We remember last week in some final arrangements in the covenantal document, chapter 31, they were told to compose or to write this particular song so that it could serve as a witness to Israel with reference to their God and with reference to their specific responsibilities in this covenantal arrangement. I'll just begin reading in chapter 32 or 31 at verse 30. We'll read the whole chapter. It's a big chapter.
And then we'll just try and break it down and cover the bulk of it tonight. So chapter 31, beginning in verse 30. Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song until they were ended. Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
Let my doctrine drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, as raindrops on the tender herb, and as showers on the grass. For I proclaim the name of the Lord, ascribe greatness to our God. He is the rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of truth and without injustice, righteous and upright is he.
They have corrupted themselves. They are not His children because of their blemish, a perverse and crooked generation. Do you thus deal with the Lord, O foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father who bought you?
Has He not made you and established you? Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations. Ask your father and he will show you, your elders and they will tell you. When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.
For the Lord's portion is his people. Jacob is the place of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness. He encircled him.
He instructed him. He kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings. So the Lord alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him.
He made him ride in the heights of the earth that he might eat the produce of the fields. He made him draw honey from the rock and oil from the flinty rock, curds from the cattle and milk of the flock with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of bation and goats with the choicest wheat. And you drank wine, the blood of the grapes. But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked.
You grew fat, you grew thick, you are obese. Then he forsook God who made him and scornfully esteemed the rock of his salvation.
Idolatry and Sacrifice to Demons
They provoked him to jealousy with foreign gods. With abominations, they provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they did not know, to new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear. Of the rock who begot you, you are unmindful and have forgotten the God who fathered you.
And when the Lord saw it, he spurned them because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faith. They have provoked me to jealousy by what is not God.
They have moved me to anger by their foolish idols. But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation. I will move them to anger by a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled in my anger and shall burn to the lowest hell.
It shall consume the earth with her increase and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. I will heap disasters on them. I will spend my arrows on them. They shall be wasted with hunger, devoured by pestilence and bitter destruction.
I'll also send against them the teeth of beasts with the poison of serpents and the dust. The sword shall destroy outside. There shall be terror within, for the young man and virgin, the nursing child with the man of gray hairs. I would have said I will dash them in pieces.
I will make the memory of them to cease from among them. Had I not feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should misunderstand, lest they should say, our hand is high, and it is not the Lord who has done all this. For they are a nation void of counsel, nor is there any understanding in them. Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end.
How could one chase 1,000 and two put 10,000 to flight unless their rock had sold them and the Lord had surrendered them? For their rock is not like our rock. even our enemies themselves being judges. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall.
Their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the poison of serpents and the cruel venom of cobras. Is this not laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures? Vengeance is mine and recompense.
Their foot shall slip in due time. For the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them. For the Lord will judge his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees that their power is gone and there is no one remaining, bond or free. He will say, where are their gods, the rock in which they sought refuge, who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let them rise and help you and be your refuge. Now see that I, even I, am he, and there is no God besides me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal.
Nor is there any who can deliver from my hand. For I raise my hand to heaven and say, as I live forever, if I wet my glittering sword and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to my enemies and repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh. with the blood of the slain and the captives from the heads of the leaders of the enemy. Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants and render vengeance to his adversaries.
He will provide atonement for his land and his people. So Moses came with Joshua, the son of Nun, and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel, and he said to them, set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe, all the words of this law. For it is not a futile thing for you, because it is your life, and by this word you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess.
Amen.
Introduction: The Song of Witness
the Song of Witness in the language of Craigie, he says, the song functions as a part of the witness to the renewal of the covenant. When the Israelites sang it, they would bear witness to their understanding and agreement to the full terms and implications of the covenant. In other words, we shouldn't just sort of see chapter 32 as an appendix to the book or as a tack-on to the book. Rather, this song of witness would function within Israelite history, or it should have functioned in such a way that when they rehearsed these truths, when they considered God, when they considered His grace, when they considered the great deeds concerning their own nation, their own body politic, their own covenantal stationed before the Lord.
This should have stirred them up to obedience and to pursue those things which were pleasing in the sight of the Lord God. As I said, it's quite a lengthy chapter. I want to just carve it up into a few sections tonight. We probably won't look at every jot and tittle.
