Deuteronomy 32:37

37 And he will say, Where are their gods, the rock in which they put their faith?

Deuteronomy 32:37 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 32:37

And he shall say, where [are] their gods?
&c.] Not the Lord shall say to Israel, upbraiding them with their idols and their idolatries; but, as the Targum of Jonathan,

``the enemy shall say, where is the God of Israel?''

and to the same purpose is, the Jerusalem Targum, and which is the sense of other Jewish writers F23; and the words may be rendered impersonally, and in the singular number, "and it shall be said, where is their God?" as it follows,

[their] rock in whom they trusted?
that is, it shall be said to the people of God, when in the low estate before described, and which will make it still more distressing; it shall be said to them by their enemies in a sneering way, where is the Lord their God they boasted of, and the rock of salvation in whom they trusted? which agrees with other passages of Scripture, ( Psalms 42:3 Psalms 42:10 ) ( 79:10 ) ( Micah 7:9 ) . The persons insulted and upbraided are the Protestant witnesses at the time of their being slain; when "they that dwell upon the earth", the Papists, "shall rejoice over them", ( Revelation 11:10 ) ; they are such who are true believers in the God and Father of Christ, as their God and Father in Christ, who of his own free grace has blessed them with all spiritual blessings in him; and who trust in Christ the rock alone for justification before God, for acceptance with him, and for their whole salvation; rejecting the Popish notion of justification by works, the doctrines of merit, and of works of supererogation, and the like; who now will be taunted at, and triumphed over, saying, where is the God of the Protestants they gloried in, as being on their side? and where is their rock on which they say the church is built, and not on Peter?


FOOTNOTES:

F23 Aben Ezra & R. Nehemiah in Jarchi in loc.

Deuteronomy 32:37 In-Context

35 Punishment is mine and reward, at the time of the slipping of their feet: for the day of their downfall is near, sudden will be their fate.
36 For the Lord will be judge of his people, he will have pity for his servants; when he sees that their power is gone, there is no one, shut up or free.
37 And he will say, Where are their gods, the rock in which they put their faith?
38 Who took the fat of their offerings, and the wine of their drink offering? Let them now come to your help, let them be your salvation.
39 See now, I myself am he; there is no other god but me: giver of death and life, wounding and making well: and no one has power to make you free from my hand.
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