Deuteronomy 32

CHAPTER 32

The Song of Moses (32:1–47)

1–4 This “Song of Moses” was meant to serve as a witness for God against Israel; it was to serve as a reminder of Israel’s sins (seeDeuteronomy31:19–22andcomment). The song also revealed how God would deal with His disobedient people and with their enemies. Above all, the song revealed how God loved Israel, and how in the end, after their exile, He would restore the Israelites to their land.

First Moses called the heavens and the earth to be witnesses to what he was going to say (verse 1). Then he praised God, calling Him the Rock (verse 4), a secure and steady refuge in time of trouble. Indeed, God is a Rock of salvation; think of what a large rock can mean to a drowning person! Think of what a spiritual rock (Christ) can mean to a spiritually thirsty person (1 Corinthians 10:3–4). And this Rock will always be there for us; God is faithful—even if we are not (2 Timothy 2:13).

5–6 God is upright and just (verse 4); but the Israelites acted corruptly toward him (verse 5). For this reason, God disowned the Israelites; they were no longer his children. How foolish and unwise they were to rebel against God! God was not only their Creator; He was also their Father, the Progenitor of Israel, the One who loved them as a father loves his children.

7–9 Moses next spoke of how God set up boundaries for the nations (Genesis Chapter 10), how He gave the nations their inheritance⁸⁷ (verse 8). But when God did this, He set aside land for His chosen people, Israel, according to their expected population. Moses called Israel the LORD’S portion, because Israel itself was His allotted inheritance (verse 9). Canaan was Israel’s inheritance, and Israel (also called Jacob) was God’s inheritance. Here we can see the essence of the covenant between God and Israel: God was to give the land to the Israelites as their inheritance, and the Israelites were to give themselves to God as His inheritance.

10–12 In a desert land he found him—that is, God found Israel (Jacob) in a desperate situation; then He cared for Israel as the apple of his eye (verse 10)—as His precious and cherished possession.

13–14 The Lord made Israel ride on the heights of the land (verse 13)—namely, Canaan, much of which was mountainous. In Canaan there would be honey from the rock (bees often made their hives in the clefts of rocks) and oil from the flinty crag (olive trees often grew on rocky slopes). The land would produce abundant food, including rams from Bashan (Numbers 21:33–35), a place known for good livestock.

15–18 Jeshurun (the upright one, that is, Israel) grew fat and kicked (verse 15)—grew prosperous and scorned God. The Israelites abandoned God and sacrificed to demons (verse 17)—the agents behind all false gods. They deserted God and forgot Him (verse 18).

19–22 Therefore, God rejected them (verse 19), and hid His face from them (Deuteronomy 31:17). The Israelites had made God jealous (see Exodus 20:5); so, in turn, God made them jealous—envious (verse 21). He did this in the first instance by permitting other nations to take over Israel’s land. But later, and more significantly, He made Israel envious by inviting GENTILES (non-Israelites)—those who are not a people—into a covenant relationship with Him. Those Gentiles had no understanding of God’s laws; but yet, through faith in Christ, they would become God’s new covenant people.⁸⁸ In the meantime, God would unleash His wrath on Israel (verse 22).

23–27 The calamities described in these verses remind one of the punishments and curses described in Leviticus 26:14–39; Deuteronomy 28:15–68. So severe would these punishments be that even God “worried” that Israel’s enemies would think they had overcome Israel by their own might and that therefore Israel’s God must be very weak! (verse 27). For this reason, and for the sake of His covenant, God would not allow His people to be totally destroyed, but He would preserve a remnant with whom He could reestablish His covenant (see Isaiah 10:20–23).

28–33 God, through this “Song of Moses,” then rebuked Israel for being a nation without sense (verse 28). Even a tiny number of enemies would put thousands of Israelites to flight (verse 30). How could this happen to God’s own people? The reason was this: they had forsaken God and thus He had forsaken them. God had sold them into slavery; He had given them up. Therefore they had become powerless to fight their enemies.

If God—the Rock—had been with the Israelites, He would have overcome the god—the rock—of their enemies (verse 31). The vine (origin) of their enemies came from the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which God had utterly destroyed (Genesis 19:24–25).

34–38 But God has kept this in reserve (verse 34)—that is, He has kept the wicked acts of Israel’s enemies (verses 32–33) “in reserve,” sealed in His vaults. God has kept an exact historical record of all man’s wickedness. In due time He will avenge their evil deeds⁸⁹ (verse 35).

At the same time, God will judge His own people—that is, He will judge them fairly⁹⁰ (verse 36). God’s judgment is always true and fair. When God sees that the Israelites’ strength is gone, He will temper His judgment with compassion.

In verses 37–38, God chides His people for taking refuge in false gods. “Let them rise up to help you—if they can,” God tells the Israelites.

39–42 Here God reminds the Israelites that He alone is God. He alone has the ultimate power to give life and to take it; He alone can truly heal the wounds He has inflicted on His people. And He alone will take final vengeance on His enemies (verses 41–42). God indeed uses enemy nations to justly punish His own people for their misdeeds, but in the end those same enemies will be punished for their wickedness.

43 In this verse, God concludes His song with a note of hope and rejoicing. In the end, God will vindicate His people; He will make atonement for His land and people. God, after having punished His people in exile, will then restore them to their land. Their punishment, their suffering and their repentance will in effect make atonement for their terrible sin of forsaking God. And as the Israelites are restored to their land, their enemies will be destroyed.

This verse speaks primarily of the Israelites’ return to the land after their exile (see Deuteronomy 30:1–5). However, it also looks ahead to the coming of Christ. God put Christ to death and brought Him to life; He wounded Him and then healed Him (verse 39). And through faith in Christ we too, who were once dead in our transgressions and sins, have been made alive with Christ and have been seated . . . with him in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:1,4–6). Through Christ’s death God has made atonement for our sins, and through Christ’s resurrection He has brought us into His heavenly kingdom. Rejoice, O nations!⁹¹ God has saved His people—not only the believing Israelites but believers in Christ as well.

44–47 After reciting the words of this song, Moses admonished the Israelites to take to heart all the words he had spoken to them—that is, the words in the book of Deuteronomy, also called all the words of this law (verse 46). Moses said: “They . . . are your life” (verse 47). Not only was God their life but also His words gave life. God’s words showed the Israelites how they could keep His covenant and thereby obtain long life, abundant life, and ultimately eternal life (see Deuteronomy 30:15–16,19–20 and comment). Such words indeed need to be “taken to heart” and obeyed with all one’s heart and soul.

Moses to Die on Mount Nebo (32:48–52)

48–52 See Numbers 27:12–14 and comment.