Deuteronomy 31:1-8 Bible Study | Episode 952

June 3, 2025

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

Deuteronomy 31:1-8  Bible Study | Episode #952

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

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Transcript

This is Chad Harrison and you're listening to Hope Applying God's word to your daily life.

Hi, this is Chad Harrison and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and have been serving as a pastor for 25 years.

I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life.

I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open up.

His word to you and allow you.

To see him and to know him and to know his will, that you might glorify him and that you might walk in faith and power each and every day, especially today,

in Jesus name.

Well, good morning. Welcome to Lake Community Church's morning Bible study. We are In Deuteronomy, chapter 31. I made it all the way to chapter 31. And we are.

Well, we're. We're in the transition phase. I told you we were headed that way. And we are where, where Moses is transitioning his leadership to Joshua.

That is an important process.

And Joshua is,

is another way of saying the Word, the name Jesus. Jesus is a,

is a. Well, it's really a Western way of saying Yah and Yahshua is,

is the Jewish way to say Joshua. And that's,

that's how we get the, the name Joshua. And so we're at. We're.

We're where Moses is kind of explaining what's going to happen. He's going to. He's already told them all the law. He's given them. Well, he's given them the book of Deuteronomy.

That's what he's done. He's given them the book of Deuteronomy. And he's saying, okay,

it's time to go in. And he already knows because God's already told him that he's not going in. And he's not going in because,

I hate to say it, disobedience.

And by the way, we've. We've dealt with that Bible study a couple of times already. And disobedience causes you to miss out on God. I want you to hear me when you're walking in faith, when you're walking in faith, when you're someone who.

I'm not talking about someone who doesn't really know how to walk in faith. I'm talking about the now, I'm talking about with the people who are, who are people that have known God.

Walk with God for a long, long time. When you're walking in faith, God tells you something clearly to do and you don't do it because of your emotions or because of some.

Something that,

that is in you that God's already dealt with and handled. But, but you want to go back to it sometimes there's a cost to that.

And for Moses, the cost of that dishonoring, really Jesus, because he's the rock and he struck the rock when God told dishonoring, Jesus cost him going into the promised land.

And that happens. And so that's a Bible study for a former day, not another day. But we've already had that Bible study says then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel,

verse one of chapter 31, and said to them, I am 120 years old today.

You know, that's a, that,

you know,

when you read it, you go, wow, he's 121.

When I read it, I go,

wow,

he is making a recognition of something.

And by the way,

he understands that he is way outlived the normal lifespan of a human being at this time.

And really he has.

I know you think back, well, it's the Old Testament. He lived 120 years.

Not really.

He was an old man when God called him to go to go to Egypt and deliver his people. He was 80 years old then.

So he has been.

Well, he's been leading God's people for a long, long time.

And 40 years is a long time to lead God's people.

And he is, he is. He's recognizing his mortality. And you know, that's really a cool thing to do.

I can't say it enough. It's a cool thing to do. He's recognizing his mortality.

A recognition of one's mortality is a very healthy thing, especially the older we get. And I realize that young people don't recognize their mortality and that causes them to make some of the,

well, the unadvisable decisions that they make. But as we get older, we should be wiser and we should recognize our mortality and we should realize the importance of the things that are going on around us so that we can.

Well, so that we can enjoy them.

I think that's a real important thing. Enjoy the things that God has blessed us with so that we can secure them.

That's an important thing. What do you mean secure them? Well, secure them for the generations to come. Secure the good things that have been the product of your life for the generations to come and invest them,

invest them in the people that are going to be behind you and that are your legacy and that might be family in the church. That's definitely God's people.

The people that you've invested in, you continue to invest in them.

Those things are big things. Those things are powerful things. Those things are mighty things.

And it is a very healthy thing for an older person to do that. And even though I am 53 years old,

turned 53 last month,

I recognize the importance of this,

that there has to be a legacy and there needs to be a continuation.

And that God is not doing. God does not like to work in a singular generation. He's a generational God. And a healthy recognition of your mortality is a really, really good thing because it leads you to do the big things, like take care of business as far as those who are coming behind you.

He says, I can no longer go out.

Come in and come in.

What that means is I'm not moving very well.

You know,

for those of you who like to turn a phrase, this is a great one to use.

He, he, he is,

he says, I can no longer go out or come in.

I love, I love that. And, and it is a good explanation of just being old, isn't it? It just really is. He's saying, I'm old and I can't get around as well as I used to.

Also,

he says, the Lord has said to me, you shall not cross over the Jordan. Now, see, that is a clear recognition, and that's coming to terms with what God has said.

Notice Moses is not. Notice. Notice Moses is not acting like it ain't going to happen. It is going to happen.

The Bible says it's appointed unto man wants to die, and then the judgment. God says, he's numbered our days past, which we cannot go.

But he's also said to be dead in the bodies, be present with the Lord. And so there's a, a healthy understanding of your mortality is good. And God says, it's time to go in,

cross the Jordan.

And he's in. Moses says, oh, man, God's already told me I'm not going,

so that means I'm not going. And he has come to terms with that. And you know what? You don't get to do everything.

You do not get to do everything. And you need to understand that. And we need to understand that as we get older, we don't get to do everything.

I want to benefit from the work of my hand.

I want to benefit from the work of my hand. And one of the ways I can do that is to make sure that the work of my hand continues on past me, which means that I have to have a cognizance of that.

