Deuteronomy 31:1

Deuteronomy 31:1 says, And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.  Verse two adds, 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.  Moses told the people of Israel that he was now a hundred and twenty years old and was no longer able to go in and out.  He also told them that God told him that he would not go onto the Promised Land.  His age and health were not what prevented Moses from crossing over Jordan, but it was his disobedience to God that did.  Disobedience to God by not accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord is what will keep us out of heaven, God's Promised Land, today.  Verse three continues, 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.  Moses said that even though he wasn't going over the Jordan that God was.  Moses was God's spokesman to the people of Israel, but he wasn't God.  We may have powerful Christian leaders today, but they are not God.  Moses said Joshua would now lead them, and God will always call others to be His spokesmen and leaders as others get old and die.  Verse four states, 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.  Moses said when they entered the Promised Land that they were to destroy all the people living there by the power and under the direction of God.  We as followers of Christ today have a different directive, and that is to reach out to people, even our enemies, with the love of God.  Verse five adds, And the LORD shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.  Moses said that God would give the people in the land up to the people of Israel in accordance with His command.  If we are to be successful in reaching the lost in the world today, we must do so by obedience to God's commandments.  Verse six continues, 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.  Though the people of Israel had once failed to go into the Promised Land because of doubt and fesr, Moses called on them to now be strong and of great courage, and reminded them that God was with them.  Even if we as Christians have failed to do what God has called us to do in the past, we need to turn to Him in faith and be strong and of great courage now.  As Moses told the people of Israel, God goes with us and will not fail us.  Verse seven declares, 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.  Moses then called Joshua to him and passed the leadership role over to him.  We should never believe that we are so important that we alone can fill a certain position in God's kingdom today, but must be open to the Holy Spirit telling us when it is time for someone else to take our place.  Verse eight adds, 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.  Moses told Joshua that God would be with him and never fail him.  If we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, God will never fail us but will always be with us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  This should give us great courage no matter what is happening in the world today.  Verse nine continues, 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.  Moses wrote down the law of God and passed it on to the priests, the Levites, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD.  As Christians, we are a part of the priesthood of believers and we carry God's law written not on stone tablets, but in our heart.