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Deuteronomy 32, we considered 
last week the song of witness. The people of Israel were supposed 
to sing to remind them of God's goodness, God's faithfulness, 
God's demand upon them. It would serve by way of reminder 
for them to encourage them to obey in the land, or it would 
serve as a witness against them when they were guilty of violating 
the covenant that the Lord God had made with them. So we finished 
at chapter 32, verse 47. So pick up reading at chapter 
32, verse 48, and read through chapter 33. And basically we 
find ourselves in the last portion of this covenantal document, 
the section dealing with succession, with reference to the covenant. 
We see this transition going from Moses to Joshua after this 
final blessing. Next week, God willing, in chapter 
34, not God willing we'll see the death of Moses, but God willing 
we'll be back here on Wednesday night. That will conclude our 
study in the book of Deuteronomy. And then the Lord willing, we'll 
continue through studying the books of Joshua and Judges to 
see how the people fared. with reference to the mandate 
to enter into the land of Canaan and to conquer the land as the 
Lord God had commanded. So beginning in chapter 32 at 
verse 48. Then the Lord spoke to Moses that very same day, 
saying, Go up this mountain of the Abirim, Mount Nebo, which 
is in the land of Moab, across from Jericho. View the land of 
Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel as a possession, and 
die on the mountain which you ascend. and be gathered to your 
people, just as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered 
to his people, because you trespassed against me among the children 
of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, 
because you did not hallow me in the midst of the children 
of Israel. Yet you shall see the land before you, though you 
shall not go there, into the land which I am giving to the 
children of Israel. Now this is the blessing with 
which Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel 
before his death. And he said, the Lord came from 
Sinai and dawned on them from Seir. He shone forth from Mount 
Paran. And he came with ten thousands 
of saints. From his right hand came a fiery 
law for them. Yes, he loves the people. All 
his saints are in your hand. They sit down at your feet. Everyone 
receives your words. Moses commanded a law for us, 
a heritage of the congregation of Jacob. And he was king in 
Jeshurun when the leaders of the people were gathered, all 
the tribes of Israel together. Let Reuben live and not die, 
nor let his men be few. And this he said of Judah, Hear, 
Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him to his people. Let 
his hands be sufficient for him, and may you be a help against 
his enemies. And of Levi he said, let your 
Thummim and your Urim be with your Holy One, whom you tested 
at Massah, and with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah, 
who says of his father and mother, I have not seen them, nor did 
he acknowledge his brothers or know his own children, for they 
have observed your word and kept your covenant. They shall teach 
Jacob your judgments, and Israel your law. They shall put incense 
before you, and a whole burnt sacrifice on your altar. Bless 
his substance, Lord, and accept the work of his hands. Strike 
the loins of those who rise against him, and of those who hate him, 
that they rise not again. Of Benjamin, he said, the beloved 
of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him who shelters him all day 
long, all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders. And of Joseph, he said, blessed 
of the Lord is his land with the precious things of heaven, 
with the dew and the deep lying beneath, with the precious fruits 
of the sun, with the precious produce of the months. with the 
best things of the ancient mountains, with the precious things of the 
everlasting hills, with the precious things of the earth and its fullness, 
in the favor of him who dwelt in the bush. Let the blessing 
come on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him 
who was separate from his brothers. His glory is like a firstborn 
bull, and his horns like the horns of the wild ox. Together 
with them, he shall push the peoples to the ends of the earth. 
They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands 
of Manasseh. And of Zebulun, he said, rejoice 
Zebulun in your going out, and Issachar in your tents. They 
shall call the peoples to the mountain. There they shall offer 
sacrifices of righteousness, for they shall partake of the 
abundance of the seas and of treasures hidden in the sand. 
And of Gad, he said, blessed is he who enlarges Gad. He dwells 
as a lion and tears the arm and the crown of his head. He provided 
the first part for himself because a lawgiver's portion was reserved 
there. He came with the heads of the 
people. He administered the justice of the Lord and his judgments 
with Israel. And of Dan, he said, Dan is a 
lion's whelp. He shall leap from Bashan. And 
of Naphtali, he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favor and full 
of the blessing of the Lord, possess the West and the South. 
