DEUTERONOMY LESSON 35
We will begin this lesson in Deuteronomy 32:1 "Give ear, O ye
heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth."
This is the beginning of Moses' song. This song was written down,
and was to be sung by the people of Israel. Notice, Moses calls the
heavens, and earth to make note of this. Moses will stand before the
people, and recite this song.
Deuteronomy 32:2 "My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech
shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and
as the showers upon the grass:"
This is speaking of a gentle rain. This rain would be a welcome
sight to plants in need of moisture. This is saying that, the doctrine
Moses has given them from God is not to beat them down, but to help
them grow.
Deuteronomy 32:3 "Because I will publish the name of the LORD:
ascribe ye greatness unto our God."
Moses had never stopped proclaiming the great I AM to the people.
We remember, God had revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush.
He, also, told Moses His name was I AM. It is the greatness of God
that Moses wants them to realize, and accept. The word "ascribe" means
to give. Moses is encouraging them to praise God themselves.
Deuteronomy 32:4 "[He is] the Rock, his work [is] perfect: for
all his ways [are] judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just
and right [is] he."
Moses would surely associate the Rock as God. The Rock that
brought forth water enough for nearly three million people symbolized
the Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 10:4 "And did all drink the same
spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed
them: and that Rock was Christ." In the book of John, Jesus called
Himself the Way, the Truth, and the Life. John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto
him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me." We find, also, that Jesus is the Judge. John 5:22
"For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto
the Son:" We can see from all of this that, the One you and I call
Jesus, is the Rock, He is Judge, He is Truth. We could name a thousand
things more that He is. He is our All in all. He is the Doer part of
the Godhead.
Deuteronomy 32:5 "They have corrupted themselves, their spot [is]
not [the spot] of his children: [they are] a perverse and crooked
generation."
Israel was a perverted, rebellious house, which would not be
ruled by the God of all the world. They ran after false gods, and made
themselves dirty in the sight of God. We, Christians, must remember,
Jesus is coming back for a church that is without spot or wrinkle. We
should live accordingly.
Deuteronomy 32:6 "Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people
and unwise? [is] not he thy father [that] hath bought thee? hath he
not made thee, and established thee?"
Moses wants them to realize that, their very existence is because
of God. He created them. He, also, purchased them back from the world
{Egypt} with the ten plagues. They are His. They would still be in
Egypt, had He not delivered them, and brought them to this place. It
is the LORD which established them as His people.
Deuteronomy 32:7 "Remember the days of old, consider the years
of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy
elders, and they will tell thee."
The deliverance of Israel from Egypt and their establishment as
God's people is to be remembered from generation to generation. The
father is to relate this fact to his son for all generations.
Deuteronomy 32:8 "When the Most High divided to the nations their
inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of
the people according to the number of the children of Israel."
Back in the days of Abraham, God had promised this land as an
inheritance for the descendents of Abraham. God knew ahead of time
where they would live, and how much land would be required. He blessed
this land, and prepared it for an inheritance for His chosen family.
Genesis 17:8 "And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee,
the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an
everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
Deuteronomy 32:9 "For the LORD'S portion [is] his people; Jacob
[is] the lot of his inheritance."
Exodus 19:5 "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and
keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above
all people: for all the earth [is] mine:" Exodus 19:6 "And ye shall
be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These [are] the
words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel."
Deuteronomy 32:10 "He found him in a desert land, and in the
waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept
him as the apple of his eye."
Israel was in a desert land with no food and water. God fed them
miraculously the manna, which fell from heaven. The Rock brought forth
water, and quenched their thirst. The LORD actually birthed a people
of God in this wilderness journey. God, Himself, went with them to
lead them in the smoke and fire. He was their protection. The
countries around them feared the God of Israel. God wanted Israel to
show Him to the world. His eye was on Israel, His people.
Deuteronomy 32:11 "As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth
over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them
on her wings:"
In this case, the eagle's care of her young is symbolic of the
care of God for His people. Her wings protect her young from the storm
and the rain. She carries them, until they learn to fly. This
wilderness wandering was full of the supernatural care of the LORD for
His people. He took them places they could not have gone, such as
through the Red Sea. During this journey, God taught them His ways.
Deuteronomy 32:12 "[So] the LORD alone did lead him, and [there
was] no strange god with him."
When the fire, or smoke, lifted from the tabernacle and moved,
the people followed. He was their God, and they were His people. There
were no false gods among them.
Deuteronomy 32:13 "He made him ride on the high places of the
earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him
to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;"
The LORD was their provider. They had no need for food. God fed
them. He caused Israel to defeat the nations before them. They
received their inheritance of the land of milk and honey.
Deuteronomy 32:14 "Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of
lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of
kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape."
It is interesting, to me, that the juice from the grape, here, is
spoken of as blood. Perhaps, that is why grape juice symbolizes the
blood of Christ in the communion services. The idea, here, is that God
provided the desires of their hearts for wonderful food and drink.
Deuteronomy 32:15 "But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art
waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered [with fatness]; then
he forsook God [which] made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his
salvation."
Jeshurun is taken from righteousness. This, then, is speaking of
the nation of Israel, which had been chosen of God to be righteous.
Suddenly, all of their problems are solved. They have food and drink
in abundance, their crops are bountiful. This is speaking of a time,
when they are no longer in need of any earthly thing. They have grown
rich and fat. They suddenly do not feel the need to be dependent on
the LORD. They are like many of us. When things are going well, we
have a tendency to forget about God. They have forgotten the Rock of
their salvation.
