Moses’ Farewell Song in the Desert

The book of Deuteronomy is a record of Moses’ last words to the Israelite people after 40 years of ups and downs together in the desert. When the book ends, it’s not just the desert but also Moses himself whom the Israelites will leave behind.

He earned his own death sentence in Numbers 20 when, in a moment of impatience as the Israelites clamored for water, he twice struck a rock he had been directed by God merely to speak to. Because of this lack of trust in the Almighty, he is informed, he will not merit crossing into the promised land with his people. Now, with that land in sight, and with his death imminent, the Israelites will be without him as their leader for the first time since their redemption from Egypt.

It’s an especially inopportune moment to lose Moses, who has tirelessly devoted himself to instructing the Israelites how to live correctly once they enter the land and warning them of God’s wrath when, inevitably, they will diverge from that instruction. For most of Deuteronomy, indeed, Moses and the Israelites seem to be still dragging their feet, none too eager to race toward his death or their inheritance of a land they know will eventually “vomit them out” for the sins they (or their descendants) will surely commit.