We have just learned again how songs can minister to us. Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs can very much summarize our spiritual condition, and that is why so many saints, both Old Testament and new, took such comfort in the Psalter. This is one of the reasons that we read from the Psalter in the worship service every Sunday at Dayspring. Somebody once asked me, why do we read from the Psalter every Sunday? And I said, it is one thing, it is one way to ensure that we pray one thing God wants us to pray. We know that the Psalms are God's own prescription for how to talk to him and how to address him and how to take our burdens before him and how to praise him. So we will be certain to be doing one thing right if we read responsibly from the Psalter. Of course, another person asked me once, do you rehearse? And the reason is that she couldn't believe that we did it all together in unison so well. It was a marvel to her. She thought that we must have psalter rehearsals, perhaps every Wednesday evening at 545. In actual fact, I'll tell you the secret of that phenomena in three words, the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to be in unison as we read the Psalter. Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs admonish us. Sometimes they convict us. And one of the things about the Psalms, as I pointed out to you last time, is that they do have those words of judgment in them. judgment on the wicked sins. And we are forced when we read or sing the Psalms to face the fact of God's judgment against sin. Well, we are embarking on at least a two-week study of a song that was written specifically in mind to bear witness against the nation of Israel for generations. And that is the song that we're going to start tonight, the song of Moses. You remember in chapter 31, God said to Moses in verse 19, Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them and despise me and break my covenant. And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness. for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring. For I know what they are inclined to do even today before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give." So Moses wrote this song that same day and taught it to the people of Israel. So you see one of the purposes of the song is when they sin, It will remind them of their sin, remind them that their sin has been predicted, and because they have been singing this song all of their lives, starting now, before they come into Canaan, and then during all the time they're in Canaan, and then for generation after generation, they will be forced to say, well, yes, what was predicted in the song of Moses has come true. And they will want to say, hopefully, I don't want this to come true in my life. This is convicting me. This is bringing me up short and reminding me that I'm not all I'm supposed to be and that I have rebelled against God. So hopefully there is a a quality to the song of Moses that will bring the Israelites back to true repentance and obedience. But it is going to be bearing witness to them about their own commitment to God, their knowledge of the consequences of unfaithfulness. Maybe it will prevent some from going away. Maybe it will turn others back. And for others, it will simply testify that their condemnation is just. We're told that this grew to be a regular feature of the worship in the temple in Jerusalem, that the song of Moses was sung at various times of the day in several parts every day among the temple worshipers. So it was something that was intended for God's pastoral care. And it is a great work of poetry, and it is a great reminder of the Israelites of the covenant that they are under, and their agreement with it, or their lack of agreement with it. Now for those of you who are somewhat familiar with Hebrew poetry, you have already noticed from reading poetry in your Bibles, such as the Psalms and poetic sections of Job and Ecclesiastes, that there's no rhyme to it. It doesn't rhyme like poetry that we are familiar with. It doesn't always have a consistent meter. Does anybody know what the outstanding feature is of Bible poetry. The thing that occurs over and over again in the Psalms and that we have in abundance here in the Song of Moses. It's very easy to see. It also makes a work of poetry from the Bible easy to remember. I mean, you know, when you're memorizing a poem that's got rhyme to it, you come to the end of a line and you think, okay, now whatever I come up with, it has to rhyme with that line I just said. And it's got to have the same beat and the same meter and so on. But the thing about Hebrew poetry, it has a feature that is a teaching feature, even an elaborative feature that enables you to remember it. Yes, Marie? No, well, you're right. Acrostic is a feature of some Hebrew poetry. There are some psalms that are done in acrostics. We're saying acrostic, not across stitch. We're saying acrostic is where the lines of the poem begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. And so, you know, Like, if you're memorizing the New England Primer, you start with A, and Adams fall, we send all, then you know that the next thing you're supposed to remember starts with B. Well, that's an acrostic, but that's a specialized kind of poem. Anybody know, Trent? I think you said once that Hebrew word tree That's right. It says the same thing twice, and the $10 word for that is parallelism. Parallelism. So you have the poet saying something, then he repeats it, and he gives to it either an elaboration or intensity. And you can see that in the very first verse, for example. He says, give ear, O heavens, and I will speak. That's the first line. And then, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. So the idea of speaking in the presence of a witness is mentioned twice here. First, speaking is mentioned in the presence of the witness of the heavens. Then in the next line, it's mentioned in the presence of the earth. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth. So that's the way parallelism works. And that would help a person to remember the poem because, or the song, because they would know that it begins, Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak. And then they would know, okay, the next line is going to have something about speaking to the opposite of the heavens, the earth. Now, we've encountered this whole business of heaven and earth before in Deuteronomy, haven't we? Look back at chapter 30, verse 19. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. So in both instances, In the verse we just read and in this first verse of the Song of Moses, heaven and earth are called as witnesses. First, they were called to witness the covenant. They were called to be the witnesses of the treaty between the great king and his vassal state, Israel. But now, again, they're being called as witnesses to this teaching that Moses is about to do. What's significant about heaven and earth being called as witnesses? It covers just about everything. It certainly is. That would be the whole cosmos. But here, I think we can even go a little bit further. How many of you remember my ordination? Go ahead, confess, Ben. You were there. There are only two of them. The rest are dead. No, I'm just kidding. But there are only two people here tonight who were witnesses to my ordination. Others are not dead, but they ought to be here at this church tonight. Anyway, the point is this. These witnesses in Deuteronomy 32 never die. They are everlasting. They are everlasting witnesses. that Moses is calling upon. So he intends this teaching to go on far after his death, which is imminent. He intends it to go on far after this generation, and heaven and earth will not be passing away. And when they do pass away in their present form, then that is when the Lord returns, and this present life is swallowed up in glory, death is swallowed up in victory, and the old age is done away with, and the new age is brought in. So, the point is this. We've got some eternal witnesses here. I have known of Baptist preachers, and I know Johnny Wood knows a few of these, they were ordained or licensed to preach by churches that no longer exist. Well, I was, you know, so somebody can say, well, I was ordained at the Antioch Baptist Church over near St. Augustine, over in East Texas, not far from Manny. But that church isn't there anymore. And the elders aren't there anymore. I don't know how to get hold of any of the congregation. I don't have a piece of paper. I can't prove that I'm ordained. Well, this doesn't happen. You always have heaven and earth as witnesses to this teaching of Moses. So he says, give air, O heavens, and I will speak and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. Now, verse two is a wonderful example of parallelism. May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass and like showers upon the herb. So what he is saying there is that there's a parallel between the rain and the dew of the first part and the gentle rain and the showers in the second part. And he compares teaching to what we call in West Texas, moisture. Somebody gets cloudburst, three inches, a frog strangler. Would you get some moisture out your way? Why does he compare teaching to rain, dew, gentle rain, and showers? in your ears. Exactly right. It drops from heaven and so where it's from is important. But then you hope that it soaks in. And if it soaks in, what will happen? Yes, brother. It gives life. It causes you to grow. It causes you to prosper. Exactly right. There is teaching dropping as the rain, my speech distilling as the dew. This may be a different word from distill than you're used to. It's certainly a different word for Johnny Wood who's from Alabama. Distill has a whole different meaning in that state. So... Yeah. What does distill mean? Actually, it's definition number five in your dictionary. Of all the definitions of distill, you have to go a long ways to get to what this means. To drop or exude in small quantities, which is what the dew does. It drops or exudes in small quantities. And so the idea here is as Ed said, the idea of soaking in, penetration, saturation, which leads to growth and blessing. But look at the parallelism. The parallelism increases the intensity. May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass and like showers upon the herb. So suddenly we have all kinds of levels of intensity of moisture. We've got the morning dew, we've got the gentle rain, we have showers. And so you have experienced, I'm sure, all kinds of teaching. You have experienced very dynamic sorts of teaching that's more like a shower. You have experienced a growing awareness of God and His sovereignty and His care from reading the Bible, which is more like distilling as the dew. You have heard and appreciated good, steady teaching, good, faithful teaching, neither particularly dynamic nor inapplicable, but just teaching that does you good over a long period of time. So water does this kind of thing to grass, and teaching does this to hearts. And this is why it's so important that the Word of God be appreciated as our primary means of sanctification. As we read our Bibles, as we hear the Word preached, This is the way the Holy Spirit works to change our lives. And it is as the rain and the dew and the showers upon the herb. So you're beginning to see the parallelism. And now to verse 3, here is parallelism in action again. For I will proclaim the name of the Lord, and here's the parallel, ascribe greatness to our God, Why are they parallel? Why are they parallel? It isn't or it is? It is. In other words, if you proclaim the name of the Lord, then what you are doing is proclaiming the identity of the Lord, and the authority of the Lord, and the worth of the Lord, and the characteristics of the Lord. You're not just mentioning the Lord by name. When Moses says, I will proclaim the name of the Lord, he is proclaiming all that the Lord is, and that equals greatness. I will proclaim the name of the Lord, ascribe greatness to our God. So the name of the Lord means the identification and the reputation of the Lord, and that means. his greatness. So the last part of the verse again elaborates and intensifies the first part of the verse. So here we are, let's just read in review. Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb. For I will proclaim the name of the Lord, ascribe greatness to our God. And then, in verse 4, we have an extremely important and jolting phrase. The Rock. And this is the first time in the Bible God has been called The Rock. This is a new phrase to describe Him. The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice. What does the rock mean? You have just as much right as any Israelite on the plains of Moab to use your imagination and think, rock? God is a rock. What do I know about rocks? What do you know about rocks? What? He is a firm and solid foundation, perfect for building a house of your life on, as Jesus would say. Not yet. Paul will teach that hundreds of years later, but not right here. Yeah, okay. So use a rock for hiding. Use a rock for protection. We associate rocks with fortresses. It is a hiding place. It is a stronghold. What else about rocks? They just don't change that much. Absolutely, you know. They are unchangeable. And what does that mean about God? I am the Lord, I change not. He's dependable, absolutely. He's dependable. He is faithful. He is trustworthy. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. That's what this is saying. He is capable of being fled to as a stronghold. He's capable of being trusted. He's capable of being a foundation. And his work, Moses says, is perfect. for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he." And this whole new way of talking about God is going to be all the way through the Song of Moses. Verse 15, But Jeshuron grew fat and kicked, you grew fat, stout, and sleek. Then he forsook God who made him, and scoffed at the rock of his salvation. Verse 18, You were unmindful of the rock that bore you. Verse 30, How could one have chased a thousand, and two have put ten thousand to flight, unless their rock had sold them, and the Lord had given them up? Verse 31, For their rock, meaning the rock of God's enemies, is not as our rock. Our enemies are by themselves. You remember other passages from the Bible, Psalm 18, verse 46, The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted. Psalm 95, which begins, come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Now let's go over to the passage that will teach what Brenda was reminding us of. 1 Corinthians 10.4. 1 Corinthians 10.4. Paul says about the Israelites in the wilderness, they all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Now, that's almost as shocking as this statement in the Song of Moses. The rock was Christ, meaning that the presence of God was symbolized by the rock from which came water. And the essence of Moses' sin is that when he was called the second time to encounter a rock and bring water from the rock, he was told simply to speak to it. But instead, in anger and frustration at the rebellious Israelites, he said, here now you rebels, must we bring you water from this rock? He struck the rock. And this was an enormous sin, because God considered it to be striking God. He considered it to be striking God. And therefore, this was this great disobedience in the side of Israel was why Moses and Aaron could not enter the Promised Land. He struck instead of spoke. And so we find the writer to the Hebrews saying that those who rebel against Christ crucify him to their own account. They are striking him instead of speaking to him and being saved. And then in Romans 9.33 We find that those who grew up all of their lives reciting this song of Moses, those who knew it by heart, were in fact rejecting God's ultimate rock. Romans 9, look at verse 32, speaking about how Israel is not saved. Most of the Jews are not saved. Paul is, but the vast majority are not. Why? Because they did not pursue righteousness by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written. Behold, I am laying in Zion, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. That's the Lord Jesus. And whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame. That's