32 Give ear, O ye heavens, and
I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
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:
3 Because I will publish the
name of the Lord: ascribe ye
greatness unto our God.
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.
5 They have corrupted
themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and
crooked generation.
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?
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.
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.
9 For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is
the lot of his inheritance.
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.
18 Of the Rock that begat thee
thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
19 And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them,
because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.
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.
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.
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.
23 I will heap mischiefs upon
them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.
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.
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.
28 For they are a nation void
of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.
29 O that they were wise, that
they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
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:
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.
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.
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.
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 32:1-47
(some texts not included)
This song was called the
song of Moses and God required the Israelites to learn it in anticipation of
their future apostasy in the Promised Land . God knew that,
despite His blessings, Israel would turn their backs on Him and follow other
gods, bringing divine judgment. When that happened, the song they had learned
generations previous would “be a witness . . . against them. . . . When many
disasters and calamities come on them, this song will testify against them”Deutoronomy 31:19,21. The Song of Moses was prophetic and at the same time
reveled the faithfulness of God.
The same day that
Israel learned the Song of Moses, God directed Moses to climb Mt. Nebo, where
Moses would be laid to rest (verses 48–50). It is quite interesting that
the song of Moses was taught and sung at the same period he was to rest in
death.
What you would find out in
the book Revelation chapter 15 is very much
in line with what happened in the Deuteronomy 32.
“And I saw
another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last
plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them
that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his
mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the
harps of God.
3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song
of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just
and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.” – Revelation 15:1-3
They sang in the heaven in
the song of Moses and the song of the lamb. The first was the end of the Mosaic
age and the second was the beginning of the kingdom of His son. One spoke
judgment on Israel and the other spoke justification of a new Israel of faith in
the blood of the lamb.
The song begins with a
universal call to listen, followed by praise of the just, faithful, and upright
God (Deuteronomy32:1-4). In
contrast to God’s faithfulness is Israel’s unfaithfulness (verses 5–6). The
song proceeds to recite the history of Israel from their time of bondage in
Egypt, through their wilderness wanderings, to their established place in the
Promised Land (verses 7–14). The Song of Moses then becomes prophetic: Israel’s
future ingratitude and idolatry are predicted, as are the judgments of God for
their sin (verses 15–31). Then God promises to avenge Israel against their (and
His) enemies, showing compassion on His people (verses 32–42). The song ends on
a joyful note, as God’s punishment is past, righteousness is restored, and the
land of Israel atoned (verse 43).
Righteousness is restored now by Jesus the lamb of God and
not under the law and the commandments.
Another aspect of this song of Moses isthe theme of the
avenging of the martyrs of God. it is one that runs throughout scripture. From
Genesis 4 where the blood of righteous Abel cries out from the ground, to
Revelation, there is a constant thread, of the suffering of God’s saints and
the promised vindication and glorification.
The avenging of the martyrs is one of Jesus’ famous
statements in his parables. Furthermore, in Matthew 23:29ff Jesus emphatically
and positively said that "all of the blood, of all the righteous, from
righteous Abel (remember Genesis 4?) unto Zecharias, son of Berechais, whom you
killed between the temple and the altar" would be avenged and judged in
his generation in the judgment of Jerusalem. So, Jesus appeared in the time
foretold by the Song and promised what the Song foretold. And he said it would
be fulfilled in his first century generation in the judgment of Jerusalem.
The Song of Moses foretold the events concerning Israel and
her last days. The prophecy has nothing to do with any so-called "end of
time" or the end of the Christian age (see vs 32:20; 29).
As written in the scriptures Jesus appeared in the last
days, and the NT writers repeatedly affirm that they were living in the days
foretold by the Old Testament prophets. They even quote from the Song
repeatedly to speak of events either taking place, or about to take place. The
Apostles regularly made quotes from the Old testament because that as all they
had. They didn’t the Authorised King James Version.
The last words of the Song
of Moses are a promise that God will “make atonement for his land and people” Deuteronomy 32:43 .
This is a significant promise, because the atonement for God’s people is none
other than the sacrifice of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ
And, having made peace through
the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I
say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. - Colossians 1:20
The only atonement that could be made for murder was the death of the
murderer in the law. There was no repentance offered. No sacrifice could be
given. There could be no escape. This is the Law of Blood Atonement. There was
a provision for making atonement for innocent killings in the law. They could
flee to a city of refuge per Numbers 35.
