Let's begin with a word of prayer, shall we? Lord, we just thank you that we can come again together and go through your word and take a look at what you spoke to us through Moses here at the end of Deuteronomy. And for a lot of hard words, difficult things to understand, And yet your love comes through, too, and the unfaithfulness of Israel. And yet we need to look at it as a picture of ourselves, too, vacillating back and forth often in our lives. So help us just to see these truths here tonight that you have for us in your Word. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, we're gonna try and finish out Deuteronomy tonight, and start in chapter 32. We're gonna back up just a few verses. We got a little ways into it, and then I brought up this kind of controversial thing that had everyone ready to throw shoes. It was something to think about anyway. The Song of Moses, and the Lord tells Moses to write a song. We're going to look at that. Then we're going to look at some blessings that he has briefly. He has kind of a set of blessings for each of the tribes. And then he goes up on the mountain and dies. And that's kind of the end of the book. But we're going to look at some things here as we get going. So Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 1. Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teaching droplet as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon tender grass, and like showers upon the herb. For I will proclaim the name of the Lord, and ascribe greatness to our God." Okay, verse 4, kind of the perfection of God here. He says, the rock, and I think you probably have that in capital letters. or capital R, the Rock, and we're gonna see that a number of times through this section here of his song. His work is perfect and all his ways are just, or justice. a God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright as He." And then now he's going to compare it with Israel, this crooked and twisted generation. Verse 5, they have dealt corruptly with them, with the Lord. They are no longer His children because they are blemished. They are a crooked and twisted generation. 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? We're gonna get this contrast of some really harsh words, and then we're gonna see that the Lord's gonna come in and just say, I'm gonna just carry you and take care of you. But then they're faithless, and they go their own way, and He's gonna be very harsh with them. And we'll see that, okay? A little bit of history then now, verse seven. 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. 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. But the Lord's portion is His people. Jacob is His allotted heritage. So here we see a picture of God's election of His people, okay? Remember back in Deuteronomy 7, it talked about He chose them the fewest of all the people in the world, you know? He chose them, it wasn't because they were great, He chose them because He was honoring His word to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, okay, the forefathers of Israel. But here we see clearly it's the Lord's portion here, Israel, His people, Jacob, his allotted heritage, okay? And that's who he cares about. Verse 10, he found him in a desert land. I was going to talk about, you know, just the wilderness wanderings. And in a howling waste of wilderness, he encircled him and he cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions. David uses the same verbiage in Psalm 17, eight. He says, keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings. Okay. One of his, when he's calling out to the Lord, verse 12, the Lord alone guided him. No foreign God was with him during that whole 40 years. There's, we're starting now to kind of get into a little bit of prophecy here in this song of, of Moses. Okay. He made him ride on the high places of the land. They're not in the land yet, but this is going to happen in the future. And he ate the produce of the field, and he suckled him with honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock. Curds from the herd and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of Bashan, and goats, and with the very finest of wheat. And you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape, Now here we really see the prophecy. But Jerusalem, he grew fat and kicked. This is just another name for Israel, okay? It means the upright one. You kicked and you grew fat and stout and sleek. And then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the rock of his salvation. So it's kind of ironic that we see Israel as the upright one, it's called the upright one, and yet we see their failure constantly, all the time. Now, like us, we're only upright in Christ. When we're in Christ, He views us as being upright. Okay, so we can get a good picture here of how We can not be upright in how we're living, especially when times are going well, okay? When we get fat and we kick, okay? Stout and sleek and we forsake the Lord. Turn over to Deuteronomy 6.10. We'll just kind of remind ourselves. The Lord warned them about this early in the book. Deuteronomy 6.10, and when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you with a great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant, and when you eat and are full, when you take care lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of slavery. So he had warned them, you're gonna get fat and kick when you get in there and you get all this stuff for free. You didn't build any of this stuff, you just go in and take it when we drive these people out. And he warned them about that. By Judges chapter one, Well, it is admitted by eight of the 12 tribes that they did not drive out the inhabitants of the land, okay? They were living with the remnants of the people who were there supposed to destroy. And it affected them, okay? And they began to worship as they did and follow after those people. And they grew fat and kicked and went their