a quotation of Isaiah 28.16 and Peter also quotes it in 1 Peter 2.78. The rock is Christ and He will either be one that you fall on and are saved, or he will be one that you stumble over. He will be a rock of offense. Any comments at this point? Yes, Ed. The Catholic Church, I think, interpreted the Scripture where Jesus' disciples, where he asked his disciples, who do you say that I am? And Jesus said, upon this rock, meaning, now art thou Christ, the Son of the Living God. He talked about Peter. He says, upon this rock I will build my church. The Catholic Church took that to mean Peter was that rock. That's right, rather than the confession itself. Rather than the statement. Is that correct? Is that the way that... And they missed a lot of stuff, didn't they? Yes, they missed a lot of stuff. Yeah, absolutely. Old Rock didn't do too well in the verses right after that. As a matter of fact, he tried to keep Jesus away from the cross. So, all right. And one of the things that you see back to Deuteronomy 32.4, is that our God, being a rock, is trustworthy, He is true to Himself, true to His promises, and therefore He's just, and He's faithfulness, and He is without iniquity. He is absolutely upright. So Moses is telling you ways in which God is rock-like here in verse 4. Then you see this huge contrast. Here is this faithful, rock-like being, our God, and in contrast you see verse 5. They have dealt corruptly with Him. They have dealt corruptly with Him. They are no longer His children because they are blemished. He is contrasted with faithless people. This is an instance here and then in the next verse about God being referred to as the Father of the Nation, which is very different from the Christian concept of God as our Father. He was the Father of the Nation as a whole, but in the New Covenant under the Lord Jesus Christ, He becomes our individual Father when we receive Him as Lord and Savior, when we're born of God. But it says they're no longer his children. They're no longer acting in a way appropriate to the family. The nation is not acting like the family of God because they're blemished. They are crooked and twisted generation. Jesus quotes those words in a very surprising context to some very surprising people. Do you remember when Jesus referred to verse 5? He had been up on the Mount of Transfiguration. He came down. There was a man kneeling before Him saying, Lord have mercy on my son. He was demon possessed and he suffered terribly. And he had brought the boy to the disciples and they could not heal him. And Jesus said, O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? So, what does that mean? Is he saying it to the disciples there? Or is he saying it to the crowd that was gathered around? Whoever it is, he is using the terms from the Song of Moses here. And certainly the Jews who did not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ were part of a faithless and twisted generation. But it almost seems like he's saying it to the disciples because they have unbelief at that point. And he says, bring him here to me. And Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him and the boy was healed instantly. And then there's another famous place that This passage is quoted about this generation. And this has something to do with yours and my responsibility as Christian. In Philippians chapter 2, verse 14, Do all things without grumbling or questioning that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world. So a crooked and twisted generation is any generation, whether Israelite or Gentile, that rebels against God because everybody knows God in their conscience. Everybody has an innate inborn knowledge of God because they have a knowledge of right and wrong in their conscience, but they suppress that in unbelief according to Romans 1. And so every generation is a crooked and twisted generation. Every generation needs Christians to shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life. All right, let's return to Deuteronomy 32 and look now at verse six. And this is a real good confrontational question about the unthinkable rebelliousness of Israel. Do you thus repay the Lord? Do you thus repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? The very idea of a being as perfect as He is, a being as compassionate as He has been, a being as long-suffering as He is, and a being on whom your whole life depends, do you really repay Him this way? Do you thus repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Is not He your Father who created you, who made you, and established you? And all these terms are actually talking about, not about the creation of the nation of Israel. They're actually talking about how God formed Israel into a nation in the covenant at Mount Sinai. And so he is the father of the nation, again here. It says, is he not your father who created you, who made you and established you? Verse 7. Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father and he will show you your elders and they will tell you. Here is the one verse that doesn't completely apply to who Moses is talking to. Why? If their fathers were the members of that first generation that came out in the Exodus, they're not around for them to ask. They can't ask their fathers. But this is a prophecy that goes on and on and on throughout all generations. Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations, Ask your Jewish father, starting with the next generation after you, and he will show you your elders and they will tell you. This is to be applied in the future to the subsequent family of Israel. The history and identity of Israel are to be kept alive. Verse eight. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, And here's a parallel with that. When he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. Where would you go to find any scripture reference to this? First of all, he's the Most High. And when he's called the Most High, that refers to him in relationship to Gentiles. Who was the first priest of God Most High? Old Mel. Melchizedek, the priest of God Most High. El Elyon. And that is a term that is used about God in the Bible, in His sovereignty over Gentiles as well as Jews. For thou, O Lord, Most High, over all the earth. Now, this is God Most High. He gave to the nations their inheritance when He divided up mankind. So here He is. He is talking about something that happened in the ancient past when God caused certain people to live in certain places. Remember where all that is? It's at that place where you get bogged down in Genesis in January every year. Where is that? You're reading along and everything's cool, you understand what's going on, and then all of a sudden you have to resort to footnotes about Genesis 10. These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, sons born to them after the flood. The sons of Japheth, Gomer, Magog, Mediah, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tyrus. You remember those, right? That's where your eyes begin to glaze over about January the 10th every year. From these, the coastland people spread in their lands, each with his own language by their clans and their nations. It talks about the sons of Ham, Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. It talks about other kingdoms. The beginning of Nimrod's kingdom was Babel, and then the land of Shinar, and then you read about Nineveh. And all during this 10th chapter, of Genesis, you read about all these peoples and where they lived and their languages and their nations. And if you have a good study Bible, like this Reformation study Bible, you'll see a map of the Middle East and it will show you where the, where Asher, the the ancestor of the Assyrians lived, and where Madai, the ancestor of the Medes lived. And it'll show you the Kittim who lived on Cyprus, and the land of Canaan, and the Philistines, and so on. That's what all this is referring to. But there is a particular land, the land of Canaan, And have you noticed that when you read Genesis 10 and then you go on to read Genesis 11 about the Tower of Babel and Shem's descendants and Terah's descendants and so on, and all of a sudden you get to Genesis 12 and everything changes. Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you and I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. He says, go around what will later be called the Fertile Crescent and go down to the land that is presently inhabited by the Canaanites. And that's what I'm going to give you someday. So what we have here in Moses' song is a distillation of Genesis 10 through 12. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. Now, let me tell you about an interesting textual problem here. Some of you have translations at the end of verse 8 that say, like the ESV, according to the number of the sons of God. Some of you have translations that say at the end of verse 8, according to the number of the sons of Israel. Which is it? Well, my philosophy is that it doesn't make any difference that Sons of God means Israel, and Israel means Sons of God. But, there are those who have the idea that Sons of God is used here, like it was used in the Book of Job, to mean what? Angels. Angels. Why does this problem arise? Well, there have been two different transmissions of the text. And so, the Masoretic Text, which was carefully preserved after the time of Jesus, but was still carefully preserved, is the primary text of all of our translations, the Masoretic Text. However, Our translations sometimes have to go to the Greek translation of the Old Testament, which is called the Septuagint. And sometimes they preserve a different tradition from different texts that they had. And then of course, in the 1950s, we discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls. And that will preserve sometimes a different text. And so scholars tend to think that when you've got both a Septuagint translation and a Dead Sea Scroll translation, that those probably trump or gain precedence over a Masoretic Text translation. And that's why the ESV says in a footnote, this is what the Dead Sea Scroll and the Septuagint say. Sons of God. The Masoretic Text says, Sons of Israel. But it is my contention that even if Sons of God is right, you don't have to go off and do what scholars have suggested, and that is that God assigned different angels prerogative and authority over different nations. That is the theory. No, Israel has just been called the offspring of God. He's just been called their father in this very text. He's been called their father. They're acting like people who are not his children. And therefore, I don't think that there has to be any conflict. I think that what the passage is saying is the very same thing that was said in Genesis 10 through 12. God organized and allotted all of these areas of the