Deuteronomy 34:9-12 - Joshua succeeds Moses

34:9-12
The baton was now passed on to Joshua. Moses had laid his hands on Joshua, signifying the passing on the leadership anointing. Joshua was “full of the spirit of wisdom”. Moses is highlighted as being unique as a prophet, with no one like him since. Deut 18:15-19 shows that Moses knew that eventually one “like him” but also far greater would one day arise, and that prophet was Jesus (who was, of course, more than a prophet). This part of Deuteronomy was added by someone other than Moses, it would be interesting to know the date at which this part was added.  Moses met with God face to face (though he wasn’t actually allowed to see the face of God, but he met with God in ways that the rest of the people did not). He also carried out many signs and wonders. 

Deuteronomy 34:1-8 - The death of Moses

34:1-4
The book now comes to an end, as does the time of Moses. Moses went up to Mount Nebo and was shown the Promised Land. He was shown various aspects of the land. God reminds him that this was the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and  Jacob. Moses is also reminded that he will never go to the land itself. God, of course, had a much greater “Promised Land” in view, and Moses would indeed occupy that land.

34:5-8
So Moses died “according to the word of the Lord”. Everything, even death, is in the hand of the Lord and occurs according to His plan and purpose. Moses was 120 years old. His life was in three forty year chunks (the forty years for each one may be a rounded figure, and not exact). There was his birth and time in the palace of Pharaoh, his time on the run, and then his time of leading Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness. Moses maintained his health throughout this period. The people mourned for thirty days.

Deuteronomy 33:23-29 - Naphtali and Asher

33:23

Naphtali’s blessing is a little longer, and makes a little more sense. He is abounding with favour from the Lord, and so is full of blessing. This is what we are to be like. 

33:24,25

Asher gets a couple of verses. The mention of “let him dip his foot in oil” means let him be wealthy. Olive oil was a symbol of wealth. So the blessing is for him to be wealthy and strong.

33:26-29

The chapter finishes with a general blessing for Israel. It starts with Moses extolling the virtues of God. The greatness of God is the foundation for any good things that we might have. Jeshurun means Israel, and Israel is urged to remember who the Lord is, something they manifestly failed to do. He was their dwelling place, He was the One who provided safety and defeated their enemies. So it is for us. We must never forget this, and Israel’s repeated forgetting of this was the root cause of their downfall.

If only Israel had stuck with the Lord their future would have been so different. Instead we will see repeated failure after failure, defeat after defeat. These are interspersed with periods when they turned to God, or had a good leader, and then they saw the benefits of God, but these periods never lasted long.

Deuteronomy 33:20-22 - Gad and Dan

33:20,21
Gad is seen as a warrior, enlarging his domain. He also carries out the will of the Lord. We see a great variety of blessings and characteristics in all these blessings. As a totality, Israel was meant to represent all these characteristics to the world, and a demonstration of the character of God. We know that in reality she failed miserably, representing quite different characteristics. In Christ the blessings spoken of here will be fulfilled. Note that the church is meant to function as a body. It is only as a body that we represent the fulness of Christ.

33:22
Dan gets a very short piece, “Dan is a lion's cub , springing out of Bashan”. Well that’s all very nice, but what does it mean? The short answer is I haven’t a clue. The commentary by Woods does make some suggestions, but I don’t find them particularly convincing. Dan is omitted from the list of tribes in Rev 7:5-8, possibly because of her idolatry. So where does that leave us? If we take these blessings as only being fulfilled in and through Christ, then we could take it as we lion cubs, i.e. we are offspring of the Lion. This may be a bit speculative, but it is the best I’ve got!

Deuteronomy 33:13-19 - Joseph and Zebulun

33:13-17
Now comes Joseph. Joseph is the one who had been sold into slavery and ended up as “prime minister” of Egypt, and this had resulted in Israel going to Egypt. Originally they enjoyed much favour, but then were subject to severe slavery. In this blessing he is seen as greatly blessed and powerful, and Ephraim and Manasseh are included in this blessing. What are we to make of all these blessings? For in the immediate future while there were some partial fulfilments of aspect so the blessings, the overall result is one of failure. It is only in Christ that we find complete fulfilment, and then in what God is making of us in Christ.

