Deuteronomy 33:1-12 - The Last Blessing of Moses (1)

Introduction

Deuteronomy 33:1 NASB95

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

[PRAYER]

In Genesis 49, as Jacob was dying, he blessed his sons. In Deuteronomy 33, as Moses neared death, he blessed the sons of Israel because he had been a father to them.

Moses was not perfect. He would not enter the Promised Land because of disobedience to God, but he was a man of God nonetheless and he was a blessing to Israel, so it is fitting to see Moses blessing the people of God as He nears the end.

This is what the man of God does; he blesses the people of God.

A blessing in this case is calling God to pour out His favor on a people or individual persons.

[TS] Moses’ last blessing began with a historical review, continued with blessings to individual tribes, and concluded by marveling at the grace of God.

Let’s begin with that historical review in vv. 2-5…

Major Ideas

Part #1: Historical Review (Deut. 33:2-5)

Deuteronomy 33:2–5 NASB95

2 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. 3 “Indeed, He loves the people; All Your holy ones are in Your hand, And they followed in Your steps; Everyone receives of Your 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.

[EXP] This is an abbreviated account of Israel’s journey from Sinai to the Promised Land. You can tell something of the difficulty translating this entire passage when you just look at the different English versions of v. 2.

(ESV) (The Lord) came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand.

(CSB) (The Lord) came with ten thousand holy ones, with lightning from his right hand for them.

(NIV84) (The Lord) came with myriads of holy ones from the south, from his mountain slopes.

(KJV 1900) (The Lord) came with ten thousands of saints: From his right hand went a fiery law for them.

(LEB) (The Lord) came with myriads of holy ones, at his right hand a fiery law for them.

I don’t have the expertise to tell you which one is better than the others, although I think the Lexham English Bible might have the best sense of it.

“(The Lord) came with myriads of holy ones, at his right hand a fiery law for them.”

His holy ones are His angels and His fiery law is the law given on Mt. Sinai.

The OT doesn’t clearly state that the law was given to Moses by angels on Mt. Sinai, but Stephen in Acts 7 (v. 53), Paul in Galatian 3 (v. 19), and the author of Hebrews in Hebrews 2 (v. 2) all say that angels, God’s holy ones, were involved in the process.

All of this highlights the importance of God’s law, picturing it as coming down from Heaven to earth for the good of His chosen people.

All of God’s Word—not only its law, but also its history, its wisdom, its poetry, its prophecy, its gospels, and its epistles—all of God’s Word is important because it all comes from God.

Unless Moses is speaking in the third-person, vv. 3-5 is perhaps Israel’s response to Moses’ opening words in v. 2.

If so, Israel acknowledged that God loves His people, and they acknowledged the role of His holy ones in bringing His law to them.

The words of the law weren’t just made up by Moses. They were the words of God, and all Israel received them as such.

Moses charged them with God’s law, a law that would be the basis of a new state to be established in the Promised Land.

That state would have God as its King. He would be King in Jeshurun, a name meaning “upright” or “straight” used in Deuteronomy and Isaiah as a poetic name for Israel.

God had rescued and gathered His people. He handed down His law to them. He was King over them as they prepared to enter the Promised Land.

All of this had been mediated by Moses, the man of God, a father to them, who was about to bless them.

The people of God in every age need to remember that God is King.

The people of God in every age need real men of God to lead them.

[TS]…

The Blessing on Reuben (Deut. 33:6)

Deuteronomy 33:6 NASB95

6 “May Reuben live and not die, Nor his men be few.”

[EXP] Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn son by Leah. He wanted to protect Jacob’s favorite son, Joseph, from death when the other brothers planned to kill him, but he also later disgraced his father by sleeping with one of his concubines. Because of this, Reuben would not have preeminence among the sons of Israel although the tribe of Reuben was still somewhat esteemed by the other tribes.

The tribe of Reuben would be criticized for not fighting in the time of the judges (cf. Judg. 5:15-16) and yet fight with faith in the time of the kings (cf. 1 Chr. 5:18-22).