land, and even though the Canaanites were in one of them, he said, now, Abram, I'm going to make you into a great nation of people, a family of God. I'm going to take you down to this plot of land where the Canaanites are presently living, and then that's going to be yours. And so Moses is just summarizing that. He says, He fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God, meaning the sons of Israel. Israel was his top priority in allotting the geography of the world. And then in verse 9, it says, But the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted Now this is a very interesting idea in the Bible. Because the portions or the allotments were what God gave to the different tribes of Israel. And so they learned, okay, I and my tribe and the clans of my tribe have this property. And it has specific boundaries. and those were the allotments, and that was the heritage of that tribe. But here is a marvelous theological concept. Moses is saying, the Lord has chosen a portion for himself, and his portion is his people, the ones who came from Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. Jacob is allotted heritage. I want you to turn with me over to 1 Kings for just a moment. 1 Kings 8, verse 51. 1 Kings 8, verse 51. There is a parenthesis there, in the great prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple. For they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt from the midst of the iron furnace." Here's that same idea, that the nation is the heritage of the Lord. That's the heritage of the Lord. That's the Lord's portion or allotment. He has his people. Now, please turn over to Ephesians chapter one. It's not going to do you much good because you don't have the correct translation once you get there. Unless you have a New American Standard Bible, and then you won't have the correct translation in the text, you'll have it in the footnote, in the column off to the right, or to the center column. Ephesians chapter 1, 11. Most of our translations say, In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. That's absolutely true that in Him we have obtained an inheritance. That is truth. That just doesn't happen to be what the text says. It's a trustworthy statement. But what the text says is what the New American Standard footnote says that it says. In Him we have been made a heritage. What this is telling you, dear Day Springers, is that now the church is the heritage of God like Israel was. Now the church is God's allotment, His heritage. his people. We sing a hymn, I Cannot Tell, where it says, we don't know how he will claim his earthly heritage. Well, that's us. That is the church. It's a wonderful privilege to be the heritage of God. And that's what Moses is saying, but not, of course, about all who trust in Jesus Christ. He's saying it about Israel at this point. But the principle of Deuteronomy 32.9 is absolutely true. But the Lord's portion is his people. Jacob, his allotted heritage. Verse 10. Deuteronomy 32.10. He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness, he encircled him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye." After the exodus, before Sinai, the people were unorganized. They were in a hostile, unfriendly land in a harsh environment. And this passage puts it symbolically that God found them there and entered into a covenant with them. And it says He encircled Him, meaning that He was all around Him. He shielded Him, in other words. He cared for Him. He is personifying Israel as a son here. And then he says he kept him as the apple of his eye. One of the great Bible phrases. The Hebrew says he kept him as the little man of his eye. The little boy of his eye, yeah. This is referring to the pupil, to the apple of the eye. That's the pupil. And that is something that every single one of you instinctively tries to protect. Something is headed towards your eye, you're going to try to protect your pupil. It is very important to you. And the phrase has, of course, come to mean anything, usually a person who is deeply cherished. One of the things that I think is fascinating about this is that the Bible refers a number of different times to the wilderness as a very special place. where God united with this nation of Israel, but it does it with different kinds of symbols, different kinds of metaphors. For example, here, it is seeming to indicate that he found Israel in the wilderness, as if Israel was a lost child, or as Jesus later talked about, a lost sheep. So here is someone that was found in this hostile environment and God took care of him and kept him and got him out of this hostile environment. And then the same environment, but a different image was used by the prophet Jeremiah in chapter two, verse two. I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness in a land not sown." How you followed me in the wilderness in a land not sown. And it talks about an imagery of God and his people as if there's just been a wedding and this bride was willing to move to Texas with this husband. In other words, it's about the sacrifice of a bride leaving a previous place, going to a new place because she is connected with her husband now. I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, a land not sown. That's the way Jeremiah refers to the wilderness experience. And then Hosea has a different way of putting it. In Hosea 9, verse 