So all of that time, 38 years, and more, Joshua was being trained in ignorance, unaware of it. It’s a really good program, it’s how I’m still being trained. That’s the only way God can train me, in ignorance, because of who I am. The idea is, there’s always something going on in our lives, if we would be perceptive, if we would seek him. That’s why it says the servant of the Lord shouldn’t strive, because God is doing, he’s putting things in our path, he does lead, he’s the Good Shepherd, he doesn’t ever loose focus. And all the while if we keep our spiritual eyes and our spiritual ears open, he is preparing us. In our ignorant journey he is growing us. And I know the time is short, and I believe God is willing to make young men old fast, if we’re willing, he’ll wear you out in a jiffy, if you’re really ready…It’s not necessary to be qualified, but to be available, to give him our lives, he moves, he moves. And Joshua now has this, it’s being thrust upon him. God had done wonderous things with this man to prepare him for this. He didn’t take him into this as a rookie. He says ‘You are going to lead them in to inherit it,’ verse 8, “And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.” He’s the same yesterday, today and forever. I kind of like that, a few days more than others. And I really like to be able to have the sense, when you’re going through Jello, when those days come, you ever have one of those dreams where you’re running away from a monster, and he asks ‘how fast can you run?’ and you wake up and your heart is pounding, and there are days like that, too…and he goes before us, in victory, in battle… “he will be with thee,” isn’t it interesting that he can be out in front of us and be with us at the same time? The heavens can’t contain him, “he will not fail thee,” you worry about what he’s doing when he’s out in front of you, “he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.” There’s sermons in every word, this verse is so remarkable.

Evidently Moses Finished Transcribing The Law Here, Gives It To The Levites

“And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel.” (verse 9) Now, the question is, is he talking about the complete Torah here, the first five Books of Moses, or is he speaking of just Deuteronomy, or this rehashing of Deuteronomy we’ve read? And verse 26 he says “Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.” Now that would be the whole Law, there was a copy inside the Ark. Take note, all through this, and all through the end of Deuteronomy here, God all over again is going to place the veracity of his Word in front of his people, this Book, this Word he has written, placed this Book that he has written in the Ark. God doesn’t say put this video in the midst of the Ark. We live in the midst of a culture and a generation that is visually driven, and are dumbed down in a thousand ways. Read books, think critically, use the mind. God has given us his written Word, his spoken Word, it is more powerful than visual images. We’ve been addicted to that, we’ve been addicted to it. And he’s given us his written Word. I think radio is a much different and a better investment than television, sometimes. When I watch some of these guys on TV [the televangelists], I don’t know why I do that to myself, you know, there’s some good guys on there, so please don’t get me wrong. But some of them, you know, again I just like to turn the sound off and just watch, I can’t stand what they’re saying, but I look at them and think ‘I can’t believe this person’s on television, look at them, this guy could have been the Joker in Batman without makeup. That’s why he looks familiar.’ “And Moses wrote” so important, “Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, when all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.” (verses 9-11) There was no printing presses in that day, things were copied by the Scribes, the Word copied by hand, remember there was an instruction given when to, God says, his ultimate plan for them is that they would be a theocracy, that God would rule from the Tabernacle and the Temple. And he said ‘You’re going to want a king, like the other nations around you. And ultimately when you do that,’ Deuteronomy 17, told us that he should be one of your brethren, not a foreigner and so forth, and not given to gold, not given to women, and these things, not going to Egypt and trading for horses. But he says ‘He shall take a copy of this Law from before the priests, and he shall write of copy of it for himself, that he should meditate on it day and night, so that he doesn’t think of himself more highly than he ought.’ What importance God placed on the Word. And you know, it’s interesting, Stephen will say to Israel ‘You’re a stiffnecked people, you refuse to hear, you’ve rebelled against the Lord, against everything he said.’ And here God, on the front end, is saying ‘Take it, read this to them every seven years.’ Of course that was a reflection of the Kingdom, you know, the seventh day, the Sabbath that’s still ahead of us [he’s talking about the coming Millennial Kingdom of God]. Interesting of course, in the Millennium, we’re told in Zechariah 14, verses 16-19, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.” [Comment: Next, Jesus Christ, the LORD makes an important declaration all Christians should be aware of. Isaiah 66, verses 22-23, “‘For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me,’ says the LORD, ‘so shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before me,’ says the LORD.” Both of these passages are 2^nd coming of Jesus Christ passages. One says that observance of the Feast of Tabernacles will be commanded of all nations (Zechariah 14:16-19). The other, Isaiah 66:23 (in context with verses 15-21) says all people will observe God’s 7^th Day Sabbath. Interestingly enough, God’s 7^th Day Sabbath is commanded as the very first commanded Holy Day in Leviticus 23 (verses 1-3). (Leviticus 23 is the Holy Day chapter of the Bible, for those of you who didn’t realize it.) And the Feast of Tabernacles is the very last commanded Holy Day observance in Leviticus 23. So if Jesus is commanding the world at his return to observe both the Sabbath Day and the Feast of Tabernacles, he in essence is commanding the inhabitants of the world, the whole world, to observe all of God’s Holy Days found in Leviticus 23, from Sabbath (verses 1-3) to Feast of Tabernacles (verses 34-44). Notice that the Feast of Tabernacles is mentioned three time in these three verses. That is God’s way of placing a great emphasis on his statement here. When Dr. David Hocking, a Jewish Christian, was addressing a bunch of Calvary Chapel pastors in a pastor’s meeting, he told them something like this: “You had better get used to observing the Sabbath and Holy Days, because we’ll be keeping them during the Millennium.” My sincere question, why wait till then? ] It was the Feast that would be kept during the Kingdom Age, interesting. Here, “when all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose,” this is at the Feast of Tabernacles, “thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that” here’s God’s purpose, #1, “they may hear,” #2, “and that they may learn,” that’s progress, “and fear the LORD your God,” reverence “and observe to do all the words of this law:” (verses 11-12) Without reverence and fearing it, there’s no inclination to keep the things he’s written. “and that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.” (verse 13) So these interesting last exhortations, and this one in particular in regards to God’s Word.