Consider then that as Peter noted, the people killed Jesus
in ignorance Acts 3:14,15,17.
14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to
be granted unto you;
15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead;
whereof we are witnesses.
17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did
also your rulers.
Were they then to flee to a literal city of refuge, one of
the six cities designated in Numbers and Deuteronomy 19 which was a shadow of
the reality to come? No. As the Hebrews writer said, he and his readers had,
"fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us"
(Hebrews
6:18) by turning to Jesus, the one that had been slain. They were invited to a
relationship with Jesus who is the fulfillment of the city of refuge.
Throughout Israel’s history, Israel is depicted as the
willful murderer of the prophets. This is one cases the Muslims even have against
the Jews. Jesus was put on trial by them, and Pilate found no fault in him, the
crowd demanded his death, and cried out, "Let his blood be on us and on
our children!" (Matthew 27:25f). The leaders of the people understood what
they were doing!
Peter offered the people a bail out declaring that they did not know what they
were doing when they called for Jesus’ blood. He even said the leaders did not
know what they were doing! (Acts 3:14f). What Peter was doing was seeking to
offer "amazing grace" in his remarks, for without that offer only
judgment remained.
But the Jews gave open consent to the purposeful, willful
murder of Jesus. Thus, the writer said that all that could remain for them was
destruction (Hebrews 6:6-8).
In Acts 2:22f, Peter affirmed that Israel was without excuse
for not recognizing Jesus as their Messiah. Jesus was, "approved of God by
miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in your midst, as you
yourselves also know." He continued, "You have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain" this One that they should have recognized
as their Savior. Peter also affirmed that the apostles were
"witnesses" of all that had taken place, thus fulfilling Numbers 35,
and the demand for witnesses before punishment could be given. In verse 36, he
digs up their guilt in crucifying Christ. He then called on them to repent
and incredibly, offered them forgiveness!
So, Peter was essentially like the other Apostles radically-- calling them to leave Torah
behind. To refuse to repent was to agree, to consent purposely, to the murder
of the innocent Jesus, thus, incurring and invoking the Law of Blood Atonement.
To remain in that system was to remain in a system that offered them only death
and destruction. They could die to the Law by entering Jesus, their Christ, or,
they could remain under Torah, and die by Torah.
The choice was simple, "repent and be baptized in the
name of Jesus (the) Christ, for the remission of sins" or, face certain
death and judgment from God for shedding innocent blood. Thus, Peter called on
his audience, "Save yourselves from this untoward generation" (Acts
2:40.)
John
said that after the song of Moses was sung in heaven he saw what was finally the
judgment of God upon apostate Israel.
5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle
of the testimony in heaven was opened:
6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven
plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with
golden girdles.
7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden
vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and
from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven
plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. Revelation 15:5-8
Peter’s words echo Deuteronomy 32:5, which called the
generation of Israel’s last days "a crooked and perverse generation."
Peter was telling them that the fulfillment of the Song was upon them! They
were in fact the "terminal generation" in which God would,
"avenge the blood of His saints, and make atonement for the land, the
people."
When we couple the Song of Moses, Jesus’ teaching in Matthew
23, with Peter’s sermon, with the rest of the NT testimony, the evidence is
overwhelming. Jesus’ generation was the generation foretold by Moses in the
Song. This is confirmed by the fact that the Song is directly quoted several
times in the New Testament in the context of the persecution of the saints, and
the promise of coming, imminent, vindication at the coming of the Lord (cf.
Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:31f; Revelation 19:1-2).
As the Song foretold, in Israel’s final generation, God
would both avenge the blood of His saints, and bring judgment on their killers.
The song of the lamb speaks of Jesus as our refuge. It proclaims the grace of
God that has been revealed to us by the perfect obedience of our savior Jesus.
In Revelation 5:9,10 we see the song of
the lamb, a different song from that of Moses.
And they sung a new song,
saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for
thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred,
and tongue, and people, and nation;
10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall
reign on the earth.
The song of the lamb
is the victory of Jesus for us that has given us the inheritance of life,
position of royalty, justification and glorification and redemption in the
finished work. One song ended one age but the other began a new age. Praise God we have a new song.
