Bible verse wall art
Deuteronomy 31: “the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee”
An old leader who will not cross the river speaks to a young one who must. The promise he gives Joshua has been passed on ever since to people standing at the edge of something new.
Deuteronomy 31 print
Deuteronomy 31 · King James Version
8 And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee
Moses at 120
Deuteronomy is presented as the last speeches of Moses on the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan, after forty years in the wilderness. In chapter 31 he tells the people he is a hundred and twenty years old and that God has said he will not cross into the promised land. Someone else will lead them over.
That someone is Joshua, his assistant since the days of Mount Sinai. The chapter is a handover. Moses speaks first to all Israel, then calls Joshua forward in front of everyone, and later writes the law down and gives it to the priests for safekeeping.
What does Deuteronomy 31:8 mean?
Verse 8 is spoken directly to Joshua. The first clause, the one on our print, says that God himself goes ahead. The rest of the verse adds that he will be with Joshua, will not fail him nor forsake him, and ends with the instruction not to fear or be dismayed.
The picture is of a guide walking in front on an unknown road, or a commander leading the column. Israel had seen this before in the pillar of cloud and fire that went ahead of them out of Egypt. Joshua is being told that the change of human leadership does not change the real leader. Moses is leaving; God is not.
Notice the order. The promise comes before the command. Joshua is not told to be brave and then rewarded with God's presence; he is told that God is already ahead of him, and courage follows from that.
Graduations, new jobs and hard roads
The verse is popular for moments of transition: graduations, moving to a new town, starting a ministry, military deployment, or the first steps after a loss. Our print pairs it with the footprints in the sand, the modern devotional image of a walk with God along a beach, which shares the same idea of not walking alone.
The promise repeated
God repeats the same assurance to Joshua in Joshua 1, ending with the charge to be strong and of a good courage. The writer of Hebrews quotes the phrase about never leaving nor forsaking in Hebrews 13:5, applying it to every believer, and Jesus closes Matthew's Gospel by promising to be with his disciples always.