And of Asher, he said, Asher is most blessed of sons. Let 
him be favored by his brothers and let him dip his foot in oil. 
Your sandals shall be iron and bronze as your days, so shall 
your strength be. There is no one like the God 
of Jeshurun. who rides the heavens to help 
you, and in his excellency on the clouds. The eternal God is 
your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will 
thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, destroy. Then Israel shall dwell in safety, 
the fountain of Jacob alone, in a land of grain and new wine. 
His heaven shall also drop due. Happy are you, O Israel, who 
is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your 
help and the sword of your majesty. Your enemies shall submit to 
you, and you shall tread down their high places. Amen. Well, tonight, the Lord willing, 
we'll look at the latter part of chapter 32, the instruction 
to Moses concerning his death, verses 48 to 52. And then in 
chapter 33, we'll see the blessing of the tribes. Moses' last words. We can tell a lot about a man. 
by the last thing that he says. Some of the blessings are a bit 
puzzling to me. We're going to just skim through 
them, not go in great detail. I'm sort of relying on one of 
the commentators, Christopher Wright. Some of the language 
is just a little bit difficult to know for certain. I think 
the main ideas we can certainly pull out. But if you notice these 
blessings in chapter 33, there's an introduction And there's a 
conclusion. There's a statement concerning 
God's glorious appearance at Sinai in verses 1 to 5. The blessings follow in chapter 
33, 6 to 25, and then 26 to 29 is that conclusion. that last statement of Moses, 
the man of God, prior to his death on Mount Nebo. So we'll look at, first of all, 
the instruction concerning his death. Verse 48, Then the Lord 
spoke to Moses that very same day, saying, So this is after 
the Song of Witnesses composed, this is after the final arrangements 
have been made, this is after the public identifying of Joshua, 
the son of Nun, as the successor in terms of who will lead the 
people into Israel. Moses knows this time is coming. 
God now speaks specifically to him, gives him his instruction 
for the end. He says, go up this mountain 
of the Abireem, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, across 
from Jericho. So he's in a position, Transjordan, 
the other side, the east side of the Jordan on Mount Nebo, 
where he'd get a good view of the promised land on the western 
side of the Jordan River. And he is given that instruction 
specifically to take a look, to take a glimpse, view the land 
of Canaan which I give to the children of Israel as a possession. As we have seen so many times 
in the book of Deuteronomy, God the Lord reminds the people that 
the gift or that the land they are receiving is a gift. It is 
based on His promise made to Abraham and we ought not to miss 
that. Every time the Lord refers to 
this land that He gives to the children of Israel as a possession, 
it highlights His graciousness. They didn't deserve the gift. 
They didn't earn the gift. It is a gift. it also highlights 
his faithfulness when the Lord God back in Genesis chapter 12 
calls Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans and then he makes him 
a land promise several hundred years had passed until this time 
at Moab. So when the Lord God says this 
is the land that I am giving to the children of Israel, His 
graciousness in terms of the gift itself, but His faithfulness 
in securing that promise to His people. So Moses is to take a 
glimpse He is to take a view, he is to look upon the land. Some of the commentators suggest 
that this was almost a legal transaction, it was almost a 
legal sort of a contractual thing, that when somebody was about 
to take possession of a land, they would view it, they would 
look it over, similar to buying a car. or a house. You give it 
a once over. You make sure everything is good. 
That's all part of the transaction. Some have seen a parallel when 
God initially makes the land promise to Abraham in Genesis 
chapter 13. Remember that he tells them to 
look to the north and look to the south and look east and look 
west. And he says, this is the land that I am giving to you. 
So by way of covenant, the Lord God has promised this possession 
to his people out of his grace and in his faithfulness he is 
now making good on that particular promise. So he tells him to go 
up view the land of Canaan which I give to the children of Israel 
as a possession and I want you Moses to die on the mountain 
which you ascend and be gathered to your people, just as Aaron 
your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people." 
