“Be strong and of good courage,…for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you” (Deut 31:6).
From the day baby Moses was plucked from the river by Pharaoh’s daughter until he was plucked from earth to Paradise by the hand of God, from his days alone on the backside of the desert or his stand before Egypt’s monarch, and certainly all the long wilderness journey through, there was one truth that was evident in his life. Here are his own words from his 120th birthday message to the nation of Israel: “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” (Deut 31:8). How was it that Moses could defy Pharaoh, face off against Amalek and Sihon and Og, or stand in the face of rebellions in Israel? Here is his secret, the trifecta of trust: The Lord goes before you. God is always ahead of the curve; nothing ever catches Him by surprise. The Lord is with you. He’s always “a very present help” (Ps 46:1), and nothing ever confuses Him or leaves Him without the perfect answer to life’s challenges. The Lord will not leave you. He knows all your weaknesses and shortcomings, yet nothing ever confounds Him. He is all in on the project of YOU. He has no Plan B. Nothing will dissuade Him from accomplishing what He set out to do—make you like His Son. Having laid this three-fold promise before them, Moses then entrusted the law to the priests and elders of Israel (Deut 31:9) and instructed them to publicly read it before the people every seven years at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. All that was left now was to hand the baton of leadership to Joshua and then head Home. His work, apart from his remarkable birthday song and his blessing of the people, was done. “And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house” (Heb 3:5).