The Bible Binge: (Deuteronomy 31:16-30)

Ivanhoe and King Richard

One of my all-time favorite stories is Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe. It is a classic tale, set in the middle ages. In this story, the champion is Ivanhoe who takes on a traitorous Prince John, who is trying to take the throne from his brother, King Richard. And throughout the story, we follow the adventures of Ivanhoe and Robin Hood. And when Ivanhoe And Robin Hood get into trouble toward the end of the story, there’s King Richard showing up to save the day. But the fascinating thing about King Richard is that he had been there all the time. Throughout the story, this mysterious Black Knight keeps showing up and bailing various people out of trouble. And as you move toward the end you begin to realize that the Black Knight is none other than the King himself, disguised as the Black Knight. And once the Black Knight is revealed to be king, everything changes. Ivanhoe and Robin Hood are not alone. They have the King on their side. And Prince John is defeated.

We love these kinds of stories. Stories where the King shows up to save the day. There is so much injustice in the world. Even in our lives. We want to see someone coming to the rescue. Someone with the wherewithal to right all the wrongs. But the fascinating thing about our story today.. is that given the choice of having such a king, the people who need his help the most aren’t all that interested. That becomes one of the more heartbreaking storylines of the entire Bible.

What a journey we have been in the Bible Binge. We’ve covered the first five books of the Bible. This week we finish up the original 5 books of the Hebrew Bible. And instead of moving on to #6, which is the book of Joshua, we’re jumping into the New Testament and the Gospel of Luke next week. This means that if you haven’t been a part of the journey so far, if you haven’t started yet, this week with a new book in the new testament and especially with the Gospel of Luke is the perfect place to join us in on the journey. Pick up a book mark today and start your journey with the Gospel of Luke.

But today we are finishing up with Deuteronomy. We’ve followed Israel out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, to Mount Sinai where the law was given, and then through the wilderness. Almost 40 years after leaving Egypt, Israel is getting close to the Promised Land, the land flowing with milk and honey, the land where God has promised to bless his people and provide them a home and eventually a Savior. And we get toward the end of the book and we are *that* close to crossing the Jordan and going into the land. Now Moses is giving the last instructions before Israel goes into the Promised Land. We said last week that Deuteronomy was 3 sermons of Moses. Moses is talking to 2nd and 3rd generation Israelites. Many of them had not gone through the Promised Land. No one is over the age of 60. Their parents and grandparents have died in the wilderness. And they are already repeating the same mistakes. And Moses in his love gives them his wisdom for being successful in the Promised Land.

Chapter 31: A the edge of the Promised Land

So we get to Chapter 31, and Israel is at the edge of the Promised Land. Moses is not going into the Promised Land and there are all sorts of questions. What does Israel need in order to go into the Promised Land? (By the way, when we say Promised Land, we’re talking about much of what makes up the modern land of Israel).

They need four things. First, they need God’s Word.

Here’s what Deuteronomy 31 tells us:

Deuteronomy 31:24–26 When Moses had finished writing down on a scroll every single word of this law, he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant, “Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God so that it may remain there as a witness against you.”

They are going to need God’s Word in the Promised Land. God’s Word is what will sustain them. Humanity doesn’t live by bread alone, but by God’s Word. especially the promises of the gospel.

The second thing Israel will need is a new leader:

Deuteronomy 31:23 The Lord commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I swore to them, and I will be with you.”

This man named Joshua is going to be the new leader. Joshua had been with Moses at all the key moments of Israel’s history. He was already well known and well respected. He himself had spent much of what happened at Mount Sinai with Moses in God’s very presence.

The third thing Israel will need is God’s presence.

Here’s what Moses says about God’s presence more than once in chapter 31:

Deuteronomy 31:8 “The Lord is the one who will go before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

God is going to be with Israel. At Mount Sinai, when Israel sinned with the golden calf, God had threatened to not go with Israel to the promised land. As far as Moses is concerned, there is no point in going into the Promised Land if God doesn’t go with them. God gives Israel his Promise that He will be with them. Going before them. Fighting for them. Always with them.