I think the thrust of it is pretty obvious, but the first section deals with the creation of Israel in verses 1 to 14. And by the creation of Israel, I mean how God sort of isolated them, how God took them out from among all the other nations. You'll find that language at times in not only the book of Deuteronomy, but in the prophets as well, that God is the creator, yes, of the heavens and the earth, but He is the creator of His special people, Israel. Secondly, we'll see the apostasy of Israel.
That's something that runs through this chapter. Much of it reflects or it seems to reflect upon What has already happened, some of it does tend to be prophetic in nature and looks forward to what will probably happen in the future. So there's no specific this is that and that is this. It's all together in such a fashion that as they would sing, it would be a reminder for them.
Then thirdly, what we'll see is the judgment upon Israel, that's verses 19 to 35, and then the salvation of Israel, verses 36 to 43. So the song ends on a high note. The song ends with the promise of Gentile inclusion into the covenant promises of God, and it does seem to look forward to the new covenant when Jesus would come to save his people from their sins. And in the latter portion that we read, verses 44 to 47, is a charge to Israel based on this particular song.
The Creation of Israel
Let's look at the creation of Israel, verses 1 to 14, but specifically three observations. Let's just look at the introduction, the introduction to the song.
Introduction to the Song
Notice the witnesses. We've seen this already in the book of Deuteronomy, very recently in chapter 31. It's also in chapter 30, chapter 4, and then it's in the prophets Isaiah and Micah. Some have seen in chapter 32 what appears to be a covenant lawsuit. when the prophet comes to indict the nation for their having fallen into sin and rebellion against God.
Well, for sure, Isaiah and Micah engage in this covenant lawsuit, and they call heaven and earth to bear witness. Craigie says, in the event of the people's unfaithfulness in the future, the created world would itself stand in silent condemnation of the Israelites. Those elements, the earth, the heavens, would always be constant reminders or witnesses, or reminders that they were witnesses to this covenant that they had sworn fidelity to. And then notice secondly, let my teaching, or the margin reads, let my doctrine drop as the rain.
The song sung is not calculated to arouse emotion, but rather it is calculated to promote instruction. The singing of this song wasn't supposed to just be an emotional time when we get a tear in our eye and we think about what the Lord has done, but rather the singing of this particular song was a time to rehearse biblical doctrine. You see that sort of emphasis as well in New Covenant singing, specifically in the book of Colossians. We don't sing simply to arouse our emotions, though that does happen, and that's legit.
The truth ought to inflame our emotions. The truth ought to arouse the entire response of man. but the truth first and foremost is the primary element in the singing of the Church of Jesus Christ. Notice in Colossians 3 at verse 15, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
So you see, when we sing the songs of Zion, it is first and foremost a means to rehearse the doctrine of God Most High and His great redemptive benefits to the people of God. So the witnesses, the doctrine, notice the reception. Verse 2, let my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, as raindrops on the tender herb and as showers on the grass. Each of those metaphors or each of those tropes, each of those figures of speech, as it were, get a little smile out of these three, each of these figures of speech are designed to show us about reception.
When the rain drops and when the dew falls and the raindrops come on the tender herb or the showers come onto the grass, the idea is that it will permeate, it will saturate, it will water, and it will effectively nourish that upon which it falls. The point of the song is to penetrate the heart of the singer and be a means of promoting fidelity to the covenant. It's not just wrote. You don't just sing the song, but rather you want to sing the song in such a way that it functions the way rain comes down upon the grass.
It comes into the grass, it waters the grass, it saturates, it nourishes, it does everything that the grass stands in need of. That's how this song is to function, that's how the entirety of the Word of God is to function, it's to penetrate our hearts and minds, and it is to move and affect us in such a way that we walk in faithfulness to the living and the true God. And then note, by way of introduction, the subject of the song. Verses 3 and 4, for I proclaim the name of the Lord, ascribe greatness to our God.
He is the Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice. Righteous and upright is He. The song is designed to keep the God of the covenant ever before our eyes and in our hearts. Why do we read the Bible?
Why do we prayerfully consider good doctrine? Why do we study theology? It's to keep God before our eyes. It's to be consumed with Him, and obsessed with Him, and it's to be filled with His Spirit, so that we don't depart from Him.
So that we may serve Him, that we may love Him, that we may honor Him, that we may obey Him. So the point of this song is to keep Israel's God before Israel's eyes, so that they do not wander into the path of Baal or Moloch or the Canaanite deities. He ascribes specifics to God. As he says, ascribe greatness to our God.
He is the rock. That comes up several times in this song of witness just here in Deuteronomy 32. And by rock, what is meant is permanence and stability and a stronghold and a refuge. one upon whom we can cast our entire being. He is there for us in terms of His integrity.
His work is perfect. All His ways are justice. He is a God of truth and without injustice, righteous and upright is He." So the point of the song is to keep the Lord God Almighty before our eyes. Again, I think we can make a new covenant application.
We ought to be reading our Bibles and we ought to sing those songs and sing those hymns and sing those psalms that do just that. Yes, it's good to sing about our blessing. Yes, it's good to sing about what the Lord has done for us. But there are those times and seasons in our hymnody, and we'll never go wrong singing the Psalter, when we want to get God.
We want to sing of God. We want to learn of God. We want to know more of God. And singing is a great means to promote such a thing.
So creation of Israel, there's that introduction to the song, and then notice the corruption of Israel.
The Corruption of Israel
This sort of sets the backdrop. Verses 5 and 6, they have corrupted themselves, they are not his children, because of their blemish, a perverse and crooked generation. Do you thus deal with the Lord, O foolish and unwise people? Is he not your father who bought you?
Has he not made you and established you? So there is reproof. The tendency of the heart of the Israelite is toward waywardness. And that comes out right at the beginning.
They are being chided or being reminded of the reality that those who had gone before have corrupted themselves. And by so doing, they are not his children. Because of their blemish, because of their transgression, because of their breaking of the law, they have become a perverse and crooked generation. Jesus uses this language in his generation to condemn the religious leaders.
The Apostle Paul tells the Philippian church to shine as lights in what? A crooked and perverse generation. Those are the kinds of things that mark unbelievers and mark unbelieving thought. And then this question, do you thus deal with the Lord, O foolish and unwise people?
Is He not your Father who bought you? Has He not made you? There's that idea of the creation of Israel. Has He not made you and established you?
In other words, you sustain a special relationship to the Lord your God, such that when you go sin against Him, it is that much more heinous. Yes? When the nations surrounding Israel sin against God, It is a crime. It is wickedness.
The Lord God abominates such activity. But when His special bought ones, when the ones that He has set His affections upon go and engage in that sort of sin as well, it just exacerbates the situation. and brings inevitably the curses of the covenant that have been outlined in chapter 28 and are stipulated here in this song as to being applied should the children of Israel continue impenitently against the living and true God. So
Israel's History and God's Care
then he speaks of their history in verses 7 to 14. Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations, ask your father, he will show you, your elders and they will tell you. Now notice verse 8, first time, only time in the book of Deuteronomy that most high, El Elyon, is the name for God, when the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam. So it goes back to Genesis, even prior to Abraham.
He's not saying, it's in Abraham that you were set apart. It's in Abraham that you became the children of promise. No, it predates even Abraham. In that era when God is divvying up the land, when God is apportioning peoples, when he is separating the peoples in Genesis chapters 10 and 11, he's setting his affection, he's already set his heart upon this particular body.
He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord's portion is his people. Jacob is the place of his inheritance, not with the Hivites, not with the Hittites, not with the Jebusites, but Jacob is the place of his inheritance. It is the people of Israel.
So he's rehearsing this. He's taking them back to this. As you sing this song, you need to remember where you came from. God, in a special way, created you.
He carved you out from the mass of humanity He set His affection and His love upon you and then following there in verses 10 to 14, I think it speaks about their time in Egypt and the fact that God not only sustained them there, but He also eventually led them out. Notice, He found them in a desert land. It could be Abraham, it could be you know, the wilderness wandering, or it could be that time in Egypt. And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness, he encircled him, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye, as an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings.
The language of eagle here speaks of affection. I know that usually you don't think of eagle in affection, but from what I understand, when it's time for baby eagles to fly, father eagle pushes them out of the nest. Now, either they fly or they fish or cut bait, right? They either fly or they die.
Not so with the eagle. The eagle makes sure that either... I've read before that it was the father. I just read today in one of the commentaries that it was the mother.
So the father dispatches the mother to swoop down and to catch the eagle. So in other words, they knock it out of the nest to try and get it to fly. But if it doesn't fly, they don't let it smash to the ground. I imagine there are some bird varieties out there where, hey, either you fly or that's just it because you're out of the nest for now.
But the idea with the eagle, this compassionate being, is that he swoops down. So there is that stress, there is that trial, there is that difficulty, but there's always those arms or there is those wings that catch, that ultimately support and sustain. And that's the imagery that's applied to the Lord God. Verse 12, So the Lord alone led him, and there was no foreign God with him.
And this serves to be an indictment as we continue on, especially in their apostasy. What do they do? They go after other gods. Well, look at what verse 12 says.
Yahweh alone led you. There was no foreign god with you. Why would you give allegiance to these foreign gods? Why would you bow down to that which is not God?
Why would you not express fidelity and love and obedience and obligation to the Lord who led you out of Egypt. You see, the redeeming truth of God Most High ought to affect our hearts in such a way that we couldn't even imagine going back to the idols. When the Lord Jesus Christ cleanses us with His blood, when He gives us that righteousness, what possible allurement is there to our idols of yesterday? Why would we go back to something that didn't lead us out of sin, that didn't give us a righteousness, that didn't bring us out of distress.
That's the emphasis here. Just like the eagle, so Yahweh alone led him and there was no foreign god with him. And not only does he deliver them or bring them out of the land of Egypt, but he also brings them into the land of promise. At this point, on the plains of Moab, they've already tasted and seen.
They're on the east side of the Jordan. They haven't penetrated into the full promised land, but that east, or that trans-Jordan section that they're in is promised land. Remember, there are three tribes that are occupying on the east side of Jordan. They've already started to enjoy the benefit of the land.
And that's what he highlights in verse 13. He made him ride in the heights of the earth that he might eat the produce of the fields. He made him draw honey from the rock and oil from the flinty rock. Could be wilderness and God's provision.
But notice in verse 14, curds from the cattle and milk of the flock, with fat of lambs and rams of the breed of Bashan and goats, with the choicest wheat, and you drank wine, the blood of grapes. just the opposite of the diet-crazed generation we live in. Going into the land and feasting and enjoying the fruit and benefit of the land was not a condemnable offense. It wasn't a bad thing. God tells them, I'm giving you a land flowing with milk and honey.
I had a buddy in Palmdale who used to say that wasn't 2% milk. This was full cream rich milk. This was honey. God is good.
God is beneficent. God is gracious. God is kind. He wants you to go.
He wants you to enjoy. He wants you to delight yourself. But let's move on.
The Apostasy of Israel
Verse 15 to 18 is their apostasy. Their apostasy. Verse 15, but Jeshurun. Jeshurun is sort of like a pet name for Israel.
And if the etymology or the commentators are to be trusted, it means upright one. Now, obviously, if it's being employed in this context, there's great irony here. Okay, my upright one who's played the harlot, my upright one who's an idolater, my upright one who has forsaken me. It's obviously irony.
But notice, so they've reaped the benefit of the land, they've enjoyed the good fruit of the land, they've blotted themselves on the blessings of God, And notice what happens in verse 15, but Jeshurun grew fat and kicked. You grew fat, you grew thick, you are obese. Then he forsook God who made him and scornfully esteemed the rock of his salvation. You see, the crime wasn't eating the curds from the cattle, the milk of the flock, the fat of the lambs, the rams of the breed of Bashan, the goats, the choices we eat.
The crime wasn't drinking the wine, the blood of the grapes. The crime was not bowing in gratitude to God Most High. It was reaping the benefits of the giver, but not worshiping and thanking the giver for the good things that he gave. The reception of benefit without the expression of gratitude inevitably leads one to this position.
There is a doctrine in the Bible of stewardship. When God gives us good things, we ought to respond with thanksgiving, with praise, with adoration. That is precisely or exactly what they did not do. They reaped the benefits, they reaped the good things, Remember, way back in Deuteronomy, they were cautioned about these sorts of things.
They were told, when you go into the land, the temptation will present itself, that you eat these things, that you glut yourself in these things, and then you will forget the Lord. It is an unfortunate thing that happens to God's people, or to his professing people, actually to his people. We are a thankless lot. Ingratitude oftentimes marks us.
And in this particular instance, this ingratitude was the stepping stone to actual idolatry. So they grew fat, they grew thick, they became obese, then he forsook God who made him. and scornfully esteem the rock of his salvation." So it's a failure to express thankfulness, but as well it's a setting one's heart and affections upon the gifts rather than the giver. What are we more consumed with, the blessings that God gives or God? Are we more consumed with the benefits that He conveys upon us or with Him?
Now certainly we ought to rejoice in the blessings. We ought to rejoice. Paul does this in Ephesians 1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, in love, having predestinated us unto adoption as sons.
He speaks in Christ. We have redemption through His blood. We have the Holy Spirit who seals and guarantees. He's praising God for the benefits that we receive, but He's praising God.