own way. In the time of Solomon, 2 Chronicles 1 says this, and the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as sycamore, the shephelah. So you see, we're looking into the future. He says, you're going to get fat and you're going to kick. You're going to enjoy all this stuff. And the prime of Israel was under the reign of Solomon when gold was as plentiful as anything. And they were living large. and they got fat and they kicked, okay? They went their own way, essentially. So we remind ourselves of this out of Revelation 3, 17, to the church of Laodicea, which probably represents us today. So it's where you say, I am rich and I have prospered, I need nothing. not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I see a kind of a parallel between Israel when they're rich and doing well and going their own way, and what we see the Lord speaks of as the church of Laodicea, which I really think is the end times church, which I believe is today. I'm a parallel there. All right, back into Deuteronomy 32, verse 16. They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods. With abominations they provoked him to anger. Again, we're looking prophetically. This is a song Moses is supposed to teach the people so they will not forget God. And so this is prophetic. He's talking about what's going to happen in the future. Verse 17, they sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded. You were unmindful of the rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth. Let's turn over to Matthew 21. This rock, this stone comes up in the New Testament. Matthew 21, verse 42. It says, Jesus said to them, have you never read in the scriptures, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone? This was the Lord's doing. And it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces. And when it falls on anyone, it will crush him." So at first, in verse 42 here, we see this stone is found on the ground. The builders don't know what to do with it. It doesn't seem like it fits. They push it out of the way, but they trip over it, essentially. It's found on the ground, though. It really represents the first advent of Christ. Okay? And they didn't know what to do with him. He didn't fit. Didn't fit with what they wanted. Certainly the leaders. And so they tripped over it, and they were broken to pieces as it's put there at the end, towards the middle of 44. And the Jewish nation in general was stripped up by the stone, Jesus. Didn't know what to do with them, didn't accept them as their Christ, as their Messiah. In verse 43 we see, The kingdom was then taken from them and given to a people producing fruit. And this is with the Gentiles. The church begins then after they reject. And we see the church in Acts chapter two. And they accept it well. Here's a little quote from Acts 13. Paul and Barnas are at Antioch, Poseidon, and they get kicked out of the synagogue. And it says, and when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. They accepted the word of God very happily, okay? And that's what the Lord says, you know, you're gonna reject me, you're gonna trip over me, and I'm gonna go to someone else. Verse 44a, others threw themselves at the stone in repentance, okay? And it broke them and made new men out of them, a new life in Christ. There are some that fall on that stone in an act of repentance. That's another way to take that, I believe. And then in 44b, the second time we see this stone, the stone comes from heaven. When it falls on anyone, this is the second advent, represents the second advent, the second coming of Christ. It comes out of the sky, and it comes in judgment, and it crushes. Okay, and that's how Jesus is gonna come. So, 32, 18, you were unmindful of the rock that bore you, and you forgot the one who gave you birth. Verse 19, the Lord sought and spurned them because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness. Now think about What's supposed to happen when we die and go to heaven, we want to hear the Lord say, well done, thou good and faithful servant. And that's the word we really want to hear. And he says, children in whom there is no faithfulness. Something just to consider in our own lives. Am I faithful to the Lord? There's a lot of ways that can represent itself. Something to think about for ourselves. 3221. They, meaning the Jews, have made me jealous with what is no God. They have provoked me to anger with their idols, so I'll make them jealous with those who are no people, or not a people. I'll provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. I'm at 3221. By worshiping what is no gods or idols, the Jews made God jealous. Now God will make them, the Jews, jealous with those who are no people, meaning the Gentile nations. Let's turn to Romans 10, and we'll kind of look at this. Because Paul's going to bring it up. Brings it up a couple times here. Romans 10, verse 19, talking about the Lord says, I'm going to make them jealous. I'm going to make the Jews jealous. with those who are no people, he said. Romans 10, 19, Paul speaking here, he says, but I ask, did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, I will make you jealous, or he's quoting this, with those who are not a nation. With a foolish nation, I will make you angry. Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, I have been found by those who did not seek me, and I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me. But if Israel, he says, all day long I have held out my hand to a disobedient and contrary people. Continuing in chapter 11 now, I ask then, has God rejected his people? He says, by no means. If you go to King James, it says, God forbid. It's a very emphatic no way, okay? God isn't done with Israel yet. Rather, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now, if their trespass means riches for the world, salvation through Christ to the church, I mean, the whole church age has, you know, made us rich in what matters. And if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean? And now I'm speaking to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous and thus save some of them. I'm in Romans 11, 14 is where I just finished. I'm sorry, I jumped a bunch. I took us into verse one, and then I jumped down to five. So too at the present time, there is a remnant. Chose my grace, then I jumped third down to 11. How to confuse the people, huh? So I asked, did they stumble in order that they might fall? Verse 11, 11. By no means. There we have that emphatic again. Rather through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean? Now I'm speaking to you Gentiles, inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order to somehow make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus to save some of them. This is our job as well. Really, we want them to see what we have in Christ, you know, and come to faith in Christ themselves, which mostly they haven't. They're mostly blind. There's these groups. Of course, we support one for Israel, and there's other good groups out there. There are Christian Jews, but by and large, they've rejected. Now, I say this often, but I just see it, and maybe it's just me. Jews look for signs, 1 Corinthians 1, 22. Jews demand signs, Greek demand, you know, knowledge, wisdom. Here's my question. Will the Jews be jealous when the rapture takes away all those Christians who have for years been following the footsteps of Jesus in their land? Will that be something to them? Will a light bulb go off for many? Pretty quick we see, you know, in chapter seven of Revelation, we see the 144,000, so apparently there's 144,000 that say, whoa, we missed our Messiah, and those guys got him. Okay. Something aside, but this is where I go. Daniel 12, four says this, but you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until, this is the very end of the Daniel, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro and knowledge will increase. I don't think this is talking about flying around in jets and having great libraries. I really think this is Jews chasing after the scriptures, specifically the New Testament, okay? they're going to see what happened to the church as the church is gone, and they're going to go, maybe I ought to read that book. They have largely not been reading the New Testament. And I'll tie that in with another verse, Matthew 24, 15. So when you see the abomination of desolation, okay, this is during the tribulation, and it's at the midpoint where the temple's been built, and the Antichrist comes in and he kicks the priest out of the temple and he sets himself up in there as God, midpoint of the tribulation. Spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, then it says this, let the reader understand. Who's the reader? This is clearly written to Jews because the next sentence is, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. I believe the reader is Jews grabbing the New Testament, and they're finally reading in the New Testament. It says this in Mark as well. They're finally reading this Scripture, if they can get their hands on one, which they ought to be able to electronically. But that's what I believe that. I put those two verses together. Knowledge will increase. I think the Jews are going to be dying to read the New Testament and say, what did we miss? They saw a big sign, the rapture. That's my thinking. I'm sure many wouldn't agree necessarily. All right, back to Deuteronomy 32, 22. That was my eschological sidetrack. 32, 22, for a fire is kindled by my anger, and it burns in the depths of Sheol, devours the earth and its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains. And I will heap disasters upon them, this is the Lord speaking, I will spend my arrows on them, and they shall be wasted with hunger and devoured by plague and poisonous pestilence. I will send the teeth of beasts against them, and with venom of things that crawl in the dust. Outdoors, the sword shall bereave an indoor's terror for young men and women alike and nursing child with the man of gray hairs. Lauren and I started a book coming home from Yakima this morning called The Chosen. It's fiction. It's historical fiction. And it's set in Brooklyn during the Second World War. They'd just come out of, just captured, gotten into Italy, the Allies had. No, D-Day, D-Day just happened as well. And it's about two Jewish boys, and they meet, and they're from two Jewish sects. They're totally different sects. One's the aesthetic, very, very religious, and he totally looks down on the other boy who's more secular, but his dad's a rabbi. Anyway. And it's historical fiction, and it goes into these times of the Jews in Poland. His father is recounting all this history. And I had no idea this history of 100,000 Jews killed back in like the 16th, 17th century. They were in Poland doing very well. And then there was this big uprising by the Cossacks from over around Ukraine in a way. I didn't know anything about that history. And Charlie, listen to all this. It was kind of fascinating. I was like, wow. This is what we're talking about here. It doesn't matter where you go. You go inside, outside, wherever, you're going to get chased down and killed. They had times of prosperity, but then times were just devastated. And of course, the book is set right in the middle of World War II. And of course, they're about to get in there and find out what really happened with the whole Holocaust and things. But anyway, interesting book. We're only a few hours into it. It's interesting history. It is labeled as historical fiction. 