Deuteronomy, chapter 34 comments

 Deuteronomy 34: 1 ¶ 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. 4 And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. 

Deuteronomy 34:5 ¶ So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. 

Jude 9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

Clearly no team of archaeologists are going to uncover the burial place of Moses.

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.

 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.

Deuteronomy 34:9 ¶And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses. 

Deuteronomy 34:10 ¶ And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, 12 And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel.

So ends the first five books of Moses. Now we begin the historical record of the Israelite invasion of Canaan and the history of early Israel.

Deuteronomy, chapter 33, comments

 Deuteronomy 33:1 ¶ And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2 And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. 3 Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words. 4 Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. 5 And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together.

Verse 2 may be a reference to a verse found in a book that was not included in the canon of the Bible. See Jude 1:14;

Jude 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

The Book of Enoch which most people are referring to was written much later than Deuteronomy and was the product of several authors. This reference in Jude to Enoch refers to either a written prophecy in a lost work, possibly the Book of Enoch that was not regarded as given by inspiration and failed the test in the early church, or simply something that Enoch said that was passed down through Noah and his sons.

The wilderness of Paran is mentioned in relationship the time after leaving Sinai.

Numbers 10:12 And the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran.

Here follows blessings and prophecy.

Jeshurun is a reference to Israel. See Isaiah 44:2.

Isaiah 44:2 Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.

Deuteronomy 33:6 ¶ Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.

Deuteronomy 33:7¶ And this is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be thou an help to him from his enemies.

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; 9 Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant. 10 They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar. 11 Bless, LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again.

Verse 9 refers to following God without any respect to persons even ones close in relation.

Deuteronomy 33:12 ¶ And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

Deuteronomy 33:13 ¶ And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, 14 And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon, 15 And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,16 And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. 17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

The word unicorn has been very confusing to some who link it with a mythical horse with a horn on its head. Many skeptics have made hay over this word found in several places in the Bible such as here and in Job, the word,” unicorn.” A review of over 200 lexicons from the Early Modern English Database reveals that a unicorn was understood to be an animal with one horn.[1] Sounds understandable. The technical name for the Indian Rhinoceros is Rhinoceros Unicornis. Marco Polo, the famed Venetian traveler of the Medieval Period of Western European history, referred to the Javan Rhinoceros as a unicorn among other one-horned animals.[2]

The ancient Greeks referred to unicorns, not in their mythologies, but in their natural histories, and although Ctesias made the earliest mention of unicorns in his book, Indika it was obvious he was just going on legend and had not seen them with his own eyes. He described a wild ass colored white, red, and black. Such a fanciful description was carried on by Aristotle and Strabo, and it was not until Pliny the Elder in his On the Nature of Animals that he describes something realistic, an Indian ox, a monoceros, which in all likelihood was the Indian Rhino.

It is generally understood by the existence of them in the Lascaux cave paintings in France that the Rhinoceros once had a much larger range of living than it does today, the mythological horse with a horn being a totally separate concept from the reality spoken of here in the Bible, evidenced in later Greek writings, or found in nature and cave paintings.

The Rhinoceros is a wild animal, a wild beast. He’s not going to pull your plow, plant your fields, or submit to your will. Go ahead, and try to harness him up, if you think you can.

Deuteronomy 33:18 ¶ And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out; and, Issachar, in thy tents. 19 They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand.

Compare verse 19 to Genesis 49:13 and Jacob’s blessing of Zebulun.

Genesis 49:13 ¶  Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.

Could the famed Phoenicians, Baal worshippers, merchants, and explorers have had a connection with Zebulun? Controversial authors say so but we have no evidence to confirm that.

Deuteronomy 33:20 ¶ And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head. 21 And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the LORD, and his judgments with Israel.

We will see Gad in the van, the foremost front, of Joshua’s military expeditions in Joshua 4:12-13 and in Joshua 22:1-4 their efforts are acknowledged.

Deuteronomy 33:22 ¶ And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.

We’ll see Dan’s treachery in Judges 18:27-28. The bulls of Bashan represent the enemies of Christ. See Psalm 22:12. The hill of Bashan is contrasted with God’s hill. See Psalm 68:15. Bashan is criticized in Amos 4:1.

Deuteronomy 33:23 ¶ And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the LORD: possess thou the west and the south.

Deuteronomy 33:24 ¶ And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil. 25 Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.

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. 27 The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them. 28 Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. 29 Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.

Jeshurun is a reference to Israel as per Isaiah 44:2. I AM THAT I AM, the LORD, Jehovah, is the God of Jeshurun aka Jesurun.

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[1] “Lexicons of Early Modern English,” (Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 2015), http://leme.library.utoronto.ca/search/results.cfm, (accessed 1.13.2015).

 

[2] Henry Yule, ed. & transl. The Book of Ser Marco Polo (London: John Murray Publishers, 1903), 285. https://archive.org/stream/bookofsermarcopo002polo#page/n9/mode/2up (accessed 1.13.2015).

 

Galatians, chapter 2, comments

 Galatians 2:1 ¶ Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. 2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain. 3 But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: 4 And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: 5 To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. 6 But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: 7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; 8 (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) 9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.  10 Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.

Here is presented an issue regarding those who insisted that Christian males had to undergo circumcision as God had commanded the Jews to do. Paul, even though he himself circumcised Timothy to satisfy the Jews here insists that the Gentile Christians should not be compelled to be circumcised.

Acts 15:1 ¶  And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. 2  When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. 3  And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. 4  And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. 5  But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

 

Acts 15:6 ¶  And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. 7  And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. 8  And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; 9  And

put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10  Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11  But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. 12  Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had

wrought among the Gentiles by them. 13  And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: 14  Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. 15  And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, 16  After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins

thereof, and I will set it up: 17  That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. 18  Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. 19  Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: 20  But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from

fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. 21  For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

 

And yet note Paul’s inconsistency in trying to satisfy Jewish requirements.

Acts 16:1 ¶  Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek: 2  Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. 3  Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.

It appears Paul has had a change of heart.

Verse 7 says that Peter is given the apostleship to the Jews. And indeed he does go to Babylon, where there was a large Jewish population.

1 Peter 5:13 The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.

However, Peter himself had thought he was the minister to the Gentiles first.

Acts 15:7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.

Verse 9 shows the mission given to Paul and Barnabas, detailed in Acts.

Galatians 2:11 ¶ But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. 12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. 13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. 14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

Paul’s claim that Peter was accommodating to the Judaizers is interesting in the light of his circumcising Timothy. Here, Paul is critical of Barnabas as well. Regardless of Paul’s intention or past failing he uses this opportunity to make a point to the Galatians that we would well bear in mind.

Galatians 2:15 ¶ We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. 17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. 18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

We must be wary of reckoning our following of a specific set of guidelines that are not specifically outlined in the New Testament as judging ourselves and others by our self-made standard. We are not justified by the Law but only by Christ and saved by God’s response to our faith in Him. We are justified by faith. 

Deuteronomy, chapter 32 comments: Moses' sermon

 Deuteronomy 32:1 ¶ Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

Notice how Moses makes the heavens above him and the earth below witnesses to what he is about to say. This underscores the importance to the people of his words.

Deuteronomy 32:2 ¶ My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

See how Moses uses figures of speech such as a simile comparing things with as. It is poetic and powerful language.

Deuteronomy 32:3 ¶ Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.

We consider the word publish today as a reference to written materials, like books and articles. At one time it meant to cry, to announce, to disclose, to proclaim etc. We do not do the text an injustice when we consider to preach as a synonym.

Think on such verses as Jeremiah 10:6 and Psalm 150:2 declaring the awesome greatness of the God of creation.

Deuteronomy 32:4 ¶ He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

He is the Rock, uppercase R. Note Paul’s statement about Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

This is a reference to the following incident;

Exodus 17:5  And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6  Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Moses strikes the rock in front of the elders and water came out of the rock.

