*Note: A Psalm is included today and is sometimes included in the daily readings, but I have decided not to summarize or comment on those portions.
Scroll to the bottom for thoughts/discussion questions!
One-sentence summary: Moses sings a song to teach the people, blesses them before his death, and goes up to Mt. Nebo to see the promised land before his death; then, he dies.
Moses sings a song to Israel. He tells the heavens and earth to listen to him. "Let my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew... for I proclaim the name of the Lord... Ascribe greatness to our God! He is the Rock. His work is perfect and all His ways are justice. A God of truth and without injustice, righteous and upright is He." It talks of Israel's unfaithfulness, and calls them a "perverse and crooked generation." He implores them to "remember the days of old" and all God has done for them. He says the Lord kept Israel "as the apple of His eye," and spread out His wings over them like an eagle and carried them on His wings. (Wow!) He says the Lord made Israel to "ride on the heights of the earth" and "draw honey from the rock." He says they drank wine and prospered, yet they "grew fat" and "forsook God who made [them]" and scorned "the Rock of their salvation." They provoked God to jealousy with other gods and sacrificed to demons. They have forgotten the very God who fathered them, so God spurned them and said He would hide His face from them. He also says they are a people without faith. The Lord says, through Moses, "I will provoke them to jealousy by those that are not a nation. I will move them to anger by a foolish nation." God says His anger will "burn to the lowest hell" and consume the earth. God will be against Israel. He will send various plagues against them. He says He would have killed all of them if their enemies would not have spoken against God if He did. God laments and says how He wishes they were wise and would "consider their latter end." The Lord says vengeance is His and that He will judge and have compassion on His people when he sees all their power is gone and there is none remaining. He says He will then tell them to ask their gods to save them and be a refuge for them. He says, "Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me. I kill, and I make alive. I wound, and I heal. Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand." He also says, "Rejoice, oh Gentiles, with HIs people!.. He will provide atonement for His land and His people." So Moses finished speaking all these words to Israel. He tells them to set their hearts on all the words and that they must command their children to be careful to observe all the words of the law, that it is their life and that by it, they will "prolong [their] days in the promised land." That day, the Lord tells Moses to go up to Mt. Nebo to view the land He is giving Israel and to die there and "be gathered to his people." The Lord reminds him of his sin but says he can still see the land.
Moses blesses Israel before his death. He says how much the Lord loves the people. He says the saints are in His hand and sit at His feet. He says he (Moses) commanded a law for them and that the Lord was king in Israel when the heads of the tribe were gathered. He blessed each tribe respectively. Benjamin's is quite beautiful as he is called "the beloved of the Lord," one who will "dwell between [God's] shoulders" (we see the imagery of a lamb.) Joseph is given a special blessing as well, as he will be blessed with "the precious things of heaven," and "his majesty [will be] like a firstborn young bull." The blessing for Asher also has a useful blessing for us: "As your days, so shall your strength be." Moses then praises God and says, "There is no one like the God of Israel." He says, "The Eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the Everlasting Arms." (Beautiful!) He declares, "Then Israel will dwell in safety."
Moses goes up to Mt. Nebo, and the Lord shows him all the land. He tells him that this is the land He swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he has let him see it but not cross over. And "Moses, the servant of the Lord, [dies]... according to the word of the Lord, and He buried Him." (And it says no one knows where God buried Moses to this day.) Moses was 120 years old when he died, but "his eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished." Israel weeps and mourns for him 30 days. It says that "Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on them, so Israel listened to him" and followed God's commands. And "since then, a prophet has not arisen in all Israel who is like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face" and who worked such signs and wonders as he did when God brought Israel out of Egypt.
Thoughts/Discussion Questions:
If this passage is not clear proof that God will never forget Israel, I don't know what is! He still has a plan for His firstborn, wayward child.
We, as true Israelites who are of faith, can claim the promises of God to Israel then for ourselves today!