Deuteronomy (Chapters 31-32)

Deuteronomy 31–32 records Moses preparing Israel for life after his death and teaching them the Song of Moses. God tells Moses that Israel will turn to other gods and break the covenant, and the song will stand as a witness against them. The song declares God’s faithfulness, Israel’s rebellion, coming judgment, and God’s compassion on His people. These chapters show that the Lord knows the future, remains faithful to His covenant, and will judge and restore according to His word.

Transcript

Setting The Stage: Deut 31–32

SPEAKER_00 0:00

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SPEAKER_02 0:26

Hey everybody, welcome back to Teach Me the Bible Podcast. We are walking through the book of Deuteronomy, and today we're picking up in chapter 31, and we're going to walk through 32 as well. Absolutely crucial chapters to understanding this book and the whole story of the Bible. As we've looked at the last few times, especially as we looked at the blessings and curses of the covenant and what's going to happen if they go after other gods and what happens after they receive the curses after going after other gods and return to the Lord. And so hopefully you've benefited greatly from understanding what has already what we've already been talking about. But we're going to pick up in chapter 31 because uh we still have a lot to learn. And so, Doc, if you want to pick us up there, help us understand. We're going to just continue right along.

Dr. David Klingler 1:13

Um We say this all the time, and you know, because of time constraints and because, you know, apparently we're not supposed to go past 30 minutes or whatever. Stop list. I guess that's really actually not right. I've you know been listening to some of these other podcasts, I think, for like two and a half hours. Two, three hours long? Yeah, you can't listen to them all at once. But anyway, um, but but this thing continues, right? This continues right along.

Blessings, Curses, And What’s Next

Dr. David Klingler 1:36

And so the blessings and the curses, Deuteronomy 28, they're coming. Deuteronomy 38, or 30, this is how you're supposed to respond. Um, but 31 and 32 makes very clear, abundantly clear, how this is all going to play out. Right. And so when we get into Joshua, judges, Samuel, kings, the prophets, the the the die has been cast, so to speak. Um you'll get asked this. Even when we come to the gospels, you get asked, well, what would have happened if Israel would have responded this way, or you know, if this would have happened? Well, then the Lord would have been wrong. Yeah. Right. And all the prophets would have been wrong.

SPEAKER_02 2:16

Uh and um Yeah, what we've already said has anticipated what's going to happen, but now it's it's going to be explicitly prophesied what's going to happen, right?

Dr. David Klingler 2:26

And and for the purpose of Israel knowing exactly, and and secondarily, as the readers of the Bible, we don't have to guess what's going to happen. We we we have the the layout, you know, kind of the map of history spelled out in uh these two chapters. Chapter 31 says, All right, here's a song, teach it to them. This is how it's gonna go. Uh, and then chapter 32 is that song. It is the history of the world, the story of the Bible, uh, God's redemptive work um throughout history in one chapter. And so if you wanted to have one chapter to say, okay, how's it where are we in this story? Uh where are we personally in this story? Just go read that chapter and orient yourself to it.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

Yeah, it's like your map at the mall. Yeah, and you get to figure out where you are on it.

Dr. David Klingler 3:16

Go read Romans and go, yep, well, that's what he's saying. This is where we are. You know, we're kind of in the in this time where Israel has rebelled against the Lord, and the Lord is going to the Gentiles to make them angry, you know, to make Israel angry, to move uh them to jealousy, to anger. And so there it is. It's really simple. It's you know, on the in the problem I think that we have is because we come to the Bible, we read it for theological statements or applicational statements. We don't read it for understanding, just understand it. You know, and and you'll get a lot of theology and application from basic understanding. For sure. Absolutely. And uh so so anyway, we're just continuing right along here in chapter 31. And uh Moses walked and spoke all these words to Israel, or he, you know, they they translate it, he went and spoke all these words to Israel, and he said, I'm 120 years old, I am no longer able to come and go. And the Lord said to me, You will not cross this Jordan. It is the Lord your God who will cross ahead of you, he will destroy the nations before you, and you uh and you shall dispossess them. Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, just as the Lord has spoken. The Lord will do to them just as he did to Sihon of Og and Og and uh the kings of the Samaritans, uh, and to the land which uh you know when he uh he destroyed

