Deut 32-Song of Moses
So Moses was a poet and I didn’t even know it 😁 Why a song? Think about how easily we memorize songs, but more importantly how long we remember them. Example: If I said, 🎶 “Stop, collaborate and listen…” 🎶, get my point, that was from 1990!!
For anyone homeschooling, have your child find the metaphors and similies. Moses recites this song and the Israelites memorize it. This song is a summary of prophecies. We even see parts of this song recited in Revelation 19.
The song changes direction in verse 15. “Jeshurun” (also used in Isaiah 44) means “The upright or straight one”.
Please read the chapter but here is an abbreviated version I liked on youtube.
One scripture that stood out to me because it is quoted twice in the New Testament was:
In due time their foot will slip;
their day of disaster is near
and their doom rushes upon them.”
And then finally starting at Verse 48, Moses is given his place to take his final rest. Mt. Nebo.
Look at the below map. Mt. Nebo is 10 miles away from the Promised Land and 2700 feet high. He stood on the mountain beside where the Jordan River pours into the Dead Sea just a little south of Jericho. Moses climbs to the highest peak (impressive at his age) and looked at the land.
If you jumped in late or skipped a reading let me know and I will explain why Moses will not enter.
Chapter 33:: This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced on the Israelites before his death
If you flip back to Genesis 49 you will recall I talked about land distribution. (If this part bores you…feel free to skip to the bottom) 😉
Reuben (v. 6) was the firstborn, but he did not enjoy greatness among the tribes because of his sin (Sleeping with his dad’s concubine: Bilhah) . He lost his father’s birthright and blessing. Furthermore, no great civil or military leader or prophet ever came from this tribe. Reuben becomes one of the “Transjordan Tribes” we walked about.
Judah (v. 7) received the position of leader among the tribes when his older brothers (the first three!!) became ineligible. Judah is the son that carries the Covenant. The Blessing. The Line that will birth the Davidic Monarchy and the Messiah!
Levi (vv. 8-11) received a blessing for choosing God over family at the Golden Calf debacle in Exodus 32. They are carved out to be the Priesthood. (Thummin and Urim are the “stones” that God uses to make decisions through the priests, cast lots….like rolling dice that God controls)
Benjamin (v. 12) was to enjoy God’s protection continually since God would carry this tribe on His back “between His
shoulders.” As the warrior tribe, Benjamin would enjoy God’s protection. The first king will come from this tribe.
Joseph (vv. 13-17) represented “Ephraim” and “Manasseh.” The “firstborn of his ox” probably refers to Joseph as the most powerful of the powerful. He was the firstborn son of Jacob, God’s servant, by Rachel. “Ephraim” was the stronger of Joseph’s sons, who were both as strong as “the horns of oxen” during the tribes’ conflict with Israel’s enemies.
Zebulun and Issachar (vv. 18-19) would become channels of blessing to the other nations by means of their commercial wealth (The modern state of Israel, whose major port is Haifa, located in the area of ancient Zebulun.
These two tribes would experience God’s blessing as they brought riches into Israel.
Gad (vv. 20-21) inherited land east of the Jordan River that was suitable for development. Gad was a tribe that was very aggressive in conquering and subduing the land (“as a lion”),
Dan (v. 22) settled in an area inhabited by “lions” (Judg. 14:5), and migrated to northern Israel to an area that abounded in lions (Judg. 18). The people of this tribe were also similar to lions, like the Gadites, in their aggressiveness and strength.
Naphtali (v. 23) would enjoy the benefits of a seacoast (“the sea and the south”). The towns along the northern and western shores of this sea, including Capernaum and Bethsaida, lay within the territory of Naphtali.
Asher (v. 24) would benefit from the respect of his fellow Israelites (favored by his brothers) and prosperity (oil). His territory on the Mediterranean coast would require fortifications, but God would protect him.
Moses did not mention the “Simeonites” in this blessing. Jacob had prophesied that God would scatter the Simeonites in Israel (Gen. 49:7). Simeon received no tribal allotment of land, but only a few cities in Judah, when Joshua divided the Promised Land. The Simeonites became absorbed into the other tribes, especially Judah.
Chapter 34. Some maps to go with the reading 😢
Psalm 91 Click here if you have not read yet.
This is a Psalm of encouragement. God does not promise that we will not see danger, sickness, and terror but he will cover us. This is the psalm that the Devil quotes when Jesus is in the wilderness being tempted for 40 days. If the enemy knows scripture, how much more should we?
Matthew 4
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Jesus responding with scripture! (Duet. 6:16)
Moses dies at the age of 120. To this day no one knows where his grave is. Why? Because we are no different than the Israelites. We would make a shrine of his grave and bones, and they would be another idol for us to worship.
Reading the Bible - 2021 
I loved that song. Two things in particular touched me in this reading. One: that we are the Lord’s portion, His inheritance. The whole Earth is His and everything in it and he divides it up and gives it to His chosen and says we are His inheritance. There is just something about that. Everything is His but he wants me. The other was that Moses is 120 years old and yet his strength is not gone nor His sight. I assume he is the same as he was when this journey started 40 years ago. I wonder if He just laid down on that mountain top and went to sleep and woke up in the Lords presence?
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