He doesn't terminate on the benefit. He doesn't terminate on the blessing. The benefit and the blessing lead him back to the giver of the benefit and the blessing. You see, that's always one of the temptations that we fall prey to.
We get a lot of stuff, we forget to thank God. Or we get a lot of stuff and we become more consumed with the stuff than we are with God. Unique temptation in an affluent society like where we live, right? We need to be on our guard.
We need to make sure that it's not the blessings that God gives that makes us real happy, but it's the God who gives them that makes us real happy. And then notice, we've got ingratitude, verse 15, that leads then to idolatry, verses 16 and 17. They provoked him to jealousy with foreign gods, with abominations they provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they did not know, to new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear." It's an interesting thing.
They sacrifice to demons. Turn for just a moment to Psalm 106. Psalm 106. You know, Paul will tell us later, we'll look at in just a moment, 1 Corinthians 10, the idol is nothing.
But when we bow to an idol, it's... giving vent to, it's giving expression to, it's opening ourselves up to demonism. Behind these idols lie demons. Now again, the idol, you can call this God. and bow down to it. There's nothing there.
But in your bowing down to it, there happens to be demonic beings back there that are part and parcel to this. It's somewhat of a mystery to me, but it certainly says this, that they sacrificed to demons. Notice Psalm 106, verse 34. They did not destroy the peoples concerning whom the Lord had commanded them, but they mingled with the Gentiles and learned their works.
They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood." So you see, if we call this God and we bow down to this as God, I'm just holding up a folder here, it could be a rock, could be a statue of Molech, could be a statue of Baal. If we start casting our children into the fire, it's really not this that's behind it. The folder, or the image, or the idol, or the stone doesn't have sort of will, it doesn't have a malevolent influence, it doesn't, it's nothing, it's not there.
But what is behind that activity is demonism. And that's what idolatry leads to. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul develops this in some detail with reference to the table of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 14. Therefore, my beloved, flee from my idolatry.
I speak as to wise men. Judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
For we though many are one bread and one body, for we all partake of that one bread. Observe Israel after the flesh. Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What am I saying then?
That an idol is anything or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. And I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons.
You cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? So while on the one hand this folder or this stone or this stick remain a folder, a stone or a stick, there is something dark and sinister going on in this transaction of idolatry.
When we bow to that which is not God, we open ourselves up to this demonic influence and we ultimately are offering up sacrifice to demons and not to God. So we see in the apostasy of Israel, back in chapter 32, the ingratitude, the idolatry, and then ultimately the implication in verse 18. Of the rock who begot you, you are unmindful and have forgotten the God who fathered you. God's begetting and his paternal care highlight the gravity of the offense.
As they were singing this, they ought to meditate upon this. When we recite scripture, when we hear the Bible preached, when we consider our memory work, when we sing these hymns and songs, And we consider the fact that God is our Father, that we are His children. This ought to go a long way to promoting in us a careful compliance with His will and with His word so that we don't depart and we don't end up over in the table or at the table of demons. Harmon says this special relationship between God and Israel was a strong reason why the nation's sins were so heinous in God's sight.
So we've seen the creation of Israel, the apostasy of Israel.
The Judgment Upon Israel
Notice thirdly, the judgment upon Israel. Verses 19 to 35. The Lord forsook them. Notice the New King James in verse 19, and when the Lord saw it, he spurned them.
What does the ESV render that? Spurned, yeah. Spurned, anybody know what that means? I looked it up just because I wanted to know.
Spurned means to reject with disdain. This is the eye for an eye ethic. When Israel bows down to not God, God then calls not people. That's the thrust of this section.
God Spurns and Hides His Face
Notice in verse 19, when the Lord saw it, he spurned them because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation. children in whom is no faith. They have provoked me to jealousy by what is not God.
They have moved me to anger by their foolish idols, but I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a people. Now, I know it says not a nation, but if you're familiar with the prophet Hosea and you're familiar with the Apostle Paul's interpretation of the prophet Hosea, you'll know that Hosea prophesied that God would call a people that were not his people. It's not about the Gentiles. And when we get to Romans chapter 9 and we get to Romans chapter 10, that section 9 to 11, where Paul is dealing with the issue of ethnic Israel, guess what he's citing?
He's citing this instance. God has called the Gentiles as a means to provoke Israel, ethnic Israel, to jealousy. This is part of the program. This is part of the reality.
