Remembering God’s Instruction

Given how the last several chapters of Deuteronomy have gone, it may be assumed that Moses’ pessimism about the people’s ability to maintain the law borders on anger and his desire for the righteous judgment of God to fall on them. But this is far from the truth: Moses finishes all of his words to Israel by blessing them (Deut 33)! Moses doesn’t want their destruction, but he knows very well that it is only by remembering the instruction he has provided the Israelites that they can keep God’s law. Therefore, in the final chapters of Deuteronomy, the Lord provides for their remembrance in four distinct ways: