Search
After their exodus from Egypt, the children of Israel journeyed from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea, the entry to the good land. This was an eleven-day journey (Deut. 1:2). At that time, Jehovah God set the promised good land before them, and Moses told them to be bold and go up and possess the land as God had spoken to them (vv. 19-21). Although the spies sent by the children of Israel brought back word that the land was an exceedingly good land, a land which flowed with milk and honey (v. 25; Num. 13:27), they also brought an evil report to the people that caused the whole assembly of the children of Israel to murmur against Moses and Aaron and even to want to appoint a captain and return to Egypt (14:4). Because of their unbelief at Kadesh-barnea, God caused them to turn and set out into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea (Deut. 1:40). They wandered in the wilderness for thirty-eight years until the entire generation of the unbelieving men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp (2:1-15).
After this long period of wandering, all the unbelieving ones among the children of Israel were consumed. In many ways God exercised His mercy and blessing to use these thirty-eight years to produce a new generation for the fulfilling of His purpose. This new generation, having been trained and prepared, were to enter into the good land, which God promised to give them as their inheritance. Because the new generation was not present when the Ten Commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances were given, God gave Moses the burden to rehearse the law (4:44—26:19). Moses was concerned that they would repeat the failure of their forefathers, and so he spoke many words to them, including a review of their past, a warning, exhortations, and charges (1:1—4:43; 27:1—28:68; 31:1-13, 24-29), so that the new generation of the children of Israel would be encouraged to remember God’s marvelous grace and mighty works and to obey His statutes and ordinances. By so doing, they would be able to gain the victory, riches, blessings, and inheritance in the promised good land.
As commanded by God, Moses also made a covenant with the children of Israel who were about to enter into the good land (chs. 29—30). This covenant included prophecies related to the children of Israel. God also commanded Moses to write a song to review the past and to prophesy concerning the future (31:14-23, 30; 32:1-47). Finally, just as Jacob did, Moses blessed the tribes of Israel one by one before his death (ch. 33). There are also many marvelous prophecies in his blessing. In this lesson we will consider the prophecies of importance that are in the covenant enacted by Moses with the children of Israel and that are in his song.
God commanded Moses to make a covenant with the new generation of the children of Israel, besides the one He made with the former generation of the children of Israel at Horeb, that is, at Mount Sinai (29:1).
Moses told the children of Israel that when their future generations and the foreigner coming from a distant land saw the plagues of the land and its diseases—that all the land was sulphur and salt, a burning waste, and that it was not sown, nor did it sprout, nor did any vegetation come up in it—they would ask, “Why has Jehovah done this to this land?” (vv. 22-24). The answer would be that because the children of Israel forsook the covenant of Jehovah and went and served other gods, the anger of Jehovah burned against this land, bringing upon it all the curses and that Jehovah plucked them off their land in anger, in burning wrath, and in great indignation and sent them to another land (vv. 25-28).
According to the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 28, if the children of Israel did not listen to the voice of Jehovah their God and were not certain to do all His commandments and His statutes, they would be struck down before their enemies and with diseases, and their possessions would be robbed (vv. 25-35). They would also be cursed by being brought to a nation that they had not heard of, and they would be a source of horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples. People would talk about the children of Israel in a despising and mocking way (vv. 36-37). They would be taken into captivity, and they would also be cursed in that their fields and vineyards would be left to locusts, worms, and sojourners (vv. 38-44). These curses would become a sign and a wonder forever to the children of Israel (v. 46). Finally, they would be cursed in being scattered among all the nations and in living a life of captivity, full of terrors (vv. 63-67). They would also be brought back to Egypt, where they would offer themselves for sale to their enemies, but no one would buy them (v. 68).
God also promised that if while among the nations, where Jehovah their God would drive them, the children of Israel and their children would return to Jehovah their God and listen to His voice with all their heart and with all their soul, He would be compassionate to them. Jehovah God would turn, and He would gather them from all the peoples among whom He had scattered them and bring them into the land which their fathers possessed. He would do good for them and multiply them more than He had their fathers (30:1-5). He would circumcise their heart, meaning that He would transform their rebellious nature, and they would then love Him with all their heart and with all their soul (v. 6). He would put all the curses upon their enemies, give them an excess of prosperity in all their undertakings, and exult over them for good (vv. 7-10).
Moses called heaven and earth to witness against the children of Israel because he had set before them life and death, blessing and curse (v. 19). He also exhorted them to choose life that they and their seed might live, in loving Jehovah their God by listening to His voice and holding fast to Him. He was to be their life and the length of their days so that they might dwell upon the land which He swore to their fathers to give them (vv. 19-20).
After the children of Israel entered into the good land, they forsook Jehovah their God by rebelling against the covenant of God. Although Jehovah, through the prophets, testified against them because of their evil ways, they nevertheless stiffened their necks and rejected His statutes and His covenant, which He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies. They also followed vanity and became vain (2 Kings 17:13-15). As a result, they were cursed, suffered from plagues according to the prophecies in the covenant, were captured to the Gentile world, and were scattered among the nations. They have suffered oppression and persecution for nearly two thousand six hundred years. Israel was restored as a nation in 1948, and many Israelites returned to their land to rebuild the nation. God will renew His blessing on the land and send the early and late rain so that the land changes from desolateness to fertility. God also is preserving the Israelites by overcoming the enemies around them. However, even now, they still have not turned their heart back to God even though He desires their return. They will not fully turn until the Lord Jesus comes again. Then the whole house of Israel will repent and turn to God and be saved (Zech. 12:10-14 Rom 11:26).