Remember that Israel would be raised up as a body, as a people, through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Now God is going to do that, either through the redemption of Israel or through their judgment. And it's already here in the program in Deuteronomy chapter 32. So when you get to the prophet Hosea, when you get to the apostle Paul, they are reflecting back upon what was going on or what was stated previously on the plains of Moab.
Since they have provoked me to jealousy by what is not God, they have moved me to anger by their foolish idols, but I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation. I will move them to anger by a foolish nation." So you see, God deals covenantally. You reject Him, you forsake Him, He will reject you and He will forsake you. Again, one of the benefits of the New Covenant.
We are in Christ, we are safe, we are blessed, we have that indefectible covenant status. But in this situation, in this instance, it was not the case. Now certainly the salvific element that ran parallel the people of God were safe, but in terms of this national covenant when they went into the land and they were unfaithful and they bowed to Baal and they rejected Yahweh, Yahweh rejected them. That's what they got and that's what he is prophesying or that's what he is indicating here in this section.
Klein says, the mosaic song of witness itself anticipated the redemptive mercy and blessing that lie beyond the predicted cursing of Israel. already here in Deuteronomy 32, like we saw in Deuteronomy 30. It's looking forward to the New Covenant era. What we have in Deuteronomy is Moses is preaching Christ on the plains of Moab to these Israelites. It truly is a blessing to see and to witness this for ourselves.
So the Lord would provoke, the Lord was angry with Israel. Verse 22 is a powerful statement. For a fire has kindled in my anger and shall burn to the lowest hell. It shall consume the earth with her increase and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
And then the Lord would judge Israel. Notice verses 23 to 26. verses 23 to 26. There is a shift at verse 27. We'll look at that in just a moment.
But in 23 to 26, we're not going to spend a lot of time here because we already looked at chapter 28, right? Chapter 28, sure, it spoke of blessings for obedience about this much, at least in my Bible, that much. And then the cursings for disobedience took up about that much. Okay?
The inevitability was, is they were going to go into the land and they were going to break the covenant. And so the curses of the covenant are recorded in chapter 28. God rehearses that here. He created Israel, Israel apostatizes from Him, and now the Lord will judge them.
He will bring upon them the curses that were given in the covenant. Verse 23, I will heap disasters on them. I will spend my arrows on them. They shall be wasted with hunger, devoured by pestilence and bitter destruction.
I will also send against them the teeth of beasts with the poison of serpents of the dust. The sword shall destroy outside. There shall be terror within for the young man and virgin, the nursing child and the man of gray hairs. What I think this means is that when the enemies of Israel come to destroy, They won't respect the Geneva Convention for civil war fighting.
The Geneva Convention said you can't shoot somebody when he's coming down on a parachute. It's a good rule. You shouldn't shoot somebody at that place of disadvantage. Wait till he gets on the ground and then you pop him.
You're not supposed to shoot non-combatants. You don't bomb things that have a big red cross on them. You don't bomb hospitals. You don't bomb orphanages.
You don't bomb private residences. Well, when the Canaanites, or when the Assyrians rather, or the Babylonians came to destroy Israel, they didn't think about the Geneva Convention. They didn't think about whether there was a Red Cross or whether there was a private residence. They went in and utterly destroyed.
The sword shall destroy outside, verse 25. There shall be terror within. Private homes, hospitals, orphanages for the young man and virgin, the nursing child with the man of gray hairs. Those are non-combatants.
Those are not soldiers. When the armies, when the enemies of Israel come in to do battle and destroy, it will be comprehensive, it will be total, and if it was not for this next concern, God would make it so. But notice in verse 26, I would have said, I will dash them in pieces, I will make the memory of them to cease from among men. In other words, I'll absolutely obliterate Israel from off the face of the earth, were it not for what the heathen would say." Notice in verse 27.
Now it says, had I not feared the wrath of the enemy. I don't think we're supposed to interpret God as being afraid of the Babylonians or being afraid of the Assyrians. I think the idea is that His glory would be jeopardized, humanly speaking, if Israel was obliterated. Remember, Moses, the man of God, prayed specifically this way.
In Numbers 13 and 14, he sends the spies. They come back from the promised land. The two spies, Joshua and Caleb, say, let's go and take the land. The ten spies whine, grumble, and complain.
And then, of course, the congregation listens to the ten spies. Then they want to stone Moses and Aaron. God says, I want to destroy entirely the nation of Israel. We'll start all over, Moses.