Be Strong And Courageous: Joshua Commissioned

Dr. David Klingler 4:36

them. And the Lord will deliver them before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you. Uh be strong and courageous. There's a you know, so turns out the book of Joshua is not coming up with this language. This is all the way through. You know, the angel is going to repeat, Joshua is going to repeat what Moses has said through the Lord. Be uh strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. That's the question isn't whether the Lord will fail or forsake Israel. The question is, will Israel fail and forsake the covenant? Will they rebel against the Lord? And Moses called Joshua in the sight uh uh and said to him, in the sight of all of Israel, be strong and courageous. So Israel here's this uh for you will go in um with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to your fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you. He will be with you, he will not fail you or perfor forsake you. Do not fear, do not be dismayed. So Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and to all of the elders of Israel. So there's no excuses here. Everybody's supposed to know it. Um, the kings are supposed to make a copy of it. And you know, so this is everybody's to know this. Then Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, at the time of the year of the remission of debts, at the feasts of booths, when all of Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place which he will choose, you shall read this law in front of all of Israel in their hearing. Right? So you don't tell them this story. You know, read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Read it to them, all of it. Assemble the people, the men, the women, the children, the alien who is in your town, so that they may hear and learn and fear the Lord your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law. Your children, uh, who you uh have not known will hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land which the uh which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess it. And then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, it is time for you to uh to die, the time for you to die is near. Call Joshua and present yourself at the tent of meeting, and I will commission him. So Moses and Joshua walked, and they presented themselves at the tent of meeting, and the Lord appeared in the tent, the pillar of the cloud, and the pillar of the cloud stood at the doorway of the tent, and the Lord said to Moses, Behold, you're about to die, to lay down with your fathers. Um, and um uh this people will arise and play the harlot with strange gods of the land into the midst which they are going, and they will per forsake me, and they will break my covenant which I have made with them. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will hide uh forsake them and hide my face from so in other words, the Lord will not forsake you. Well, then it says, I will forsake them, because they forsook me. Yeah, right? So so you know the Lord is going to be faithful to his covenant to them. If they're obedient, they'll be blessed in the land. If they're disobedient, this is what's coming, and they're going to be disobedient. This is what the Lord is uh saying to Moses. Um, then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them. This is gonna play out in the story. I'm reminded of 2 Chronicles chapter chapter 7, you know, in the when they build the the the temple and uh the glory of the Lord fills it, and the Lord speaks to Solomon and says these same words. If you rebel me, I'm gonna pour out the curse and and I'm gonna separate people far from you, and I will hide my face from you, right? We're gonna see this in the next chapter, in this song that Moses is going to teach Israel to sing.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

One of the source of them not being able to fear all of these other things is the fact that the Lord is in their midst, the Lord is fighting for them, the Lord protects them, he does all these things. If that's not there, all of it comes in, right? The the nations come in and do the do the curses that he's already laid out.

Dr. David Klingler 8:53

Yeah, and and don't think it's the nations coming. You know, and so when we get even this uh even affects our understanding of of intertestamental literature. Uh I'm thinking of Maccabees here, you know. Uh so when they rebel against the Lord, the Lord's gonna raise up the Gentiles against them, uh, you know, the and they're gonna come in waves, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Medes, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans. Um, and uh there's going to be no relief for them until they return to the Lord, right? And so, you know, if you know, if you got a Babylonian army surrounding you or a Roman soldier on the corner, the problem is not Rome is so strong, or Babylon has just got this great king. It is you have rebelled against the Lord.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 9:38

Uh, and so you need to return to the Lord and He'll take care of the armies.

SPEAKER_02 9:41

This is God's controlling history. They need to understand that.

Dr. David Klingler 9:43

Yeah, and this is what's gonna happen in the judges,

Read The Law Aloud: Every Seven Years

Dr. David Klingler 9:45

right? Uh, Book of Judges, we're gonna talk about the cycles of sin. We talked about it um you know last time, you know, but Israel's gonna rebel against the Lord, and so he's gonna bring the nations and bring them against Israel and for them to repent, and if they won't repent, it's gonna get really bad. So this is this is you know kind of just all spelled out. And it's gonna be spelled out in uh very clear ways in the next chapter. Uh, and so I will hide my face from them, they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them, uh, so that in uh they will say in that day, it is not uh because our God is not among us that these easel evils have come upon us. They're gonna they're gonna blame other stuff. But I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods. Now therefore, write this song for yourselves and teach it to the sons of Israel. Put it on their lips, uh, so that this song may be a witness for me against the sons of Israel. Right? So that it tells you exactly why this song is being written. For when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and are satisfied and become fat, or prosperous is how they translate it, uh, and they turn to other gods and serve them, and spurn me, and break my covenant, then it shall come about when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify before them as a witness. For um for it uh shall uh not be forgotten from their lips of all of their descendants, all their seed. For I know their intent, which they are they're working on, they're developing today, um before I have brought them into the land which I swore. I mean, we know exactly how this is gonna play. And it doesn't take long. I mean, almost immediately it is immediately in the book of Joshua. They're they're rebelling. They're rebelling, but currently while this is being written. And so Moses wrote this song uh the same day and taught it to the sons of Israel. And then he commissioned Joshua, the son of Nun, and he said, Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you. And it came about when Moses finished writing these words, the words of the law and uh in the book, uh, until they were complete, that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, Take this book of the law and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, that it will may remain there as a witness against you. Um interestingly, later in Israel's history, they're gonna find the law. Well, why? Because they hadn't been reading it, right? They hadn't been paying attention to it. For I know that you are a re uh that that your rebellion and your stubbornness, behold, while I am still alive with you, you have been rebellious against the Lord, how much more then after I die, after my death? Assemble to me the elders of all your tribes and your offer officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing, and call heavens and earth to witness against them, for I know that after my death you will act corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you, and evil will befall you in the latter days, in those last days. For you will do uh what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, provoking him to anger with the work of your hands. Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all of the assembly of Israel, the words of this song, uh, until they were complete. And here it is, this is chapter thirty-two. Uh and so we begin uh the song. So if you want to know what how Israel, the history of the world is gonna work, here's here it is. Uh give ear, O heavens, and let me speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth, let my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, as the droplets on the fresh grass, as showers

