01 | Song of Moses | Deuteronomy 32:1-3 | Teaching as Gentle Rain

MAIN IDEA

The Lord calls all creation to witness his faithful word—a word that falls like rain to nourish, warn, and lead his people to life through Christ.

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INTRODUCTION

This sermon series in Deuteronomy 32 — “The Song of Moses | No Empty Word” …

… is a call to remember the greatness, faithfulness, and justice of the Lord across generations.

Through blessing, provocation, and judgment, the Lord remains the Rock

… righteous and unchanging

… while His people forget and rebel.

Yet even in wrath, God moves toward salvation …

… and this song, sung by Moses, is no empty word—it is our very life.

PRAY

3:00

THE SONG OF MOSES

I want to begin by paying attention to the song as a whole.

Three Cycles

First Cycle = v1-14 - The Lord Blesses Israel

He makes himself known to them …

… he calls them to himself out of Egypt

… and he provides life for them in the land.

Second Cycle = v15-29 - Israel Provokes the Lord

Israel presumes upon the Lord’s provision.

Deuteronomy 32:18 ESV

You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.

And so the Lord brings his judgement upon the people.

Third Cycle = v30-43 - The Lord’s Justice and Salvation

In the final cycle, the Lord does not forget his justice or righteousness.

On the other hand, the Lord calls the people to run to him for help.

“Vengeance is mine … the LORD will vindicate.”

The Lord will rescue his people from the very nations he sent for their judgement.

Salvation and the peoples’ greatest good is found in this: v39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me;

Followed by concluding remarks in v44ff.

Moses calls the people to hear the warning …

… and walk in the way of his words.

For it is no empty word for you, but your very life …

So, again, I want you to hold the structure of these three cycles in your mind as we give attention to the Word together this summer.

First Cycle = v1-14 - The Lord Blesses Israel

Second Cycle = v15-29 - Israel Provokes the Lord

Third Cycle = v30-43 - The Lord’s Justice and Salvation

7:00

Eight Sermons

So, this is how we will spend our summer:

Three sermons on the first cycle.

Two sermons on the second cycle.

Two sermons of the third cycle.

A final sermon on v44 through the end of the chapter.

Deuteronomy 32:47 ESV

For it is no empty word for you, but your very life

8:00

Moses, the Prophet

In the passage just before Moses’ song … when Moses hands off leadership to Joshua, he tells them the truth—the whole truth.

This is the framework of the whole song:

The reality that surrounds (literally and structurally) the whole song is the faithfulness of the Lord God to his own great name.

Yes, he is faithful to bless and to redeem …

… according to his great grace.

But he is also faithful to curse and judge …

… according to his own holiness.

While the song is framed by the blessing and redemption of the Lord, the middle the song clearly presents the reality of Israel’s forgetfulness and idolatry.

10:00

APPLY

Brothers and sisters, it should not be difficult for us to see our own story in the story of the people of Israel.

Let us give ear to the Word of the Lord in the Song of Moses.

12:00

GIVE EAR, HEAVENS AND EARTH

Read v1.

It is interesting that Moses does not begin by speaking to the congregation.

As the “assembly of Israel” listens in, Moses calls for the attention of the heavens and the earth.

Moses calls on these first objects of creation …

… the sun, the moon and the stars

… and the whole of the creation of earth

… to bear witness to God’s work among his special creation, mankind.

Even more than that, out from among mankind …

… the Lord has called a firstborn son to himself, Israel.

By the Lord’s call of Israel they have received the special privilege of the Lord’s faithful provision.

But they have also received the special responsibility to steward that provision according to the Lord’s own purposes.

And his purpose is that they would both follow the Lord as a worshiping people …

… and that they would make his name known among all the nations.

Here, Moses is calling heaven and earth to bear witness to the account of Israel’s life as children of God.

14:00

Now, what is interesting about the account that Moses gives is that Israel is still young.

What Moses speaks here at the close of the Pentateuch (the first five book of the Bible) about the life of Israel is spoken by prophecy.

And we will see exactly what Moses recounts here take place in the books of history that are yet to come.

Moses makes a legal case for two things

the faithfulness of the Lord

the waywardness of Israel.

So, here he calls the highest created reality to stand as witnesses.

They are a sort of jury to hear the case of the life of Israel.

16:00

APPLY

There is a pattern that we see in scripture.

At the beginning of creation the Lord calls forth the heavens and the earth.

Then he forms the first man, Adam, from the dust of the ground.

The Lord is generous to breath life into Adam and he is faithful to provide abundantly for him.

He reveals his purposes and instruction to Adam.

And heaven and earth witness Adam’s failure.

Here, in our passage this morning, Moses calls the heavens and the earth to bear witness.

The Lord has formed Israel from the one man, Abraham, who had no inheritance of his own.

The Lord is generous to call Israel out of Egypt to himself and his worship.

The Lord provides manna in the wilderness and a land flowing with milk and honey.

And heaven and earth will witness Israel’s failure.

But Adam and Israel are not the final Word.

Heaven and earth will witness the new Adam and the true Israel, Jesus Christ.

