Moses’ Song Warns and Teaches Israel

Deuteronomy 31:30 Then Moses recited the words of this song from start to finish in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel. 32:1 Listen, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. 32:2 My teaching will drop like the rain, my sayings will drip like the dew, as rain drops upon the grass, and showers upon new growth. 32:3 For I will proclaim the name of the Lord; you must acknowledge the greatness of our God. 32:4 As for the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. He is a reliable God who is never unjust, he is fair and upright. 32:5 His people have been unfaithful to him; they have not acted like his children – this is their sin. They are a perverse and deceitful generation. 32:6 Is this how you repay the Lord, you foolish, unwise people? Is he not your father, your creator? He has made you and established you. 32:7 Remember the ancient days; bear in mind the years of past generations. Ask your father and he will inform you, your elders, and they will tell you. 32:8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided up humankind, he set the boundaries of the peoples, according to the number of the heavenly assembly. 32:9 For the Lord’s allotment is his people, Jacob is his special possession. 32:10 The Lord found him in a desolate land, in an empty wasteland where animals howl. He continually guarded him and taught him; he continually protected him like the pupil of his eye. 32:11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, so the Lord spread out his wings and took him, he lifted him up on his pinions. 32:12 The Lord alone was guiding him, no foreign god was with him. 32:13 He enabled him to travel over the high terrain of the land, and he ate of the produce of the fields. He provided honey for him from the cliffs, and olive oil from the hardest of rocks, 32:14 butter from the herd and milk from the flock, along with the fat of lambs, rams and goats of Bashan, along with the best of the kernels of wheat; and from the juice of grapes you drank wine. Israel’s Rebellion 32:15 But Jeshurun became fat and kicked, you got fat, thick, and stuffed! Then he deserted the God who made him, and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt. 32:16 They made him jealous with other gods, they enraged him with abhorrent idols. 32:17 They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods they had not known; to new gods who had recently come along, gods your ancestors had not known about. 32:18 You have forgotten the Rock who fathered you, and put out of mind the God who gave you birth. 32:19 But the Lord took note and despised them because his sons and daughters enraged him. 32:20 He said, “I will reject them, I will see what will happen to them; for they are a perverse generation, children who show no loyalty. 32:21 They have made me jealous with false gods, enraging me with their worthless gods; so I will make them jealous with a people they do not recognize, with a nation slow to learn I will enrage them. 32:22 For a fire has been kindled by my anger, and it burns to lowest Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and ignites the foundations of the mountains. 32:23 I will increase their disasters, I will use up my arrows on them. 32:24 They will be starved by famine, eaten by plague, and bitterly stung; I will send the teeth of wild animals against them, along with the poison of creatures that crawl in the dust. 32:25 The sword will make people childless outside, and terror will do so inside; they will destroy both the young man and the virgin, the infant and the gray-haired man. 32:26 “I said, ‘I want to cut them in pieces. I want to make people forget they ever existed. 32:27 But I fear the reaction of their enemies, for their adversaries would misunderstand and say, “Our power is great, and the Lord has not done all this!”’ 32:28 They are a nation devoid of wisdom, and there is no understanding among them. 32:29 I wish that they were wise and could understand this, and that they could comprehend what will happen to them.” 32:30 How can one man chase a thousand of them, and two pursue ten thousand; unless their Rock had delivered them up, and the Lord had handed them over? 32:31 For our enemies’ rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede. 32:32 For their vine is from the stock of Sodom, and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes contain venom, their clusters of grapes are bitter. 32:33 Their wine is snakes’ poison, the deadly venom of cobras. 32:34 “Is this not stored up with me?” says the Lord, “Is it not sealed up in my storehouses? 32:35 I will get revenge and pay them back at the time their foot slips; for the day of their disaster is near, and the impending judgment is rushing upon them!” 32:36 The Lord will judge his people, and will change his plans concerning his servants; when he sees that their power has disappeared, and that no one is left, whether confined or set free. 32:37 He will say, “Where are their gods, the rock in whom they sought security, 32:38 who ate the best of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise and help you; let them be your refuge! 32:39 “See now that I, indeed I, am he!” says the Lord, “and there is no other god besides me. I kill and give life, I smash and I heal, and none can resist my power. 32:40 For I raise up my hand to heaven, and say, ‘As surely as I live forever, 32:41 I will sharpen my lightning-like sword, and my hand will grasp hold of the weapon of judgment; I will execute vengeance on my foes, and repay those who hate me! 32:42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword will devour flesh – the blood of the slaughtered and captured, the chief of the enemy’s leaders!’” 32:43 Cry out, O nations, with his people, for he will avenge his servants’ blood; he will take vengeance against his enemies, and make atonement for his land and people. 32:44 Then Moses went with Joshua son of Nun and recited all the words of this song to the people. 32:45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel 32:46 he said to them, “Keep in mind all the words I am solemnly proclaiming to you today; you must command your children to observe carefully all the words of this law. 32:47 For this is no idle word for you – it is your life! By this word you will live a long time in the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.” Instructions about Moses’ Death