And Moses says, don't do that. Because then the heathen will say, God was not able to bring these people to the promised land. For his own glory, the Lord God will not completely obliterate Israel. That's the emphasis there. in verse 27, Had I not feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should misunderstand, lest they should say, Our hand is high, and it is not the Lord who has done all this.
In other words, God does not want Assyria and Babylon to be these proud, arrogant wretches who boast that they are the absolute conquerors. Now, the emphasis from 28 to 35 is on those enemies. It's not on Israel at this point. There's a bit of, you know, interpretative call here.
There's some quotation marks. Craigie takes it as still applying to Israel, but I think the better case is to be made for those nations that would invade, those nations that God would use. You see something parallel in Isaiah chapter 10. When God is dealing with Assyria, one of the things He says, shall the axe boast against the one who swings it?
In other words, shall Assyria start to boast and be arrogant in their destruction of Israel? No! God says, I raised you up and I will set you down. God is utterly and comprehensively sovereign.
And so that's the direction now in verses 28 to 35. For they are a nation void of counsel, nor is there any understanding in them. That's the enemies of God. That is the nations that will come in and destroy.
God's already sent all of this destruction upon Israel. up to verse 26. I mean, they've got pestilence, they've got beasts, they've got, you know, war, they've got everybody, non-combatants dead. Now God deals with the Assyrians, and now God deals with Babylon. And you see this in the prophets.
You see this in Isaiah. You see this in Jeremiah. God raises up his servant Nebuchadnezzar, and then God puts him down. That's what verses 28 to 35 indicate.
For they are a nation void of counsel, nor is there any understanding in them. Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end. How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their rock had sold them, and the Lord had surrendered them? How would Assyria or Babylon ever gain conquest over Israel or Judah, unless God the Lord gave them up?
God the Lord protects His people. God the Lord surrounds them as the mountains surround Jerusalem. But when the people forsake God the Lord, and He hides His face from them, and He gives them up, the victory that Assyria, the victory that Babylon gets, is not due to their own strength. How could one chase a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight unless their rock, God, had sold them and Yahweh had surrendered them?
Notice verse 31, for their rock is not like our rock. The God of the heathen, the God of the Gentiles, is not like Aarak. Even our enemies themselves being judges, right? If you go back to Pharaoh's army, when they're sitting there with their chariot wheels having fallen off, they fear the God of Israel.
Rahab the harlot, what was her testimony? We heard about your God and we were afraid. Even the gods or even the enemies know that the God of Israel is stronger. You need to listen.
Their ethical conduct, verse 32, their vine is of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall. Their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the poison of serpents and the cruel venom of cobras.
Is this not laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures? Vengeance is mine and recompense their foot shall slip in due time. For the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them." So that section there deals with those nations that God would use to chastise Israel. They themselves, though, would ultimately be put down.
You see, God is comprehensively sovereign. And just by way of a historical observation, and not the history of Israel, but the history of American evangelicalism, one of the most famous sermons that was ever preached is a sermon by Jonathan Edwards called Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. This is his text, verse 35. Their foot shall slip in due time.
That's the text upon which he preached sinners in the hands of an angry God. You can read that sermon and not learn anything about Deuteronomy 32. You can read that sermon and not learn anything about Assyria or Babylon or the history of Israel. But you will read that sermon and be afraid.
It is a powerful, powerful statement.
The Salvation of Israel
And then the final section deals with the salvation of Israel. You see it ends on a positive note. Verse 36, probably should better be read, for the Lord will vindicate his people. Is that what ESV has?
Yeah. The Lord will vindicate his people. That means that they will not always be in this state. They will not always be doomed to destruction.
Now, of course, this would refer to the remnant. This would refer to the faithful. And ultimately, the benefactors of this section of the statement applies to the New Covenant community. Notice, the Lord will vindicate his people. and have compassion on his servants.
And when does God have compassion on them? When he sees that their power is gone and there is no one remaining bond or free. In other words, when they've come to the end of themselves, when they've come to the end of their rope, when they are done. when it is over, when they are at the bottom, that's when the Lord God comes to rescue his people so that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of men. He will indict them, verses 37 and 38.
He will say, where are their gods, the rock in which they sought refuge, who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise and help you and be your refuge. You sought them, you trusted them, where are they now to deliver you? Where are they now to bring you out of this ashy?
Wright says, such is always the way of idolatry in human society, ancient and modern. False gods never fail to fail. False gods never fail to fail. He says, sadly, we never fail to forget.