Write This Song & Teach It To The Children Of Israel

And then it says “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.” (verse 14) What an interesting day. God, it seems to be a different day than where he was just talking to Joshua in front of everyone, because now he’s got to go get him. God says to Moses ‘OK, you’re going to die, it’s time for you, you’ve filled your days. Now go get Joshua, I’ve a charge I want to give to him, I want to talk to him in the Tabernacle.’ So Moses goes wherever he has to go to find him, whether Joshua’s snoozing, fishing, or sharpening his sword, whatever he’s doing, ‘Hey Josh, God wants you,’ ‘What?’ ‘Ya, he just told me to come get you, he wants to talk to you down at the Tabernacle.’ What a strange, and then it says they went together. You know, Joshua must have said ‘Did he sound happy?’ You know, this is very challenging, ‘God wants to talk to you, let’s go.’ So it’s interesting to imagine these two, known each other so long. Moses 120 and Joshua is between 100 and 103 years old here. So they both have got some tread on them. Joshua’s the young guy, imagine that. “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.” (verse 15) Now Joshua’s listening, there’s a presence that’s visible, so we’re assuming that this is also audible, there wouldn’t be any sense if Moses couldn’t hear it, now Joshua’s listening. Moses had said to Joshua ‘He wants to talk to you.’ They get to the Tabernacle, God appears and talks to Moses in front of Joshua. “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.” (verse 16) Now Moses is going to hear this, after all of his labour, he’s not going to be surprised, because he came down and found them worshipping the Golden Calf, he dealt with them at Kibroth-hataavah, the Graves of Lust, many died there, he dealt with them on the Plains of Moab when they went after the Moabitish women and 25,000 there died. This must be really heartbreaking. ‘They will forsake me and break my covenant, the one I want you reading to them all the time, 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.” (verses 17-19) Now look, he’s going to put this in song form. Most of the Scripture that most people have memorized is in songs. There are people who do sit and labour and memorize, you know. I find the more time you spend with the Scripture, you don’t have to try to memorize it, it gets stuck in there, you know. That’s a good thing. But the truth is, song-form is so easy for so many to remember, so God’s saying ‘I want you to put this in a song, I want you to teach it to them, that it might be a testimony 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.” (verses 20-21) ‘I know what they’re like now, before I ever bring them into the land,’ Imagine how tough this must be for both men. “Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel. And he” that’s the LORD, “gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge,” that’s what he had said earlier, ‘that I may give him a charge, ‘the LORD gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge’ “and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.” (verses 22-23) ‘See ya.’ Now, put this in context of what’s just happened, this is always an amazing text to me. Moses has finished his course, Joshua’s going to bring the children of Israel into the Promised Land. God promised this land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God has said many things about his faithfulness and his covenant, and then he says ‘I want you to get Joshua and come down to the Tabernacle and have a chat.’ And they get down there and he says ‘Moses, this is what’s going to happen, you’re getting ready to pass off the scene, and I want you to take this song and teach it to the children of Israel, because when they get in the land they’re going to turn away from me, they’re going to worship other gods, they’re going to provoke me to jealousy, and I’m going to have to deal with them, I’m going to turn away from them, I won’t be able to bless any of that or endorse any of that. And I know what they’re like, I know what they’re like now, I know their imagination even before any of this happens, in one sense this whole program is going to be a failure. Oh ya, Joshua, be strong and of good courage, you’re going to take them in, and I’ll be with you.’ ‘Wait, I’m a 103 years old, you’re telling me? Moses is done, he doesn’t have to go through the heart-ache, Moses heart might have just broke if he had to see this or go through this, and Joshua is standing there thinking ‘You’re telling me, Cheer up, Chip, Chip, Tally-ho, Chin up old chap, you’re going to lead them into the land, and I want you to have a good attitude, because I’m going to be with you.’ ‘Wait a minute, that’s enough? You know, what I’m going to do with the rest of my life, by every human appraisal, will be a failure. And you’re telling me, Be encouraged because I’ll be with you?’ You know, I read this, it sounds a bit lonely to me. We’re going to find Joshua saying to the children of Israel, “Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood, in the old time, even Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nacor, and they served other gods.” (Joshua 24:15) they were idolators. And Joshua is going to say to all of them, as he’s finished, ‘You can do what you want, if you want to go and serve these gods,’ he had heard God say this, ‘you can do that, but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.’ (Joshua 24:15) “And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.” (Joshua 24:29) Joshua, the servant of the LORD, died.

