Moses Heavy Hit May 29, 2014 The Song of Moses Deuteronomy 32 Page 1 Moses has finished his third sermon to the people He has commissioned Joshua and handed the mantle of leadership over to him This is his swan song - literally Moses is to write a song The people are to The fact that it was memorized will prevent later down the road It will testify that God did indeed love Israel, but Israel their Lord Psalm 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. (NKJV) Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Success is measured by how completely we to and what it is God has told us You want blessing in your life make God s Word Psalm 1:1 3 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers. This song is in the form of a that God has leveled against the nation of Israel The theme Israel s apostasy and God s threatening judgment Shirat Haʾazinu describes the consequences of Israel s anticipated betrayal of God. Jeffrey H. Tigay, Deuteronomy, The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1996), 298. First we have Moses introducing the song: Throughout scripture we have a consistent idiom Water =
Page 2 And since Jesus Christ, the Messiah has made the sacrifice for all time, how do we stay holy? For the Jew, it was another sacrifice. For us, it is a piece of furniture Ephesians 5:25 27 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We have another view of water and Moses was there as were Caleb and Joshua and the parents of those who remain Exodus 24:9 10 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. The Throne of God This is our first glimpse of the throne room of the universe A pavement of sapphire as clear as the sky itself Other Views of the Throne Room Ezekiel 1:1 28 Ezekiel 10:1 Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a sapphire stone, in appearance resembling a throne, appeared above them. Isaiah 6 Ezekiel 1:26 From above the canopy, that was spread out over their heads there appeared to be something resembling a throne, resembling sapphire in form. There was the likeness of the appearance of a human being seated on the likeness of the throne high above. (ISV) Daniel 7:9 10 I kept looking until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, its wheels were a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him; thousands upon thousands were attending Him, and
Page 3 myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; the court sat, and the books were opened. Revelation 4:2 4 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads. Revelation 4:5 6 Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. Revelation 21:1 4 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be Revelation 21:1 4 His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. Revelation 22:1 4 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. We in the water of the Word We on the Word We rely on the Word God s throne is His Word It is gentle like rain Yet it wears down God s Word is also our
Page 4 Water can provide sustenance and life Water, under pressure, can also be used to cut metal 2 Samuel 22:1 3 And David spoke the words of this song to the LORD in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said, The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence. Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer. Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. The rock is The picture was to be drawn for us by Moses First at Horeb he struck the rock Christ His death enabled all to partake of living water The second picture was to talk to the rock All we do is confess with our mouth and believe with our heart that He is Lord As a Rock, Jesus Is: An refuge A firm defense A secure resort Everything that God does is good But what about those who go their own way? God now reminds Israel where they came from and how He for them Of all of the nations on earth, God Israel They are highly privileged and highly blessed But as NT believers,.
Page 5 Isaiah 65:1 I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, Here am I, here am I, To a nation which did not call on My name. Romans 5:6 8 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Ephesians 1:3 6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. More detail about the condition of Israel when God came to them He them when no one else did He encircled them with His love He them He protected them He them The apple of the eye refers to the pupil. Those who study such things tell us the fastest reflex in our bodies is that of the eyelid covering the eyeball. If there is an object coming towards your eye, instinctively, intuitively, immediately your eye closes in 1/1000th of a second. So in calling us the apple of His eye, God is saying, When danger is headed your way, I am there to close you in, to take care of you. I treasure and protect you as you would treasure and protect your own eye. Jon Courson, Jon Courson s Application Commentary: Volume One: Genesis Job (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 626. The is the one who did this all He did all of the work for the nation They did not need to do anything Who did all of the work for us? What do we have to do? Jeshurun - Upright; righteous; very upright.
Page 6 1 Corinthians 10:20 24 No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we? All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor. 1 Corinthians 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. It was not enough to follow the God of the universe They were told that He was and they needed to have new gods Two donkey chariot Four slave boat A second house at the lake Tolerance and acceptance of within the fellowship The song continues with the result of turning away from God Who are not a people? Romans 11:25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery so that you will not be wise in your own estimation that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; Romans 11:19 21 You will say then, Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. God is not through with Israel Gentile believers are a of the prophecy in this song of Moses God resolves to bring all of His destructive forces against Israel. The attack by the enemy (v. 21) will be followed by war s natural consequences: famine, disease, and wild animals overrunning devastated territory. Jeffrey H. Tigay, Deuteronomy, The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1996), 308.
Page 7 Ezekiel 14:21 For thus says the Lord GOD, How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, wild beasts and plague to cut off man and beast from it! Verse 31 35 This was the text of the most famous sermon preached in American history. A man named Jonathan Edwards ushered in the Great Awakening with his message entitled, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Jon Courson, Jon Courson s Application Commentary: Volume One: Genesis Job (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 628. In verse 39 we see that I cannot put Him in a box Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand. John 14:9 11 Jesus said to him, Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Here we see the are one We cannot put God in a box What are those things we call attributes or characteristics of this God we love and serve? As we see them, we also see Jesus
Attributes of God Page 8 The last verses of the song point to a future for the nation which is still to come A future that we will see as believers fulfilled in the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ These are the last words of Moses to the nation He is still about He is still about encouragement to the nation All he has left to do is the traditional blessing of the people Past teachings, study notes and slides of Through the Bible with Pastor Ken Brown are available at: www.calvaryword.com/bible