That's recorded for us in the book of Numbers. When Aaron died 
and they bereaved him for a period of time, Numbers chapter 20 verses 
22 to 29. The death of Aaron took place 
back then. So he's saying, just as Aaron 
went, so are you going to go. And here is the reason why, Moses. Here is why you're not going 
to enter into the promised land. Verse 51, it's come up already 
in the book of Deuteronomy. It's come up in the book of Numbers, 
to be sure. Moses rebelled. Moses trespassed. Moses transgressed against the 
Lord. And as a result, he himself would 
not enter into the land. nevertheless he gets this glimpse, 
he gets this view, he gets to see what this land looks like 
that God is giving to the children of Israel. Because you trespassed 
against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah, 
Kadesh, in the wildernesses of Zin, because you did not hallow 
me in the midst of the children of Israel. You remember that 
particular instance, Numbers 20 verses 1 to 13. Moses was 
told to speak to the rock. Did Moses speak to the rock? 
No, Moses struck the rock twice. Now some say that the act of 
disobedience is what dishonored God, or what did not hallow God. One man, Harmon, says instead 
of simply speaking to the rock, Moses struck it with his staff. 
God's holiness had not been upheld because the people should have 
been shown that water came out of the rock by divine intervention, 
not human power. In other words, this striking 
of the rock might have sent the wrong message to the children 
of Israel, that it was something in the instrumentality of Moses 
beating that rock that caused the water to flow. Either way, 
whatever the specific instance is, the bottom line is that when 
Moses disobeyed the Lord, instead of speaking to the rock, he strikes 
it twice, God is dishonored among the children of Israel. We ought 
to understand that that is no light thing. That is no small 
thing. God's honor and God's glory is 
primary. That is first and foremost. Remember 
the specific pattern in the Lord's Prayer. Before we pray for our 
food, before we pray for our forgiveness, and before we pray 
for our protection, we pray first for the glory of God. Hallowed 
be your name. We pray for the coming of the 
kingdom and we pray for the doing of his will on earth as it is 
in heaven. God comes first. We must understand that. And 
because Moses took matters into his own hand, it would keep him 
ultimately out of the land of promise. Harmon goes on to say, 
whereas Aaron died and was buried on Mount Hor as an act of grace, 
Moses is permitted a glimpse of the promised land. Having 
sung the song to Israel, the singer is now dismissed in order 
to make way for the new representative of the Lord." And I love that 
as we read through this section of Scripture, you don't find 
any murmuring on the part of Moses. You don't find any grumbling. You don't find any, but this 
isn't fair, Lord. This isn't right, Lord. Do you 
know what I've been through in terms of bringing these people 
here? You trespassed against me, Moses. You sinned against my command. 
You are not going to enter into the promised land. Moses understands 
that. He's compliant. Now, interestingly 
enough, the book ends with a statement concerning Moses. Moses, there 
was never a prophet like Moses. Even Joshua himself would rely 
upon the priesthood. Joshua himself would rely on 
those men to get revelation from the Lord God Most High. Not so 
Moses. Moses had an intimacy with God 
such as no one ever had other than the Lord Jesus. That's what 
the end of the book testifies concerning this very godly and 
very upright man. So he gets this view of the land 
according to verse 52. Yet you shall see the land before 
you, though you shall not go there, into the land which I 
am giving to the children of Israel. Again, a viewing of the 
land like this may have been part of a known legal process 
which was normal when acquiring a possession. And so having done 
this, having prepared the way, now Moses blesses the tribes 
in Israel. Does anybody remember who else 
did this prior to Moses? Who else blessed the tribes of 
Israel? Jacob, absolutely. It was quite 
common for a leader, for a father, before he entered into his rest, 
to bless his sons, to bless the various tribes. Certainly, if 
you were on your deathbed, you'd want your children to come in 
so you could bless them, speak a word to them, encourage them. 
comfort them, pass some wisdom along to them. It was something 
very common and this is what Moses undertakes. He bore a special 
relationship not only to God but also to the nation of Israel. He loved these people. I mean 
he offered up himself for these people. These people taxed him, 
they tried him, they plagued him, he had difficulties and 
yet all throughout the case he loved them and his affections 
were upon them and he always wanted the best for this nation 
of Israel. And so that's what we have here 
in chapter 33. I mentioned there is an introduction 
that is essentially a description of the glorious appearance of 
God at Sinai, verses 1 to 5. Now the commentaries tell me 
that there's a lot of difficulties in translation, a lot of difficulties 
in the text, specifically in verses 2 to 5. That's why there 
might be differences in terms of translation between some of 
the versions that are being read here. If your version is not 
the New King James and it reads a little bit differently, well, 
that is why apparently the text, the Hebrew underlying this section, 
is particularly difficult, and so translators do the best they 
can with that. But I think the main thoughts, 
the main ideas are certainly easy to emphasize and easy to 
relate to. Notice, after making an introductory 
statement in verses 1 and 2, it says, the Lord came from Sinai 
and dawned on them from Seir. He shone forth from Mount Paran. 
