DEUTERONOMY LESSON 32

     We will begin this lesson in Deuteronomy 29:1 "These [are] the
words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the
children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he
made with them in Horeb."

     In the last lesson, we were told of the difficulty that would
come upon the people, if they did not keep covenant with God. The
agreement they had made with God was an everlasting covenant. God
would bless them, as long as they remained faithful to Him. This is
not a new covenant that Moses is giving, here. He is, however, stating
a few things not in the earlier covenant. This is just as much a part
of the covenant as the original. They were, now, to implement the
covenant given them. The main thrust of the entire covenant, is
remaining faithful to God, to receive all the blessings. There is a
warning, again, of the dangers in seeking after false gods.

     Deuteronomy 29:2  "And Moses called unto all Israel, and said
unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the
land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all
his land;"

     This, alone, should have made them realize the power of God to do
whatever He wanted to do. The power of God was no secret to them.  He
brought ten plagues on Egypt to get them released from Pharaoh. He
destroyed Pharaoh's army at the Red Sea, when He carried the
Israelites over on dry land safely.  Just His presence with them
across the desert should have been enough.

     Deuteronomy 29:3 "The great temptations which thine eyes have
seen, the signs, and those great miracles:"

     The journey for 40 years had been a miracle. Moses reminds them
of this, so they will be awakened to the possibilities God offers.

     Deuteronomy 29:4 "Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to
perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day."

     It is as if they are blind and deaf. The miracles are soon
forgotten. They are a people of little understanding. It seems nothing
will cause them to have faith in God, the way they need to.  Their
hearts are hard, and they have scales over their eyes and ears.

     Deuteronomy 29:5 "And I have led you forty years in the
wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is
not waxen old upon thy foot."

     Certainly, one of the greatest miracles that happened, was the 40
year journey without their shoes and clothing wearing out. The divine
care that God took for their slightest needs, should have awakened
their understanding.

     Deuteronomy 29:6 "Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk
wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I [am] the LORD your
God."

     One of the purposes of the Manna was that they were feeding upon
the LORD, instead of earthly food. Even this, they did not comprehend.
Instead of being thankful for the heavenly food which sustained them,
they complained of it. God showed them over and over on their journey
that He was their provider.

     Deuteronomy 29:7 "And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the
king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto
battle, and we smote them:"

     The greater part of "we" is speaking of God, who went into battle
with them. It was God, who drove their enemies out before them.  In
the 21st chapter of Numbers, we saw how Sihon came against Israel and
were defeated. Og, we remember, was a giant, but that did not save
him.  The LORD was with Israel, and Israel could not lose.

     Deuteronomy 29:8 "And we took their land, and gave it for an
inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half
tribe of Manasseh."

     We remember, the land they took on the eastern side of the Jordan
was such beautiful grazing land that Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe
of Manasseh kept that for their inheritance.

     Deuteronomy 29:9 "Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and
do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do."

     Their prosperity is a gift from God. The way to be assured of
that prosperity, is if they keep the commandments of God, and worship
no false gods.

     Deuteronomy 29:10  "Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD
your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your
officers, [with] all the men of Israel,"  Deuteronomy 29:11 "Your
little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that [is] in thy camp, from
the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:"

     We see this covenant is not just with the leaders, but with all
the people. They are from the greatest to the smallest. Each person
must, in his heart, make covenant with God. They all stand before
Moses for this message from God. They must each one, and all
collectively, know what is expected of them.

     Deuteronomy 29:12 "That thou shouldest enter into covenant with
the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh
with thee this day:"

     This covenant was with the LORD and each individual person
represented. This covenant must be agreed upon by the entire nation of
Israel. It must be unanimous. Even the children must hear and agree
for the generations to come.
     Deuteronomy 29:13 "That he may establish thee to day for a people
unto himself, and [that] he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said
unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob."

     God had chosen them as His people. He wants to bless them, as no
other nation has ever been blessed. This is what was said to Abraham.
Genesis 17:7 "And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and
thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant,
to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee." This covenant is
fulfilled in the Christians. Galatians 3:29 "And if ye [be] Christ's,
then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

     Deuteronomy 29:14 "Neither with you only do I make this covenant
and this oath;" Deuteronomy 29:15 "But with [him] that standeth here
with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with [him] that
[is] not here with us this day:"

     Notice, the covenant is to extend for generations to come, and
not just for this generation. God swore by Himself, since there was no
greater.

     Deuteronomy 29:16 "(For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of
Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by;"

     In Egypt, there were many false gods. Even the nations, they
encountered on the way to the promised land, were idol worshippers, as
well. Part of the reason for the ten plagues on Egypt, was to defame
the false gods of Egypt.

     Deuteronomy 29:17 "And ye have seen their abominations, and their
idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which [were] among them:)"

     "Abominations"  are revolting sins in the sight of God. Moses is
showing them they are without excuse, if they follow these false gods
of stone, silver, and gold. The evidence of God was overwhelming. We,
too, are without excuse, if we do not follow the One True God. The
Bible should be evidence enough for us. We mentioned several times,
that anything made with human hands is not to be worshipped. God is
not a God that can be seen with physical eyes, or touched with
physical hands. He is the great Creator. He is Spirit.

     Deuteronomy 29:18 "Lest there should be among you man, or woman,
or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD
our God, to go [and] serve the gods of these nations; lest there
should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;"

     The false gods of these nations could bring nothing, but
bitterness and destruction. Anyone who follows after false gods, is
headed for destruction.