32, 26, I would have said, I will cut them to pieces, I will wipe them from human memory, had I not feared provocation by the enemy. He's talking about Satan here. Lest their adversaries should misunderstand, lest they should say, our hand, this is Satan's hand, is triumphant. It was not the Lord who did this. You know, Satan's saying, I did all this, okay? And it would have been the Lord. Verse 28. For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them. If they were wise, they would understand this. They would discern their latter end." I got some quotes from Guzik, three of them, where he talks about backsliding. And here's one of them, he just says, this can be remarkably effective preventative to backsliding. Okay, just falling out of fellowship with the Lord, not paying attention. You know, when we are in a backslidden state, we should consider where it will lead us. Okay, where's the end game of this if I stay in this position, if I stay in this way or in this relationship or poor relationship with our Lord? And it says, they would discern their latter end. You know, something to think about. Okay, I'm not doing well with the Lord. Where's this going to wind up? Okay, how's that going to play out? It's got two more of these, we'll see it later. 3230, how could one have chased a thousand and two have put 10,000 to flight unless their rock had sold them and the Lord had given them up? Back in Leviticus 26, 6, under the title of Blessings and Obedience or Blessings for Obedience, It says, I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none of you shall be afraid. And I'll remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land. He's talking about a time of peace, because they're being obedient, okay? You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. Five of you shall chase 100, and 100 of you shall chase 10,000, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. Because of the rebellion, opposite is happening here. It's the complete opposite is what's going on. Okay. 32, 31, for their rock, small rock here, is not our rock. Our enemies are by themselves. And so we have a contrast between the gods of the nations, okay, and Israel's true God, the rock, okay. It was not that their enemy's rock was stronger, but that Israel's rock had surrendered them to slaughter because of their wickedness. The Lord had let them go into the position. It wasn't that these satanic enemies, we can say, Satan's minions, had beat them. It's that God had let go of them. He'd given them up, as Romans 1 said. would say. 32, 32, for their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of poison and their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the poison of serpents and cruel venom of ass. Is not this laid up in store with me, sealed in my treasuries? This is the Lord saying, He's basically saying, these are tools that I have to get your attention, and I'll use them if I have to. He called Babylon his hammer. He called Assyria his rod. God has these tools he can use to get our attention, to turn us around, to cause us to repent and trust him. Verse 35, vengeance is mine in recompense for the time when their foot shall slip for the day of their calamity is at hand and their doom comes swiftly. For the Lord will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their power is gone, they're at the bottom of the barrel, they can't get any lower than this, and there is none remaining, bond or free. And now here Guzzick says this, when we're in a backslidden state, we should also see the compassion of God that we could receive. His compassion is always there waiting if we confess and trust and just come back to him, Lord, forgive me, I've sinned. Okay, he's always waiting to be compassionate. Verse 37, and then he will say, where are their gods, the rock, small rock in which they took refuge? who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings. Let them rise up and help you. Let them be your protection. Remember Gideon's father, was it Joash? He says, let Baal contend for Baal. If Baal's so tough, let him take care of Gideon. Nothing ever came of it. What was the other one? Dagon fell over. And when they brought the Ark of the Covenant in alongside Dagon, twice he fell over. The second time, his hands broke off or whatever. He couldn't stand himself back up. It's interesting, too, he says, in 38, well, go back to 37, then he said, where are their gods, the rock, small rock then, okay, in which they took refuge, these gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings, okay, but every morning you go back, nothing's drunk, nothing's, they resell the meat in the meat market, ends up being a stumbling block to some. Guzik says this here, Well, 39 first. See now that I, even I am he, and there is no God beside me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. Guzzick says when we are in a backslidden state, we should see the greatness of God. The backslid man needs to know more of God's character and his nature. And studying who God is, who his character is, is a very beneficial thing for us. Verse 40, for I lift up my hand to heaven and swear as I live forever. If I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives from the long-haired heads of the enemy. Rejoice with him, O heavens, bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people's land. And that's the end of the song, okay? So Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people and of Joshua, the son of Nun. And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, he said to them, Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is No empty word for you, but your very life. And by this word, you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. " Now, they were supposed to memorize this song, and they were taught it that day. And they're supposed to sing this as a remembrance of, this is how God's going to respond to us if we don't act rightly. This is, you know, a wake-up call for us. And Moses says, it's your very life, okay? Not empty words. Okay, verse 48, that very day the Lord spoke to Moses, go up this mountain of the Abram Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession, and die on the mountain which you go up. Okay, and so Nebo here, right at the top of the Dead Sea on the east side, also called Pisgah, Okay, and