33:18,19
Zebulun and Issachar were the sons of Leah and are often lumped together. “In your going out ... in your tents”. This signifies blessing in the whole of life. Deut 28:6 talks about being blessed when you go out and when you come in. The “going out” is associated with Zebulun and the “coming in” with Issachar. They would summon people to “offer sacrifices of the righteous”. It speaks of peace and blessing.

Deuteronomy 33:9-12 - Levi and Benjamin

33:9-11
The Levites are seen as being devoted to the Lord above their families. Jesus said we must love Him more than our families. And Jesus’ brothers effectively disowned Him on occasion. However, after the resurrection they did believe in Him, most notably James. 
The Levites were to teach the Law to Israel, and were to make fragrant offerings at the altar. Jesus’ sacrifice was the most fragrant offering to God, covering our sins once for all. He also told us to teach all nations His commands. The blessing finishes with a call for God to bless the work of his hands, and to crush his enemies. This can all be applied to Christ.

33:12
Benjamin is another one verser, providing a gap between Levi and Joseph, the two largest blessings. This is a very gentle blessing, calling on Benjamin to rest secure in the Lord, for the Lord “shields him all day long”. The part about resting “between His shoulders” is somewhat reminiscent of John 13:23,25; 21:20.

Deuteronomy 33:7,8 - About Judah and Levi

33:7
Judah also gets only one verse worth of blessing, though it is a slightly longer verse. The blessing is a bit more substantial. Jesus was, humanly speaking, from the tribe of Judah. Judah is to be brought to his people, implying that he was isolated, and then for God to assist him against his foes. If we see this as pointing to Christ, then Christ was isolated from His people, i.e. in the crucifixion. But Christ will return, and Israel will repent and return to Christ.

33:8
Levi is the big winner in the blessing stakes from Moses. “Give to Levi” in the NIV is absent in the ESV, as it is in the Masoretic text. The priestly tribe is seen of increasing importance. In the same way, Christ is vital as our great high priest.  The Thummim was a negative response, and the Urim a positive one. These were used in giving decisions. In neither Exodus nor Numbers is there specific mention of Levi in the incidents referenced here. 

Deuteronomy 33:5,6 - He was king over Jeshurun

33:5
Israel is again referred to as Jeshurun, meaning “upright one”.  God was Israel’s true king. Later in the days of Samuel they would demand a king like the other nations. This was a rejection of God. However, the ultimate king of Israel is Jesus, the Son of God. God will be king of Israel, her true king. The rest of the verse is referring to the leaders and people assembling to hear Moses give the Law to them.

33:6
Reuben was the eldest son, hence his being listed first. To be honest the blessing does not amount to much! There is a wish for the tribe to continue to exist, but to be few in number. Though the latter point is dependent upon the translation. ESV has few in number, NIV has “nor his people be few”, but then has “but let his people be few” in the margin. The great in number version is from the LXX.

Deuteronomy 33:1-4 - The blessings of Moses

33:1
Moses now gives a blessing on each of the tribes of Israel. There are some parallels with Jacob’s blessings to his sons at the end of his life. With Moses the tribe of Levi receives special attention, this is in keeping with the whole tenor of Deuteronomy.

33:2
Moses’ blessings begin with God. Without God and what He has done, what He does and what He will do there is no basis for any blessing whatsoever. This is the only direct mention of Sinai in the book of Deuteronomy, elsewhere it is called Horeb. Seir is Edom, which is where Mount Sinai is. The holy ones are angels. The Jewish tradition is that the law was mediated to Moses via angels, and this may be part of the basis for that tradition.

33:3,4
God loved Israel, which is why the nation existed at all, it is why He brought them out of captivity in Egypt, and why He led them to the Promised Land. Holy ones here refers to the people of Israel. NIV says they fell down at God’s feet, while ESV has “followed”. They received instruction from the Lord. This was the Law that Moses gave them. It is described as a possession for the “assembly of Jacob”. The Law should have been valued, similarly we should value the gospel, and not corrupt it.

Deuteronomy 32:39-52 - Time to die

32:39-42
Then they would realise that the Lord is the only God. He is the One who gives life and takes it away. He is the one who wounds and heals. “No one can deliver out of my hand”, see also John 17:12. Israel would suffer judgement for a time, but those who attacked Israel would also suffer the wrath of God.