God Foretells Israel’s Future Rebellion

Dr. David Klingler 13:40

on the herb. For I proclaim the name of the Lord, ascribe greatness to our God, the rock. And of course we've been tracking this rock imagery all the way through the story. His work is perfect, all of his ways are just. All of his uh ways are are you know judgment, all of his judgments are are right, his ways are just a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is he. Yeshar, the uh Yashar is the word there. Hold on to that, because we're gonna be introduced to that word a little bit later. Uh right. Uh righteous, Sadiq and upright, Yashar is he. Um but they have acted corruptly toward him. They are not his children because of their defect, but are a perverse and crooked generation. Now we need to talk about this. Something there. Yeah, there's a lot here. Um sons I have reared, but they have rebelled against me. That's what's gonna be said here a little bit later in this song. They are a crooked and perverse generation, sons in whom there is no faithfulness. Again, it's gonna say that uh later. So be on the lookout for this crooked and perverse generation or crooked and perverse age language in the New Testament.

SPEAKER_03 14:58

Right.

Dr. David Klingler 14:58

They're gonna reject the Lord, reject the rock of his salvation, and Peter's going to proclaim, Paul's going to proclaim, uh, that this is a crooked and perverse generation, sons in whom there is no faithfulness. And when will this generation or age end? Right, when they turn to the Lord. And so that's the that's gonna be the discussion. Uh verse six, do you thus repay the Lord? Uh oh foolish and unwise people, is he not your father who bought you? He has made you and established you? Remember the days of old, consider the years of all the generations, ask your fathers and he will inform you, the elders and they will tell you. Verse 8. Um, when the Most High, El Yon, when the Most High Um gave the nations as their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, okay, the sons of Adam, that that separated language goes back to you know all of the creation of the nations, right? He was making the nations. When he uh separated the sons of Adam, the the sons of you and the sons of God, sons I have reared, but they've rebelled against me, the sons of God. 14 1. You are sons of the Lord your God. Uh but the the sons of Adam, all the other set the descendants of the of the nations were dispersed. And so this verse, um, the the last part of this verse has what we call a textual problem. Um, doesn't read the same in the Hebrew manuscripts as it does in the Septuagint. The Septuagint is the earliest Greek translations of the Hebrew, uh, of the Hebrew manuscripts. Right. Uh the Septuagint dates to a couple hundred years before Christ. Uh the you know, the Hebrew text here uh dates to a thousand years after Christ, roughly.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

Um not not quite sort of opposite of what you would think. Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_03 16:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:51

You would typically think of the Hebrew as older because it was most likely the original language, but the Greek is actually the older text.

Dr. David Klingler 16:59

Which is why, and we're gonna talk about this here in just a second, which is why the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls is such a huge discovery. Right. Because that takes uh our Hebrew manuscript evidence back to the time of the Septuagint, right? Um, you know, it takes it back twelve hundred years. Yeah. That's a that's a huge huge discovery. Uh and so here's how it reads in the Hebrew text when the most high gave the nations as their inheritance, when he separated the uh Bene Adam, uh, when he separated the uh the sons of man, Adam, um, when he set the boundaries of the peoples, uh he did so, he uh he did so according to the numbers of the sons of Israel. That's how it reads in uh the uh Masoretic text in the Hebrew. Uh when we look at the Septuagint, however, the the Greek uh translation uh of the um uh you know of of this passage, it doesn't read sons of uh uh sons of

Why The Song Is Given

Dr. David Klingler 18:05

Israel, when he divided the nations. Uh he did so according to the Angolone Theo, the the angels of God. Well or messengers of God. Maybe you know maybe that's how they're right. You know, so the question is what's going on here. We add to this uh discussion that in the Dead Sea Scrolls, when they find this spot, it reads Bene L. Right. Um so uh the net Bible uh the the net Bible notes are really helpful here. They do a great job of of explaining all the textual issues and variants here. Uh, but uh they explain the sons of God, so uh Bene L, sons of God. Sons of God is undoubtedly the original reading. The Masoretic text and the LXX have interpreted it differently. The Masoretic text or the Hebrew text assumes that the expression sons of God refers to Israel, and they compare it to Hosea 1.10, for example, or I would say Deuteronomy 14.1, you are sons of the Lord your God. Um or here, sons I have reared, but they have rebelled against me, right? So you don't have to go too far out of this context, uh, right here in chapter 32, um, which is gonna be uh here down in um uh in just a uh a little bit uh further down uh into this uh um sons in whom uh is no faithfulness. They've made me jealous with that you know uh the Lord uh saw and spurned them because of the provocation of his sons and daughters, right? So uh you know you don't have to go outside of this context to substantiate the notion that uh Israel was to be sons and daughters, right? Uh and so the the Masoretic text has taken the transl trans uh you know the understood the the phrase sons of God to refer to to Israel. So they put it sons of Israel. They clarify it basically in their translation, yeah. NIV or and this is you know this is kind of goes to a secondary question, I guess, which is you get asked, what's the best translation? Say, well um my first inclination is to say the one that's word for word. Um but all translations, even you know, and you know, and and in here remember the Masoretes, we call them the Masoretic text. The Masoretes are um or scribes. They're they're they're they're copying the text. Uh, and one of the things that they did is they counted, right? So they they were they were counters and they counted the letters and you know, and so um but you ask what's the purpose for the tran for the this this text? Is it to accurately translate what's there or copy what's there, or is it to clarify what's there? And we see the clarifying work sometimes in these manuscripts, right?