I thought that was very perceptive. That's what the Lord is doing. Now
God Declares His Sovereignty
notice, the Lord declares his sovereignty in verses 39 to 42. You trace through their apostasy. You trace through the history of Israel. You come to the apostle in Romans chapter 1.
What is at the heart of rebellion? What is at the heart of vice? What is at the heart of all of the sin manifested in society and through culture? At the root, the center of the cause is idolatry.
It is the rejection of God. It is the seeking out something else instead of God. And so what's the best corrective to that? Theology proper.
The best corrective to idolatry is theology, the biblical theology concerning God. Notice in verses 39 to 42, now see that I, even I am he. What prophet says that or what prophet quotes God as saying that a lot? Isaiah.
Isaiah is steeped in Deuteronomy. Well, all the prophets are, but I mean, it's like, I hope you're appreciating as we go through Deuteronomy. When you get to the prophets and you get to the New Testament, what are they doing? they're expounding what's already gone before. God has always had a purpose, God has always had a plan, and God has always revealed that purpose and plan from the get-go.
The later redemption simply builds upon, opens up, applies, expounds what God already instituted all the way back in the garden. Now see that I, even I am he. There is no God besides me. I kill and I make alive.
I wound and I heal. Nor is there any who can deliver from my hand. For I raise my hand to heaven and say, as I live forever." What does Paul say in Hebrews 6 when he could swear, by no one greater, he swore by himself. For I raise my hand to heaven.
There's an instance of this in Revelation chapter 10. It's an angel. that puts his feet on the ground and swears. I think that angel is Jesus. He swears by himself.
Verse 41, if I wet my glittering sword and my hand takes hold on my judgment, I will render vengeance to my enemies and repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives from the heads of the leaders of the enemy. It's an interesting corrective to man in sin and idolatry. You need to come and you need to bow down to the one who is sovereign, to the one who has all powerful, to the one who does judge, to the one who does bring vengeance, to the one who does make his arrows drunk with blood.
So you see the corrective to idolatry is good sound theology.
Gentile Inclusion and New Covenant Hope
And then it ends with this song of praise, verse 43. Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants and render vengeance to his adversaries. He will provide atonement for his land and his people. This is new covenant.
This is This is the preaching of the gospel. Paul takes this in Romans 15. He quotes this. He sees the inclusion of the Gentiles as fulfillment of what was spoken here on the plains of Moab way back in Deuteronomy 32.
Doesn't it bug you when people say, I don't need my Old Testament? Oh, you most certainly do need your Old Testament. You need to read it. You need to heed it.
You need to learn of Jesus. in the Old Testament scripture.
The Charge to Israel
So that's the song, then the charge, Moses came with Joshua. That's significant. Moses is going to die. Joshua is going to succeed him.
He is the new leader. It is absolutely fitting that these two men come at the conclusion of this Song of Witness and they give the people this charge. Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel and he said, set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today. You need to receive the Word, you need to instruct your children concerning the Word, you need to observe the Word, and you need to recognize its importance.
Verse 47, it's not a futile thing for you, because it is your life, and by this Word you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess. I wish, or I hope, or I pray that all of us in the New Covenant era would take the scriptures that seriously, that we would understand that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, that we would realize that our Bibles is our life, and by this word we shall prolong our days in the land which we cross over the Jordan to possess. Well, God willing, next week we'll see Moses being told to go up on the mountain upon which he's going to die and then bless Israel one final time and then he dies. And as we always end a book like this, it's kind of like losing a friend, right?
I know when I preach letters of Paul, You get to the end, and you feel like you've lost a good friend. He's gone now. He's in a better place, to be sure. Now, he's been there for a few thousand years.
But you develop a relationship with a man like Moses. But God willing, when we get into Joshua, we'll develop a relationship with him, too. Let's close in prayer.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for this song of witness, and I pray that we would study it, and that we would learn it, and that we would sing it to ourselves, and that we would learn the New Testament songs, learn the New Testament scriptures, that we may have this constant sight of a living and true God. We just thank you for your mercy and grace revealed in this book. Thank you that even in the midst of the covenant unfaithfulness of Israel, you continue to promise your faithfulness in terms of new covenant blessing to Jew and Gentile through Jesus Christ the Lord. We know that you will make good on your promises that Jesus will have dominion from sea to sea.
May you encourage us and strengthen us, and may you go with us now, we pray. In Christ's holy name, amen.