Israel needs a song

And then there’s the last thing they need to go into the Promised Land. This is truly bizarre. If you’re headed into a situation where you need everything to go right in order to take this land, this would not be on your list. I’ll bet this wouldn’t be on anybody’s list: a song. That’s right, a song. In fact, this song is one of the longest chapters in the entire first five books. Here’s what God says:

Deuteronomy 31:19 “Therefore write down this song for yourselves and teach it to the Israelites; have them sing it, so that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites.”

Write down this song. Teach it. Have them sing it.. or quite literally, “put this song in their mouths”. We don’t quite think of songs this way. There are a lot of songs in the Bible, some in places you don’t expect them and this is one of them. Songs have a storytelling aspect to them, especially in the first five books. The most famous song is the first one they sang when they were rescued through the Red Sea. It was written by and led by Moses’ sister Miriam, the first female praise and worship recording artist in the Bible. That song is repeated throughout the Old Testament because it tells the story of God’s great rescue of his people.

Now, 40 years later, God is telling Moses that they need a brand new hit. They need a new song. He wants Moses to write it down and he wants Israel to memorize it and sing it. Songs in the Bible are important for at least 3 reasons:

Songs are emotional.

Songs tap into the emotion. They are able to help us say things and express things that normal conversation and normal ways of speaking cannot do. And because songs tap into the emotion,

Songs stick in the memory.

In fact, we have that here. Put this song in Israel’s mouths. Because songs are emotional, we remember them, especially those songs that tap into our precise way of feeling and thinking. And that’s important because of the third thing about songs here...

Songs teach.

In fact, God says as much here. Songs train us in ways of thinking, especially because they are emotional. This is why you’ll hear me say from time to time “lyrics matter”. Songs have always been used to teach important truths of the Bible. And they are used to teach bad ways of thinking about the Bible.

A good example of this is one of the popular songs I grew up with. I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop, in that bright land where we’ll never grow old. And there I’ll walk the streets of God. That imprints on the mind and ends up influencing theology that simply isn’t true. There are no mansions. The Bible doesn’t say that. And there are no streets of gold. Those are both symbolic of how grand and glorious the New Heavens and New Earth will be. But the idea that each of us will have a house as big or bigger than what Michael Jordan has right now is pure fiction. It’s based on a misreading of the Bible.

Music can either help us think rightly about the Bible. Or it can help us think not so rightly about the Bible. God knows this. This is why God tells Moses, you teach Israel this new song.

But the song that God wants Moses to teach Israel won’t be a very popular song. In fact, it’s not ever going to be a Grammy Award-winning song. It may hit Israel’s Top 40, but they are not going to want to be singing this song. This is a song only God would write. Miriam’s Song is a song for all time. Israel is going to want to bury this song in their basement and never sing it.

Chapter 32 is the content of the song. 44 verses. It’s a long song. And there’s almost nothing nice about Israel in this song. We’re not going to go through the entire song. I encourage you to read chapter 32 this week.

Here’s the gist of this song:

God is great.

Israel is disobedient.

Israel will be cursed because of her disobedience.

Someday, I will bless Israel.

Do you see why this isn’t exactly Grammy Award-winning? Who sings a song about how disobedient and sinful Israel is going to be in the new land? Who sings a song about being a prostitute with false idols other than God? Who sings a song about how God is going to lower the hammer on the singers of the song for their disobedience? The song reads like an indictment, but this is exactly what God wants his people singing.

Here’s the gist:

God is Great

Israel is disobedient

There is a curse

God provides redemption

God is great.

Deuteronomy 32:4 “The Rock—his work is perfect; all his ways are just. A faithful God, without bias, he is righteous and true.”

Sounds like a lot of the Psalms. God is totally faithful. God is perfect. He’s always righteous. He’s the definition of true. But that view of God is set up as a contrast with the nation of Israel who are anything but like God.

Deuteronomy 32:5 “His people have acted corruptly toward him; this is their defect—they are not his children but a devious and crooked generation.”

