Moses and the Lamb sing of God’s justice and compassion (Deuteronomy 32)

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There are two different songs of Moses in the Torah. The first is recorded in Exodus 15, and the second is recorded in Deuteronomy 32. 

A key lesson from the Torah reading הַאֲזִינוּ Ha’azinu (“listen,” Deuteronomy 32) is that being observant of the Lord’s instructions is not meant to make us “holier than thou.” They are not given to us as a pursuit of perfection. 

We should trust the God who brought Israel out of Egypt, through the Red Sea and sustained them in the wilderness for 40 years with miraculous provision. The deities of Egypt and Canaan were numerous and one would chose which ones to worship based on one’s own needs and path in life. For example, a farmer or vintner would worship the god of the rain and would ask for rain when his crops needed rain and ask the rain god to withhold rain when his crops didn’t need it. 

Rather, it’s about listening to the Creator, observing where are lifestyles diverge from Heaven’s instructions and seeking return to the LORD’s ways, a restoration made possible by the perfect Atonement Offering, the Mashiakh.

“The Song’s literary form is a revised and expanded prophetic lawsuit.” (Jewish Study Bible):

• Introduction, with summoning of witnesses (vv. 1–3);
• Summary accusation of Israel’s disloyalty (vv. 4–6);
• Recital of God’s loving actions for Israel, the basis for the charge (vv. 7–14);
• Indictment of Israel as disloyal (vv. 15–18);
• Declaration of the decision to punish Israel (vv. 19–25).
• God declares the risk to the Name if other nations see Israel destroyed (vv. 26–27). 
• God transfers Israel’s punishment to her enemies (vv. 28–42). 
• Heaven is called to praise God for His actions (v. 43; Psa. 29:1).

Another way to look at Deuteronomy 32 is to look at other lawsuits or indictments in the Bible: 

• Isaiah 1
• Jeremiah 2
• Micah 6
• Psalm 50
• Revelation 1–3 (22:16)

A third way to read Deuteronomy is to read it as a Chiasmus. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a chiasmus as “ an inverted relationship between the syntactic elements of parallel phrases (as in Goldsmith’s to stop too fearful, and too faint to go)” 

Chiasmus are common in the Bible, a significant one is found in John 1, but let’s look more closely at the chiasmus in Deuteronomy 32:

A (Deut. 31:30) The words of this song (דברי השׁירה)

B (Deut. 32:1-6) “A faithful God, without deceit” (Deut. 32:4)

C (Deut. 32:7-18) “forgot the God who gave you birth” (Deut. 32:18)

D (Deut. 32:19-26) The wrath of God

C’ (Deut. 32:27-35) “these foes would mistakenly boast” (Deut. 32:27)

B'(Deut. 32:36-43) “there is no god besides Me” (Deut. 32:39)

A’ (Deut. 32:44) The words of this song (דברי השׁירה)

Yeshua warned of apostasy after His return to the Father and approaching the Day of the LORD (Matthew 24:12; 13:25ff; Luke 18:8). Lawlessness is going to increase and the love of people towards each other will grow cold. One flows right out of the other.

Paul makes the same point in Romans 1. As people lose touch with the Creator of Heaven and Earth, they follow a moral and ethical cascade downward to the point they will approve of and applaud wicked conduct. People become proud of their tolerance of evil.

But Paul tells us that we can’t tolerate wicked conduct (1Corinthians 5). Such people have to be sent away from the congregation, not out of scorn or hatred but because if they aren’t removed from the congregation, the congregation will falsely believe that such behavior is OK and the behavior will spread and cause more problems. 

It’s an act of love to the rest of the congregation to remove that person from the congregation for a time until they see the error of their ways and repent. 

Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ “And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ “… But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

Matthew 13:24-30 NASB 1995

There is a long discussion in the Rabbinic literature about wheat and tares. The Mishna tackles the issue of wheat and tares, using it as a lesson 

The weed that is commonly believed to be the “tare” in the Middle East, looks very much like wheat when its young but as it gets closer to harvest time, it looks less like wheat. These “tares” like growing amidst the wheat crops and highly susceptible to fungal infection. The danger of the tare is that if it develops a fungal infection, and then consumed, it will provoke hallucinogenic reaction, which is dangerous to people eating it. 

“I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

Luke 18:8 NASB 1995

The faith here is not just faith in anything, but the faith Yeshua is talking about here is the faith in God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We need to be aware of our own weaknesses and vulnerabilities so that the Adversary will not corrupt and weaken our connection to God. During this time, we hear the trumpet blast to warn us that Yom Kippur is coming, so we can reflect on what has happened in the past year and assess whether we have done anything to improve upon and strengthen those areas in us that are weak and lacking. 

Paul also warned of apostasy after his departure and the need to cling to the words of God as That Day approached (Acts 20:29–32; 2Thessalonians 2:3).

Our God is faithful to us, He will not lie to us or deceive us. His words are like rain, like living water. Recall the conversation between Yeshua and the Samaritan woman. He was connecting with her to help her discover what she really longed for. 

“Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 

She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water?”

John 4:10-11 NASB 1995

Remember that in Genesis, Isaac went through the land and dug many wells and the people around him would steal them, but rather than asking why Isaac was so smart and able to find water so easily, they would steal his wells and drive him away. A pity they weren’t smart enough to draw closer to Isaac instead of driving him away. 

“Now on the last day, the great day of the feast [of Sukkot], Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water’ [Isa. 44:3; 55:1; 58:11].” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

John 7:37-39, NASB 1995

If you only have the letter of the law, but no the spirit of the law, the law kills because all the law can provide is condemnation. But when you have both the letter of the law and the spirit of the law, you have life. It’s no coincidence that the Spirit of God descended upon Yeshua, at His baptism. John the Baptist was adamant that Yeshua should be the one baptizing him, not the other way around, but Yeshua insisted that John baptize Him “to fulfill all righteousness” because the Spirt and the law go together. 

The Apostle Paul warned that if you want to follow the law, without the Spirit, you better follow all of the law, every jot and tittle off it. Because if you miss any little part of it, you’re toast, but everybody’s toast compared to that standard. 

As we think about rainbows, the rainbow is given as a promise by God. We are better served if we are behind the One with the bow than in front of the bow. Those who have been acting treacherously against Heaven will be judged by Heaven but Heaven even loves those who are rebelling against Him and when they repent, He will welcome them. He keeps calling to them, even to those who have a veil over their eyes and don’t fully understand what He is doing and why. When Paul was in Athens, those who were not called to the Gospel did not understand what he was saying but to those God was calling to, their hearts were stirred and they came to the Gospel. 

One of the blessings of Yom Kippur is that God wants to dwell among His people, but His people need to wake up to how far away they are from Him and how they should desire to return to Him. This is something that God wants to turn the world to Him and He has called His people to help Him with that mission. There are now billions of people who have heard the Gospel and responded favorably to His call. 

Summary: Tammy