Ultimately, the case that Moses makes in this song …

… is prosecuted in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Neither Adam, nor Israel, nor you and I today are the faithful ones.

None of us can stand on our own in judgement.

Heaven and earth can bear witness that all have “dealt corruptly” with the Lord.

It is God the Son, in his perfect life, sacrificial death and victorious resurrection …

… that secures the glorious inheritance so often forfeited by those who are given the Word of the Lord.

So, as we join the heavens and the earth in giving ear to this song …

… you and I have the greatest privilege of an even more full and clear witness to the truth.

Hebrews 1:1–3 ESV

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

21:00

GENTLE TEACHING

I cannot express how precious this verse is.

Listen to v2.

rain, dew, gentle rain, showers

Look and enjoy God’s Word here.

Read v2 again slowly.

teaching drop as rain

speech distill as the dew

gentle rain and showers

This is the Lord’s own intention for his Word in our lives.

Isaiah 55:10–11 ESV

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

The purpose of the song is to nourish, not to destroy.

It is instructive if it falls, penetrates and saturates the lives of those who listen.

falls, penetrates and saturates

24:00

The teaching falls like gentle rain.

Now, consider where it falls.

tender grass and herb

We already are getting a glimpse at who they are who are addressed here.

They are weak people.

They are tender grass and an herb

They are small and the Lord is great.

It’s a bit of an odd illustration, and I realize when I’ve used it before that it could be misunderstood …

… but I think the guttural truth and love it expresses should not be passed over.

ILL: I said to my daughter sitting next to me, “I could crush you. But I will use all my strength to protect you.”

The Word of the Lord is a powerful torrent!

Isaiah 30:28 ESV

his breath is like an overflowing stream that reaches up to the neck;

But the Lord here gives this song to Moses not for the purpose of destruction, but in order to nourish his people.

26:00

A Father Addresses a Child

As much as this song is a legal case, it is addressed like that of a case addressed from a father to a child.

I know what it is to plead with my children.

I don’t draw them into a courtroom to bring them into judgement, but make my case to their face to warn them and bring them into fellowship again.

27:00

ILL: Sitting on my back porch in a serious rainstorm this weekend.

Yet, because of the screen over my porch the rain was spread into a mist.

I should have been getting drenched.

The torrent ought to overwhelmed me!

In the rain, out of shelter, I ought to have said, “I am ruined.”

But the screen acted as a shield.

It took the many waters by which I would have been overcome ...

… and made it a gentle refreshment on a warm day.

Death is the just rule and reality at work in creation since the Fall.

But the Lord stands over his people, so that the power and reality of his Word becomes instructive rather than destructive.

30:00

APPLY

What do we do with this “gentle teaching”?

Hear it first. It is beautiful!

Apply = Enjoy and give thanks!

I do not mean that you should be entertained.

I mean that you should be made full!

Nourished. Enriched.

We tend to use the Word as a utility, so it remains external to us …

… like a tool.

Let the Word of Chirst dwell in us richly.

ILL: The image of the farmer in the scriptures is one who seeks a rich harvest …

… not by capturing rain in a jar

… processing and bottling it, and then dispense it like some utilitarian H2O.

He plants the seed out in the field and trusts the Lord not to send a torrent, but gentle rain.

Let us place our souls out in the field watered by the Word of the Lord.

Let us stand where the gentle rain falls.

May the word of the Lord fall, penetrate and saturate our lives this summer.

33:00

PROCLAIM AND ASCRIBE

Read v3.

Name and Greatness

What is proclaimed? The name of Yahweh.

In Exodus 34, the Lord reveals himself to Moses.

In that revelation, the Lord proclaims his name to Moses: The LORD, the LORD!

And the he describes who he is to Moses.

Exodus 34:5–7 ESV

The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

merciful, gracious, slow ot anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness

Here, in this song, Moses proclaims the name of the Lord to the people.

He proclaims the name of the Lord.

And he ascribes to the Lord the greatness of that name

Proclaim and Ascribe.

We proclaim that the Lord is God.

And when we ascribe, we name before the Lord and all who will here, the attributes of his great name.

36:00

APPLY

There is nothing more practical, more pragmatic and useful, than to see, know and enjoy our God.

As we give attention to this Song this summer …

… see the Lord. Know him.

Proclaim his name. And ascribe to him the greatness of his name.

37:00

APPLY

Do we still tremble at God’s Word?

Have we tuned out His voice?

I would remind us … The Lord Jesus Christ is the one faithful one.

Heaven has born witness to his singular faithfulness in all the earth.

Great is his name. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.

He is the faithful Son in his obedience.

He is the sufficient sacrifice in his grace.

He is the glorious God in his victory.

May our attention to this Song of Moses …

… draw our attention all the more to the perfect faithfulness of Christ on behalf of wayward humanity.

I call you this morning to trust in the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin …

… that his sacrifice would be the rain not only of your instruction, but of your cleansing.

And, for all who believe in his name …

… that you would appreciate all the more that you know your God!

So, let us pay all the more attention to him.

41:00

Church Center

Spend this summer in the Song of Moses. See him and ascribe to him.

Church Center Group — Tell me what you see.

43:00