October 24, 2025    Moses' Song

This week I am going to be talking about one of the songs that Moses sang to the people of Israel. Now there are at least three songs that Moses wrote. One was sung after the crossing of the Red Sea found in Exodus 15, one is recorded in Psalm 90, and the other was written in the last days of Moses’ life, in Deuteronomy 32 and that is the one I want to talk about. Please turn with me to Deuteronomy 32:1-45 “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. 10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. 11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: 12 So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. 13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; 14 Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. 15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. 16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. 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. 26 I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men: 27 Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the LORD hath not done all this. 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! 30 How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up? 31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. 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: 33 Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. 34 Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? 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. 36 For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left. 37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, 38 Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection. 39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. 40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever. 41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. 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:” After that Yahweh commands Moses to go up to the top of Mount Nebo to catch a glimpse of the Promised Land before dieing, “Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.” Deuteronomy 32:52 So we see that Moses is allowed to see the land, but not enter in. It is a devastating disappointment and yet, he ends his public life with a song. You may be wondering just what is the nature of this song? Well, as we read, it begins by describing Yahweh’s lovingkindness and faithfulness toward Israel, and ends with a promise of vengeance, redemption, and atonement for Yahweh’s land and people. As we saw in Deuteronomy 32:43 “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.” However, it is not only the people of Israel who will rejoice with this final redemption, but the Gentiles also will rejoice with Yahweh’s people. For you see Yahweh’s salvation is for all people. That's right people of every tongue, race and ethnic background. All people Jews and Gentiles can rejoice together in unity at the goodness of Yahweh. A portion of this song has severe words of rebuke against Israel for infidelity and unfaithfulness to Yahweh. Not only would Yahweh “hide His face” from His people but He would also render judgment. We saw this in Deuteronomy 32:23&24 “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.” Although these rebukes seem quite harsh, they reveal that the discipline of Yahweh is for our good and will ultimately end in our final redemption. Moses' song foresees that the people of Israel will make Yahweh jealous with their worship of false gods and idols and that Yahweh in turn will provoke His people to jealousy with those who are called “not a nation.” We are told this in Deuteronomy 32:20&21 "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.” We also see this in Romans 11:13–16 "For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: 14 If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. 15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? 16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. "  This reference is found again in the Book of Hosea. We see it in Hosea 2:23 "And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God." Also in Romans 9:25&26 "As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. 26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God." Right about mow you msay be wondering just who are these people who were once “not a nation” and are now Yahweh’s people? Well they are the Gentiles who have come to join themselves with the commonwealth of Israel through the Jewish Messiah as stated in 1 Peter 2:10 “Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. ” These are the very people who Yahweh has called to salvation to provoke Israel to jealousy. We find this in Romans 11:11 “I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. 12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? 13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:” So, we see here that they stumbled in order that through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. You may be wondering, When and how will the Jews become provoked to jealousy by Gentile followers of Yeshua? I believe it will be when they witness our love for Yeshua. When they see the true love, joy, fellowship, and peace that we as Believers possess in Yeshua, even when the entire material world around us falls apart. Likewise, it was this ability to sing in the face of apparent tragedy that set Moses apart from the others. We are told that all but a few of his generation had died in the wilderness because of their unbelief. And yes, Moses himself was about to die, having never entered the Promised Land. But he still praised Yahweh in song reminding Israel of Yahweh’s power, love, and faithfulness. In his song, Moses uses the metaphor of Yahweh as a rock, steadfast, strong, immovable and unchanging. In contrast to all these wondrous qualities of Yahweh, the following verse describes man as corrupt, perverse, and crooked to the point of being compared to Sodom and Gomorrah. Let's look at Deuteronomy 32:30-32 “How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up? 31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. 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:” There is no way to bridge the wide chasm between the corruption of man and the holiness of Yahweh except for one and that narrow gate that leads to life is through Yeshua the Messiah. He said, I am the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through Me. This is stated in John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." In addition to being compared to a rock, Moses also likens Yahweh to an eagle, a bird of great strength and vision, who took the children out of Egypt on His outstretched wings in Deuteronomy 32:11&12 “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: 12 So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him” Now music has been called the universal language of the heart and, therefore, Moses uses the song to complete his life’s mission with a stirring challenge to the people of Israel. Right about now you may be wondering, What is Moses’ message? It is that our actions have consequences, for good or for evil and that our very survival depends upon our faithfulness to Yahweh our Rock. Well, all my life I thought music and song have always been an integral part of the human race. And we are all walking vessels or instruments designed to praise Yahweh with singing. It is good to remember what we have read about how the singers and musicians were at times sent out in front of the armies of Israel, and this in itself was enough to bring victory. So if music brought victory in battle why is singing such a spiritual, sacred act of worship? Well I once heard that a nineteenth century Rabbi wrote, “If two people talk at the same time, neither hears or understands the other; whereas if two people sing at the same time, they give each other harmony.” And I actually believe he was right. So, Moses’ song to date has not been forgotten either, it has been passed down from generation to generation. That's right the Levites sang it each week in the First and Second Temples. Later, after the destruction of the Temples, Jewish children were taught in religious schools to memorize the entire song. And scripture reminds us that both Yahweh and His people suffer pain through betrayal and infidelity, but those who come to Yahweh in sincere repentance can receive forgiveness. Moses, called “friend of Yahweh,” died alone and yet not alone, for his very best Friend in the entire universe remained with him even to the end. In fact, it is said that it was Yahweh who buried Moses, and to this day He alone knows the burial place. I say to you today to hear the word of the LORD, and proclaim it in distant lands and always remember that He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over His flock like a shepherd. We see this in Jeremiah 31:10 "Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock." So I say, stay strong and love the Messiah with all your mind, heart and soul. Yeshua was the final blood atonement sacrifice that took away mankind's sins. In Yeshua, all our sins are carried away “as far as east is from west” We are told so in Psalm 103:10-12 "He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” Yeshua is not only our High Priest, but He is also the final sacrifice who has taken away our sins. Hebrew 4:14 "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession." Therefore remember those that overcome Yeshua will write their names in the book of life. We are told so in Revelation 3:5 "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels."
Praise be His awesome name. Just re,member to get your name added before it is too late.
That is all for today. So until next week;
May the LORD bless thee, and keep thee, 
May the LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee, 
May the LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.