“I’ll Never Leave Or Forsake You”

I have an idea that God’s estimation of success is vastly different than ours. He says ‘Joshua, cheer up, for I will be with you.’ Again, that seems to be in God’s estimation, to be the central thing in our lives. To God all of this is relational. It’s nothing for God to turn a river to blood, it’s nothing for God to part a sea, he laid out the heavens with the span of his hand. It’s nothing for him to bring frogs up in Egypt, it’s nothing for him to part the Jordan River or make the walls of Jericho fall, it not hard for him to do any of those things. This is all relational to him. He says ‘Joshua, Joshua, be strong, be of good courage.’ He’s going to bring the children of Israel in. He just heard, it’s all going to be a failure, ‘But I’m going to be with you.’ What a different view of success, that when you close your eyes, and someone can say, ‘Hey Joe, servant of the Lord, died.’ ‘Joshua, the servant of the LORD, died.’ That’s what matters in the final analysis, because on the other side is eternity, on the other side is relationship, on the other side is everything that matters. In the final analysis it seems too, the LORD, we have that. Matthew 28:20 says ‘Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the Age.’ Hebrews chapter 13 tells us this, ‘Let your conversation [King James: “conduct”], your lifestyle be without covetousness,’ that’s how to relate to this world, ‘and be content with such things as you have, for he has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.’ It’s very much the same thing, let your life be without covetousness. Is there something you’re coveting after, some pleasure, some value, some money, some power? Let your life be without covetousness. Be content with such things you have. The reason, ‘For he said, I’ll never leave you.’ Is he the greatest treasure? I challenge my heart and think about that. Is he what I covet more than anything else? If he’s mine, you can’t covet after what you have, what belongs to you is what’s yours, he says ‘I’ll never leave or forsake you.’ Is he my contentment in this world? These are things that challenge me, it sounds a bit lonely, ‘Joshua, they’re all going to turn away, but I want you to be encouraged, because I’m with you.’ In some ways this is the loneliest thing I’ve ever done, my wife can’t step into this slot with me, my assistant pastors can’t step into this slot with me, I have great people around me, I have great support, but there is a part of this that is the loneliest thing I’ve ever done in my life. [I feel that way too, working as I have for almost 30 years building this website (under God’s inspiration), but totally on my own (except for technical help I’ve gotten from webhosts and site creators). No wife, whole family either being non-believers or holding God off at arm’s length, some having abandoned me, having since COVID no real fellowship or church to be a part of. I feel what you’re saying Pastor Joe, but you’ve got more support and Christian fellowship than I have at this point, as I finish up these last four transcripts that will finish the content of this site. But I haven’t really felt lonely, because the Lord must be with me through his indwelling Holy Spirit, or I’d have thrown in the towel years ago, it’s gotta be the Lord indwelling me, it ain’t me that keeps me from being lonely.] But the flip side of that coin, is it locks me up to him, he’s always there, he’s always there, he is always there. Again, Revelation chapter 4 says ‘And for thy pleasure all things were and are created,’ not for ours, for his. It’s almost a little demeaning, ‘is God the great egomaniac in the sky? I’m created for his pleasure?’ No, that’s because you haven’t studied enough. What you have to decide is, in fact, what is his pleasure? What is his pleasure? Look at him in Eden before the fall, and watch him creating, putting the world together, and on the seventh day it’s almost as if he takes a deep breath and says ‘Let us, it’s what we’ve been waiting for, let us make man in our image, our likeness.’ Adam’s first full day of existence is the 7^th day, he walked with Adam in the cool of the day. What is his pleasure? “Be strong and of good courage, because I will be with you.” His pleasure is being with you. That’s hard for us to receive sometimes, because most people don’t find it real pleasurable being with us. Ya, they do in some circumstances, but there’s some days I don’t even like being with me. And you get the Westminster Catechism and it says “the purpose of man is to serve and glorify God,” and I understand that. But I think the broader picture is the purpose of man is his pleasure. When he talks to us he tries to put that relationship in anthropomorphism, he puts those into human things, he tells us he’s the Good Shepherd, we’re the sheep, that doesn’t do much for a lot of us, there’s probably not too many shepherds here, but if you’re a shepherd and you spend your life with sheep, you might appreciate that [see https://unityinchrist.com/pom/AShepherdLooks.htm ]. But he does tell us this, he’s a Father, and we’re the children, most of us can understand that. And that relationship is a remarkable relationship. I didn’t have kids to serve me, we’ve all gotten over that disillusionment, haven’t you? It wasn’t like, you know when they were little, and I had one cutting the lawn and said ‘Kathy, if we have a bunch of these, we could get the house painted, this is not a bad thing, we should have a bunch of these, they work, you know.’ It doesn’t happen that way. I don’t have kids to glorify me. Again, it wasn’t that I came home from work ‘Oh, Daddy, I glorify you,’ ‘that really strokes my ego, let’s have three or four more, I like them lined up all across the front lawn, and I come home and they’re doing this to me.’ The wonderous thing is being with them, to look into their faces, to look into their eyes, to ask them what’s happening in their lives, to hear them say, ‘I love you dad.’ God tries to put it in context with marriage, not even marriage, pre-marriage, he’s the Groom with the Bride, husband and wife can cool a little bit. Not bride and groom, the burner’s all the way up on that one. I didn’t have a wife to serve me. I’m sure you men have gotten over that disillusionment. Kath does, she’s an enabler, but the point is, I didn’t think ‘This is great, STRONG WOMAN, GOOD TEETH, BICEPS, WORK HARD, THIS IS GOOD, getting you a new shovel for Christmas Honey, we got some things to do around here.’ Ah, she does, but that’s not why I got married, and I didn’t have her to glorify me. It was intimacy, love, relationship. And it almost staggers me here when he says ‘Moses, get Joshua and bring him down here,’ they get into the Tabernacle, and God basically reads Moses the riot-act, ‘This is going to happen, this is what they’re going to do, they’re going to turn away, it’s going to be a failure, this is how hard it’s going to be, what I’m going to have to do, and this is what is going to happen to them,’ and then he turns and says ‘Oh ya, Josh, cheer up, be strong and of good courage, you’re going to take them in, to this mess I just described, but I’ll be with you, I’ll be with you.’ Joshua the servant of the LORD, died. I’ll be with you, what a remarkable exhortation, a picture that God puts in front of us here.

The Law Is Put Into The Ark--Moses Speaks The Words Of This Song Into Their Ears

“And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,” there it is again, “writing a book,” “that Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee. For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death?” (verses 24-27) ‘Leading you guys through the wilderness has been like herding cats,’ you ever see that commercial? ‘And while I’m here and alive, what in the world are you going to be like after I’m gone?’ Moses says. “Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them. For I know after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you” notice this, “in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.” (verses 28-30) This song will both be a reproof, it will be prophetic, there’s some very interesting aspects to this song now.”

Deuteronomy 32:1-12

“Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. 2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: 3 because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. 4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. 5 They have corrupted themselves; their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation. 6 Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee? 7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee. 8 When the most High divided the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel [that’s 70]. 9 For the LORD’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. 10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. 11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: 12 So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.”

