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NOTES for Deu 32:26-52

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26 I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
27 Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the LORD hath not done all this.
28 For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.
29 O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
30 How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?
31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.
32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:
33 Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.
34 Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?
35 To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
36 For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.
37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,
38 Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection.
39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.
41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.
43 Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.
44 And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun.
45 And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel:
46 And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.
47 For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
48 And the LORD spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying,
49 Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:
50 And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:
51 Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.
52 Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.
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In the song whose words were given to Moses and Joshua at the Tabernacle, a sorrowful truth about the future is revealed to them. God's people will inevitably fall prey to self-deception and pride in their achievements. Almost every success will tempt them to claim the laurels of victory for themselves. This “psychological” trait—which in fact is sinful—is characteristic of nearly everyone: in a moment of danger God becomes our only salvation, but as soon as we receive that salvation, we instantly forget God. More than that, we take pride in our own talents and strength, cultivating our own personality. And when it is plainly impossible to attribute success to ourselves, we thank happy fortune—a pagan deity whom the Romans called Fortuna. There is only one way to combat such paganism within ourselves: to acknowledge that all our successes and victories come from God, and therefore to give thanks.

Other notes

 
For Deu 32:26-52
26 I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
27 Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the LORD hath not done all this.
28 For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.
29 O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
30 How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?
31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.
32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:
33 Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.
34 Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?
35 To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
36 For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.
37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,
38 Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection.
39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.
41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.
43 Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.
44 And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun.
45 And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel:
46 And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.
47 For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
48 And the LORD spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying,
49 Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:
50 And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:
51 Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.
52 Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.
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The fate of the people on the land promised to them by God depends on their spiritual condition. That is the main message of the hymn we find in the closing part of the Book of Deuteronomy...  Read more

The fate of the people on the land promised to them by God depends on their spiritual condition. That is the main message of the hymn we find in the closing part of the Book of Deuteronomy. If the external events of Jewish history always reflected the spiritual condition of the people, they would have lost their land very quickly, which is exactly what the hymn says.

Here we hear a truth well known to us from the New Testament books, and known to the Jews even before the coming of Christ: fallen man, by definition, deserves nothing good. This is not because he must necessarily be punished for sins, but because he is not capable of earning anything. To earn something, one must serve, serve God, and serve Him as He should be served. In other words, one must do what no one in the fallen state can do or knows how to do, and often, deep in the heart, does not especially want to do, although few believers are ready to admit this to themselves.

The people of God are no exception. They are God's people not by virtue of any national characteristics, not because the laws of the fallen world do not apply to them, but because God has a special plan for them, which God carries out despite all obstacles. If the people can remain on their land for any length of time, it is only because God is working with them on that land, trying to make them into the communal people He intended. Without this work, the catastrophe known as the Babylonian captivity could have happened much earlier.

God does not punish the people for their sins; the people punish themselves by coming face to face with the consequences of their choices and their actions. God, on the contrary, slows the arrival of those consequences as much as possible, but only to the extent that such slowing fits into His own plans. In the end the moment will come when the formation of the people as a community will require the people to meet the consequences of their spiritual choice face to face, and then catastrophe will break out.

For now, at the time the hymn mentioned above was written, alternatives are still possible. The catastrophe could perhaps still be avoided altogether, but of course only on the condition of focused and consistent spiritual work, which is what the Book of Deuteronomy, and the whole Torah with it, speaks about.

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For Deu 32:39
39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
Hide
It would seem obvious. How could it be otherwise? There is only one God, and there is no other. And He is almighty; He can do everything He wants: punish and forgive, exalt and humble, strike and heal. And no one has power to shield us from His hand. We seem to understand all this...  Read more

It would seem obvious. How could it be otherwise? There is only one God, and there is no other. And He is almighty; He can do everything He wants: punish and forgive, exalt and humble, strike and heal. And no one has power to shield us from His hand. We seem to understand all this.

But in practice we act as though something else guides us. As though this completely free, completely sovereign choice of God can somehow be influenced. We search for some "other powers," occult or "scientific"; we search for some unalterable omens; we search for protection from God in the "mediation" of other people, apparently thinking that they can love us more than God does. With all this we are trying somehow to bind God, to lessen His freedom to deal with us as He wants.

We simply do not trust Him and want a fallback. Here is the main reason: distrust of God, unbelief in His absolute goodness. What else do we need in order to entrust ourselves to Him? To the One who gave His own Son for the sake of our salvation.

Hide
 
For Deu 32:39
39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
Hide
One would think, well of course! And how could it be otherwise? There is only one God, and there is nobody else. And He is almighty; He can do everything He wants: punish and forgive, exalt and humiliate, wound and heal. And nobody has power to protect us from His hands...  Read more

One would think, well of course! And how could it be otherwise? There is only one God, and there is nobody else. And He is almighty; He can do everything He wants: punish and forgive, exalt and humiliate, wound and heal. And nobody has power to protect us from His hands. It would seem that we understand all this. But there is an impression that we are inspired in practice of something else. As if we could influence somehow this God's completely free, absolutely sovereign choice. We look for some kind of" other strengths ", occult or "scientific", we look for some kind of irrevocable signs, we look for God’s protection through " the mediation" of other people, believing probably that they can love us more than God. With all this, we try somehow "to tie" God, to reduce His freedom to act with us as He wants. Probably, we simply don’t trust Him and we want to assure ourselves. Well, it seems that we located the main reason: the mistrust of God, incredulity in His absolute kindness. Well, what we still need to trust Him? The One Who gave His Son for our salvation.

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