Chapter 31
Deuteronomy 31:2 And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.
There comes a time when it’s over. A man has got to know his limitations
Deuteronomy 31:4 And the LORD shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed.
There’s that Sihon and Og again. Oh how I want God fight my battles. I want my enemies to be as Sihon and Og. I want my temptations and failures to be as Sihon and Og; utterly destroyed.
Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
I think this is really one of the first times you hear these type of encouraging words. I think. Good words.
Deuteronomy 31:11 When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
The place which he shall choose. God has a place. We can choose a place, but God has a place. God is everywhere? Yeah yeah yeah. God has a place that HE has chosen.
Thou shalt read this law before all. Read the law. Read the law. His delight shall be in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Deuteronomy 31:13 And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
Children know nothing and must be taught everything. They must hear the word of God. They must hear good preaching.
Deuteronomy 31:16-18 And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. (17) Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? (18) And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.
This must have been very difficult for Joshua to have to hear all this. I mean why go forward if you know all will fall? That must have been hard.
Deuteronomy 31:19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.
Song? It doesn’t sing very well. I’d love to hear the tune that this was sung to.
Chapter 32
Deuteronomy 32:7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.
You look at some churches today and there are no elders. Too many young pastors. The bible says that a bishop should have his children in subjection. Nowadays, bishops haven’t even had children. I question the wisdom of that. But what are people to do. It’s like there’s generations just missing.
Deuteronomy 32:15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
15) Jeshurun is a diminutive—a term of endearment. Either “the child of the upright,” or “the beloved Israel.” Ellicott’s Commentary
This is the first time it’s used. Very interesting. Names. I’ve got a new name written up in glory and it’s mine.
Deuteronomy 32:20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.
Faith, what Abraham found(ed). Faith. God’s way has always been by faith.
Deuteronomy 32:21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
Is this a reference to the church. For God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.
Deuteronomy 32:22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
The lowest hell… That’s some serious stuff, huh? That’s pretty angry.
Deuteronomy 32:25 The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.
The thoroughness again of God’s judgment.
Deuteronomy 32:29 O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
Deuteronomy 8:16 Thy latter end…
I wrote this and the latter end is good. God has a good latter end. But this latter end is not good. There is a latter end, whether it be good or bad.
Deuteronomy 32:47 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.
It’s not a vain thing to hearken unto God. To keep his commandments, to read his law, seek his face, to know his will and to follow him, to love him with all your heart, soul, and might. It’s not vain.
It is your life. This must be our life. God must be our life. If it’s not, something is wrong. What’s wrong? You’re lost most likely. If you’re saved, then you’re not right. He must be your life. Anything else will be your death.
Chapter 33
Deuteronomy 33:5 And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together.
There’s Jeshurun again. Moses was king in Jeshurun
Deuteronomy 33:8 And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;
The words “Urim and Thummim” mean literally, “lights and perfections,” or, if the plural be one of dignity, “light and perfection”
The words may be read thus: And thou shalt give, or add, to the breast-plate of judgment, the illuminations and perfections, and they shall be upon the heart of Aaron — That is, he shall be endued with a power of knowing and making known the mind of God in all difficult cases, relative either to the civil or ecclesiastical state.
This Urim and Thummim, whatever they were, and in whatever way the will of God was made known by them, were no more than a shadow of good things to come, and the substance is Christ.
Wow, so after reading all the commentaries on the Urim and the Thummim, it is clear that nobody really know what they are. Some say it was some thing that God gave them. Some say it was 12 stones. Some don’t say. Nobody know. Wow! They should very much to me like an anointing to make one wise and enlightened. Sounds like the Holy Ghost to me.
Deuteronomy 33:22 And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.
Bashan again.
Deuteronomy 33:26 There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.
Jeshurun again, the people of Israel. That’s their name. Odd, 3Xs already.
Chapter 34
Deuteronomy 34:1-3 And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, (2) And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, (3) And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.
I wonder what you can see from Mount Pisgah. Need pictures.
Deuteronomy 34:7 And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.
One strong dude. Lester Roloff believed that this was God’s will for all to be healthy.
Deuteronomy 34:8 And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
Time to move on. Moses was important, but weeping and mourning must come to an end. Insensitive? No. In heaven, God will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more sorrow.
Deuteronomy 34:10 And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
Knowing God face to face. How we need that today.