The tribe would live and not die although it would never be great in number. The CSB translates Deuteronomy 33:6 as…

Deuteronomy 33:6 CSB

6 Let Reuben live and not die though his people become few.

Or as one paraphrase has it, “Let Reuben live and not die, but just barely, in diminishing numbers,” (MSG).

Sometimes the effects of one man’s sin lasts for generations and generations.

[TS]…

33:7 - The Blessing on Judah

Deuteronomy 33:7 NASB95

7 And this regarding Judah; so he said, “Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah, And bring him to his people. With his hands he contended for them, And may You be a help against his adversaries.”

[EXP] After the disqualification of Reuben and Simeon and Levi (for reasons we’ll get to in a moment), the tribe of Judah would be preeminent. It would be the tribe of the kings, the tribe of the Messiah. Jacob said to Judah in Genesis 49:10…

Genesis 49:10 NASB95

10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

This Shiloh is a symbol for the Messiah who was to come and who has come in Jesus of Nazareth.

Numbers (2:9) tells us that the tribe of Judah would also lead the way into battle, so a Jewish paraphrase of the first line of this blessing says, “Hear, Lord, the prayer of Judah when he goes into battle, and bring him back in peace.”

This blessing asks God to hear the tribe of Judah’s prayer as it fights, to bring the tribe of Judah back in safety after it fights, and to help the tribe of Judah against its enemies.

As the tip of Israel’s spear, Judah went first into war. It lead the way.

Hebrews 12:2 calls us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the leader and perfecter of our faith.

[TS] The blessings continue with Levi in v. 8…

The Blessing on Levi (Deut. 33:8-11)

Deuteronomy 33:8–11 NASB95

8 Of Levi he said, “Let Your Thummim and Your Urim belong to Your godly man, Whom You proved at Massah, With whom You contended at the waters of Meribah; 9 Who said of his father and his mother, ‘I did not consider them’; And he did not acknowledge his brothers, Nor did he regard his own sons, For they observed Your word, And kept Your covenant. 10 “They shall teach Your ordinances to Jacob, And Your law to Israel. They shall put incense before You, And whole burnt offerings on Your altar. 11 “O Lord, bless his substance, And accept the work of his hands; Shatter the loins of those who rise up against him, And those who hate him, so that they will not rise again.”

[EXP] When Jacob blessed his sons in Genesis 49, he spoke judgment to Simeon and Levi together, “I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.” This was because they killed all the men of Shechem after their sister, Dinah, had been raped by one man of Shechem.

Indeed, Simeon and Levi would be scattered in Israel.

Simeon’s territory in the Promised Land would be within the boundaries of Judah’s territory. Thus, Simeon would be practically absorbed by Judah, which may be why it is not mentioned in the blessing of the tribes here in this chapter.

One who lets his anger burn and turns the pursuit of justice into an excuse for vengeance may pay the price for generations to come.

The tribe of Levi, however, would be scattered differently. Despite what they did to the men of Shechem, and because of their faithfulness to God (even over their own family members) when the rest of Israel rebelled against God with the golden calves in Exodus 32, the Levites were made priests of God.

They would not have an allotment of land in the Promised Land, but God would be their portion.

Perhaps the Levites first imagined the lyrics, “It is better to have YHWH than silver or gold. It is better to have YHWH than riches untold. It is better to have YHWH than houses or lands. It is better to be led by His nail pierced hand.”

Moses and his brother, Aaron, were of the tribe of Levi. They figuratively represent the tribe in this blessing of Deuteronomy 33.

In Exodus 17, the people of God were thirsty at Rephidim. They quarreled with Moses and tested the Lord, but Moses proved faithful by striking the rock as God commanded, which supplied the grumbling people with water.

These were the waters of Massah where God proved Moses the Levite.

In Numbers 20, the people of God were thirsty at Kadesh. They assembled against Moses and Aaron, so Moses and Aaron sought the Lord, and Moses was told to speak to a rock to provide water for the people. Moses, however, struck the rock. Because he didn’t treat the Lord as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, he would not bring them into the Promised Land.

These were the waters of Meribah where God contended with Moses the Levite.