32:43-47
“Rejoice, you nations, with His people” Why should the nations rejoice? They could either fight the Lord or share in His salvation. This is still the choice for all peoples on earth. The Lord would “take vengeance on His enemies”, and “make atonement for His land and people”. It is only in the light of the New Testament that we can begin to fully understand the Old Testament.
Moses spoke all these words to the people, they were to learn the words of this song. They were not just words, but life. The word of the Lord gives life.

32:48-52
Moses is now about to die, but is allowed to see the land of Canaan. So God tells him to go up Mount Nebo. There he would die, but not before viewing Canaan. God also reminds Moses of the reason that he is not being allowed to enter the Promised Land.

Deuteronomy 32:34-38 - It is mine to avenge

32:34,35
While the onslaught against Israel would be great, it would not last forever. For God had plans kept in reserve, sealed in His vaults. In Rom 9-11 Paul describes it as God’s mystery, beyond human comprehension. This was God’s plan of salvation. There would be a day of vengeance against those who attacked Israel.

32:36-38
The wrath of the Lord against Israel will not last forever, the Lord will vindicate His people. “When He sees that their strength is gone”. Why wait so long? The purpose is not just to “rescue” them, but to change them. So he lets them get to a point where they finally realise that the gods they trusted in were useless. Likewise, the gospel is not just about “not going to hell”, it is about making us like Christ. They had offered all sorts of things to the gods, but to no avail.

Deuteronomy 32:23-33 - I will heap calamities on them

32:23-27
We now get a graphic description of how this will work out. There will be calamities, war, famine and pestilence, along with wild animals and vipers. We should note that these things happened to Israel and Judah. However, at the end of this we get a ray of hope, “I dreaded the taunt of the enemy”. God would not completely destroy, for the sake of His Name. Now some might say that this is egotistical on God’s part, but consider the way that God has dealt with the problem of sin. He sent His own Son to die on the cross for us.

32:28-33
We now get another poetic description of the state of Israel, and indeed of all mankind. We are a people without sense or discernment. Israel had seen how God had miraculously provided for them, and protected them. Setting them free from Egypt, taking them through the Red Sea. This happened to no other people. So the disasters that would come upon them could only come if God had turned against them. The people attacking them were like Sodom and Gomorrah.

Deuteronomy 32:19-22 - The Lord saw this and rejected them

32:19-21
The people rejected God, so God rejected the people. This is the antithesis of the Biblical hope “they will be my people and I will be their God”. The people would then see what life was like without the Lord. But this was not a plan for eternal rejection, for in 32:21 it says “I will make them envious by a nation that has no understanding”. In Rom 10:19 Paul sees this as being fulfilled in God taking the gospel to the Gentiles. 

32:22
The wrath of God will be great. A common objection is “how can a God of love send people to hell”, or something along these lines. And a common response to this is to dispel the idea of hell. We should note that the Bible gives us no grounds whatsoever for this. We have to take the wrath of God seriously, otherwise we are not taking God seriously. We need to consider both the sternness and kindness of God (Rom 11:22).

Deuteronomy 32:15-18 - Jeshrun grew fat and kicked

32:15
“Jeshurun” means “the upright one” and is probably an ironic reference to Israel. She was filled with all this good food and then thought that she could manage without God. Most of the West thinks that it can manage just fine without the Lord. So they abandoned God, the one who created them, and the one who was their saviour. This was a foolish thing to do, yet we do it all the time.

32:16-18
Having rejected the Lord, they turned to foreign worthless idols, and made the Lord jealous. They made sacrifices to these gods. This was utter foolishness, for these idols were worthless, totally unable to help Israel. Their ancestors (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) had not known these gods” So they deserted the Lord their God, the one they were actually totally dependent upon for everything.

Deuteronomy 32:10-14 - In a desert land He found him

32:10-12
This section describes how Israel came about. The Lord found them in a barren wasteland. This probably refers to Israel in captivity in Egypt, though I suppose it could refer to God first choosing Abraham. God looked after the people, protecting them. He did this as if they were the “apple of His eye”. We are precious to God. The Lord led them and protected them. No foreign god nor idol did this, yet Israel turned to idols, claiming they had set them free. The first example of this is the golden calf incident.

