Deuteronomy 3:28 is God’s instruction to Moses to prepare Joshua for leadership: to commission him, encourage him, and strengthen him, because Joshua will lead Israel across the Jordan and into the promised land. Moses himself will not cross over, but his task is not abandoned. It is handed to someone else with blessing. The words are spoken by Moses, who is reporting what the LORD told him, and they are addressed to the people of Israel as they wait on the eastern side of the river.
But commission Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you shall see.”
Deuteronomy 3:28 (WEB)
What Deuteronomy 3:28 Means
The verse begins with “commission Joshua,” which means formally appointing him and giving him public authority. Moses is not simply recommending a candidate. He is being told to make the succession visible so that the people know whom to follow. The three verbs that follow, encourage and strengthen, describe the inner side of leadership. A new leader needs both a public mandate and personal reassurance that the work is possible.
The second half explains why this matters: Joshua “shall go over before this people” and “shall cause them to inherit the land.” The verse promises that Israel will receive the land, but it does not promise that every leader will live to see it. It also does not say that Moses was unfaithful or that his life was wasted. It says that God’s plan for the people will continue through another servant.
The Context of Deuteronomy 3:28
Deuteronomy is presented as a series of speeches Moses gave to Israel on the plains of Moab, just before they entered Canaan. Tradition attributes the book to Moses, though many scholars think it took shape over time from earlier material. Its audience is the generation that had grown up in the wilderness, the people who were about to take the land that their parents had refused to enter.
Just before this verse, Moses recounts how he pleaded with the LORD to be allowed to cross the Jordan and see the good land. The LORD refuses, and tells him to climb Pisgah and look at it instead. Verse 28 comes as the answer to that disappointment. Read against the background of Moses’s personal request, the command to strengthen Joshua shows that God’s answer to Moses was not indifference but a shift in how his faithfulness would be honored.
Key Phrases in Deuteronomy 3:28
Joshua 1:9
Haven’t I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
(WEB)
This verse comes immediately after Joshua takes up leadership and gives the same charge to be strong and courageous. It shows that the strengthening Moses promised was something God himself repeated to Joshua, so the commission in Deuteronomy becomes the foundation of Joshua’s own story.
Numbers 27:15-23
15 Moses spoke to the LORD, saying, 16 “Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, 17 who may go out before them, and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep which have no shepherd.” 18 The LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. 19 Set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and commission him in their sight. 20 You shall give authority to him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may obey. 21 He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.” 22 Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation. 23 He laid his hands on him, and commissioned him, as the LORD spoke by Moses.
(WEB)
In this passage Moses asks the LORD to appoint a successor so that the people will not be like sheep without a shepherd. It records the laying on of hands and the commissioning of Joshua before the congregation, giving the practical background to the instruction in Deuteronomy 3:28.
A Short Prayer From Deuteronomy 3:28
Lord, thank you that your work does not depend on any one person’s strength or lifespan. Help me to receive the responsibilities you place in my hands with humility, and to pass on what I have been given with generosity. Where I am called to encourage someone, give me the words, and where I am the one being strengthened, give me courage to take the next step. Let me trust that you go before your people, and that your promises stand even when I cannot see the whole road. Amen.
