Deuteronomy 31–34: On the End of the Torah, Which Is Not at All Like The Lion King (Bible Talk, Ep. 63)

In a final act of kindness, the Lord takes Moses on top of a mountain to see the Promised Land. Then Moses dies, and he’s buried by his best friend.

SHOW NOTES

1:34 / Sam offers opening remarks on the structure of Deuteronomy, and Jim peaks ahead to Joshua.

3:56 / What kind of leader is Joshua supposed to be for Israel?

5:18 / What is Moses’ exhortation to Israel’s priests as they’re about to enter the Promised Land? (Deut. 31:9-13)

7:07 / Additional commentary on Joshua’s succession of Moses. What makes Joshua an effective leader?

8:44 / Don’t miss the typology: “The LORD will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them” (Deut. 31:4).¹

11:57 / The LORD foretells that Israel will whore after false gods and be devoured (Deut. 31:14-18).

13:17 / Why does the Lord command Moses to write a song as a witness against Israel? (Deut. 31:19)

16:34 / What stands out about the content of Moses’ song? (Deut. 32:1-43)

19:11 / Does America have a specific angel? (Deut. 32:8-9)

22:24 / How does the following verse in Moses’ song foreshadow how salvation will work in the future?

They have made me jealous with what is no god;
they have provoked me to anger with their idols.
So I will make them jealous with those who are no people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. (Deut. 32:21)

25:06 / Moses’ prediction about salvation would become important to Paul’s ministry.

30:25 / What’s the big idea of chapter 32?

32:40 / Is it cruel or kind of God to bar Moses from the Promised Land?

34:28 / What’s important to notice in chapter 33?

36:00 / Why is Deuteronomy 33:25b-29 a fitting end to the Torah?

39:39 / Who wrote chapter 34?

41:57 / “And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel” (Deut. 34:10-12).

45:19 / As the Torah concludes, where are we in the overarching narrative of Scripture, and where are we headed as Joshua begins?

*****

[1] Bible Talk’s episode on Numbers 20-21

Painting: The Death of Moses, Cabanel (1851)