So, with only the promises of God for a defence, Joshua gets down to the business of conquering the Land. His faith is in the purpose of God, as promised by the word of God, sustained by the means of God'�which is obedience.

In the final unit of the book of Deuteronomy Moses sets before the people of Israel a challenge that is intended to help them always remain true to God and his covenant. In Deuteronomy 27-30 Moses gives instructions about two ceremonies, that the people are to enact once they enter the land.

Having come to the end of the book of Deuteronomy, and the end of the Pentateuch, this devotional recaps and reviews our grasp of God and his purposes.

Israel's '�chosen'� status is all of grace. They don't deserve it at all. To be chosen by God means that they, and we who have followed on by faith, have no claim to anything. Instead, complete humility is our response. Complete humility, leading to faithful obedience.

The '�second reading' of the Laws of Moses shows they were always intended for a nation living a settled life in the land, not a nomad people wandering the wilderness. But before that settled stability of life in the land is theirs, there is the conquest of the Land. To be clear, the Promised Land was not Terra Nullius. Instead, God gives clear instructions about what is to happen when Israel enters the land, and his reasons for decreeing judgment.

When we get to the book of Deuteronomy, Moses is by now 120 years old. He delivers three '�swan song'� addresses, on the plains of Moab'� just across the Jordan River from Jericho. His first sermon is a recounting of what God has already done in getting Israel to this place. It is the historical prologue for his second and third speeches: the Law is embedded in a much bigger story.