Because of one act of disobedience, Moses was kept out of the Promised Land.

Only by the grace of God do any enter in.

The Levites served the rest of Israel in at least three ways mentioned here in this blessing.

The Levites determined God’s will for God’s people through the Thummim and Urim, objects kept in the breastpiece of the High Priest which may have worked like casting lots or rolling dice. We’re not exactly sure.

They taught God’s Law to the rest of Israel. This was their educational function.

They were responsible for the worship of God in God’s tabernacle and later His temple. They assisted God’s people with their worship.

In v. 11 Moses prays that God would bless the strength, accept the work, and defeat the enemies of the Levites.

Deuteronomy 33:11 is a good prayer for all God’s ministers.

[TS]…

33:12 - The Blessing on Benjamin

Deuteronomy 33:12 NASB95

12 Of Benjamin he said, “May the beloved of the Lord dwell in security by Him, Who shields him all the day, And he dwells between His shoulders.”

[EXP] When Jacob blessed his youngest son, Benjamin, in Genesis 49, he said…

Genesis 49:27 NASB95

27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he devours the prey, And in the evening he divides the spoil.”

Many of Benjamin’s descendents would become mighty warriors, fierce wolves on the battlefield we might say.

In Judges 20:16 it says the tribe of Benjamin essentially had an elite force of 700 men who could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. They were the sharpshooters of their day.

1 Chronicles 8:40 says that in the tribe of Benjamin there were many men of valor who were skilled in archery.

1 Chronicles 12:2 says that some of them could sling stones or shoot arrows with both the right and the left hand.

The fighting skill of Benjamin would later be misused as it went to war against the rest of Israel, but as Israel entered the Promised Land their fighting skill would be a great help.

Here in Deuteronomy 33, Benjamin is seen as the beloved of the Lord who will dwell in security not because of its military prowess but because of the Lord who will shield Benjamin all the day as a shepherd shields his lambs.

True victory comes from the Lord not from fighting skill or military might.

[TS] We will pick up with Benjamin’s brother, Joseph, next Sunday night, but as we wrap up tonight, I wonder…

…how might we get from Benjamin to Jesus?

As I said earlier, Benjamin’s military might was not always used faithfully. In the book of Judges (chps. 19-21) we read that the men of Benjamin essentially became the men of Sodom demanding to lie with a Levite who visited one of their towns. The man hosting the Levite offered the perverse men of Benjamin his own daughters, and when those were refused the Levite, in one last effort to save his own life, gave his concubine to them.

This poor woman was assaulted and abused all night.

In the morning, the Levite took her back to his home where he cut her into pieces and sent those pieces to the other tribes in Israel to call their attention to this horrific thing done among the people of God.

The other tribes convened and decided to go to war with Benjamin, which would be no easy task. After many from the other tribes died fighting the Benjaminites, God gave Israel victory over Benjamin. Soon very few Benjaminites were left, and God’s people mourned that one tribe of Israel was basically lost.

To reestablish Benjamin, Israel allowed Benjamin to slaughter the men and the married women of another city and take the women that remained as wives. When those women proved to few for the remaining men of Benjamin, the Benjaminites were allowed to capture more wives from Shiloh as women danced at a feast of the Lord that happened there year after year.

This story concludes the book of Judges, but Judges 21:25 puts the period on this dark time in Israel’s history.

Judges 21:25 NASB95

25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Did the men of Benjamin do what was right?

No. They did what was right in their own eyes.

Did the Levite do what was right?

No. He did what was right in his own eyes.

Did the rest of Israel do what was right?

No. They did what was right in their own eyes.

And they did because they lived as if they had no king!

Brothers and sisters, we are the Israel of God, and we know that we have a King!

We have been grafted into the people of God through faith in Jesus Christ who sits on the throne of Israel forever, who is King of kings and Lord of lords!

We are not free to do what is right in our eyes because our King rules us! He determines what is right and wrong for us! He leads us in the way everlasting! He leads down the path of life!

The gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it, but King Jesus shows us the way!

He is the Way!

[TS]…

Conclusion

[PRAYER]