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Moses sings a public song that praises the Lord as perfect, faithful, and just. It warns Israel that rebellion and idolatry will bring covenant judgment. It also says that the Lord will not fail in his purpose. He will judge, vindicate his name, and act for his people. The song ends by telling Israel to remember these words and teach them to their children, because the word of the Lord is life.

Moses spoke this song before all Israel, and heaven and earth are called to hear it. The song begins by declaring that the Lord is perfect, just, faithful, and upright. Any judgment that comes on Israel will not be because God has failed. It will come because his people have sinned.

The song then recalls how the Lord cared for Israel. He found them in a barren place, guarded them, taught them, and carried them like an eagle carries its young. He gave them good gifts in the land. That makes Israel’s rebellion even more serious. The people who were rescued and provided for turned away from the God who made them.

The song says Israel became proud and forgot the Lord. They stirred up his jealousy by serving false gods. Their idol worship was not harmless; it was rebellion against the living God. Because of this, the Lord spoke of judgment, including famine, plague, sword, and other disasters. The point is not that God lost control, but that he was acting in righteousness against a faithless people.

Even so, the song insists that Israel’s enemies will not have the last word. Victory over Israel does not mean the enemies are stronger than the Lord. The Lord alone rules life, death, judgment, and healing. He can strike down and restore. He can hand a people over, and he can act again for them. His justice is certain, and his power cannot be resisted.

The song ends with a command. Israel must remember these words and pass them to their children. God’s word is not empty talk. It is life, and by obeying it they would live long in the land.

• The Lord is perfect, just, faithful, and upright.
• Israel was chosen, guarded, and provided for by the Lord.
• Prosperity can lead to pride, forgetfulness, and idolatry.
• Idolatry is a serious sin and provokes God’s jealousy.
• Covenant judgment is real, but it remains under God’s sovereign rule.
• The Lord alone gives life, brings judgment, and can heal.
• God’s word must be remembered and taught to children because it is life.

• Warning: Do not forget the Lord after receiving his gifts.
• Warning: Idolatry and unfaithfulness bring covenant judgment.
• Warning: Prosperity can make God’s people proud and careless.
• Promise: The Lord remains faithful, just, and sovereign even in judgment.
• Promise: The Lord can act again for his people after discipline.
• Command: Listen to the song and remember all its words.
• Command: Teach these words to your children carefully.

This song closes the time of Moses and prepares Israel to enter the land under Joshua. It explains why Israel will later face judgment if they break covenant. It also keeps the hope alive that the Lord will still vindicate his name and act for his people. In the larger Bible story, it shows that God’s people need more than outward blessing; they need a faithful heart and the Lord’s mercy.

Do not treat God’s gifts as a reason for self-sufficiency. Thank him for his care, and stay loyal to him in prosperity and hardship. Reject idols in every form. Take God’s word seriously, and teach it to the next generation. Trust that the Lord is just even when his ways include discipline.

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