Deuteronomy (Chapters 33-34)

Deuteronomy 33–34 concludes with Moses blessing the tribes of Israel before his death. He blesses each tribe and reminds Israel of God’s care for His people. Moses then goes up Mount Nebo, sees the Promised Land, and dies there according to the word of the Lord. Joshua becomes Israel’s new leader, and the book ends by declaring that no prophet had arisen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.

Transcript

Setting The Stage For Deuteronomy’s Close

SPEAKER_00 0:00

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SPEAKER_02 0:26

Hey everybody, welcome back to Teach Me the Bible Podcast. Uh today we are finishing up the book of Deuteronomy. So we're in chapters 33 and 34. Um if you're just now picking up with us, I'm not sure why you are, uh, go back to the beginning, but definitely the last few chapters and understand what it is we've been talking about. And um, but today, like I said, we're picking up a chapter 33, and we're gonna finish these last two chapters and and tie a bow on on Deuteronomy for for this series.

Moses Blesses Israel’s Tribes

SPEAKER_02 0:56

So, Doc, if you want to help finish us up here, yeah.

Dr. David Klingler 0:58

Begins in uh 33.1. Uh now this is the blessing which Moses, the man of God, blessed the sons of Israel before his death. And he said, The Lord came from Sinai and dawned on them from Sy uh from Seir. He shone forth from Mount Peran, and he came from the midst of the ten thousand holy ones. At his right hand there was a flashing uh lightning for them. Indeed, he loves the people, all your holy ones, uh, are in your hand, and they followed in your steps, received your words, and Moses charged us with a law, a possession for the assembly of Jacob. And he was king in Jesharun. That's an interesting uh language there. He was uh uh he was Melech, he was king in Jesharun. He he functioned as the is the role of leader, king among Jeshun. Remember the last time Jeshurun was it was Israel. When the heads of the people were gathered, the tribes of Israel gathered, uh, and he said, May Reuben live and not die, for his men are few. And this regarding uh you know, and this uh for Judah, he said, Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him to his people. With his hands he contended for them. And um may you be a help against his adversaries. Of Levi, he said, Let your uh Thumin and your Urim belong to your godly man, whom you approved at Masah, with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah, who said to his father and to his mother, I did not consider them, and he did not acknowledge his brothers, nor did he regard his own sons, for they observed your word and kept your covenant, just referring back to the story. Uh they shall teach your ordinances to Jacob, and your law to Israel. You shall put incense before them, the whole burnt offering on your altar. O Lord, bless his sustenance, uh substance, and accept the work of his hands, shatter the loins of those who rise up against him, and those who hate him, that they will not rise again. And of Benjamin, he said, May the beloved of the Lord dwell in the security by him, who sha shields him all the day, and dwells between his shoulders. Of Joseph, he said, Blessed is the Lord, uh blessed be the Lord and his land, with the choice things of heaven with the dew, from the deep lying beneath, and the choice yield of the sun, and with the choice produce of the months, and with the best things of the ancient mountains, and with the choice things of the everlasting hills, and with the choice things of the earth and its fullness, in the favor of him who dwelt in the bush. Let it come on the head of Joseph, and the crown on the head of the distinguished one among his brothers. As the firstborn of his ox, majesty is his, and his horns are the horns of the wild ox. With them he will push the peoples at um all at once at the ends of the earth, all those ten thousands of Ephraim, all those thousands of Manasseh. Of Zebulun, he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going forth, and Issachar in your tents, for they will call peoples to the mountain, they will offer righteous sacrifices, they will draw out the abundance of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand. Of Gad, he said, Blessed is the one who enlarges Gad. He lies down as a lion, he tears the arm, also the crown of the head. And then he provided the first part for himself, uh, for their ruler's portion was reserved, and he came with the leaders of the people, and he executed the justice of the Lord and his ordinances with Israel. Then of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp that leaps forth from Bashan. Of Naptali, he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favor and full of blessing of the Lord, take possession of the sea of the south, uh and of the south. And then of Asher he said, Uh more blessed are the sons of Asher, may he be favored by his brothers, may he dip his foot in oil, your locks will be iron and bronze according to your days, so you will walk leisurely. Uh let none um there is none like the God of Jesharun, who rides the heavens to your help, and through the skies his majesty, the eternal God, is a dwelling place. Um, and underneath are his everlasting arms. He drives out the enemy um from before you and said, Destroy. So Israel just uh dwells in security, the fountain of Jacob secluded in the land of grain and new wine. Hold on to that grain and new wine. So it's going to be removed if they're disobedient. His mountains will also drop dew. Blessed are you, O Israel. Who is like you? A people saved, delivered by the Lord. Who is the shield of your help, the sword of your majesty? So enemies will cringe before you and will tread upon their high places.

God Of Jeshurun And Israel’s Security

Dr. David Klingler 6:31

And so, you know, Israel's being blessed by Moses.

SPEAKER_02 6:35

Kind of like Genesis 49, where it's Jacob's blessing the sons. Yeah. But now they're tribes.

Dr. David Klingler 6:41

Yeah, now they're the tribes, and they're going to go take the land, but we know how this is going to play out, right?

