Deuteronomy 32-34

INTRO

In this final lesson of Deuteronomy, I’m going to start in Deuteronomy 31:30, to give a backdrop of where we’re headed. I'll give a complete summary of the whole teaching, and then focus on one text.

TEACHING

Deuteronomy 31:30: In verse 30, Moses was told to write a song, and he recited every word of the song to the entire assembly of Israel—about 2 million people. Moses also had another song in Exodus 15:1-18, which he wrote as a tribute for being rescued at the Red Sea, and in Numbers 21, the Israelites had sung as though they were given life-giving wells. This was Moses’ funeral song, which he sung just before his death. Deborah and Barak, in Judges 5, sang a victory song after the Israelites defeated the Canaanites. The Israelite women, in 1 Samuel 18:6-7, sang a song to celebrate David’s defeat of Goliath. Most of these songs were about life-giving victories they won. The Levites in 2 Chronicles 29:30 sang a song of praise and dedication for the Jerusalem Temple. Moses’ song in this chapter was about Israel as a rebellious people.

Deuteronomy 32:1-14: God is steadfast, but no one else, especially the Israelites, were steadfast. Wiersbe says that Moses began to identify the character of God in this process.¹Verse 4 describes God as “The Rock—His work is perfect; all His ways are entirely just. A faithful God, without prejudice, He is righteous and true.” Then God’s election of Israel is presented—God had a plan for Israel (vv. 8-9). Moses’ song began by reminding them of God’s care for them in the wilderness. God had protected them. Moses reminded them that the blessings of God were found in the land He promised them (vv. 13-14).

Deuteronomy 32:15-21: But in verse 15, Moses presented the neglect of God’s goodness: “Then Jeshurun became fat and rebelled . . . and scorned the Rock of his salvation.” “Jeshurun” is another name for Israel, and I believe the words at the end of the verse are prophetic, pointing to how the Jews would reject the Cornerstone in the New Testament. If the Israelites stayed in this position, they would reject everything God brought before them. The Israelites moved so far away from God that they even sacrificed to demons (v. 17). They were giving in to demonic worship and fallen angels. In response, God had an outpouring of His wrath and even hid His face from them (v. 20). They provoked God’s jealousy with unknown gods (v. 21), so He said He would “provoke their jealousy with an inferior people; I will enrage them with a foolish nation.” This is the verse we’ll camp out on after the summary.

Deuteronomy 32:28-52: Israel showed blind stubbornness against what God had commanded (vv.28-33), so God stripped Israel of their power (vv. 34-38). When God says He will lift His hand to “heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever, when I sharpen My flashing sword,” (v. 40-42), we’re given a beautiful picture of the flashing sword of Christ in Revelation. In verse 43, the nations can rejoice, because God heals—“He will purify His land and His people.” Moses’ song became a warning (v. 46), so the people should heed the warning. Then God told Moses to go up Mount Nebo where he would die for his own unfaithfulness. Moses would be able to look over the land of Canaan, although he would never enter it (vv.48-52).

Deuteronomy 33: In verses 1-5, Moses gave an over-all blessing over the Israelites, and then beginning in verse 6, Moses gave a blessing to the tribes of Reuben, Judah, Levi, Benjamin, Joseph, Zebulun, Gad, Dan, Naphtali, and Asher. In verses 26-29, he instructed the Israelites to consider God in all this.

Deuteronomy 34: Moses was given a view of the Promised Land (vv. 1-4), and in verses 5-8, Moses died and the whole country mourned. Verses 9-12 record that Joshua was given much wisdom, but that there was no other name like Moses ever again. This was the end of the era of Moses and leadership was transferred to Joshua.

Now, back to Deuteronomy 32:21, Moses served as a prophet who pointed to another Prophet—Jesus. That’s the story of Deuteronomy. God warned the Israelites that if they continued with their rebellion, He would be so jealous that He would

use a foolish nation to make the Israelites (Jews) jealous. The group God was talking about to make the Jews jealous is us— the non-Jews, the Gentiles.

Here’s why studying the Pentateuch is so important. We as believers need to know more about the Word of God than the Jews do. Why? I want them to want what we have in Christ. The entire first five books of the Bible ultimately point to Jesus . . . with the Seed, the Deliverer, the Atonement, the Rock, and the Prophet. These five words all point to Jesus.

The Jews are still God’s chosen people. “For you are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be His own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth. The LORD was devoted to you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 7:6-8). The Jews were God’s chosen people.

Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.” The word “first” means the gospel was meant for the Jews. But through their rejection of the gospel (New Covenant), salvation came to the Gentiles. Studying the Israelites through the Pentateuch makes their rejection of Jesus Christ make sense.

Romans 11:11: “I ask, then, have they stumbled in order to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their stumbling, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous.” Because of their stubbornness, salvation came to the Gentiles instead. Deuteronomy 32:21 prophesied this moment, when the gospel came to the Gentiles to make the Jews angry. There’s a remnant of Jews who place their trust in Yeshua as their Christ. All of what happened in Deuteronomy led to salvation coming to the Gentiles. God has not rejected the Jews; He still has a plan for His chosen people.

Romans 10:19-20: “But I ask, ’Did Israel not understand?’ First, Moses said: I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that lacks understanding. And Isaiah says boldly: I was found by those who were not looking for Me; I revealed Myself to those who were not asking for Me.” The Gentiles weren’t seeking God, but God chose to give them salvation to make the Jews jealous. For the Jews who turn to Jesus after becoming jealous, the veil is lifted and they will be regrafted into the vine, and they will bring riches into the world. Romans 11:12: “Now if their stumbling brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full number bring!”

Romans 11:24: “For if you were cut off from your native wild olive and against nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these—the natural branches—be grafted into their own olive tree?” God had intended for the Jews to accept salvation because of the fall of man and wanted to bring them back into His family. When are the Jews going to get this? As we say yes to Jesus, the Jews will want what we have. Are we living in Christ in a way that will make them jealous? We have to be different and set apart for them to see what we have. And we must be thankful for the spiritual blessing we have received since the Jews rejected it. We need to pour back into God’s chosen people, the Jews. It started with God’s chosen people, and it will end with God’s chosen people.

Romans 15:27: “Yes, they were pleased, and indeed are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual benefits, then they are obligated to minister to Jews in material needs.” As Gentiles, we are obligated to minister to the Jews physically and tangibly with what they need.

CLOSING

We are the beneficiaries of the stubbornness of the Jews and of what they went through in rebellion against God. It’s our job to minister and give back to them in any way we can.