Deuteronomy 31:1-30
“Vayelech” in Hebrew means “then he went out”, taken from the first words of this portion of scripture.
In Deuteronomy Chapter 31 we find that Moses has received from God the word that he is about to die.
God has instructed him that he will not be allowed to cross over the Jordan and take the people into the Promised Land. God will allow Joshua to cross over the Jordan River with the people.
Before Moses' death, he instructs the people again about keeping the Torah of Yahweh. He writes the Torah on scrolls and gives them to the priests. He instructs the priests to place these scrolls in/beside the Ark for safekeeping.
Furthermore, so that the people will never forget the commandments of Yahweh as outlined in His Torah, Moses instructs the priests to gather all of the congregation, and the strangers who abide with
them, together at the end of every 7 years to have a special reading of these scrolls so that the people will never forget to obey all of the Words of Yahweh and bring upon themselves the curses that were
mentioned earlier by Moses. This special reading of Torah was to take place during a special service at Sukkot.
Moses writes a song which he will teach to the people so that they can remember all the words of Torah and obey. This song of Moses is recorded in the next chapter.
This farewell warning by Moses, the greatest leader of all time, should resonate with us today. We still need to be reminded of the consequences of disobedience. We need to keep His teachings and instructions before our face at all times.
We should set aside regular times for reading through the first five books of the Bible so that we understand what is expected of those who want to please the Creator.
Shalom,
Leisa