SPEAKER_02 21:08

Uh, where the you know uh a a copyist has put his notes in there or yeah, and so it really depends on what uh what text the Masorites received when they began copying. Right. So at some point in the And what was the purpose of this copy?

Dr. David Klingler 21:23

This uh you know what what we call the BHS or the uh the Leningrad Codex? What what was this scribe trying to accomplish in copying this text? And so maybe he was trying to add clarity and changed it or whatever. You know, so these things creep in and it's not of evil intent, right? I mean if we wanted to say, well, I just want to stick with the Bible, well then which manuscript do you go with?

SPEAKER_02 21:47

Um you certainly don't go with the New American Standard, NIV, New King James, King Jane, none of them you would go with if if Sons of God is the original, like Nat is saying, you have an interpretive choice to make because You're what you what you're demonstrating is it could be either of these things.

Dr. David Klingler 22:04

Yeah, it could be uh as the Masoretic text understands it, referring to Israel, or as the Septuagint understands it, uh referring to uh angelic uh assembly. And so they you know say like Psalm 29 or Psalm 89 or maybe Psalm 82, something like that. Um, and they point out that you know it's attested in other places. Um and so let's keep reading uh and we'll see, I think, pretty clearly who the referent is and what the problem is. And it will make really simple sense of why the Israel was not well, why Israel was not to go in and serve other gods, the gods of the nations. Yeah. Um but uh so the contrast, so the when the Most High gave the nations inheritance, back to verse 8, and he separated the sons of man, he set the boundaries of the people, he did so according to the sons of God. And then the question is who's the referent for the sons of God? Let's just keep going on. I think it will become clear. For the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob is the allotment of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, in a howling waste of a wilderness. He encircled him, he cared for him, he guarded him as the pupil of his eye, like an eagle stirs up its nest that hovers over its young. He

The Song Begins: The Rock And His Ways

Dr. David Klingler 23:20

spreads his wings and caught them, he carried them on his penions. The Lord alone guided him. And there was no foreign God with him. See, there it is. The foreign nations follow foreign gods, and they were divvied up. Um you know, messengers were ruling over them, and apparently they rebelled against the Lord. Uh but Israel was to be separate, they were to be his own prized possession.

SPEAKER_03 23:47

Right.

Dr. David Klingler 23:47

Um, so he alone guided them, and uh, and um there was no foreign god with him, with with uh with Israel. He made him ride on the high places of the earth and ate the produce of the field. He made him suck the honey from the rock, the oil from the f from the flinty rock, curds of cows and the milk of the flock, with the fat of lambs and rams and the breed of Bashan, the the goats, the finest of the wheat, the blood of grapes, uh you drank wine. But Yasharun, remember we talked about Yashar earlier. The the righteous ones, Jesharun is how they're they're just gonna transliterate it. But the righteous ones, literally, to translate it rather than to transliterate, the righteous ones uh grew fat and kicked. You are grown fat and thick and sleek, right? So this this was the warning. When you get in the land, you're going to grow fat and you're gonna forget the Lord. This is what's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_02 24:45

Yeah, when you eat and are satisfied and grow fat, that was what he said.

Dr. David Klingler 24:48

Yeah, yep. Then he forsook the God who made him and scorned the rock of his salvation, right? Now, uh the rock of his, I think his should be capitalized here. Uh the rock of the of the father's salvation. The rock of God's salvation is the Christ. Uh, and they have rejected the Lord and rejected his salvation, the Christ. Uh, and they made him jealous. So let's stop there a little more on that. So, in other words, there is no salvation from the curses put on creation with any other God. Yeah, this is the creator God, who has provided a means of salvation, deliverance from the curses to eternal life, and he has revealed that to Israel, not to the other gods, and not to the gods of the nations. Yeah, the gods of the nations are trying to deceive them so that the Lord would kill them and wipe out the witness, the testimony of the salvation from the earth, right? So, this is the deception of the the other side. Uh, and it's gonna work. Um, they made him jealous with strange gods, uh, with abominations, they provoked him to anger. They're going to they're gonna go after these foreign gods, and says verse 17, they sacrificed to demons who are not gods, uh to gods whom they have not known, new, new gods who came lately, whom your fathers did not dread. You neglected the rock who begot you and forgot the God who gave you birth. The Lord saw this and spurned them because of his provocation, the provocation of his sons and daughters. Then he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be. This is the song the Lord has said in the previous chapter, this is what's gonna happen. You're gonna reject the Lord, you're gonna rebel against now.

SPEAKER_02 26:30

It's just now they're just singing.

Dr. David Klingler 26:32

Yeah, what do you mean? You know, what a what a fun song. Yeah. Yeah. We are rebellious, we're gonna rebel against the Lord, and he's gonna wipe off the planet.