For down the road now you say, well when, when, when is that going to happen for you? Well, I don't know, but I need to be working on it now.

Even if it's 30 years from now, I need to be working on it now because I need to be building the framework faith that's going to be passed down in my family and in those who God has called me to lead.

And that's for me as a pastor. But for you is whatever gift you're using for, for you need to be passing those things along as you get older. He said the Lord your God himself crossed over before you.

He will destroy it. What he's saying that's past is the Lord your God himself crosses over before you.

He's saying not past tense as in when he says it. But what he's saying is, is when you get there, God's gonna have already been there, okay? And so what he,

God's going on ahead of you. And God does do that. God prepares the path for you. In fact, he's ordered the steps of the righteous. So God's already been out there ahead of you.

He's ordered those steps. How does he done that? Well, because he's omnipresent, that means he's everywhere he at all time.

Well, all the time.

But best way to say it, sees everywhere all the time.

Okay,

so the understanding that is that qualifier all the time means like all throughout time.

He's everywhere throughout time. Maybe it's better to say it that way. He's everywhere throughout time.

And so he goes across before you. He will destroy the nations from before you.

You shall dispossess them. What he's saying is he's already uprooting them. He's already taken care of them. And by the way, that's what God's already doing. And as you get older,

if there's something that God has led you to and you're beginning to, you're beginning to see that maybe you won't be a finisher of that. And that happens. Listen, like I said, God's a multi generational God.

And so he's going to be doing things multi generational.

And so there are going to be some things that happen that go on beyond me.

And I need to recognize that. And he,

he,

he is uprooting things ahead of me also. And he may be even uprooting things ahead of me that I'm not even going to get to.

And boy, that's a good understanding to have in it.

I guess I'm talking to the old people today. But, you know, sometimes we got to talk to the old people,

and you can see my hair color. So I are coming, becoming one of them quickly,

she says. And the Lord will do to them as he did to and Og the kings of the Amorites in their land when he destroyed them. What he's saying is, I'm going to take them out just like I took the ones out before.

And by the way, God does that all the time. We just need to have an expectation of that. There has to be an expectation that God is going to handle those things, that no weapon formed against us shall prosper and it shall not.

Pastor Jimmy reminded me of that recently.

No weapon formed against us shall prosper. And it's not.

And God is going to do big, big stuff. And he's going to do big, big stuff a lot of times through the old folks who have the right understanding of the future.

And what that means is they're old folks who have a cognizance of the big things to come that they will not experience.

And that's what we need to be when we're older. We need to be people who are preparing for our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren, to see the big things of God.

And even though we don't get to walk in them,

well,

we'll be there, but we'll be eternal.

Anyway, let's not get into that. The Lord will give them over to you that you may do to them according to every commandment which I commanded you. What he's saying is, the things I promised you, I'm not going to get to experience.

I'm not going in. But God's going to do it. He's going to do it. Be strong and of good courage.

Do not fear for the younger people. You need to hear that. Be strong and of good courage. Do not fear when. When the older folks who've walked those paths and seeing those things pass away before you.

Do not be afraid.

The God who led them is leading you.

The God who made them is leading you. The God who grew them is leading you.

All right? And so go forth in their.

In their memory,

but also in the understanding that the God of the ages is leading you also. Be strong in your courage. Do not fear, nor be afraid of them. For the Lord your God, he is the one who goes with you.

I mean, that probably just needs to be memorized just anyway, you know, as you're. As you're reading it, you just need to be memorized. Fear not be, he says, do not fear, nor be afraid of them.

For the Lord your God, he is one who goes out with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.

All that needs to be memorized. He will not leave you, nor forsake you. Is.

That's like, quoted all over the Bible. Okay,

so if you don't remember that one,

you just ain't reading the Bible.

He will not leave you,

nor forsake you. Then Moses called Joshua and said to him, in the sight of all of Israel, be strong and of good courage. For you must go with the people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it.

There was a guy to take Moses's place, and his name's Joshua.

And by the way, you always need to be picking and raising and equipping people to take your place.

That's kingdom work, by the way.

Yeah, I said it. I'm not gonna. We're not gonna quibble over it. Kingdom work is picking, equipping,

discipling people to replace you. That's kingdom work.

It'll cause one of two things. I want you to hear me.

Picking, discipling, equipping people to replace you will cause one of two things. Either you'll die and you'll get all the reward that they produce with their lives and the lives that they invest in, or God will promote you to something else.

That's just the way it works. He'll promote you higher place,

and they'll be doing the work you were doing, and you'll be doing the work, the new work God has for you. And that works for old and young.

Okay? That's just the way it works.

And if you do it the right way, eventually there's going to be a whole, whole lot of people that you've invested a whole, whole lot of stuff in, and they're going to be doing a whole lot, whole lot of ministry.

And you get credit, you get the reward from all of it.

So it's a good idea to do it. And the Lord, he is one who goes before you.

He will be with you. He will not leave you, nor forsake you. Do not fear, nor be dismayed. Now, God said that to his, to the people. Now he's saying it to Joshua.

So you need to say it publicly, and then you need to say it to the ones you're investing in over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

What a great Bible study, right? God does good stuff. He really does. As I get older, the more I realize how important it is to have a long term view, which is a view past myself of what God is doing and to see those things and to allow God's vision to open my mind and equip me to equip those who will be beyond me.

As you go today, I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you and that he will give you hope and peace today in Jesus name.