And he came with 10,000 of his saints. Meredith Klein says, 
the appearing of the Lord as king of kings to proclaim his 
covenant was in radiant, sunrise-like glory over the eastern mountains 
of the Sinai Peninsula. In attendance upon the king at 
his advent was a heavenly host of holy ones. So this Sinai event 
becomes paradigmatic or programmatic for Israel's history, what God 
does in Exodus chapter 19 is something that never before occurred. He redeems them, He brings them 
out of the land of Egypt, and now He comes to them as their 
lawgiver, as their Lord, as their covenant head, and as the one 
who loves them, as we read here in this particular section. But 
there's various places in the Scripture that appeal to this 
particular event, In like context, if you look at Judges 5 for a 
moment, in Judges chapter 5, the song of Deborah, the song 
of Deborah and Barak after they gained victory. In Judges chapter 
5 verse 4, Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched 
from the field of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens poured. 
The clouds also poured water. The mountains gushed before the 
Lord. This Sinai before the Lord God 
of Israel. So it's this event, this demonstration, 
this theophany. And what a theophany is, is a 
manifestation of God. We have seen the Lord. We have 
seen His presence. He came down on Mount Sinai. 
He manifested His glory and His majesty unto us. It's a great 
way to introduce these blessings to this people. He's got the 
glorious appearance of God Most High. He then gives the blessings 
and then the latter part of this particular section in chapter 
33 is the incomparability of God Almighty, the uniqueness 
of Israel's God. Again, it all ties in with what 
we've already studied up to this point. Israel's God is not like 
the gods of the heathen. Remember Deuteronomy 6.4, Hear, 
O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one, and you shall 
love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. 
So what Moses is doing is he's bringing that theology of Deuteronomy. He's bringing that theology of 
Exodus, and He is bringing that weight of theology as that which 
the blessings hang upon. It's really a beautiful way that 
He calculates this particular section. In Psalm 68, verses 
7 and 8, Psalm 68, verse 7 and 8, O God, when You went out before 
Your people, When you marched through the wilderness, Selah, 
the earth shook, the heavens also dropped rain at the presence 
of God. Sinai itself was moved at the 
presence of God, the God of Israel. And then the prophet Habakkuk 
refers to this as well. The prophet Habakkuk and the 
minor prophets. In chapter 3, verse 3, God came 
from Timan, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered 
the heavens and the earth was full of His praise. His brightness 
was like the light. He had rays flashing from His 
hand, and there His power was hidden before Him when pestilence 
and fever followed at His feet. So back in chapter 33, The blessings 
are couched in, the blessings are surrounded by this understanding 
or this presentation or this doctrine of God. We need to understand 
who our God is to truly value the blessings that come from 
His hand. We need to understand who our 
God is to truly value and understand. that the blessings are sure and 
true. If this God who is incomparable, 
this God who is unique, this God who is thundered at Sinai, 
promises to give you a land, and promises to provide protection, 
and promises to be your safety, then you ought not to doubt that. 
Remember that Moses has spoken prophetically. He has spoken 
concerning the reality that the children of Israel are going 
to go into the land. They are going to sin. They are 
going to end up in exile. Here Moses is speaking as the 
older brother, as the father of Israel. He's exhorting the 
people of God. He wants them to behold Yahweh. 