Israel is disobedient. God is faithful. Israel is faithless. And it’s all downhill from there. Israel’s disobedience is given a lot of details. They are going to pursue the false gods of the peoples in the lands, just like they built the golden calf shortly after leaving Egypt. God is great. God rescued them from Egypt. And even then, they will give God the finger. This is their song.

And then, because Israel is disobedient, they are going to be cursed. This is one of the lyrics in the song.. God speaking:

Deuteronomy 32:23–24 “I will pile disasters on them; I will use up my arrows against them. They will be weak from hunger, ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will unleash on them wild beasts with fangs, as well as venomous snakes that slither in the dust.”

Wow. OK. That’s pretty graphic. God is going to pile disasters on them. And then he says this:

Deuteronomy 32:20 “I will hide my face from them; for they are..unfaithful children.”

The very God who promised to be with Israel says he will hide his face from them. He will abandon them. Wow. Yes, Israel, this is what you have to sing. This is not a fun song. This is a downer song. Curses.

Here’s what the Bible means when it is talking about curses

Video

These aren’t like the curses we typically think of. This isn’t like a spell. This is a promise from God that God is going to reward their disobedience with His judgment. The curses that are more often talked about in scripture like the ones that Moses has been mentioning in Deuteronomy are things that people bring upon themselves by not listening to God and his Word. Curses are attempting to seize our own blessing instead of God’s blessing, putting things on our own terms with our own view point of what it means to be blessed. God’s judgment allows us to choose our own path to our own downfall.

So Israel sings a song talking about how badly they are going to disobey in the Promised Land and how God is going to rain down curses on them for their disobedience. What a song!

God’s Grace in Atonement

But God in his grace isn’t going to let it end there. He never does.

Deuteronomy 32:39 “See now that I alone am he; there is no God but me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal. No one can rescue anyone from my power.”

There it is. There’s God’s grace. I give life. I heal. I rescue. He brings death in order to give life. That’s atonement. You see, the curse doesn’t have the last say. The blessing does. God loves his people. He will not allow them to continue in their rebellion and disobedience and there is an end to the curse. He’s going to die in order to give them life. That also is the story of the Promised Land.

And that’s what Jesus does. Jesus brings an end to the curse for his people. And that means there’s a new song to sing. And we find that song in Revelation where this very song is being sung about Jesus himself:

Revelation 15:1–4 “They sang the song of God’s servant Moses and the song of the Lamb: Great and awe-inspiring are your works, Lord God, the Almighty; just and true are your ways, King of the nations. Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship before you because your righteous acts have been revealed.”

They are talking about Jesus there. They are singing about Jesus and his triumph over the beast at the cross and in his resurrection. Why is it that we spend so much time singing about what Jesus has done for us at the cross? Because that’s our hope. That’s our salvation. That’s what gives us life. Salvation isn’t about how great I was in choosing Jesus. I don’t have the power to choose Jesus.

This is what Martin Luther says in his Small Catechism:

“I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” Martin Luther

Salvation is about Jesus choosing me. Loving me. Forgiving me. That’s the song of Revelation. That’s what we sing when we gather. That’s a song that gives hope.

This song in Deuteronomy 32 is our story. From beginning to end, this song is the story of my life and your life. God is great. God is the Rock. He is salvation. And yet we are corrupt. We don’t want that God. We disobey. We sin. Again and again. And we all live under the curse. But in His grace, God sends us Jesus. Jesus shows up. Becomes one of us. Dies under the curse. So that we might have His life and forgiveness.

That’s the Song of Moses for us. Our story. That’s the book of Deuteronomy. The hope of Jesus Christ for undeserving sinners.

Let’s Pray.

The Table

Our story is right here. God is great. God is our salvation. We’ve sinned. We need forgiveness. Jesus ends the curse for us and gives us His life right here right now. That’s the song of Moses here at this Table. For you and for me.

Benediction

Numbers 6:24–26

May the Lord bless you and protect you;

may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.