BSF Study Questions The Life of Moses Lesson 28, Day 4: Deuteronomy 32:15-43

Summary of passage: A continuation of Moses’s song. Moses says how Israel will grow lazy in their blessings and worship foreign gods. So God will hide his face from His people, and God will send calamities upon them and scatter them. Moses pleads for the people to understand what will happen and correct it before it occurs and before the Lord brings judgement upon them.

Questions:

8a) Part-personal Question. My answer: Israel abandoned God and turned to false gods instead. Mine is to remember God always and obey.

b) God. The people themselves.

c) It says “their”, meaning others. Their rock (false gods) is not the Israelites’ Rock (One, True God). Their teachings (wine) is as fatal as poison.

d) The Lord will have compassion on His people “when he sees their strength is gone and on one is left.” God will take vengeance on his adversaries when “he sharpens his flashing sword and his hand grasps it in judgment”. God will do this because He loves us and offers us grace and mercy and forgiveness. God will “make atonement for his land and people” ultimately through the sacrifice of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Conclusions: Not like 8a. Answer is obvious. This lesson was hard for me to dig deeper than the surface meaning.

End Notes: Israelites turned on God; in turn, He turned on them. Not being enough, God punishes the people through calamities in order to turn them back to Him again. Then God pleads for them to return.

Verses 15-18 is the first true apostasy (abandonment or renunciation of God) by the Israelites. The golden calf was a sin but at least the people worshipped the golden calf as God. Here, they abandoned God, completely rejected Him, and sacrificed to false gods.

Jeshurun means “upright one.” We see it used again in 33:5; 33:26 and in Isaiah 44:2. It’s a term of affection for Israel.

Paul quotes verse 21 in Romans 10:19.

Excellent explanation of the Song of Moses (Moses wrote at least three recorded songs scholars believe in the Bible) HERE. If you were like me and didn’t get much out of this song, then this link explains succinctly what it’s all about. Highly recommended.