SPEAKER_02 26:39

Well, it's uh the picture that he he is being painted, like you said, that this this detail that you've read, I think helps make sense of that sons of God uh reference up there. And that picture is wild that that the Lord separated out the nations according to these messengers, but he kept Israel for himself. And so if you think about that for just a second, you realize that they didn't have a messenger, they had they had the Lord. They had the Lord himself, and they didn't want him. Yep, they wanted to go after these other messengers, these lesser messengers that were uh that were over the nations, and and that's exactly what they're gonna do. That's that image is just sort of hard to wrap your mind around.

Dr. David Klingler 27:24

It is yeah, and they they rebelled against him, they didn't want to hear the message, right? And then the Lord says, I'm not going with you. And Moses says, If you don't go, I don't go, and the messenger of the Lord's gonna lead him in. And yeah, uh, and so so this this was it. Sons I have reared, but they have rebelled against me. We're gonna watch in this story is Israel's gonna play the harlot. This is what they're gonna do. And so playing the harlot is um going after foreign gods, uh, not following the Lord, not doing what he said, but going and pursuing um not only the harlot, the physical harlot, and and going after foreign women and foreign um and intermarrying with them, but going after foreign gods. See, that's where it leads. It's going after foreign gods. So the first story in um the conquest is they go straight to the harlot's house. It's just I mean, it's a media. Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_02 28:20

It's not like And that's foreshadowing of what they're really gonna do. Yeah, do you run straight to the house?

Dr. David Klingler 28:25

So do not collect $200 if you're a monopoly player. You know, they went straight to the harlot's house to lay down there, right? And uh, and so this will walk you right into to Joshua. And so as soon as you start reading Joshua, be strong and courageous. You're hearing all these words, you know, that are being repeated. You know, don't depart to the right or the left, and then so he sends out two spies and they go straight to the harlot's house.

SPEAKER_02 28:46

Don't get too excited. We we shouldn't. We already know what's gonna

Sons Of God Or Israel? Textual Issue

SPEAKER_02 28:50

happen.

Dr. David Klingler 28:50

It's already a train wreck from scene one of Joshua, right? So they neglect the Lord, they uh neglect the rock who begot you. And so the Lord saw this because of the provocation of his sons and daughters. Then he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be, for they are a perverse generation, sons in whom there is no faithfulness. Crooked and perverse generation. It gets quoted so much, like you said, yeah. Uh in uh Philippians, right? So the way this is gonna play out.

SPEAKER_02 29:18

Even Jesus in in the gospels calls them a perverse generation.

Dr. David Klingler 29:21

Yeah, crooked, perverse, yep. So verse 21 they made me jealous with that which is not a god, they provoked me to anger with their idols going after false gods. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people, I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. Yeah, this is the story. Exactly. Israel's rejection of the Lord, rejection of the Christ, and because of that rejection, the good news of the rock, of the Lord's deliverance, will be taken to the Gentiles, and they'll believe it to make them jealous, to move Israel to jealousy and to anger. Um, this is how it's going to play out, and this is Paul's ministry. Uh, this is what all the gospels are doing. Uh, Christ appears, shows himself to be the one through his words and works. That's John's language, signs and wonders, uh, miracles and testimony. The greater Moses has appeared. Uh, he is the one who can deliver, he's the one who can remove the curses that you are experiencing from Deuteronomy chapter 28. If you repent and return to the Lord, he is able, but you have to repent. He can make you clean, he can remove the curses, but you have to return to the Lord. They won't do it.

SPEAKER_03 30:32

Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 30:33

Uh and so, you know, he's the one who can remove the yoke of Deuteronomy 28. They won't, uh, he's the one who will give them rest. They won't do it, right? And so if you understand this, then the ministry of Christ, the preaching of Christ, the rejection of Christ, the ministry of Paul, the taking of to the to the gospels, the Peter's words, be saved from this crooked and perverse generation in Acts chapter 2. Uh Paul talking uh to the Philippians, uh, do all things without grumbling. Yeah, that you will be uh appear as sons of light. Sons of light was to be Israel. Sons of God, uh, you know, children of God. He's talking to Gentiles. You will be children of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.

SPEAKER_02 31:16

Wow.

Dr. David Klingler 31:16

This is the story. Now, how does it end? See, that's the question is how does it end? And so we're heading there. Yeah, we're gonna see. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:24

But the picture is they go after other gods, spurring the Lord to jealousy. Yep. So he's gonna go after the people of those gods, spurring Israel to jealousy.

Dr. David Klingler 31:34

And this is the means by which the Abrahamic covenant will play out.

SPEAKER_02 31:37

Yeah, that's amazing just to think about.

Dr. David Klingler 31:40

Uh and so let me uh jump over here. Uh, you know, Romans 9, 10, and 11. Paul is explaining this exactly, right? Uh, and so any theology in my mind that doesn't handle 9, 10, and 11, Paul's saying, look, uh this is exactly what Moses was saying. This is the song.

SPEAKER_03 32:01

Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 32:01

So you can't go in and change all the definitions and make it say what you want it to say. Out of um, you know, in in chapter uh 11, um, Paul does a couple things. Uh he explains his ministry, uh, talking about how Israel has rebelled against the Lord, uh, and so the Lord has given them a uh spirit of stupor, eyes so that they do not see, ears so that they do not hear, down to this very day. That's what we talked about last week in chapter 29, verse 4. To this very day the Lord has not given you eyes to see or ears to hear or heart to know. Um all of the gospels quote Isaiah 6.

