Deuteronomy32

Moses' song in Deuteronomy 32 begins by extolling God's perfect character as the Rock and His faithful care for Israel, whom He chose and nourished. However, Israel, described as Jeshurun, grew rebellious, forsaking God for idols, thus provoking divine wrath and judgment. Despite the impending punishments, God declares His ultimate sovereignty and promises future vengeance on His enemies while showing mercy to His people. The chapter concludes with Moses being commanded to ascend Mount Nebo to view the promised land before his death, as he is forbidden to enter due to past transgression.

Invocation and Introduction to the Song

1
Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth. ​
2
My doctrine will drop as the rain. My speech will condense as the dew, as the misty rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb. ​
3
For I will proclaim the LORD’s name. Ascribe greatness to our God!
4
The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness who does no wrong, just and right is he. ​

Israel’s Corruption and Ingratitude

5
They have dealt corruptly with him. They are not his children, because of their defect. They are a perverse and crooked generation. ​
6
Is this the way you repay the LORD, foolish and unwise people? Isn’t he your father who has bought you? He has made you and established you.
7
Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you.
8
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the children of men, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. ​
9
For the LORD’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
10
He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He surrounded him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye. ​
11
As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, he spread abroad his wings, he took them, he bore them on his feathers. ​
12
The LORD alone led him. There was no foreign god with him.
13
He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock;
14
butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the finest of the wheat. From the blood of the grape, you drank wine.

Jeshurun Rebels Against the Rock

15
But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation. ​
16
They moved him to jealousy with strange gods. They provoked him to anger with abominations.
17
They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they didn’t know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers didn’t dread. ​
18
Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth.

God Declares Judgment

19
The LORD saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. ​
20
He said, “I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.
21
They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. ​
22
For a fire is kindled in my anger, that burns to the lowest Sheol, devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire. ​
23
“I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them.
24
They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, with the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.
25
Outside the sword will bereave, and in the rooms, terror; on both young man and virgin, the nursing infant with the gray-haired man.

God’s Mercy and the Enemy’s Folly

26
I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men; ​
27
were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, ‘Our hand is exalted, The LORD has not done all this.’”
28
For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them.
29
Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
30
How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had delivered them up? ​
31
For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves concede. ​
32
For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poison grapes. Their clusters are bitter.
33
Their wine is the poison of serpents, the cruel venom of asps.

The Lord’s Vengeance and Sovereignty

34
“Isn’t this laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures? ​
35
Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.” ​
36
For the LORD will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone; that there is no one remaining, shut up or left at large. ​
37
He will say, “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge;
38
which ate the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you! Let them be your protection.
39
“See now that I myself am he. There is no god with me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand. ​
40
For I lift up my hand to heaven and declare, as I live forever,
41
if I sharpen my glittering sword, my hand grasps it in judgment; I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will repay those who hate me.
42
I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy.”
43
Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries, and will make atonement for his land and for his people. ​

Exhortation and Moses’ Final Charge

44
Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun. ​
45
Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel.
46
He said to them, “Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you this day, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.
47
For it is no vain thing for you; because it is your life, and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land, where you go over the Jordan to possess it.” ​

The Lord Instructs Moses to Die

48
The LORD spoke to Moses that same day, saying, ​
49
“Go up into this mountain of Abarim, to Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is across from Jericho; and see the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel for a possession.
50
Die on the mountain where you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor, and was gathered to his people;
51
because you trespassed against me in the midst of the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you didn’t uphold my holiness in the midst of the children of Israel. ​
52
For you shall see the land from a distance; but you shall not go there into the land which I give the children of Israel.”

Study Notes for Deuteronomy 32

Verse 1

Moses calls upon the heavens and the earth to act as witnesses to the declarations of the covenant, a common motif in ancient Near Eastern treaty documents.

Verse 2

This verse uses powerful nature metaphors (rain, dew) to describe the life-giving and refreshing nature of divine instruction (doctrine), contrasting it sharply with the harshness of the wilderness.