Psalm 78:15  He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. 16  He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers…20  Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

Psalm 105:41  He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.

His work is perfect for all his ways are judgment. The last part of the verse is all one connected statement with colons establishing the flow. His work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

I think it can be said that all of creation and all reality and all events are a judgment of God. He has determined aforehand something and it is being carried out. God is complete lacking nothing. He is without sin and is the ultimate truth. Everything with God is just and right as He is.

Deuteronomy 32:5 ¶ They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.

Here is a contrast between the holiness of God in verse 4 and the vileness of man here. Here Moses is condemning that generation of Israelites as crooked and perverse.

Here is crooked defined Biblically by contrast with perverse;

Deuteronomy 4:16  Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17  The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, 18  The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: 19  And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

Perverse is defined in Proverbs 8:8 as froward which is defined in verse 20 as acting in faithlessness as if they had no faith.

Deuteronomy 32:6 ¶ Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?

As God is said to have purchased the Israelite from bondage in Egypt so has Christ purchased the Christian from God’s judgment with His own blood.

1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

1 Corinthians 7:23  Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Hebrews 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

2 Peter 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

God also reestablishes Himself as Creator of the Israelites here. They would never have been saved from famine or slavery apart from God’s perfect will. Israel completely owed its existence as a nation to the perfect will of God.

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.

As you and I have discussed this will be one of Israel’s great failings, not teaching future generations about God’s dealings with their ancestors as they were told to do here and in verses like Deuteronomy 4:9. We will see again after Joshua dies that they fail in that crucial assignment as many American Christians did in the early to mid-twentieth century.

Deuteronomy 32:8 ¶ When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.

This fascinating verse confirms that God scattered the families at Babel. See Genesis 10 and 11. God’s wisdom and judgment separated the sons of Adam and created the nation of Israel.

Deuteronomy 32:9 ¶ For the LORD'S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

Moses speaks of the Israelites as being God’s inheritance, showing their importance to Him.

Exodus 34:9 And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.

There are several verses in the Old Testament about Israel being the Lord’s inheritance. See 1Samuel 10:1; 14:16; 1Kings 8:51; 53; Psalm 28:9; 74:2; 106:40 and Jeremiah 10:16.

Deuteronomy 32:10 ¶ He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

Here poetic language is used to describe how the people of Israel were created as a nation. It is important to note that God kept Israel as the apple of his eye, an idiom we know as referring to the affection one has for a beloved, favorite child or lover. It is used again in Proverbs 7:2; Psalm 17:8; Lamentations 2:18; and Zechariah 2:8. Moses when called was not only in a physical waste and howling wilderness but in a spiritual waste and howling wilderness as I have explained the nature of ancient religion. Let’s read a few verses without comment to get to a sad conclusion. Look at the blessings God will bestow on the Israelites and then look in verse 15 at how they treated God.

Deuteronomy 32:11 ¶ As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:

Deuteronomy 32:12 ¶ So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

Deuteronomy 32:13 ¶ He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;

Deuteronomy 32:14 ¶ Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.

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.

Christ is said to be that Rock, uppercase R, in 1Corinthians 10:4. Success and prosperity did not lead the Israelites to gratitude or thanksgiving but to disdain and contempt for the God who saved them as those things have done to American Christians and Americans in general.

Deuteronomy 32:16 ¶ They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.

Their idolatry is predicted and their apostasy is foretold here.

Deuteronomy 32:17 ¶ They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

The use of the word, demons, as opposed to devils here, in some modern Bibles is a sad mistake. The Greeks called their gods Daemons from which we get the word demons but they could be good or bad and to have a daemon influence you was not necessarily a bad thing. But we know they are devils and not good in any sense of the word. Catering to them is rejecting God’s authority over you. They do exist so pretending they do not leaves you vulnerable to their oppression. This verse links devils to gods. Worship cannot be divided. God does not accept competing claims to your obedience and worship. Paul said;

1Corinthians 8:5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) 6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

Deuteronomy 32:18 ¶ Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

Deuteronomy 32:19 ¶ And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.