32:13,14
“He made him ride on the heights of the land”. This is describing Israel’s state before they rejected the Lord. The people were fed and nourished by the Lord, they were richly provided for. We often think that the Lord will not provide (though we probably won’t admit that that is what we are thinking). Our God is a God who provides, and does so richly. He is also an enabling God. We do not just receive provision from Him, but we receive capabilities.

Deuteronomy 32:6-9 - Remember the days of old

32:6
“Is this the way you repay the Lord?” This applies especially to Israel, who would not exist as a nation at all unless God had created them. They would not have been in the Promised Land if God had not given it to them. Likewise, none of us would exist unless God had created us, we would not have planet Earth unless God had created it. We are utterly and completely dependent upon Him. Yet, how do we repay the Lord?

32:7-9
“Remember the days of old”. This is written for future generations, urging them to look back, to look to the history of Israel. The Lord allocated the various parts of Israel to the tribes. “The Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob His allotted inheritance”. We belong to the Lord. If we are to view ourselves and to view life properly we need to remember who we belong to.

Deuteronomy 32:4,5 - He is the Rock

32:4
Jesus is the Rock. He is the foundation on which we must build. His works are perfect, no one else's. And all His ways are just. If we want justice then we need to have Jesus. And it is Jesus who comes first, not the justice. He is a faithful God who does no wrong.  He is upright and just. So if we ever imagine that God is unjust, or that some of His ways are wrong we can be absolutely sure that it is we who are wrong, not God.

32:5
The “they” here must be the people of Israel. They are described as “corrupt”, “a warped and crooked generation”. One of the amazing things about the Bible is that it is absolutely clear about the nature of Israel, and it is not kind to them! If the Old Testament was a man-made book, who would write it? Surely not the Israelites for it does them no favours. The Bible is God inspired, telling the truth about Israel, and all mankind.

Deuteronomy 32:1-3 - Listen, you heavens

32:1
We now come to the song that was heralded in the previous chapter. It is interesting that God provides a song to emphasise the message. We often remember songs more readily than prose. While the primary purpose of the song is as a witness to the people, it is also a witness to the whole of creation, the heavens and the earth. In Rom 8:19-22 we read of creation being subjected to frustration and waiting for the sons of God to be revealed. The best thing a person can do for the environment is to repent and believe.

32:2
Jesus said that He came here to teach (see Mark’s gospel). It is the words and teaching of Jesus that bring life. So God’s teaching is to fall like rain, abundant rain. It is the word of God that gives life.

32:3
So Moses will proclaim the name of the Lord. What do we think has the greatest impact on society? We often make mistakes, whether on the left or the right. Some will claim it is environmentalism, racial quality, or social justice, others will think it is “make America great again”. It is only the name of the Lord that will save our society. We need to repent and believe. We need to proclaim and praise the greatness of our God.

Deuteronomy 31:24-30 - I know how rebellious you are

31:24-26

Moses wrote this book, a fact attested to by Jesus. Moses then gave instructions to the Levites, the book was to be placed in the ark of the covenant. The Law was a witness against the people. Why so? Because the Law set out a path to prosperity and well being, if they obeyed the Law then all would be well with them, but if they departed from the Law then disaster would come upon them. The people were without excuse. We should note that the Lord never envisaged that the Law was a way of salvation, rather “through the Law we become conscious of our sin”.

31:27-30

Moses knew and understood the nature of the people, they were “rebellious and stiff-necked”. Moses knew that this would not change after he died, indeed they would be even worse. All the people were to be assembled together to hear all the words of the Law. Moses finishes these words with a damning criticism of the hearts of the people. And in the next chapter we will get the song.

Deuteronomy 31:21-23 - I myself will be with you

31:21,22

The purpose of the song, which we get in the next chapter, is as a testimony against the people, and a prod for them to realise why they are in such a mess, and so to repent and turn back to the Lord. “I know what they are disposed to do”. The apostasy of the people is not foreordained in the sense of fatalism. It was part of God’s plan, but the people were responsible for their actions.

31:23

The Lord has told Joshua some pretty discouraging things. So now the Lord encourages him. He is told to be “strong and courageous”. And is then assured that he will bring the Israelites into the Promised Land, the land promised to them by the Lord on oath. And the Lord promises to be with Joshua. Now knowing the direction the people would inevitably go in, why did the Lord bother to bring them into the Promised Land at all?