Deuteronomy 32:16 "They provoked him to jealousy with strange
[gods], with abominations provoked they him to anger."
Idleness, many times, leads to sin. Had they stayed busy trying
to make a living, they might not have had time to consider false gods.
"Abominations" are revolting sins. Exodus 34:14 "For thou shalt
worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name [is] Jealous, [is] a
jealous God:" God will not share His people with a false god. To do
that, is to commit spiritual adultery. This brings the wrath of God.
Deuteronomy 32:17 "They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to
gods whom they knew not, to new [gods that] came newly up, whom your
fathers feared not."
These false gods were from the imaginations of their own evil
minds. The fact they were new gods, shows they were figments of
people's minds. They were not God. They were treated, as if they were
gods. Revelation 9:20 "And the rest of the men which were not killed
by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that
they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and
brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor
walk:"
Deuteronomy 32:18 "Of the Rock [that] begat thee thou art
unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee."
They soon forgot the God, who created them. God created man from
the dust of the earth. This speaks of the physical birth. God, also,
gave new life to the family of Jacob, when He brought them out of
Egypt. Deuteronomy 6:12 "[Then] beware lest thou forget the LORD,
which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of
bondage." The Rock was their Deliverer. They drank of the Rock of the
water of life.
Deuteronomy 32:19 "And when the LORD saw [it], he abhorred
[them], because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters."
"Abhored" means scorned, in this particular verse. They had left
God, and worshipped false gods. God will turn His back on them, even
if they are His sons and daughters.
Deuteronomy 32:20 "And he said, I will hide my face from them, I
will see what their end [shall be]: for they [are] a very froward
generation, children in whom [is] no faith."
In this, God, Himself, is speaking of what He will do. They will
be like the heathens around them. His protection of them is gone. God
will not look to them and hear their prayers. They are the opposite of
Abraham, whose faith made him righteous. They have no faith in God,
and are unrighteous.
Deuteronomy 32:21 "They have moved me to jealousy with [that
which is] not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities:
and I will move them to jealousy with [those which are] not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation."
This is saying that, God is so moved with jealousy about their
worship of false gods, that He will strengthen their enemies to
destroy them. Their enemies are not God's people, but God will use
them against His rebellious family. The chastisement from God will be
brought on Israel by the heathen people around them.
Deuteronomy 32:22 "For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall
burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her
increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains."
The lowest hell is speaking of the worst possible hell there is.
Perhaps, it speaking of a fire such as came on Sodom and Gomorrah. The
wrath of God has started a fire, that cannot be put out by man.
Deuteronomy 32:23 "I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend
mine arrows upon them."
The terrible mischiefs, that God sends on mankind, hit the mark.
The shield of protection is removed from them. They have sinned a
great sin.
Deuteronomy 32:24 "[They shall be] burnt with hunger, and
devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also
send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the
dust."
When God does not send the rain at the needed time, the crops do
not produce, and they starve. If God removes the Ozone layer today,
there would be a burning as never in history before. We will have no
protection at all. Leviticus 26:22 "I will also send wild beasts among
you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle,
and make you few in number; and your [high] ways shall be desolate."
Man cannot even imagine the terribleness of God in His wrath.
Deuteronomy 32:25 "The sword without, and terror within, shall
destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling [also] with
the man of gray hairs."
The sword speaks of war. This is one way God judges man. We do
know the Word says that, mens' hearts will fail them for fear of
things that are coming upon the earth. No one will be spared, when
God's wrath descends upon the earth.
Deuteronomy 35 Questions
1. What is this chapter?
2. Who does Moses call to take note of this?
3. Verse 2 is speaking of a __________ rain.
4. The doctrine Moses has given them is not to _______ ______ _____,
but to do what?
5. What name of God was revealed to Moses at the burning bush?
6. It is the __________ of God that Moses wants them to realize, and
accept.
7. The word "ascribe" means what?
8. Moses would surely associate the Rock as _______.
9. Quote 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 4.
10. In John chapter 14 verse 6, Jesus reveals Himself as the _______,
the ________, and the _________.
11. Quote John chapter 5 verse 22.
12. Jesus is the _________ part of the Godhead.
13. Describe Israel from verse 5.
14. What kind of church is Jesus coming back for?
15. What were they cautioned to remember?
16. How long are they to remember?
17. When had God set this land aside for Israel?
18. Quote Genesis chapter 17 verse 8.
19. In Exodus chapter 19 verse 6, they were to be to Him a kingdom of
__________.
20. The LORD actually ___________ a people of God in the wilderness
journey.
21. How does the eagle's care of its young symbolize God's care for
His people?
22. How had God led them?
23. What is interesting to the author about the juice of the grape in
verse 14?
24. Jeshurun is taken from ___________.
25. What is this speaking of then?
26. They have forgotten the _________ of their salvation.
27. How had they provoked Him to jealousy?
28. Quote Exodus chapter 34 verse 14.
29. They sacrificed to __________, not to God.
30. Quote Revelation chapter 9 verse 20.
31. Quote Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 18.
32. What does "abhored" mean?
33. Who are the Israelites the opposite of?
34. The chastisement from God will be brought on them by the
__________ __________ around them.
35. Why do the mischiefs, God sends on the people, hit the mark?
36. What happens, when God withholds the rain?
37. Quote Leviticus chapter 26 verse 22.
38. The sword speaks of _______.
39. What will cause their hearts to fail?
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