that's where Moses is going to go die. Chapter 33, Moses' final blessing on Israel. And this is a blessing which Moses, the man of God, blessed the people of Israel before his death. And he said, the Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us, and he shone forth from Mount Paran. And we could see that. So, you know, we had looked at this map previously and Sinai, traditional Sinai is clear down here. I got it in the middle of the map. I kind of hold that it's over here in the land of Midian, whatever. But that would be where Sinai is, is down in there. I don't know where Mount Paran is. I couldn't find any map I had. Here's the wilderness of Paran. I know it's somewhere in that area. And then Seir is up here, and there's a mount right in that area called Mount Seir. And I'm not exactly sure what he's saying here, and commentators didn't seem to give me much of what I read, but it's probably speaking coming from Sinai and coming up through this area. The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us. He shone from Mount Paran, but I don't know what happened at Seir or Paran. And he came from the 10,000s of holy ones with flaming fire at his right hand. Yes, he loved his people, all his holy ones were at his hand, so they followed in your step and received direction from you. When Moses commanded us a law as a possession for the assembly of Jacob, okay, now that'll, took place down at Sinai, okay, where they received the law. And this interesting verse, which again, I get some mixed ideas of what this really means, but verse five, thus the Lord became king in Jeshuram, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together. So there's a, some people think this implies that Moses is the king. MacArthur says it doesn't say that anywhere in scripture, but certainly he acted in some measure as a king through that whole time of his ministry, you know. And so that there's a Clearly, I mean, I think it says the Lord is the king here, but that Moses is a a type of king Okay during his ministry that seems to be what what I gather from that from what I've read Jerusalem again is the upright one, okay? 33.6, now we begin this blessing of all the tribes. I'm not gonna look at all of them, just a couple of them. So it's really prophecy. Let Reuben live and not die. Let his men be few. Interesting. The last clause in 33.6 translated, let his men be few, or let no more. Ours is, nor his men be few. Let us men be few I'm using different translation, I guess. Oh You're right, yes, yes, I forgot that yeah, you're NIV in the margin it says or nor let his men be few So some have said which is it and apparently in Hebrew it could be translated either way and Guzik says this, this tepid blessing is in line with Jacob's prophecy concerning the tribe of Reuben. You shall not excel, in Genesis 49, four. And he goes on, he says, the tribe of Reuben never did excel. As far as we know, there never came a prophet, a judge, or a king from the tribe of Reuben. Okay? So, Yeah, that is a little bit of an interesting conundrum. Verse seven, this he said of Judah, hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him into his people. With your hands contend for him, and be a help against his adversaries. Okay, John 1.11 says, he came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. Okay. Of course, the Lord came from the tribe of Judah, right? Judah was also, in that last section there, help against his avatars. He's the first to go to battle. If you remember, we looked at how they laid out around the tabernacle and how they were all positioned, and then when they went out, this is the way they went out, the ark going first, and then the tribe of Judah was the first tribe to go out. verse 8 and of Levi he said give to Levi your thumb and your Urim and To your godly one whom you tested at Massa with whom you quarreled at the waters of Mariba Who said of his father and mother I regard them not he disowned his brothers and ignored his children For they observed your word and kept your covenant. I They shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel your law, and they shall put increase before you and the whole burnt offerings of your altar." And of course, Levi ends up being the priestly line there. And they had defended the Lord there, I think it was at Massa. There isn't anything really remarkable said about the rest of the guys. And I tried to find a bunch. I looked at a number of places. It's just kind of benign. But there's a few I wanted to point out. If you drop down to 3320, it says of Gad, he said, blessed is he who enlarges Gad. Gad crouches as a lion, and he tears off arm and scalp. He chose the best of the land for himself. We go back to our picture. You see Gadd there in the yellow, right in the center. And then see how they took that land there? That's where I believe Sodom and Gomorrah was, which a lot looked down there and said, man, that's the breadbasket of the area right down in that area. And then they took all the way up to the Sea of Galilee right along the river. All that bottom land is what they took, which I think is kind of interesting. So they took the best of the land for themselves. Dan is interesting. Verse 22, and of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's cub that leaps from Bashan. Okay. The thing with Dan is, if you look, there's Dan over here, okay, on the coast. But the problem is, they never really conquered that land. They kept getting pushed out by the Amorites. And so finally, when you get to Judges 18, they take off and they move up here, clear of the very top of our map in the center there, you see Dan, okay. The thing is about Dan is, The town of Dan is Dan way before Dan moves to Dan, okay? If you remember back when Lot moved into Sodom and Gomorrah, and then those five kings came in and grabbed him and all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and they took off north, and Abraham chased them down. Abraham chased them