SPEAKER_02 32:42

Um then at the end of Acts, Paul says, Keep on seeing and keep on seeing and not hearing, I'm going to the Gentiles going to the Gentiles. Exactly right.

Dr. David Klingler 32:52

Uh and so uh let their table become a trap and a s uh a snare and a trap, a stumbling block, a retribution to them. Let their eyes be darkened and not see, and bend their backs forever. Uh I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be, but by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles to make them jealous. Wow. This is chapter 11, verse 11 of Romans. Now, if their transgression is riches to the world, and their failure is riches to the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be? In other words, how good will it be when they return and repent? That's it. The song's not over yet. Yeah, the song's not over. I'm speaking to you who are Gentiles, insomuch as I am apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry. If somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. For if their rejection is reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? Yeah, he continues. And so he says, I do not want you to be uninformed of this mystery, brethren, lest you be wise in your own estimation that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and so all Israel shall be saved as it is written. The deliverer will come from Zion. He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. We've been talking about the godlessness. He's going to remove the godlessness, uh, the ungodliness from Jacob. This is my covenant with them when I take away their sins, talking about a new covenant. I'll make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made. So from the standpoint of the gospel, they, rejecting Israel at the time, are enemies for your sakes. That continues down to this day. But from the standpoint of God's choice, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were once disobedient to God, but now you have been shown mercy because of their disobedience. So also now these have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you, they may be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience, Jews and Gentiles alike, so that he might show mercy to all. Right? Um, so so this is uh this is the story, and this is what's going to happen. This is why Paul's quoting uh this uh you know, uh chapter uh thirty-two, verse twenty-one.

SPEAKER_02 35:16

So the blessing to the nations that God promised in, well, in Genesis three, but repeated in in Genesis 12 to Abraham is being fulfilled in this amazing way, is what you're saying, right? That that Israel is going after other gods, so God is gonna go to the Gentiles and make Israel jealous, and in this way, he's bringing the gospel to the nations.

Dr. David Klingler 35:40

And and so what's going to be put on display is his uh his character. Wow. Uh compassion, you know, gracious, compassionate, slowed anger, bounty, loving, kindness, and truth. But by no means uh the Gentiles are gonna see it, uh Israel's gonna see it, all are going to see it, yeah. Uh, and uh are going to attach themselves

Israel Set Apart From The Nations

Dr. David Klingler 36:00

to the stone, the rock, the blessing of Abraham. Yeah the the the promise was uh to Abraham and to his seed, singular, referring to the one, not to the many. This is Paul's Roman uh Galatians argument.

SPEAKER_03 36:14

Yep.

Dr. David Klingler 36:15

Uh and he's going to tie the promise to Christ and the blessing to eternal life. Uh and Israel is going to reject the Lord, the only provision for eternal life, the rock, the blessing. And so all of this is just a simple story. It's an amazing story. Full display. But if you don't know Torah, if you don't, if you don't know Torah, you can't know the historical books. You can't know Israel's history. You can't know the prophets. If you don't know, which means you can't know the Old Testament. If you can't know the Old Testament, you will make no sense of the gospels. Yeah. You'll just have Jesus stories and bar tricks and walking on water and doing some neat stuff and you believed and but you don't know what's going on.

SPEAKER_03 36:54

Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 36:55

Or why the gospel's going to the Gentiles? Uh Paul writes to Ephesians so that they may be able to comprehend with all the saints.

SPEAKER_03 37:01

Yes.

Dr. David Klingler 37:02

What's going on here? What is the majesty of this program that God has everyone on? We're all a part of it, right?

SPEAKER_02 37:09

And imagine, imagine if you don't know this song. Yeah. What conclusion might you come to about what God has done with Israel in the present age?

Dr. David Klingler 37:18

Yeah. And is yeah, is doing it.

SPEAKER_02 37:19

And say he he's done with them.

Dr. David Klingler 37:21

Yeah, and and then the future restoration, yeah, which is going to be talked about in the rest of this song, you're going to disregard. Exactly. Change all the definitions, right? So uh you you don't start with the New Testament. You start with the story.

SPEAKER_03 37:35

Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 37:35

And then the New Testament is told you. The very words, New Testament or New Covenant, were promised to Israel.

SPEAKER_02 37:41

Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 37:42

Right.

SPEAKER_02 37:42

One one of the things that you said his characters on display, one of the things I notice uh about how this song is is going to be used throughout the Old Testament is to display his sovereignty as as well. Um and that he's going to call the shots of history and he's going to bring it about. And at it it's in that way, just like he's doing here. He's calling the shot, but he's not just calling the he's not just making a prediction. No. He makes it happen. Yeah. And in this way, uh, not only Israel, but all the nations will know that he is God. Because no other God can do this, you know, can call the shots.

Dr. David Klingler 38:17

Uh in Romans 9, go back to Romans 9 and we'll run along here. But this is such an important passage. You know, in Romans 9, the logic here then just stands so clearly obvious. Well, if if he's gonna do this, then why does he still find fault?

