Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

Last week we considered the opening of the song of Moses - the third witness invoked by Moses against the nation of Israel.

We saw the witness of the Scriptures, the witness of the scenery, and we are now in the midst of the witness of the song.

By way of review, Yahweh Himself established this witness-song back in 31:19.

Moses then gives the witness of the word and the witness of the world, which we saw a few weeks ago.

Contextually, Moses finds himself writing this song from a place of conflict.

He’s an old man, 120 years old.

He is a man of strength, poise, and humility, all by God’s grace.

He has led two generations of Hebrews out of Egypt, through the wilderness and to the doorstep of the promised land.

He has walked with God, and now prepared to die and be with Him.

Yet he leaves on a sour note, horizontally speaking.

His relationship with the nation is not great here at the end of his life.

He prophesies apostasy, idolatry, and spiritual prostitution, and calls heaven and earth, the Torah, and this song to bear witness to these sins.

As we saw last week, this song is pastoral, invoking the imagery of a shepherd in the fields, observing the rain of God’s Word refreshing the land and refreshing the people of God.

This same imagery captivated David as he spoke 500 years later of the blessed Messiah standing firm like a tree planted by streams of living water in Psalm 1 and again of the Great Shepherd leading His flock beside those same streams.

Moses was a shepherd, both of physical sheep and figurative sheep, and it is in that tone that he delivers the song.

It is also a song of praise, ascribing glory and majesty to Yahweh on high.

Again, Moses sets the trajectory of the song, this time heavenward, calling the nation to focus their attention on Yahweh, and the greatness of both his character and his works.

Finally, Moses introduces this song as eminently polemical.

It stands in opposition to and judgement over the people of Israel, attacking their corruption, their defect, their perversity, their crookedness, their foolishness and their folly.

Moses now continues his song with 5 dissonant movements that I have outlined as follows:

Yahweh’s Faithfulness - 7-14

Israel Failure - 15-18

Yahweh’s Fire - 19-27

Israel’s Foolishness - 28-35

Yahweh’s Free Grace - 26-44

By way of brief sidebar, this is one of the first times we see an extended section of Hebrew poetry in the Old Testament.

The Psalms are obviously defined exclusively by Hebrew poetry, and it also figures very prominently in prophetic literature as well.

But in the historical narratives of the early part of the Old Testament, at least as we have it in our English Bibles, poetry is a rarer occurence.

Only 3 times do we see true long-form Hebrew poetry in the first five books of the Old Testament.

We see small fragments here and there, but only four times is a true long-form poem recorded in Genesis through Deuteronomy.

The first is the Testament or Blessing of Jacob recorded in Genesis 49.

The second is the Song of the Sea, recorded for us in Exodus 15.

The third is right here, the Song of Moses, and the third is the Blessing of Moses in the next chapter, Deuteronomy 33.

So with that in mind, let’s look at the text.

First, we will see Yahweh’s Faithfulness.

Yahweh’s Faithfulness - 7-14

The first words out of Moses’ mouth, after the introduction in 1-6 invoke two actions and two outcomes.

The first action is to remember.

This is not a passing recollection for Israel.

This is a time of intentional reflection on past events.

The second action is to consider.

To consider is to look closely with the purpose of achieving clarity, understanding, and perception.

And what is the object of these actions?

What is being considered?

What is being remembered?

The days of old and years of all generations.

To put it simply, the nation of Israel is called upon, by Moses, to remember their history.

Remember their story.

Remember who they are and what they have done, and more importantly as we will see in vss 8 and onward, who God is and what He has done.

And what is the outcome of remembering and considering?

Being informed, and being told.

In other words, when Israel both collectively and individually takes the time to remember and consider, and to do so with purposeful intent, they will get what they came for.

They will be informed of their history, they will be told of their legacy.

And what are the vessels through which the telling of the history comes?

The fathers and the elders.

This statement underlines the importance of the oral tradition for the nation of Israel.

They were a people who spoke the stories of their history, who verbalized their shared story.

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, the written word was incredibly rare.

The people of Israel in that day relied on the spoken word and on the faithful passing on of their history and law from one generation to the next, and the beauty of Moses’ self-awareness is on full display here: He is reminding the nation of Israel to receive the history and the law and the word about Yahweh verbally, in the very moment that he is setting the example for them by teaching them this song.

But Moses is not just teaching the people to remember general ideas or general teachings.

He specifies what they are to remember: namely the blessings of Yahweh’s provision.

Moses describes with eloquent detail and striking imagery the provision of Yahweh for His people.

He begins in verses 8 and 9 by reminding Israel of God’s special grace to them.

Of all the nations on earth, God selected them to be His people.

He set his lovingkindness and tender mercy upon them, not because of their merit, but because of His grace.

Verse 10 begins to describe the provision of Yahweh for His people by first describing the desolation of his original state.

He was in a desert land, in a howling wilderness wasteland.

In the midst of that, Yahweh encircles, cares, and guards.

These three actions effectively describe the work of God as demonstrated throughout the Pentateuch.

From the time of Abraham to the time of Moses’ teaching of this song, the encircling, caring, protecting work of Yahweh is on full display.

Whether through the provision of a son, the provision of a ram, the provision of a wife, the provision of 12 tribal heads, the provision of wisdom in a famine, the provision of a leader, the provision of venture capital to start a new nation, the provision of dry land on which to walk, the provision of water from the rock or manna from the sky, or the provision of unwearing shoes and clothes for 40 years in the wilderness, God encircled, cared, and guarded Israel time and time again.

Moreover, Moses describes Yahweh as an eagle who spreads its wings in protection over its nest, as well as under it, catching the struggling, falling eaglets as they fall and struggle to fly.

And not only did Yahweh protect and provide, He also poured out abundant blessing on them.

Even in the wilderness, they were blessing with produce and honey and oil, with cattle and sheep and goats and rams and what and wine.

He protects.

He provides.

He blesses.

And this is the story of Israel.

Up to this point they had experience this provision and protection and blessing in part, and they would continue to experience it more fully under the leadership of Joshua, and later under David, and ultimately under Solomon when Israel prospered in the land.

All these things were part and parcel of the Hebrew experience for the next 500 years.

So Moses calls upon the nation, not only in his day, but for all time: Remember and consider the protection and provision and blessing of the Lord.

To put it in the words of Johnson Oatman Jr, count your blessings, name them one by one, count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

There is an immensely practical point of application here for us.

Just like Israel, we are a forgetful people.

But just like Israel, God has provided for us beyond our imagination.

We would do well, like Israel, to remember all that God has done for us.

When life is overwhelming and we tossed about by every wind of care and current of anxiety, I encourage you, just as Moses encouraged Israel: stop.

Remember.

Consider.

Look back at your life.

Look at all the ways the Lord provided.

Look at all the ways He protected.

Look at all the ways He blessed.

And in your looking, be reminded of who He is and what He is capable of, and then trust that He will bring you through whatever you face today.

He has done it before, He will do it again.

You might ask what ways you can apply this in your own life, and I can think of one great way that has brought me much comfort and joy over the years.

Might seem weird or whatever, but I promise you it is profitable.

Keep a journal.

Write in it every day.