Deuteronomy 32 Bible Study

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By Ken Bryan

Setting the Stage for Deut. 32

The Speaker:  Moses, the man who:

–  Led a revolt vs. the world’s greatest power

–  Wrote more Scripture than anyone else

–  Led the nation for 40 years

–  Spoke directly to God

–  Is the greatest man of faith of the OT

–  Performed more miracles than any other

–  Appeared at the transfiguration

The Occasion:

–  He is about to die (31:14)

–  Joshua has been appointed successor (v. 14)

–  He knows what will when he dies (vv. 16-17)

–  THEREFORE (v. 19)…

“Write this song”

“Put it on their lips”

…for “I know their intent” (v. 21)

The Song:

–  On the one hand, God

–  On the other hand, men

On the One Hand…God

1"Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak;
And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

2"Let my teaching drop as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
As the droplets on the fresh grass
And as the showers on the herb.

3"For I proclaim the name of the LORD;
Ascribe greatness to our God!

4"The Rock! His work is perfect,
For all His ways are just;
A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
Righteous and upright is He.

On the Other Hand…Us

5"They have acted corruptly toward Him,
They are not His children, because of their defect;
But are a perverse and crooked generation.

6"Do you thus repay the LORD,
O foolish and unwise people?

    Is not He your Father who has bought you?
He has made you and established you.

7"Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of all generations.
Ask your father, and he will inform you,
Your elders, and they will tell you.

God…Found Us Hopeless…

8"When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
When He separated the sons of man,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
According to the number of the sons of Israel.

9"For the LORD'S portion is His people;
Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.

10"He found him in a desert land,
And in the howling waste of a wilderness;
He encircled him, He cared for him,
He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.

God Alone…Protected Us…

11"Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
That hovers over its young,
He spread His wings and caught them,
He carried them on His pinions.

12"The LORD alone guided him,
And there was no foreign god with him.
 

God Alone…Provided For Us…

13"He made him ride on the high places of the earth,
And he ate the produce of the field;
And He made him suck honey from the rock,
And oil from the flinty rock,

14Curds of cows, and milk of the flock,
With fat of lambs,
And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats,
With the finest of the wheat--
And of the blood of grapes you drank wine.
 

And We Responded…How?

15"But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked--
You are grown fat, thick, and sleek--
Then he forsook God who made him,
And scorned the Rock of his salvation.

16"They made Him jealous with strange gods;
With abominations they provoked Him to anger.

17"They sacrificed to demons who were not God,
To gods whom they have not known,
New gods who came lately,
Whom your fathers did not dread.

Stop and Make Application

The People:

But God is Immutable, He Doesn’t Change

Divine Attributes

Immutability: God is always the same. He does not change.

Malachi 3.6 “For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.”

Do We Forget He Loves Us?

18"You neglected the Rock who begot you,
And forgot the God who gave you birth.

Application:

Divine Attributes

Love: He desires His will and therefore His best for mankind.

1 John 4.8 “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is Love.”

Do We Think He Doesn’t See?

19"The LORD saw this, and spurned them
Because of the provocation of His sons and daughters.

20"Then He said, 'I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end shall be;
For they are a perverse generation,
Sons in whom is no faithfulness.

Application

Divine Attributes

Omniscience: God knows everything past, present, and future.

1 John 3.20 “in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.”

Do We Honor Our King?

21'They have made Me jealous with what is not God;
They have provoked Me to anger with their idols
So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation,

Application:

Divine Attributes

Sovereignty: He has the will and right to make decisions.

Psalms 135.6 “Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.”

Do We Understand His Power?

22For a fire is kindled in My anger,
And burns to the lowest part of Sheol,
And consumes the earth with its yield,
And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23'I will heap misfortunes…I will use My arrows…

24'They will be wasted…and consumed…

25'Outside the sword will bereave,
And inside terror--
Both young man and virgin,
The nursling with the man of gray hair.

26'I would have said, "I will cut them to pieces,
I will remove the memory of them from men,“

Am I trusting God’s power…and am I in awe of it in my life?

Divine Attributes

Omnipotence: God is able to do anything.

Psalm 147.5 “Great is our Lord, and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.”

Enemies Know He is Righteous

27Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy,
That their adversaries would misjudge,
That they would say, "Our hand is triumphant,
And the LORD has not done all this."'

31"Indeed their rock is not like our Rock,
Even our enemies themselves judge this.
 

Do We?

28"For they are a nation lacking in counsel,
And there is no understanding in them.

29"Would that they were wise, that they understood this, That they would discern their future!

30"How could one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Unless their Rock had sold them,
And the LORD had given them up?
 

Do we remember that judgment begins with the household of God?

Divine Attributes

Justice: Justice expresses God’s Holiness toward His creation.

Psalm 9.8 “And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.”

What Do Morals Say About Us?

32"For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,
And from the fields of Gomorrah;
Their grapes are grapes of poison,
Their clusters, bitter.
 

Are we set apart and pure or have we adopted the values of the culture around us?

Divine Attributes

Holiness: He is perfect righteousness.

Psalm 99.9 “Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy hill; for holy is the Lord our God.”

Do We Speak Truth and Wisdom?

33"Their wine is the venom of serpents,
And the deadly poison of cobras.

Is our speech seasoned with salt or venom?

Divine Attributes

Veracity: What God says is certain, correct, and dependable.

Titus 1.2 “in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,”

Do We Understand Time?

34'Is it not laid up in store with Me,
Sealed up in My treasuries?

35'Vengeance is Mine, and retribution,
In due time their foot will slip;
For the day of their calamity is near,
And the impending things are hastening upon them.'

36"For the LORD will vindicate His people,
And will have compassion on His servants,
When He sees that their strength is gone,
And there is none remaining, bond or free.

Application

What am I sealing up in His eternal treasuries?  Am I investing in eternity? 

Divine Attributes

Eternal Life: God has always existed and will always exist.

Psalm 90.2 “Before the mountains were born, or Thou didst give birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.”

Where’s God?  Everywhere.

37"And He will say, 'Where are their gods,
The rock in which they sought refuge?

38'Who 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 hiding place!

Divine Attributes

Omnipresence : There is no place where God is not present.

Psalm 139.7 “Where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee from Thy presence.”

Is It Really About His Attributes?

39'See now (VERACITY)

    that I, I am He (ETERNAL LIFE, IMMUTABILITY), –         

    And there is no god besides Me (uniqueness); –

    It is I who put to death and give life (OMNIPOTENCE)

    I have wounded (JUSTICE)

    and it is I who heal (LOVE)

    And there is no one who can deliver from My hand. – (OMNIPOTENCE)

40'Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven – (OMNIPRESENCE)

    And say, as I live forever, – (ETERNAL LIFE)

41If I sharpen My flashing sword, – (SOVEREIGNTY, RIGHTEOUSNESS)

    And My hand takes hold on justice, – (JUSTICE)

    I will render vengeance on My adversaries – (JUSTICE, OMNIPOTENCE)

    And I will repay (JUSTICE)

    those who hate Me. – (OMNISCIENCE)

Or Is This About Your Life?

46he (Moses) said to them, "Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law.

47"For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life…