SPEAKER_03 38:34

Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 38:35

Well, and and I I'm reminded of kind of how my um salv, you know, the we we have this course, our systematic theology courses and soteriology is salvation. And we're talking about election and predestination, all these discussions about, you know, God's sovereignty and does he cause people to do evil? Uh no, people are just evil to start with. Um, and and so the question was uh the argument from the class was, well, this isn't fair. Why doesn't God just save everyone? To which Dr. Leitner, who's now with the Lord, you know, he said, You're asking exactly the wrong question. The question is, why does he save any? Why does he intercede? If he doesn't intercede, if he doesn't cause you uh to see what's right in his eyes and hear the word of the Lord and change your heart to know, if he doesn't give you eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to know, then you won't.

SPEAKER_03 39:32

Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 39:32

Not because you can't, yeah, but because you won't. You're not the boss of me. See, that's the inherited sin, right? Right. And so anyway, so Israel's gonna rebel. He knows it. Um, this is what's gonna happen. They're gonna make him jealous, provoke him to anger. So he's gonna make them jealous with the uh with a people, provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. Uh, he continues, for a fire is kindled in my anger, and it burns to the lowest parts of Sheol. It consumes the earth and all its yield. It sets on fire the foundations of the mountains. I will heap misfortunes upon them, I will use my arrows upon them. They will be wasted by famine, consumed by plague, by bitter destruction, and the teeth of beasts I will send upon them, the teeth of beasts I will send upon them, the venom of crawling things of the dust. This is all Deuteronomy 28. Outside the sword will bereave, inside terror, both the young man and the virgin, the nursling, uh, the man with gray hair. I would have said, I would cut them to pieces, I would remove them from the memory of men, had I not feared the provocation by my enemy, lest their adversaries should misjudge, and they would say, Our hand is triumphant, the Lord has not done all of this. Of course, that's what they say anyway.

SPEAKER_02 40:47

Yeah, that's right.

Dr. David Klingler 40:48

For they are a nation lacking counsel. There is no understanding in them. Would that they were wise and would that they understood this? How would they uh that they would discern their future? How could one put a thousand uh to chase, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their rock had sold them and the Lord had given them up? Indeed, their rock is not like our rock. Even our enemies judge this. For their vine is the vine of Sodom, and their fields are the fields of Gomorrah, their grapes are the grapes of

Growing Fat And Forgetting The Rock

Dr. David Klingler 41:20

poison, their clusters bitter, their wine is the venom of serpents, uh, and the deadly poison of cobras. Verse 34 Is it not laid up in store with me, sealed up in my treasures? Vengeance is mine, and retribution, in due time their foot will slip. For in the day of their calamity is near, their impending things are hasting upon them. For the Lord will vindicate his people, and his uh will have compassion upon his servants. Comfort, comfort, my people, Israel, says the Lord. There's a future restoration coming. He will have compassion upon his servants. When they return, he will restore them from captivity, he will have compassion upon them. It's Deuteronomy 30 exactly restoration, it's the prodigal son story, it's all of this.

SPEAKER_02 42:06

So there's a turning in the song at this point.

Dr. David Klingler 42:08

This is this is the what's next after When He sees their strength is gone, when there is no one there, then he's going to rush in. He will vindicate his people, he will have compassion upon his servants when he sees their strength is gone. When there is none remaining, bond or free, then he will say, Where are their gods? The rock in whom they sought refuge, who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their their drink offerings or libation. Let them rise up, let them help you, let them be your hiding place. See now that I am he, uh you know, I am the Lord, I am he. There is no God besides me. It is I who put to death, I who give life, I who have wounded, and I who heal. There is no one who can deliver you from my hand.

SPEAKER_02 42:49

Yikes.

Dr. David Klingler 42:49

You better fear. Yikes. And they're they're not, they're gonna go in, they're gonna follow foreign gods, and so they're gonna be beaten from head to toe with no one to anoint with oil. Isaiah chapter one. Yeah. The Lord's gonna kill them.

SPEAKER_03 43:00

Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 43:01

Um, you know, Ezekiel 36, 37, 38, dry bones, right?

SPEAKER_02 43:06

Um I like the language. Sorry to interrupt. Uh, I like the uh language here of you know, where he talks about them, that they're seeking refuge in these other gods, and these curses that are being poured out on them, at least in the picture of what I think is being painted, curses that are being poured out on them is to demonstrate to them that those gods are not refuges at all. He is the only refuge from this curse, from and not just these curses, but the the ultimate curse that's been placed on creation, right? And so there it the it it's so often you can you can just start thinking of the Lord as cruel and pouring out all these judges, but in doing so, he's demonstrating to Israel that he alone is the one that they can trust and they need to turn back to him. We talked about this story a couple weeks ago.