Outline Of Moses’ Song

“Now, we’re going to look at this song. The first four verses speak of God’s character, that the preface, it’s so important to understand who he is. Look, A.W. Tozier said “No religion is greater or can be greater than it’s concept of its god. We see them, those who worshipped Baal, how crude they were, how immoral they were, those who worshipped Ashtoreth. We see some of the violence today in the name of religion, if you have an angry, austere, wrathful god, Tozier said “No religion can be greater than the concept of its god.” So the first thing he does in this song is he says who he is, and puts it in front of them. Let me tell you, the other side of that, is the warning for the Church is this, as we loose, the Church, our high opinion of God and his Word, to that degree, the Church is weakened and lessened. The doctrines of Salvation and Atonement and the love of God, the things that have been given to us, they’re not things that men dreamed up, these are things that were inspired, Divine inspiration in the lives of individuals who penned those things, put them to the page, God has preserved them and given them to us. And to the degree that we minimize who God is, his Holiness, or the value of his Word, even today amongst God’s people, is to the degree, that same degree, that the Church looses its power, it’s separate position, its influence. So first things is, God’s character. Verses 5 down to verse 14 speak of God’s kindness to his own people. Verses 15 to verse 25 speak of God’s faithfulness to chasten his people, and verses 26 to 43 in the song speak of God’s vengeance on his adversaries. So it’s a very interesting song.