He wants them to understand who He is. And He wants them to find 
their comfort, refuge, and solace in Him and in Him alone. So going 
back to chapter 33, we see the Lord at Sinai and then we see 
the law at Sinai. He came with ten thousands of 
saints or angels. From his right hand came a fiery 
law for them. Does the ESV have, he came with 
ten thousands of angels? Holy ones, okay. What does it 
say? Okay, all right. We'll go with 
the New King James here. But this idea of the ten thousands 
of holy ones, the New King James has its saints. Does the NIV 
have angels, Steve? Or angels? The end of verse two. Ten thousands or myriads. holy 
ones, okay. Regardless, what we have is the 
Lord manifests himself at Sinai and he manifests his law at Sinai. And it's probably this passage 
that the New Testament authors are referring to when they speak 
of the law as having been given through the mediation of angels. 
In Acts 7, for instance, in Stephen's testimony before the Sanhedrin. 
I believe it's Acts chapter 7 at verse 35. Acts 735, this Moses 
whom they rejected saying, who made you a ruler and a judge, 
is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of 
the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He brought them 
out after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt 
and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for 40 years. Let's 
see here, is that, here we go, Act VII, I'm sorry, 53. Act VII, 
53. Who have received the law by 
the direction of angels and have not kept it. Probably it's Deuteronomy 
33.2 that's in the backdrop here. Galatians 3.19 speaks of the 
law as having come through the mediation or being attended by 
angels. Galatians 3.19. What purpose 
then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions 
till the seed should come to whom the promise was made and 
it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. And then again in Hebrews chapter 
2, just simply showing you this because those three statements 
in the New Testament sometimes cause people a little bit of 
wonderment. Well, Deuteronomy 33.2 is probably the likely backdrop 
for these references. Hebrews 2.2, for if the word spoken through angels proved 
steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just 
reward." So the idea seems to be that when Yahweh is manifest 
at Sinai, he comes with his hosts, he comes with his armies, he 
comes with his attendants, he comes as a king would come. A 
king doesn't just wander in by himself, he's usually attended 
by a great retinue. He's attended by a great amount 
of people that are there with him and accompanying him. That 
same idea is probably present here. Do you have a question? Messenger. Absolutely. Absolutely. 
Same idea. Yeah. The word in Hebrew and 
Greek Not only means angel, you know, the sort of beings that 
we think of floating around, but it's messenger as well. Like 
when you get to the book of Revelation, those angels in the churches, 
they're messengers. More than likely, they're the 
pastor or the bishop. So yes, messenger or angel. Good, good translation. We see 
the Lord manifest at Sinai. We see the law given at Sinai. 
And then we see this in verse 3. Yes, he loves the people. It's an amazing statement. Is 
everybody, is that what the ESV's got? NIV's got that statement 
concerning the love? Notice that there. The Lord loves 
the people. We need to understand that the 
law was given with a gracious backdrop. Right? The preface, 
the introduction to the Decalogue is a statement of grace and redemption. I am the Lord your God who brought 
you out of the land of Egypt. I brought you out of the house 
of bondage. It's based on that redemptive 
activity. It is based on that act of grace. It is based on my power in delivering 
you that you shall have no other gods before me. That you shall 
not make for yourself an idol. that you shall not take the name 
of the Lord your God in vain, that you shall not break my Sabbath 
day." You see, God redeems, God delivers by His grace, and then 
God causes people to live in a manner consistent with that 
redemption. And the same thing holds true 
here. Yes, he loves the people. This manifestation at Sinai, 
this giving of the law at Sinai wasn't because the Lord hated 
them, it wasn't because he disdained them, it wasn't an act of spurning, 
it wasn't an act of rejection, but rather it highlights the 
loving character of God in the provision of the law. Now the 
law has multi-uses, it has three uses, and we see that in each 
one of those God is using it in a particular fashion that 
is calculated to do his people good. So we ought not to look 
at the law and say, oh what a pain, or what a burden, or what a grievous 
thing. We ought to imitate the psalmist 
who said, oh how I love your law. We ought to imitate John 
the Apostle in 1 John who said, the commandments of God are not 
burdensome. If the commandments of God are 
burdensome, we need to check our heart. The problem isn't 
with the commandments. The problem isn't with the law. 
God loves us, and God gave us this law in order to keep us 
under His wings. It's just like with our children. 