The world situation today is advanced with respect to the fulfillment of this prophecy. Before the Lord’s return, the Jews will rebuild the temple. Even now they are making preparations for the temple. Soon after they regain the site of the old temple, the temple will be erected. When we see these things taking place, we will know that the summer, which signifies the age of the restoration, is near (Matt. 24:32 and footnotes, Recovery Version).
Jehovah charged Moses, “Write for yourselves this song and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouth that I may have this song as a witness against the children of Israel” (Deut. 31:19). Jehovah knew their intention even before He brought them into the land (v. 21). He knew that after He brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, they would eat and become satisfied and grow fat. They would also turn to other gods and serve them and despise Jehovah and break His covenant (v. 20). Then, when many evils and troubles befell them, this song would respond as a witness before them, and it would not be forgotten in the mouth of their seed (v. 21).
Deuteronomy 32:1-43 is the contents of the song of Moses. Verses 5 and 6 say that the children of Israel dealt corruptly with Jehovah, having blemishes not like His sons, and repaying Jehovah as foolish and unwise people. The children of Israel were to be God’s sons (Exo. 4:22), but in their living they did not behave like God’s sons. Instead, they were twisted and crooked. Although God did so much for them, they repaid Him as foolish and unwise people.
The children of Israel grew fat and thick, forsook God who made them, treated the Rock of their salvation disdainfully, and provoked Him to anger with strange gods, with abominations and sacrifices to demons (Deut. 32:15-17). Jehovah saw their actions and held them in contempt because He was provoked to anger by His sons and daughters. He said that He would hide His face from them (vv. 19-20), for a fire was kindled in His anger toward them (v. 22). He would send the teeth of beasts against them with the venom of those that crawled in the dust (v. 24). The sword would bereave outside, and inside would be terror (v. 25). Jehovah would have said that He would scatter them and cause the memory of them to cease from among men, except He dreaded the vexation from the enemy, lest their adversaries misjudged and said that it was their hand that was exalted and that it was not Jehovah who had wrought all this (vv. 26-27). The children of Israel were destitute of counsel, and there was no understanding in them (v. 28). They were not wise and were unable to comprehend that it was Jehovah their Rock who sold them and delivered them up to their enemies (vv. 29-30).
Verses 36 through 43 say that when Jehovah saw that the support of His people was gone, He would vindicate them and have compassion on His servants. He would say, “Where are their gods...? / Let them rise up and help you; / Let them be a shelter over you. / See now that I, I am He, / And there is no god with Me. / It is I who kill, and I make alive; / I wound, and it is I who heal; / And there is no one who can deliver from My hand” (vv. 37-39). He would avenge the blood of His servants, repay His adversaries with vengeance, and cover the guilt of His land and of His people. This indicates that no matter how evil the children of Israel might be and no matter how much God might be provoked in His anger toward them, eventually the result, the issue, would still be good. God does not forsake His people. Eventually, He will come in to vindicate them.
Moses’ greatest concern was that the children of Israel would turn away from God and go after other gods. This is exactly what the children of Israel have done throughout the centuries. Even today, many of them are still turned away from God to the idols of money, advanced technology, weapons, and skills in fighting. Therefore, on the one hand, God is working to protect the children of Israel. On the other hand, because they have not yet repented and returned to God, He is still judging them.
God does not forsake Israel. On the one hand, God disciplines Israel and deals with her through His sovereign arrangement. On the other hand, God also protects Israel. Because of God’s protection, the Arab countries surrounding Israel are unable to destroy this small nation. According to prophecy, Israel will not be destroyed. She will remain until the Lord Jesus comes again as the lightening comes forth from the east and shines to the west (Matt. 24:27). At that time, the whole house of Israel will turn to the Lord.
From Horeb to the entry into the good land was an eleven-day journey. However, due to their unbelief, God caused Israel to wander in the wilderness for thirty-eight years until the entire generation of the unbelieving men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp. God also used these thirty-eight years to produce a new generation, training them and preparing them to enter into the good land. Because Moses was concerned that the new generation would repeat the failure of their forefathers, he made a covenant with them that included prophecies related to the children of Israel. At the same time, God also commanded Moses to write a song to review the past and prophesy concerning the future.
Moses enacted the covenant with the children of Israel and said that if the children of Israel forsook the covenant of Jehovah, the land would be cursed, and they would be plucked off from their land and sent to another land. If the children of Israel were not certain to keep all His commandments and statutes, they would be struck down before their enemies and with diseases, and their possessions would be robbed. They would also be cursed in being brought to a nation that was not known to them and would be a source of horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples. Finally, they would be cursed in being scattered among all the nations, and in living a life in captivity. However, God also promised through Moses that if while in captivity the children of Israel would return to Jehovah their God and listen to His voice with all their heart and with all their soul, Jehovah would be compassionate to them and gather them from all the nations. Moses called heaven and earth to witness against them because he had set before them life and death, blessing and curse. He also exhorted them to choose life in loving Jehovah their God by listening to His voice and holding fast to Him.
Jehovah also charged Moses to write a song and teach it to the children of Israel and put it in their mouth so that the song would be a witness against the children of Israel, for He already knew their intention even before He brought them into the land. The children of Israel would deal corruptly with Jehovah, forsake Him, and provoke Him to anger. When Jehovah saw that the support of His people was gone, He would vindicate His people, have compassion on His servants, repay His adversaries with vengeance, and cover the guilt of His land and of His people. On the one hand, God disciplines Israel by dealing with her through His sovereign arrangement. On the other hand, God protects Israel from being destroyed until the Lord Jesus comes again. At that time, the whole house of Israel will turn to the Lord.