God’ Character & His Kindness To His People

He begins, “Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.” (verse 1) Now he calls heaven and earth to be his witness, he had said up here, the same thing, that he would call heaven and earth to be his witness, and it’s almost setting the court room. In this song he’s going to say ‘Because my people, my creation is a faithful witness, the only thing out of kilter is my people. I’m calling heaven and earth to witness, I’m calling them to speak, to give testimony, because Israel would not, he calls heaven and earth to hear the words of his mouth.’ And he says, he’s presenting his character, he calls heaven and earth to witness, and then he says ‘My teaching, my Word is like dew, it’s like rain, it’s not caustic and hard and difficult to bear, and painful, and bitter, and biting.’ Listen to what he says. “My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:” (verse 2) The things of God are refreshing, they’re renewing. People just don’t want to believe, that yielding to his Word produces those kinds of nurturing and restorative things. He says “because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.” (verse 3) He’s going to publish the name of the LORD, Jehovah [Yahweh], and ascribe greatness to our God. Look what he says, “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” (verse 4) I’m glad of that, aren’t you? When I look at this world, when I look at Wall Street, I’m glad some things are immovable. Isn’t it wonderful, whatever tumbles down, whatever changes, he doesn’t. ‘I am the LORD, I change not,’ he says in Malachi, ‘therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.’ He says “he is the Rock,” and the wise man is the man who hears his Word, and does it. He is likened unto a man who builds his life, his home upon the Rock. “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways” now King James says “judgment” “all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity,” now there’s a play on words here, ‘All his ways are justice,’ literally ‘he is a God of truth, without injustice,’ it’s a play on words, they go back and forth ‘So he is a Rock, his work is perfect, all of his ways are just,’ is the idea, ‘a God of truth and without injustice.’ “just and right is he.” So that’s his character, before we move on. And then he moves into his kindness to his people. “They have corrupted themselves; their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.” (verse 5) He never changes, he’s just, he’s without injustice, he’s a Rock, he never changes. They’ve corrupted themselves. Their spot, their imperfection is not the spot of his children, it’s not what he wanted, “they are a perverse and crooked generation.” “Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?” (verse 6) the idea is, “is this the way you repay me? “requite” is “to pay” or “to respond,” ‘Is this the way you respond to me, is this the way you repay me?’ ‘Is this how you repay God for his kindness, his steadfastness, is this how you repay him? His doctrine is like the rain, like the small dew upon the tender grass. ‘Do you repay him like this, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?’ Notice, ‘that hath bought thee, purchased thee.’ “hath he not made thee, and established thee?” Isn’t it interesting, look at the order there. It says that he bought them before he created them. We know from the New Testament, that is because the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world, that Christ offered himself from the foundation of the world. He says ‘hath he not bought thee, hath he not made thee and established thee?’ “Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.” (verse 7) Now of course we live in a culture today that is bent on mocking the older generation, in cartoons, entertainment industry. I mean, there is not, this is a culture where the patriarch of the family held a certain level of respect. That is gone, and Paul clearly told us in both Epistles to Timothy, that that’s the way things would be in the last days, we are right on schedule. Not for you and I, you and I don’t need to be there, we have God’s Word, we have God’s Truth. But he says here, ‘Remember days of old, consider many generations, ask thy father, he will show thee, if you have believing parents how incredible, and thy elders, they will tell thee.’ “When the most High divided the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel [that’s 70].” (verse 8) So he’s telling us, as we follow God through Creation, understand this, the universe, and if you’ve studied astrophysics, and that’s wonderful, you can have your opinion, this is my distorted opinion, the universe is geocentric, the universe, the way it’s described in the days of Creation, is created around the earth. If you haven’t watched The Privileged Planet, you can borrow it from our lending library or get it in our bookstore, do that. I laughed and cried all the way through it. Because it gives you the complexity of our planet, just with light and water, and when they start to break down the random chance factors, you know, for us to be where we are, for us to have the kind of star we have, for us to have the kind of light we have, for us to have the atmosphere we have, they start breaking all that down, and it’s 1 times 10 to the 127^th zeroes to put all those things together. They said, the fact is, there aren’t enough stars in the rest of the universe to produce another solar system where there could be more planets with life like ours. I mean, it’s staggering. And then they show you the Milky Way Galaxy, and they show you were Earth is in the Milky Way Galaxy, and they say ‘If we were a little further in, in our solar system, we’d be experiencing all these storms and all, if we were a little further out these are the problems. But we’re right in the perfect spot in the galaxy, and we are at the highest point, and they said surveying the universe, we are in the best spot to observe the rest of the universe.’ The best spot to look at the entire universe in the universe is where you’re walking. Why is that? ‘Because the heavens declare the glory of the LORD, the earth sheweth forth his handiwork, the stars, night after night, they utter their speech, there’s not a language where their voice is not heard,’ you know, we are in a place where we can see. This universe [in that sense] is geocentric, and as far as the nations of the world, it’s Jerusalem-centric. Because the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world, and whether we like it or not, human history revolves around Jerusalem, in fact, it revolves around a hill there called Golgotha. And in these last days, Washington is not going to be the superstar, Moscow’s not going to be the superstar, Mr. Chavez in South America is not going to be the superstar [that would be kinda hard, as he died awhile back], Jerusalem is going to be the cup of trembling, and the stumblingblock of all the nations of the world. It will always go back there, because that’s the way it’s been since the Creation and God’s Plan. So, God in his kindness, he says ‘You’re foolish, you’ve done this, I bought you, I made you,’ and he says ‘ask the elders, talk to those from previous generations, ask them,’ “When the most High divided the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel [that’s 70].” (verse 8) because that’s where his plan of Redemption would be. “For the LORD’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.” (verse 9) Listen, it tells us this in Ephesians, chapter 1, I’ll find it, I don’t have it in my computer notes, have to be patient with me. He says here, “Wherefore, I also after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints, I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, that the eyes of your understanding be enlightened, that you might know what is the hope of his calling, and what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.” (verses 15-18) What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance, in us? We think we have a great inheritance, we’re joint-heirs with Christ, in our inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, fades not away. Paul says I want you to understand what are the riches of his inheritance in the saints. Here the Lord says, he created the world, and everything else. Why? He says the LORD’s portion in all of this is his people. That he said to Joshua “Be strong and of good courage, I’m with you.” The LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. When his people become prodigal and turn away, he has nothing. What does he have then? If his portion is his people, if his portion is you and I, and we turn away in sin and rebellion, what has he then? “He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.” (verse 10) That word “apple” is pupil, you know how quickly when a speck goes in your eye, you blink, or how quickly you clear it out, you put your hand up to block something. It says that’s the way the LORD guards his people, as the apple, the pupil of his eye. Oh, only three minutes, I need more than three minutes.