Verse 4

The title 'He is the Rock' (Hebrew: *Tsur*) is a central theme of this song, emphasizing God’s reliability, permanence, justice, and faithfulness, contrasting Him with the fleeting nature of idols.

Verse 5

The phrase 'their spot is not the spot of his children' signifies that Israel's moral corruption has led to a fundamental theological estrangement, behaving in a manner inconsistent with God’s people.

Verse 8

This verse provides a crucial theological statement: while God dispersed all nations, He set their boundaries specifically in relation to the future inheritance of Israel, underscoring Israel's unique status as God's chosen portion.

Verse 10

This passage describes God's tender care for Israel in the wilderness, using imagery of intimate guidance, instruction, and protection ('kept him as the apple of his eye').

Verse 11

The metaphor of the eagle illustrates God’s diligent, protective, and training role, teaching Israel how to rely on Him and eventually carry them safely to their destination.

Verse 15

'Jeshurun' (meaning 'the upright one') is a poetic and ironic name for Israel. This verse describes the danger of prosperity leading to arrogance and apostasy, where the people 'waxed fat, and kicked' against their Deliverer.

Verse 17

The objects of Israel’s worship are identified as 'devils' (*shedim*), highlighting the demonic nature underlying the worship of foreign gods, who were 'new gods' whom the ancestors did not acknowledge.

Verse 19

God’s response to Israel’s apostasy is deep displeasure and 'abhorrence.' This is not mere anger, but a profound rejection of the covenant relationship due to the people’s provocation.

Verse 21

God promises reciprocal judgment: just as Israel provoked God with 'no-gods' (idols), God will provoke Israel using a 'no-people' (a foolish, insignificant, or Gentile nation) to execute judgment.

Verse 22

The judgment is described as a catastrophic fire reaching the foundations of the earth and the 'lowest hell' (*Sheol*), emphasizing the depth and totality of God’s wrath.

Verse 26

God reveals His internal deliberation. He considers utter annihilation but holds back out of concern that Israel's enemies would arrogantly claim victory for themselves rather than attributing the judgment to Yahweh.

Verse 30

This rhetorical question emphasizes that Israel’s military success or failure is entirely dependent on God. Their future defeats will prove that God Himself 'sold them' into the enemy's hands.

Verse 31

Even the enemies of Israel concede the superiority of Yahweh ('our Rock') compared to their own deities, confirming the justice of God’s actions.

Verse 34

God asserts that He keeps a meticulous record of all human actions, implying that judgment is stored up and will be delivered precisely when He deems fit.

Verse 35

This foundational verse, quoted in Romans 12:19 and Hebrews 10:30, establishes that vengeance belongs exclusively to the sovereign God, assuring Israel that their oppressors will inevitably suffer recompense.

Verse 36

The judgment serves a redemptive purpose; God will 'repent himself' (show compassion) for His servants when they are completely helpless and their power is exhausted, leading to final vindication.

Verse 39

This is a profound declaration of absolute monotheism and omnipotence: Yahweh alone is God. He possesses the exclusive power over life, death, wounding, and healing, demonstrating His unmatched sovereignty.

Verse 43

This call for the nations (Gentiles) to rejoice with Israel anticipates the universal scope of God's final redemption, where He will avenge His people and show mercy to His land.

Verse 44

This verse marks the transition from the Song itself to its delivery and application. Hoshea (Joshua) is mentioned alongside Moses, highlighting his role as the immediate successor and witness to the Law.

Verse 47

Moses powerfully stresses that the Law is not a trivial matter but 'your life.' Obedience to these commands is the means by which Israel will secure and prolong their existence in the promised land.

Verse 48

The final section of the chapter shifts to God's direct command concerning Moses' fate, separating the leader from the people before they enter Canaan.

Verse 51

God explicitly recalls the sin at Meribah-Kadesh (Numbers 20:10-13), where Moses failed to 'sanctify' God by striking the rock rather than speaking to it, resulting in the penalty of not entering the land.

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