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.

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.

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.

Clearly, the Holy Spirit is here suggesting that there are levels of Hell. Notice that this is also the place where the fallen angels from Genesis are imprisoned. See 2Peter 2:4. The Hell there is from the Greek word Tartarus for the place of the damned. But there is not enough evidence in the Bible for us to surmise what the purpose of having such a structure of Hell is. This is God’s terrible wrath.

Let’s read the rest of this curse of judgment.

Deuteronomy 32:23 ¶ I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.

Deuteronomy 32:24 ¶ They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.

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.

Deuteronomy 32:26 ¶ I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:

Deuteronomy 32:27 ¶ 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.

Deuteronomy 32:28 ¶ For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.

Deuteronomy 32:29 ¶ O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!

Deuteronomy 32:30 ¶ 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?

Deuteronomy 32:31 ¶ For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

Deuteronomy 32:32 ¶ 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:

Deuteronomy 32:33 ¶ Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.

Deuteronomy 32:34 ¶ Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?

Deuteronomy 32:35 ¶ 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.

Jonathan Edwards used this verse in his great sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

Deuteronomy 32:36 ¶ 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.

Deuteronomy 32:37 ¶ And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,

Deuteronomy 32:38 ¶ 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.

Elijah will make a similar query when confronting the priest of Baal later.

1Kings 18:26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. 27And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.

Deuteronomy 32:39 ¶ 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.

Notice the clear use of even as a connection between two synonymous things or two things that are identical. Other examples would be;

Genesis 6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

Galatians 4:14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

Now, see the thoughts of this verse here;

Job 5:18 For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.

Psalm 18:31 For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the rock except our God?

Psalm 50:22 Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:

Isaiah 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

Deuteronomy 32:40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.

Isaiah 57:15a For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity…

Our God has no beginning and no end. He is before and after all things. Eternity is limitless time going ahead and behind. It is infinite either way.

Deuteronomy 32:41 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.

Spoken figuratively as God needs no physical sword to enact judgment on any living being. The word whet means to sharpen. See the Biblical definition you can find by cross-referencing;

Ecclesiastes 10:10 If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.

Deuteronomy 32:42 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.

God permitted mankind to march into apostasy and then gently drew one man out of the mess and created a people for Himself through which He would come to announce salvation to the entire world. But make no mistake about it. God’s judgment is not wimpy nor is it easy. There is only one choice, God. The consequence of turning your back on your Creator is utter and complete destruction.

Deuteronomy 32:43 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.

Deuteronomy 32:44 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.

Deuteronomy 32:48 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.

Hoshea is another spelling of Joshua in English as Hebrew did not have the J sound. It can be said to be Oshea as well. Of course we know him as Joshua.

This brings us to an important point about the modern cult name from modernistic Christians for God; Yahweh. No one knows how YHWH was pronounced. Ancient Hebrew didn’t have vowels. You supplied them when you spoke like we pronounce Blvd as Boulevard. In today’s Hebrew the Tetragammeton, YHWH, the name of God, would be Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey. In English since the Middle Ages, when the J sound appeared in our language, we have used Jehovah as our pronunciation of God’s name which is then written respectfully as LORD, all caps, over 6,000 times for us. Yahweh is a trendy name for modern Christians but has no relevance either historically or religiously except as a rejection of tradition and a rejection of our Bible. We know that God’ s name is I AM THAT I AM from Exodus 3:14 because He says so. Jehovah means, according to Strong, “The self-existing or eternal One.”

Anyway, whether Joshua, son of Nun’s name is written as the above or as Jehoshua, it is the Hebrew version of Jesus in Greek.

Acts 7:45 Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;

All the variations of the name including the name Isaiah have to with salvation.

We get some additional information about what happened to Moses’ body after his death later.

Deuteronomy 34:5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.

Jude 9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.