You don't tell your kid not to put his hand in the toaster because 
you hate him. You tell him not to put his hand 
in the toaster because you love him. You tell him not to eat 
Twinkies until he throws up, not because you hate him, but 
because you love him. There's this idea in the church 
today that somehow law is a bad thing. Nothing could be further 
from the truth. The Lord loves His people. The 
Lord speaks truth to his people. The Lord gives them that gift 
of the law for their well-being. Now, that's all assuming that 
we're using the law lawfully. If we're seeking justification 
or we're seeking to be accepted with God by the use of that law, 
again, the problem's not with the law. It's the way we're using 
it. It's our approach to it. But the law in and of itself, 
I mean, who would argue against that code? Who would not want 
that code who has the Spirit of God in him? And as we understand 
the Bible itself, we see that Adam was made in God's image, 
he functioned in a lawful manner, he did what he was supposed to 
do prior to his fall. We see the presence of the Ten 
Commandments, those laws not the same exact speaking of them, 
but the substance is present even prior to Sinai. We see in 
Jeremiah 31 that God promises that in the New Covenant that 
law will be written on their hearts. In other words, the Bible 
is not antinomian. The Bible is pro-law. The Bible 
is pro-nomos. It is pro a good and lawful use 
of the law. We just need to understand its 
use, we need to understand how to employ it, and we need to 
pray to God to give us the Spirit so that we may indeed do so in 
a manner that is consistent with His revelation. So the Lord manifests 
Himself at Sinai, the Lord gives His law at Sinai, the Lord communicates 
His love to the people. And then verses 3 to 5 seem to 
be the response of Israel to their God. All the saints are 
in your hand, they sit down at your feet, everyone receives 
your words. Moses commanded a law for us, excuse me, a heritage 
of the congregation of Jacob, and he was a king in Jeshurun. Anybody remember what Jeshurun 
means? No, it's sort of like a pet name. You might call Ellie Honey, Honey 
Boo Boo, or you know, Schnookums, or whatever it is you might call 
her. That's a pet name. Jeshurun was a pet name. It was 
a term of affection that God gave to his people Israel. Interesting 
how it comes up a few times in these latter chapters in Deuteronomy. 
Chapter 32, it was used in somewhat of an ironic way. Remember in 
this song of witness, in verses 15 to 18, it speaks of their 
apostasy. Verse 15 says, but Jeshurun grew 
fat and kicked. It literally means my upright 
one, more than likely. So there it's being used ironically. My upright one grew fat and kicked. 
My upright one actually became obese and forsook God who made 
him. But over here in chapter 33, 
it's being used in that sort of pet name way. He was king 
in Jeshurun. We see it used again later at 
the end of this particular chapter in verse 26. I think it comes 
up again in the prophet Isaiah at Isaiah chapter 44, verse 2. 
that that name Jeshurun appears in the scripture. So here it's 
this term of endearment where the people of God are responding 
to their king when the leaders of the people were gathered and 
all the tribes of Israel were together. Now the blessings upon 
the twelve tribes. There's one tribe missing. One 
tribe is omitted. That is the tribe of Simeon. 
I think Genesis 49.7 sort of indicates why that is. Genesis 
49 and verse 7. Simeon and Levi, verse 5, are 
brothers. Instruments of cruelty are in 
their dwelling place. Let not my soul enter their council. 
