Deuteronomy 31:1-13 (NKJV)
Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. 2 And he said to them: “I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer go out and come in. Also the Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.’ 3 The Lord your God Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over before you, just as the Lord has said. 4 And the Lord will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites and their land, when He destroyed them. 5 The Lord will give them over to you, that you may do to them according to every commandment which I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”
7 Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. 8 And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”
9 So Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.”
Moses’ introduction of Joshua as his successor begins with acknowledging God’s judgment on his own disobedience, which disqualified him from entering the Promised Land. Yet, God in His mercy would go before His covenant people, destroy their enemies, and cause them to inherit the Promised Land. Because of the covenant of God’s grace made with His people, He would not leave them or forsake them.
God directed priests to serve as custodians of the Law and to ensure that it was read at regular intervals. The Lord established the frequency, time, and location for the public reading of the Law. Everyone traveling with Israel was to assemble for the reading. Even the children were to hear it, that they may grow up into it.
This not only brings to mind Proverbs 1:8: “My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother;” but more so the popular Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.” Luther can be found writing on this topic teaching the children: “It is the duty of every father of a family to question and examine his children and servants at least once a week and to ascertain what they know or are learning from the catechism. And if they do not know the catechism, he should keep them learning it faithfully.” (LC, short preface, 4)
Israel could have no relationship with the Lord God apart from His Word. If only such a mindset were prevalent today. As Luther wrote: “We must constantly maintain this point: God does not eat to deal with us in any other way than through His spoken Word and the Sacraments. Whatever praised as from the Spirit—without the Word and Sacraments—is the devil himself.” (Smalcald Articles, VIII, 10) Let us pray: O God, as Your Law brings us to acknowledge our own disobedience, driving us to flee in faith to Christ’s fully atoning merits for us for the forgiveness of our sins, bring us also to ever faithfully teach our children Your Word, raising them up in the way that they should go. Amen.