Moses Views The Land And Dies

Dr. David Klingler 6:46

And so chapter 34, um, now Moses went up to the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pigsa, uh, which uh is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him all of the land, Gilead, as far as Dan, all of Naphtali, all the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, as far as the western sea, and the Negab and the plain of the valley of Jericho, and the uh city of the palm trees, uh as far as Zor. Um and the Lord said to him, This is the land which I swore to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, saying, I will give it to your descendant, seed or seeds. Uh I will uh let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there. So Moses, the servant of the Lord, uh, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, and he buried him in the valley of the land of Moab opposite Beth Paor, but no man knows his burial place to this day. Now Moses was 120 years old when he died, and his eyes were not dim, nor his strength uh uh uh abated. So he was still seeing what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord, and he was still walking according to it. So the sons of Israel went uh uh wept for Moses and the in the plains of Moab thirty days, uh the days of weeping uh and mourning for Moaz, uh Moses came to an end.

Joshua Commissioned And The Search For Greater Moses

Dr. David Klingler 8:10

And now Joshua, the son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom, uh, for Moses had laid his hands upon him, and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the Lord commanded Moses. Since that time no prophet has risen like Moses in Israel, whom the Lord knew face to face. Kind of a reminder of who Moses was, saying, uh, you know, Joshua was filled with the Spirit, but he wasn't Moses. Yeah, right. Um for uh Moses uh knew the Lord face to face, the Lord knew Moses face to face for all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh and all of his servants, um, and all of his land, um, and for all the mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of Israel. Right. So you're looking for the greater Moses, Israel's gonna go into the land, and the song of Moses is gonna is going to start to play, so to speak, right? Uh and so when we get to Joshua chapter one, it came about after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, that Joshua, the servant of Moses, said, Okay, Moses, my servant, is dead. Arise, therefore. So the Lord speaks to him and says, Moses, my servant, is dead. Arise, therefore, across the journey with all his people, and you know, don't depart to the right or the left. No one be able to stand for you if you're strong and courageous. But if you're not, then look out. Right. And so off they go. Uh, and um by chapter two, it's starting to come apart. Uh by chapter, you know uh nine, it is coming apart. By the rest of the story, the Lord has not uh forsaken them. Right, he kept all of his promises to them, but they aren't doing the what they they're part of the bargain. They're not keeping their promises to him. Uh, and so if you understand the the Deuteronomy 32 and you understand the song, you understand how this is gonna play out, you understand the law, then you can evaluate how Joshua is doing and how Israel is doing in taking the land. And so by the time you get to Judges chapter one, it makes perfect sense. You didn't listen, right? So now here's what's gonna happen the song's gonna continue to play, so to speak. Exactly. Um, and the prophets are going to come, you know, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, pre-exilic, exilic, post, and they're just gonna ro they're gonna sing the same song to you, right? Uh Paul's gonna remind you of that, Jesus is gonna remind you of that. This is how it's playing out. So again, uh this kind of finishes our our you know Torah section. Uh now we head off to Joshua and uh podcast there.

SPEAKER_02 10:54

Uh but um Which is

From Joshua To Judges: The Pattern Unfolds

SPEAKER_02 10:56

really like we've talked about. I mean, it it's the end of Torah, but um, but Joshua's gonna continue the story right out of it.

Dr. David Klingler 11:04

Yeah, you could stop reading um at um at Deuteronomy 34 and understand what's gonna happen. Yeah, you know what's gonna happen. Yeah, yeah. You don't know exactly how it's gonna happen, the detail that it's going to go into, but it's gonna happen. Uh and that's the rest of the Old Testament. It's happening. Yeah. Uh and so now what? Yeah. Well, they're gonna reject the Lord, reject the rock of his salvation. We're right there in the middle of the song in chapter 32. Yeah, and now the message, the gospel of the rock is going to go out to the nations to make Israel jealous to move them to anger. That's where we are in this in the story now.

SPEAKER_02 11:41

And so what is it they I mean, they're already going after other gods as soon as what judges won? Right, and Joshua's setting them up for it, but they're they're already well, I would argue that the that they were going after foreign gods um back at Shatim.

Dr. David Klingler 12:03

Um they're playing the harlot with the prostitute to Baal. Yeah, uh, and it is from there, and this is why in uh Joshua chapter two, Joshua the son of Noon, sent two spies secretly from Shatim. That's where they're going. Uh, and they go straight to the harlot's house to lay down there. This is and the harlot plays the harlot, and this is Rahab, and she finds herself in the Messianic line.

Rahab, Shittim, And Sovereign Grace

Dr. David Klingler 12:23

You're going, this thing's a train wreck from the start, yeah, right. Uh, but God knows what he's doing. Um, and he, you know, his sovereignty is all throughout this story, which is just amazing. So yeah, so so uh pick it up in Joshua. Uh we got a great uh podcast uh series there in Joshua with Warren Truesdale. Uh Warren is uh is uh with the time we recorded that podcast, he was writing his dissertation uh in the book of uh uh of Joshua, and just some great stuff there.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

Yeah, really good, really good. Well, thank you so much for guiding us through this book. Um man, I hope that our listeners have a renewed respect for the book, appreciation for it, and and understanding of it. And so hopefully um this will kick start you off on on setting you up to understand this story on a deeper level. And so we we're trying to uh again just be your guides through it. Um, but there's much more to learn. There's much more you can uh study in these books. And and uh anyways, we thank you so

Closing Reflections And Next Series

SPEAKER_02 13:25

much for joining us. We've really enjoyed this time, uh, and we'll see you next time for the next book.

SPEAKER_00 13:31

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