north of Dan. Dan's mentioned clear back there, and I don't know where that is. It's like Genesis 18, somewhere in there. So it's called Dan then, and Dan gets this allotment down here. They never push the people out, and so they start looking for another place to go, and they end up settling up in Dan. It seems kind of odd, but that's what happened. And then there's Naptala, and then the last one that I find very interesting is Asher in verse 24. He said, most blessed of sons be Asher. Let him be the favorite of his brothers. Let him dip his foot in oil. Israel has discovered oil off of Asher. So we come back here. Here's Asher. And see that little bump on the coast there, right above Mount Cornwall? That's modern-day Haifa. So let's go to our modern-day map. There's Haifa, you can see. I'll put that kind of in the middle for you, where that little bump is. And these big fields out here are natural gas that they found. And they found tremendous amounts of natural gas, leviathan being the biggest one. And they're all off the coast of Asher. Let him dip his foot in oil. A lot of people just wondered about this. It's like, is that what that meant? Because they call it leviathan because it's so big and it's in the ocean. And Israel's got a pipeline now underwater pipeline that runs down to Egypt Egypt turns it Propane LNG, I guess ships it to Europe liquid natural gas. Yeah They're shipping it to Europe. Okay Which is kind of fascinating given the whole everything going on with Russia You know something's gonna put a hook in Russia's jaw they're gonna come down after Israel and We don't know what that is. Is oil part of that? Don't know, but it's all kind of fascinating to think about. All right, so kind of get down to the summary of things. 33, 26. There is none like God, O Jerusalem, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty. I have 1 Corinthians 1.30 here. And because of Him, you are in Christ Jesus. It's all because of what He's done. Who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, so that as it is written, let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. Okay, and we just see the Lord is in the heavens in majesty, and He is this sovereign over all, okay. 27, the eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, destroy. Elizabeth Elliot always used this. She used to end each of her little half-hour segments or whatever she'd say. You're loved with an everlasting love, that's what the Bible says, and underneath are the everlasting arms. This is kind of a comforting thing to hear. Verse 28, so Israel lived in safety, and Jacob lived alone in the land of grain and wine, whose heavens drop down due. Happy are you, O Israel, who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph. Your enemies shall come fawning to you, and you shall tread upon their backs. This is only partially fulfilled after the people enter the land, but it awaits a complete fulfillment in the kingdom of Messiah. Okay, let's turn over to Zechariah 8.22, this second to the last book of the Old Testament, Zechariah Malachi. Zechariah 8.22, the verse I read, happy are, O Israel, who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help and the sword of your triumph. Your enemies shall come fawning to you, and you shall tread upon their backs. Zechariah 8.22 says, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord. Now this is during the millennial reign of Christ, I believe. To seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, in those days, 10 men from the nations of every tongue shall take a hold of the robe of a Jew saying, let us go with you, fawning over them. For we have heard that God is with you. Okay, so that's where we're going to see the full fulfillment of that, because during the millennial reign. And then we finish out chapter 34, the death of Moses. Then 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. He starts up in Dan and works his way from the north to the south. down to verse 4, And the Lord said to him, This is the land of which I swore to Abraham and to Isaac and Jacob. I will give it to your offspring. I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there. So Moses, a servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, Opposite Beth poor but no one knows the place of his burial to this day Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed and his vigor unabated Verse 9 and Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom for Moses had Laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, who the Lord knew face to face. none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, and for all the mighty power and the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel." And of course, Moses was very highly revered by the people, still is to this day, you know, as their great prophet. And here we see how he finished out. It was unfortunate he didn't get to go into the land, but it was because he disobeyed the Lord in that one area of striking the rock. That ends Deuteronomy. I kind of went through it a lot slower towards the end there, but I hope it was helpful. All right, let's close. Lord, we're grateful for your written word and how you show us over and over and over that, well, we need to trust and obey, and that you have great plans for us, you've done everything for us, you're sovereign over all, you're concerned about us, and yet you're willing to discipline us if we need it. And we see that with Israel, as they were disciplined many times down through the years because of their stubborn and hardened heartedness. Lord, let us not be like that. We don't wanna be like the, lay to sins either Lord and grow fat and Sleek and in kick as they had And we see you warn us about that as well. Just like you warned Israel that when they got into the land, they'd be the same way So help us to describe our lives and to look to you trust you for all things We know you love us and we're grateful for that in Jesus name. Amen. I