Dr. David Klingler 43:54

I just love thinking about it, referring back to it. It's it's when Israel is going to battle. This is In the days of Samuel, and they're going to go to battle against the Philistines. And they say, Well, you know, if we just drag the Ark of the Covenant with us, then we'll win the battle. You know, if the Lord is with us, right? The Lord never loses. Yeah. Well, the Philistines, they capture the ark. Doesn't work. And uh Israel loses the battle. Israel loses the battle. But the Lord goes over there and starts wiping out all the Philistines. He's wiping out their No Israelite inside. He's wiping out their gods. He's and they're they're they're you know, the Philistines like, get this thing out of here. Get this Ark of the Covenant out of here. Send it back to those people. Right? And so the Lord comes over. I mean, I just you know, the here's the picture I see, you know, here comes the Lord coming over the hill victorious, you know, on the cart with the offering uh for moving the the you know, all of this is just ties into the the law perfectly. And and you know, it's like the Lord coming over the hill saying, Hey, where'd y'all go? I was over there wiping them out.

SPEAKER_03 44:55

Y'all weren't with me.

Dr. David Klingler 44:56

See, the question is not, is the Lord with Israel? Yeah, the question is, is Israel with the Lord? Are they gonna align themselves with the Lord's gonna win?

SPEAKER_02 45:03

That is a huge period.

Dr. David Klingler 45:05

He always wins. Yeah. The question is not, and and so for practical application for us, look, the you need to stop asking, is the Lord for you? He's not. He the Lord's for the Lord. The question is, are you for the Lord?

SPEAKER_03 45:16

Yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 45:16

Are are you on the side of the Lord? Are you putting you against it? Because he's going to win. Are you putting yourself on the side of the winner or the side of the loser? And it appears that um that the bad guys are winning. Yeah. Right? And so you want to go over there and join the enemy, right? Um, I mean, this is uh pirates of the Caribbean stuff. And this is, you know, there's no honor in joining the low the losing side. I mean, this is this is right, this is so basic and so simple. Uh, and so when at the end, uh when he sees that their strength is gone, um, then they need to recognize there's nowhere to hide, right? It is I who wound, I who heal, I who put to death, I who give life. There is no one who can deliver you from my hand. Verse 40. Indeed, as I as I lift up my hand to heaven and say, As I live forever, if I fla sharpen my flashing sword, and my hand takes hold of justice, I render vengeance on my adversaries, I will repay those who hate me, I will make my arrows drunk with blood. You ought to be thinking Revelation 19, return of Christ here. My sword shall devour flesh, the blood of the slain uh and of the captives, you know, Psalm 110, Isaiah 63.

SPEAKER_02 46:28

And this is this is Deuteronomy 30, where the once they repent, the curses get poured out on the enemy. That's right. So that's what that's what he's describing here.

Dr. David Klingler 46:35

Yeah, yep, yeah. Uh uh from the long-haired leaders of the

Demons, Idols, And Hidden Face

Dr. David Klingler 46:40

enemy. Go read um uh Psalm 2, Psalm 110, yeah, Isaiah 11, Isaiah 63, um, Revelation 19. They're just this is all the story, right? So so Israel's rejected, the gospel has gone to the nations, they have believed, uh, and now the Lord rushes in to save his people. Uh, and so rejoice, O nations, with his people. That's how we get there. Through Israel's rejection, the gospel has gone to the Gentiles to make them jealous, to move them to anger. This is Paul's ministry. It's not as the word of God has failed. Right? For he will avenge the blood of his servants, he will render vengeance on his adversaries, he will atone for his land and for his people. There's the story of the Bible.

SPEAKER_03 47:26

That's the end.

Dr. David Klingler 47:27

And and so sing this song so that when you're in the middle of human history and you're wondering what's going on, you go back and sing this song, and you oh, now I know. Yeah, I know exactly what's going on. So Moses came and spoke all these words of this song in the hearing of all the people, and he uh with Joshua, the son of Noon. Then Moses had was finished speaking all these words to Israel, he said to them, Take your heart to your heart all these words which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to carefully observe all the words of this law, for it is not an idle word for you. Indeed, it is your life. And by this word your days in the land will be prolonged, which you are about to cross to Jordan to possess. And the Lord spoke to Moses that very day, saying, Go up to the mountain of Arabim to Mount Nebo, which is opposite the land of Moab, opposite to uh in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel as a possession, then die on the mountain where you ascend and be gathered to your people, as Aaron, your brother, died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, because uh you broke faith with me in the midst of the sons of Israel, uh at the waters of uh Marabakadesh in the wilderness of Zen, because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. For you will see the land at a distance, and you will uh but you will not go there into the land which I am giving to the sons of Israel. And so next time, chapters thirty-four, uh, thirty-three, thirty-four, uh, we're gonna have this blessing of Moses on the people, and then Moses is going to die, and we're gonna see. All right, Joshua, how are they gonna do? Yep. Joshua says, Don't depart to the right to the left, and they do immediately. You know, and so Deuteronomy 32 begins. Yep, immediately.

SPEAKER_02 49:19

Yep, just immediately. So very good. Well, thank you so much for walking us through that. Uh I love these two chapters of this book, and and and just hopefully uh we made clear how important they really are to this story and understanding it um and orienting uh not just the readers in the old testament, but even us today, where we are in the story, because this song is still playing out even to this day, all the way to the end. So uh study this, get to know it, and uh and you will be far better off for it. Uh, but we will see you next time as we pick up in chapter 33 and finish up the book of Deuteronomy. See you then.

SPEAKER_00 49:57

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