     Deuteronomy 29:19 "And it come to pass, when he heareth the words
of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall
have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add
drunkenness to thirst:"

     To bless one's self in his heart, is to deny the power of God who
made him. Romans 1:21 "Because that, when they knew God, they
glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in
their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." He cannot
bless himself. Blessings come from God. He is trying to make a god of
himself. The next verse tells of the fate of so foolish a person.

     Deuteronomy 29:20 "The LORD will not spare him, but then the
anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and
all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and
the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven."

     The heart of man is what he is. If his heart is evil, he is evil.
God will not find him guiltless who has an evil heart to follow after
his own desires. He is like Lucifer, who desired to be God. This man
is very evil, and will inherit the curses. Just as Lucifer was thrown
out of heaven, this man will have his name blotted out of the book of
life.

     Deuteronomy 29:21 "And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out
of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the
covenant that are written in this book of the law:"

     This evil man will not inherit with the rest of Israel, who obey
God. He will receive curses, instead of blessings.

     Deuteronomy 29:22 "So that the generation to come of your
children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall
come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that
land, and the sicknesses which the LORD hath laid upon it;"

     The terrible punishment that comes upon them, will be an
astonishment, and a warning to future generations. These plagues are
in punishment from God. The illnesses, spoken of here, could be spoken
of as a plague, as well. There will be no ready cure for them.

     Deuteronomy 29:23 "[And that] the whole land thereof [is]
brimstone, and salt, [and] burning, [that] it is not sown, nor
beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom,
and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his
anger, and in his wrath:"

     Sodom and Gomorrah have been examples for all of history of what
happens, when a society does what is pleasing to its flesh instead of
obeying God. They were, not only destroyed with fire and brimstone,
but have never been rebuilt. They are a desert area, even until now.
There is nothing growing there these thousands of years later. They
had been as a garden of God, until they rebelled against God. This is
a warning from Moses, that this could happen again, if they disobey
God.

     Deuteronomy 29:24 "Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the
LORD done thus unto this land? what [meaneth] the heat of this great
anger?"

     This area of the world is so desolate even today, it is obvious
it was judgement of God that caused this destruction. The heat from
the fire and brimstone was so great, that it even killed the roots of
plants in the earth.

     Deuteronomy 29:25 "Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken
the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them
when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:"

     Even the world around them will realize the reason for this
destruction. God did not break covenant with them, they broke covenant
with God, and brought this upon themselves.

     Deuteronomy 29:26 "For they went and served other gods, and
worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and [whom] he had not given
unto them:"

     This would happen, because they had broken the very first
commandment. They had turned their backs upon the One True God, to
worship the false gods {creations of men's hands}. God's wrath is
kindled against them, because they are unfaithful to Him.

     Deuteronomy 29:27 "And the anger of the LORD was kindled against
this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this
book:"

     The curses are automatic, when they turn away from God. It was
their option to be blessed, or cursed. They chose the curse.

     Deuteronomy 29:28 "And the LORD rooted them out of their land in
anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into
another land, as [it is] this day."

     This is, possibly, speaking of the ten tribes of Israel, which
just seemed to vanish. They are scattered all over the world. The two
tribes saw some of this, too. One of the times they were driven out,
was when they were taken captive to Babylon.

     Deuteronomy 29:29 "The secret [things belong] unto the LORD our
God: but those [things which are] revealed [belong] unto us and to our
children for ever, that [we] may do all the words of this law."

     God has a few things that He has not revealed to mankind.  The
things that are necessary for us to live have been revealed to us.
God revealed to mankind the perfect life. It is mankind, which has
strayed and brought many of the problems upon themselves. The Bible is
an instruction book to guide us through life. We will fail, if we do
not read and follow the instructions God has left us. The Words of the
law are contained in the Bible. The Holy Spirit of God will reveal to
each person God's will for his life. We must seek God with all our
hearts, and we will find Him.  He wants to be our God. Let Him.
                        Deuteronomy 32 Questions


1.  The covenant the LORD made with Israel was an ______________
    covenant.
2.  How long would God bless them?
3.  Is this a new covenant?
4.  How had God revealed His great power to them?
5.  The entire journey for the 40 years had been a __________.
6.  It is as if they are __________ and ________.
7.  Why do they not understand God?
8.  What miracle had occurred with their clothing?
9.  What was one of the purposes of the Manna?
10. What is the little word that is so important in verse 7?
11. Where can we read about the defeat of Sihon?
12. Og, we remember, was a __________.
13. Who did God give the land of Og to?
14. How could they prosper?
15. Who is this covenant made with?
16. Who is giving them this covenant agreement?
17. The agreement must be _____________.
18. Quote Genesis chapter 17 verse 7.
19. Quote Galatians chapter 3 verse 29.
20. How far reaching is this covenant?
21. What did Egypt have in common with the nations Israel passed
    through?
22. What were their idols made of?
23. What are "abominations"?
24. Why are Christians without excuse?
25. Anyone who follows after false gods is headed for ____________.
26. To bless one's self in his heart, is to ________ the power of God
    who made him.
27. What is the fate of so foolish a person?
28. A person who has an evil heart and thinks he can bless himself, is
    like __________.
29. He will inherit _________, not ___________.
30. The illnesses, in verse 22, could be spoken of as a __________.
31. What two cities were examples of what happens to a society, when
    the people do what is right in their own sight?
32. What happened to them later?
33. The world around is aware _________ did this.
34. Why would this terrible judgement come on them?
35. Who was rooted out in verse 28?
36. What has been revealed to mankind by God?
37. What reveals it?
38. What reveals the will of God to each of us.
39. If we seek God with all our heart, we will _________ Him.
40. He wants to be our God. ______ _____.