As An Eagle Fluttereth Over Her Young

“As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.” (verses 11-12) As an eagle, you know we hear in Exodus 19 I think verse 4, the LORD said, you know how I took you and bare you up on eagles wings, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. Isaiah will say in chapter 40, ‘They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength, they should mount up on wings as eagles.’ There’s a number of places where the eagle is used as an illustration of God’s care and of God’s love. He says “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:” you know, it’s interesting, and I just tonight, I did it to torture myself, I’ve collected a number of books on eagles. And these are the kind of things I read there, that the eagle, when she raises her young, will line her nest with skin, with rabbit fur, because an eagle will go up to 2,500, 3,000 feet and can see a rabbit two miles away. And it just thinks ‘I’m going to shoot down there in a little while, grab that one.’ it’s no Biggy. And then the eagle will bring it back, warm, open it up, feast, and then use the fur to line the nest. And when the eggs are ready, they built the bottom of the nest out of thorns. And then when the baby eagles started getting big, like bowling balls, starting to be a hassle, and the mom wants them to get out of the nest, she starts taking the fur away, and then when their feet start getting stuck by the thorns, then they have to get out of the nest and learn to fly. None of that’s true! And I read that in a Christian book [I hate it when supposed Christian writers don’t do their homework]. And I read this other Christian book that the mother eagles, sometimes when she can’t find prey, she’ll actually prick her own breast open and let the blood drip into the baby eagle’s mouths as a picture of self-sacrifice like Christ. I read that in a Christian book, it’s not true. [Do those supposed Christian writers realize they’re lying, breaking the 9^th Commandment? Shame on them!] Then I read, in relative to this verse here, that the way that the mother eagle would teach these young eagles to fly, is she coaxes them up to the edge of the nest, sometimes they’re up 3,000 foot up, a 1,000 foot up, 8,000 foot on some crag, and when the little eagle gets out there trusting the mom, the mom will, pop! Knock the eagle off, and the eagle’s going aaaahhh!!! and starts trying to flap, and at the last minute, before the eagle splatters, the dad will swoop under and catch the baby and bring it back up again. That’s not true! And I read it in a Christian book. By the way I’m glad it’s not true, because once in awhile we feel like God’s trying to do that to us, don’t we. We feel like we’re going aaaahhh!!! I’m glad that’s not true. You know, ‘pick up that eyeball and bring it back up here.’ So I started to get frustrated, so I got on the phone and I called the Philadelphia Zoo, and I said ‘Can I talk to the, who runs the bird house there? give me the guy that knows birds of prey.’ And they got me some poor guy, he didn’t know anything. He said, ‘Man, I don’t know anything, you need to call the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Hospital, they got a guy there that just knows parrots and birds and stuff.’ So I called there and said ‘Is the guy there that does birds, if you have a falcon for a pet,’ and they put some guy on the phone and he said ‘You need to call the Smithsonian Institute, there’s a guy there.’ So I called there and got some guy, and he said ‘Look, I know a little bit about eagles, but at Brigham Young University there’s a guy named Dr. Clayton White, and he knows more about eagles than anybody in the world. He’s raised them, he’s studied them his whole life, you need to call him, here’s his phone number.’ So I call there, and this guy talks to me for two hours, he’s as excited about eagles as I am! So we had this great conversation. He said “Joe, let me tell you. They don’t throw the baby out of the nest and swoop under them. I’ve raised eagles, I’ve hatched eggs, and they all learn to fly, and I didn’t throw them out of the nest and swoop under them.” He said “Moses observed something that’s real.” Because he knew the verse, and he said “The mother and the father eagle will flutter, it wakes them up, it disturbs them.” You know, I’m very happy in my monotony in my rut, I don’t like when the Lord stirs up anything. “But what it does is it gets the attention of the young eagles, and they begin to imitate, and they start to do the same thing. They don’t know they’re going to get thrown out so they have to learn to do this. And then what happens is when they get bigger, and they have strength, the eagles will build their nest usually where there’s an updraft. Now, particularly some of the European eagles or the eagles in the Middle East, they would have been more familiar with than a golden eagle or a bald eagle, and they’ll sit there, and when the sun heats up the rock, there starts to be an updraft, and they’ll preen their wings, they will preen every feather on their body, and there’s actually an oil in a gland, that they clean their feathers, so they can dive in water after fish, and they’ll preen themselves in an hour.” And he said “By then there’s an updraft, and they’ll just step off the edge and just put their wings out, and they just go, they just soar. They’ll just sit there in the morning watching a rabbit or some kind of small mammal a mile away, while they’re preening themselves, thinking ‘I’m going to get that,’ no rush. They said an eagle could read a newspaper a city block away, if you can imagine that.” And he said, “What happens then, as the mother and father eagle, they’ll go out and fly near the nest and coax the young ones, sometimes they’ll even have food in their mouth, and the young ones will fly to