Deuteronomy 32:37

37 Then he will say, "Where are their gods? Where is the rock they trusted?

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 I will punish those who do wrong; I will repay them. Soon their foot will slip, because their day of trouble is near, and their punishment will come quickly."
36 The Lord will defend his people and have mercy on his servants. He will see that their strength is gone, that nobody is left, slaves or free.
37 Then he will say, "Where are their gods? Where is the rock they trusted?
38 Who ate the fat from their sacrifices, and who drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let those gods come to help you! Let them protect you!
39 "Now you will see that I am the one God! There is no god but me. I send life and death; I can hurt, and I can heal. No one can escape from me.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.