Let not my honor be united to their assembly. For in their 
anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they hamstrung 
an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it 
is fierce. and their wrath, for it is cruel, I will divide them 
in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." Later on in the book 
of Joshua, we see that Simeon is merged with Judah in Joshua 
19 verses 1 to 9. So they do find a place in the 
land. But that tribe is missing. The pattern that is given here, 
I don't know if it is a specific pattern, but Reuben, Judah, and 
Levi, the first three mentioned, are sons of Levi. Benjamin and 
Joseph, sons of Rachel. Zebulun and Issachar, sons of 
Leah. And then Gad, Dan, Naphtali, 
and Asher, sons of the handmaidens, Bilhah and Zilpah. is sort of 
the order that we find it going in, in terms of these blessings. And again, we're not going to 
spend a whole lot of time on this. Some of them are just very 
brief. Verse 6, let Reuben live and 
not die, nor let his men be few. You mean that's it? That's all 
the blessing I get? Well, if you go back for just 
a moment to Reuben in Genesis chapter 49. Genesis chapter 49. Verse 3, Reuben you are my firstborn, 
my might and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of 
dignity and the excellency of power. Unstable as water you 
shall not excel because you went up to your father's bed. Then 
you defiled it, he went up to my couch. So Reuben was not held 
in high regards. Now obviously this conflicts 
with his position as the oldest brother, but he sinned grievously. And so what we find here in terms 
of the blessing, let Reuben live and not die, nor let his men 
be few. Just allow him to continue in 
the land and to make it. Notice secondly we have Judah. Judah in verse 7. In this he 
said of Judah, hear Lord the voice of Judah and bring him 
to his people. Let his hands be sufficient for 
him and may you be a help against his enemies." It sounds like 
marshal, assistance, military aid, probably a reference to 
Judah's primary position in battle. I think as the camps went out 
to battle, Judah was positioned to go out first. In the book 
of Judges, chapter 1 sees Judah in verses 1 to 20 being the warring 
tribe that goes out and does wondrous things. So what the 
blessing is, is that God would be sufficiency for him would 
protect him and would see over him. Levi is the third tribe 
mentioned in verses 8 to 11. Now notice, of Levi he said, 
let your thumim and your urim be with your Holy One. Those 
were the sacred stones that the high priest kept in a pouch on 
his chest and they were utilized to seek yes and no answers from 
the Lord. So I think the idea here is that 
God will bless this effort to seek his face when it comes to 
specific answers needful for the covenant community. They 
are highlighted here as having been found faithful. Whom you 
tested at Massa and with whom you contended at the waters of 
Meribah." So they were faithful at Massah, they were faithful 
at Meribah, and remember that it was the Levites that carried 
out God's judgment after the golden calf incident, and after 
the children of Israel played the harlot with the daughters 
of Moab in Numbers chapter 25. So Levi was faithful to their 
calling, not perfect, not without sin, not without blemish. But notice what their specific 
tasks will be. Well, verse 9, who says of his 
father and mother, I have not seen them, nor did he acknowledge 
his brothers or know his own children. I think the idea there 
is that they were first and foremost committed to the Lord. It's sort 
of like what Jesus said, whoever follows me and doesn't hate mother 
and father more than me cannot be my disciple. I think he's 
highlighting the fact that the tribe of Levi showed themselves 
faithful to the Lord. That before mother, before father, 
before sons, before brothers, or before brothers and sisters, 
and all those filial obligations, God came first. And that's why 
it says, for they observed, or they have observed your word 
and kept your covenant. Now notice in verse 10, or verse 
10 highlights the two specific tasks that the tribe of Levi 
would bear in the land of Israel among the covenant community. 
The first is that they would teach the law of the Lord. The 
Levites would teach Jacob your judgments and Israel your law. When we get to the later prophets 
and we see when the nation's in bad shape, who does God come 
to deal with? More often than not, he calls 
upon the priests. The idea being that if the priests 
aren't teaching the law, the people aren't learning the law. Look at that logic. And if the 
people aren't learning the law, they're certainly not obeying 
the law. And so in Hosea, for instance, in the prophet Malachi, 
for instance, in the prophet Jeremiah, you will see that God 
the Lord holds accountable the Levites for a failure to properly 
instruct the children of Israel. The people of God need to be 
taught. The people of God need the Scripture. 
The people of God need exposition of the truth in order to receive 
that data so that they may indeed obey the living and true God. 