a branch, or fly to a rock, they’ll take their first flight, they don’t go aaaahhh!” he said “That doesn’t happen, but what happens, as they start to fly a little better, Moses observed, the adult eagle will come under the young eagle, it does make it easier, there’s a little bit of an updraft, but they take them on a circuit.” And he said “We’ve discovered that in their eyes, there are these folds, we call them pectins, and there’s an electrolyte fluid in there that’s sensitive to magnetism.” And he said “As they start to mature, they go on these circuits, flying over the back of their parents, which Moses observed, bearing them up on their wings, those pectins begin to harden, and they can feel that pull towards north, and that electrolyte fluid, and it teaches them that wherever they are they can always find their way back to the place where they were born, their whole lives.” [I remember where I was first born-again, felt the joy of salvation flowing through me, and it was before my baptism, crossing the rails toward Tower-H in a railyard of the B&M Railroad, where I was working. The memory and location where I first experienced the joy of my salvation is imbedded within my memory.] And he said “It’s a compass inside, and they teach their young ones to be able to find home, no matter where they are, as a mother eagle cares.” And certainly the Lord has done that to your heart and my heart. When we make mistakes, when we blow it, he doesn’t kick us out of the nest, and lets us go aaaahhh! He’s teaching us to be able, he’s setting our compass, all the time, sharpening it, even in grievous sin we’ll find out way home. The prodigal said, ‘It’s better to be a servant in my father’s house,’ he knew his way home. Interesting animals. I’m already five minutes over, I might as well tell you about eagle marriage [laughter], because they’re monogamous, they just do not like our culture. When an eagle gets to be around 3 years old, he starts to feel his eagle wild oats a little bit, and starts looking at girl eagles, I don’t know how they tell them apart, but they know. And then he’ll start to follow a female, there’s an entire process, where she’ll go down when she sees she has a suitor, she’ll pick up a small stick off the ground, and then she’ll go up 5,000 to 8,000 foot. I read a story about a jet that hit a vulture at 37,000 feet, just read it this afternoon. Pray for me, I like this kind of thing. The female eagle will go up to 8,000 foot or so, the male eagle will follow her and just stay right on her, and then get into this game where they start to fly an interesting figure-8, and he stays right in it with her, and at one point she drops that stick. And he has to leave off and dives down and he catches it before it hits the ground, he picks it back up, and she just ignores him. And she goes down and gets a heavier stick, now she only goes up about 5,000 foot, and he gets back into the figure-8 with her, following her around, and she drops the heavier one, and then he leaves off and he dives, and it he gets that before it hits the ground, he brings it up, she just ignores him, and then she’ll go down and get something heavier yet, and after this happens four or five times, she almost lifting something equal to her own bodyweight, and she’s only going up about 500 foot, and the figure-8 has become very fast and very tight, and he zooms after her, and she’ll drop that heaviest of things. If he zooms down and catches that before it hits the ground, then she likes him [laughter]. If it bounces on the ground she just goes away, he doesn’t stand a chance. But if he catches it, then she starts to take off, he follows her, they go up between 10,000 and 15,000 foot for the wedding ceremony, and the male will get above her and start to swoop down onto her back, and right before he hits, she’ll flip over, and they’ll lock talons, and they’ll fall, screaming, just for several thousand foot aaaahhh! I guess they get all of that out of the way before the Honeymoon or something, but they’ll fall screaming. They say they’re screaming in joy, I don’t know who listened to that or how they would know, but. And when they leave go of each other, they’re married. And they’ll stay together their entire lives, they’ll hunt together, nest together year after year, they’ll have young together, they’ll stay together for decades. The only way the male or the female will find somebody else is if their partner dies. They’re together their entire lives. So well anyhow there’s these other guys who try who to say that’s why the mom kicks the young out of the nest, they make all this stuff up. But just remarkable, remarkable picture. God caring for us as an eagle fluttereth over the nest, teaching us to fly, wanting us to see that we’re not earthbound, that he has, we have needs, he has something better for us. And ultimately letting us begin to soar, and how he comes under, to teach us, to lead us, and to create in us that compass so that we can always find our way back, always come home, as an eagle fluttereth over her nest. How beautiful. Stirreth up her young. “Spreadeth abroad her wings, and taketh them and beareth them on her wings, so the LORD alone did lead him, and no strange god was with him.” We’ll have to pick up here in the middle of this song [of Moses], I’m sorry, it’s even in the middle of a chorus. But we’ll back up to eagles next week, I’ll find out anything interesting about eagles that I didn’t know this week, but we’ll pick up there. Let’s pick up there, Lord willing, and we’ll move through this song. You can be reading ahead into Joshua, the Book of Joshua, how wondrous. Let’s stand, let’s pray, we’ll have the musicians come…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Deuteronomy 31:1-30 and Deuteronomy 32:1-2, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]