10, like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel, like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season, I saw your fathers. And here, it's almost the picture of discovery in an unlikely place, that God discovered this delightful nation in this unlikely place called the wilderness. So, here is the thing you have to remember about every single one of these descriptions. Whatever figure of speech the Bible uses, Israel was in the wilderness due to the sovereignty of God. Israel was in the wilderness due to the sovereignty of God. God ordained it. So he can speak because he wants to get one point across as if he found them and they were abandoned or lost. He can speak in another way as if he was a husband leading a bride through trial and difficult situations in the early years of their marriage. He can speak in a third way as if he had discovered them in the wilderness. But you have to remember that God ordained it. And here is what is so wonderful to think about. Every crisis, at every crossroads, where God has helped us, has been a situation to which God has led us. You see? Every crisis at every crossroads where God has helped us has been a situation to which God has led us. And I'll give you a perfect biblical example of that, and when I do, we will end. Now read Exodus 32, 11. I mean, sorry, Deuteronomy 32, 11. Our last verse for tonight. Here's a perfect example of the wilderness experience. Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions. I got one question. What's that eagle doing stirring up its nest? How does stirring up the nest help? Exactly. John couldn't have stated it better. He's throwing them out of the nest and then swooping down and saving them while they're learning to fly. That's what this is about. So the eagle teaches its young to fly by stirring up the nest, throwing the birds out to try their wings and then getting under them and carrying them on his pinions. So brothers and sisters, Israel was in the wilderness because they were supposed to be. Baby eaglets are out flapping their wings and trying to fly because the eagle has kicked them out for their own good. And you and I go through whatever we go through because it is ordained by God as part of Romans 8.28. All things work together for the good of those who love Him, who are the called according to its purpose. Because we're in mid-sentence, let's end in verse 12. Deuteronomy 32, 12. The Lord alone guided him. No foreign God was with him. What is the phrase, no foreign God was with him in parallel with? Alone. Yes. The Lord alone. And it's being elaborated, no foreign God was with him. And so, when Israel remembers this from generation to generation, they're going to have to face the fact as they deal with the temptation to idolatry. There are gods all around. We'll see in our next study. There are even some new gods that have come on the scene recently. There are gods that nobody's known. There are gods that are really demons. There are all kinds of gods out there. There are, as Paul said, lords many and gods many. But it was God alone that guided Israel. No foreign God was with Him. He was able to do all those mighty works alone. Thank you. And that's what Israelites are supposed to remember. They are to have no other gods before Him because He is the only God. So let's Read what we learn tonight from a very unusual translation of the scriptures. It is a translation of Deuteronomy done by Everett Fox. And the whole idea is to try to convey the nuances of the Hebrew but in about as small a space as the Hebrew takes up. So what an English translation will do is take a Hebrew term or a Greek term and they'll elaborate it with a number of words to make the meaning clear. But Everett Fox is trying to do something that would do for us English-only speaking people what a Hebrew scholar would see if he just looked at a page of Hebrew. This is Everett Fox's translation of what we've read tonight. But I think you can hear the poetry of the song, and that's why I want to read it at the end. Give ear, O heavens, that I may speak. Hear, O earth, the utterance of my mouth. Let my teaching drip like rain. Let my words flow like dew, like droplets on new growth, like showers on grass. For the name of Yahweh I proclaim. Give greatness to our God. The rock, whole and perfect are his deeds, for all his ways are just. A God steadfast, with no corruption, equitable and upright is he. His children have wrought ruin upon him, a defect in them, wrought ruin toward him, a defect in them, a generation crooked and twisted. Is it Yahweh whom you thus pay back, O people foolish and not wise? Is He not your Father, your Creator, who made you and established you? Regard the days of ages past, understand the years of generation and generation ago, Ask your father. He will tell you your elders. They will declare it to you. When the Most High gave nations their inheritances at His dividing the human race, He stationed boundaries for peoples by the number of the gods." I disagree with him there on that. Indeed, the portion of Yahweh became His people. Yaakov, the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a wilderness land, in a waste, a howling desert. He surrounded him. He paid him regard. He guarded him like the pupil of his eye, like an eagle protecting its nest over its young birds hovering. He spread out his wings. He took him, bearing him on his pinions. Yahweh alone did lead them, not with him any foreign god. Amen.