So one of the primary duties was teaching the law, and then 
secondly, it was offering sacrifice. Notice, they shall put incense 
before you and a whole burnt sacrifice on your altar. That 
pretty much summarizes the entirety of the Levitical function. They 
were to teach the law of the Lord, they were to oversee the 
tabernacle, they were to oversee the temple, they were to make 
sure that the sacrifices were cut, the sacrifices were burned, 
the sacrifices were offered to the Lord God Most High. That 
is what the Lord instituted the tribe of Levi for. Wright says 
this, he says, through the priests, God came to the people in the 
teaching of the Torah. Torah simply means law, and it 
refers to the first five books of Moses. So I think that is 
very perceptive, what he says. Through the priests, God came 
to the people in the teaching of the Torah. He goes on to say, 
through the priests, the people would come to God in the offering 
of the sacrifices. So you see we have this priestly 
man, he's a mediator between the two parties. When he teaches 
the Torah, God comes to bless the people. When the priest goes 
and he offers, it's as if he's bringing the people into the 
presence of the God of heaven and earth. And so Levi was a 
key tribe in Israel and they were tasked with these two primary 
responsibilities. Now the specific prayer, supplication, 
petition, request is simply found in verse 11. Bless his substance, 
Lord, and accept the work of his hands. Strike the loins of 
those who rise against him, and of those who hate him, that they 
rise not again. In other words, Lord, receive 
their sacrifices, bless their teaching, and destroy their enemies. Let the tribe of Levi function 
in a good way, so that the nation of Israel will profit. Because 
if the priests have gone astray, then more often than not, the 
people will go astray too. We are sheep, brethren, we follow 
leaders. And when leaders take us down 
wrong paths, we are going to end up in a bad state. That's 
why we emphasize we ought to make sure that people that are 
charged with teaching the Word know what they're doing, they 
understand the truth, so that they can rightly and effectively 
communicate that truth to the people of God, because it is 
that important. What we learn in terms of scriptural 
truth is absolutely crucial for our health and our well-being 
as Christians. Man shall not live by bread alone, 
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And if 
we have bad teachers, and we have bad doctrine, and we have 
bad theology, we're going to have bad practice. And that is 
precisely what would eventually occur in the nation of Israel 
as the priests were deficient in their calling to teach and 
to sacrifice. Notice they weren't to do a million 
things, they were to do two things and do them well. Most people 
aren't able to do 5, 10, 15, 20 things with any degree of 
accuracy. God says, I want you Levites 
to do these things. In fact, in the tribe of Levi, 
there was a further division of labor. Not all the Levites 
were necessarily priests that were offering sacrifice. So within 
that one tribe, there were specialties in amongst that particular allotment. The next tribe is Benjamin. Benjamin. Essentially, what the blessing 
is, is safety and shelter provided by the Lord. How does ESV translate 
the end of verse 12? He shall dwell between his shoulders. Okay, some suggest it's weapons 
and God is there. I don't know the particulars, 
but what it seems to be is safety and shelter provided by the Lord. The next tribe is Joseph. And 
this is the longest, really, of the blessings upon the tribes. And there's two primary thoughts 
here. First, material prosperity, and secondly, military might. Material prosperity, verses 13 
to 16, blessed of the Lord is his land. with the precious things 
of heaven, with the dew and the deep lying beneath, with the 
precious fruits of the sun, with the precious produce of the months, 
with the best things of the ancient mountains, with the precious 
things of the everlasting hills, with the precious things of the 
earth and its fullness, and the favor of Him who dwelt in the 
bush. Let the blessing come on the 
head of Joseph and on the crown of the head of him who was separate 
from his brothers." So material blessing, material prosperity. But notice that reference to 
God who dwelt in the bush. Isn't that beautiful? There might 
be a polemic here. There might be an argument here 
against the sort of ideas that are going to be rampant in the 
land. You see, when the rain would fall in Canaan, they wouldn't 
praise Yahweh, they'd praise Baal. When the sun shone in Canaan, 
they wouldn't praise Yahweh, they'd praise whatever God. See, 
what the Lord God is saying is don't worship the creature, don't 
worship nature, don't worship the sun, don't worship the moon, 
don't worship those things. Those are blessings from the 
hand of Him who dwelt in the bush. The only reference to God 
dwelling in the bush in the Old Testament outside of the Exodus 
3 event. It's quite an amazing statement. 
I'll read a quote in just a moment. But material prosperity. Harmon 
makes this observation. The abundance of food for Joseph's 
descendants is a fitting blessing, seeing that Joseph was the one 
who in the time of famine had kept Egypt and the surrounding 
nations supplied with food. I mean, that's what's going on 
here. Make sure Joseph has plenty to 
eat. And then military might, verse 
17, His glory is like a firstborn bull, and his horns like the 
horns of the wild ox. Together with them he shall push 
the peoples to the ends of the earth. They are the ten thousands 
of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh. Ephraim 
and Manasseh, of course, are Joseph's sons.