Fri 21 Apr 2023 - Daily Reading:
Deut 31:1-8, Deut 34
The End and the Beginning by Becky Brooks
Today, we take a trip to the end of Deuteronomy. Much of this book covers similar material we have read in Leviticus and Numbers but here, at the end, we reach the final part of the history of the Israelites before they cross the river Jordan under Joshua’s leadership.
Moses, favoured servant of the Lord, has reached the end of his service and Joshua is waiting in the wings. It is time for God to fulfil what he spoke over Moses’ life. Decades ago, the Lord led Moses up a mountain to establish a covenant. Now he leads him up another mountain to allow him to see the land of promise.
This is a bittersweet moment. Moses may not enter the land because of his disobedience, but here we see an intimate scene play out as the Lord showed him that the people he had led for so long really had come to a fruitful and beautiful land. And then Moses died at the time of God’s appointing and the Lord himself buried him.
Israel is about to have a new beginning with Joshua, who is full of the Spirit of God, to lead them into a new season in their history. But before that, they take the time to properly observe the ending of the era of Moses, mourning him for 30 days. The ending is necessary so that the beginning can come. We can mourn what is gone, while welcoming what is to come.
As we reach the end of the story of Moses and his people, so we also reach the end of these daily devotionals. Over the past seven years we have travelled through almost all of the New Testament and good portion of the Old Testament, always seeing the never failing, wholly sustaining grace and love of God.
All of these devotionals are available on Newbold Community Church’s website (https://www.newboldcommunitychurch.org.uk/devotionals.html) if you would like to re-read any of them, but let this ending also be a beginning. The Scripture is there to guide, instruct and encourage us, so may the Lord lead us on into new ways of reading, hearing and understanding the depth of the riches of his wonderful Word!
Thank you for reading.