BE POSITIVE

 
 

2/26/2012

• Chapters 31 through 34 are a requiem to Moses. 
• It is his fifth oration to Israel.
• There are about 8 orations of Moses in the book -- given orally, and then written down.

1.     NEW LEADER COMMISIONED (DEUTERONOMY 31:1-23)

CHAPTER 31:

• This has a great lesson for us. 
• God uses each person in their own time, but when the time of work for a person is finished, God's work still goes on.
• Moses over and over again encourages this new generation to go on in; assuring them that God will lead them into the Promised Land.
• Moses encourages Joshua before all the people. 
• By encouraging Joshua, he is also encouraging the people.
• Now even at this time, when the children of Israel are ready to enter the land, you would think that God wouldn't take them in if there was a chance of falling.
• Yet God tells Moses here this is exactly what will happen. 
• God knows the human nature. 
• He knows you and He knows me.

2.     THE PEOPLE WARNED (DEUTERONOMY 31:24-32:52)

CHAPTER 32:

Deuteronomy 32:1

"Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak; And let the earth hear the words of my mouth. NASB

• God calls heaven and earth to witness that these are the conditions under which He is putting Israel into the Promised Land. 
• When He is ready to put Israel out of the land in judgment, Isaiah records the same call:

Isaiah 1:2

2 Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the LORD speaks, "Sons I have reared and brought up, But they have revolted against Me. NASB

Deuteronomy 32:2

2 "Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, As the droplets on the fresh grass

And as the showers on the herb. NASB

Psalms 72:6

6 May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, Like showers that water the earth.  NASB

• This is a picture of how God’s word should come down into our hearts and lives and be refreshment for us.

3.     THE TRIBES BLESSED (DEUTERONOMY 33:1-29)

CHAPTER 33:

• The last public act of Moses before his death is to gather his people about him by tribes and give a blessing to each one.
• Moses begins by giving a blessing to Reuben.

Deuteronomy 33:24

24 And of Asher he said, "More blessed than sons is Asher; May he be favored by his brothers,

And may he dip his foot in oil. NASB

• It is interesting that a pipeline of oil came into the northern part of the kingdom through the land of Asher.

A. KEEP BRAGGING ON GOD TO THE END (DEUTERONOMY 33:1-5)

Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the sons of Israel before his death.

2 And he said,

"The LORD came from Sinai,

And dawned on them from Seir;

He shone forth from Mount Paran,

And He came from the midst of ten thousand holy ones;

At His right hand there was flashing lightning for them.

He gave them his law, which is, 1. Called a fiery law, because it was given them out of the midst of the fire (Deu_4:33), and because it works like fire; if it be received, it is melting, warming, purifying, and burns up the dross of corruption; if it be rejected, it hardens, sears, torments, and destroys.

From Matthew Henry’s commentary on Deuteronomy 33:1-5

His right hand:

 “…to denote the power and energy of the law and the divine strength that goes along with it,…”. ibid

3 "Indeed, He loves the people;

All Thy holy ones are in Thy hand,

And they followed in Thy steps;

Everyone receives of Thy words.

4 "Moses charged us with a law,

A possession for the assembly of Jacob.

5 "And He was king in Jeshurun,

When the heads of the people were gathered,

The tribes of Israel together.

NASB

4.     THE SERVANT EULOGIZED (DEUTERONOMY 34:1-12)

CHAPTER 34:

• The O.T. was written on scrolls with one book following another.
• This could have been the beginning part of the Book of Joshua, or did Moses write this about his own death.
• He could have. 
• The Lord had told him that he was going to die.

A. KEEP FOCUSING ON GOD’S PURPOSES (DEUTERONOMY 34:1-4)

Now Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2 and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3 and the Negev and the plain in the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants'; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there."

 NASB

B. KEEP PREPARING AND ENCOURAGING NEW LEADERS (DEUTERONOMY 34:5-9)

 5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6 And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows his burial place to this day.

“…the grave of Moses is unknown, even unto this our day: for though no longer ago than in the year 1655, in the month of October, it was pretended to be found by some Maronite shepherds on Mount Nebo, with this inscription on it in Hebrew letters, "Moses the servant of the Lord"; but this story was confuted by Jecomas, a learned Jew, who proved it to be the grave of another Moses,…”.

From John Gill’s commentary on Deuteronomy 34:6

7 Although Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated. 8 So the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.

on the eighth of Nisan or March, as says the Targum of Jonathan, and on the "ninth" they prepared their vessels and their cattle for a march, and on the tenth passed over Jordan, and on the "sixteenth" the manna ceased, according to the said paraphrase.

From John Gill’s commentary on Deuteronomy 34:8

9 Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

NASB

C. KEEP GROWING YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD (DEUTERONOMY 34: 10-12)

10 Since then no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 for all the signs and wonders which the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land, 12 and for all the mighty power and for all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

NASB

Moses was faithful as a servant, but Christ as a Son. The history of Moses leaves him buried in the plains of Moab, and concludes with the period of his government; but the history of our Saviour leaves him sitting at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and we are assured that of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. 

From Matthew Henry’s commentary on Deuteronomy 34:9-12