From Moses to Joshua

Arranged so that nobody can question Joshua’s authority.

Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as I attempt to read the Bible with fresh eyes, as if I don’t know anything about it, and without consulting experts on what it “really” means.. Let’s see where this takes us!

Deuteronomy 31

I’m reading Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

Unless I missed something, the LORD appears in a “pillar of cloud” for the first time in a long time. I think it’s a representation that the very same being that led Israel out of Egypt and fed Israel with manna for 40 years from his spaceship — I mean, “pillar of cloud”/”pillar of fire” — is the same being that is appointing Joshua.

It isn’t Moses who’s picking his successor Joshua, it is the LORD making the appointment. And it’s done from that pillar of cloud so that everybody sees it.

Joshua’s authority, then, can’t really be questioned.

Before he dies, however, Moses sounds like a cranky, pessimistic old man. He’s already predicting failure for the Israelites in the land “flowing with milk and honey.”

It’s an understandable concern. Those who prosper often forget the source of their prosperity. The…