The Song of Moses
The Song of Moses
What is the most important song in the Torah about?
Deuteronomy 32:29
If they were wise, they would understand this; they would discern their latter end!
The question is: Understand what?
Understand the song of Moses, which represent the last words of Moses and a review of everything he’s taught them in condensed form. If they were wise, they would understand this:
1. That the Lord, not the enemy, judged Israel for their pride, rebellion and forgetfulness (verse 18, 30). What exactly did they forget?
- they forgot God’s Justice (verse 4)—that was Number 1.
- they forgot respect for their elders (verse 7)—they didn’t ask their elders questions and trust in their answers.
- they forgot God loves them (verses 10-11)—He found them, delivered them and made them into a free people.
- they forgot God guided them (verse 12)—they would be lost without Him.
- they forgot God provided for them (verse 13-14)—they survived on miracles!
- they forgot God when things went well for them (verse 15)—most people are better when they suffer; they get proud and complacent when they stop suffering.
- they forgot He is the only true God (verse 16-17).
2. So the Lord temporarily hid His face from them (verse 20).
3. That they might consider they are reaping what they sowed (verse 21). This is what I call God’s “passive justice.” They forgot Him, so He forgets them.
4. However, the Lord would not abandon them completely lest a worse evil comes, namely, the enemy gloats over God’s people and belittle God’s power (verses 26 & 27)
5. The purpose of God allowing this pain is for their greater good, namely, that they would turn and let the Lord deliver them (verses 36, 41, 43).
This “Song of Moses” is so important to Israel’s future that
God said they will never forget this song, “this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring)” (31:21), and
Moses said, “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.” (Verse 47)
6. Above all, God wants us to understand “our latter end.” Rather than focusing on temporary pains we’re facing, think about how our life will end. God sees it not ending well without Him. God wants you to end well. We can make sure our life had meaning and ended well by not forgetting how good God has been, by asking our elders about how far God has brought us, and by refusing to turn to false gods and Satan’s temptations.
And here’s the proof that they will not forget it, and that it remains supremely important to God:
REVELATION 15:3 (KJV) And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
Revelations recalls the Song of Moses and adds another song—the Song of the Lamb—but the main message remains the same: Justice.
This article so perfectly and simply articulates the song of Moses. God’s heart does not change. What applied to the children of Israel then, applies to us today. It’s the twisting of God’s word by the enemy, listening to voice of the enemy, and the insistence to do things according to do “what seems right to a man” that makes life complicated. God makes things simple. Moses made things simple. Jesus reduced it to just two commandments. Pastor Steve Cioccolanti similarly teaches the Bible in an uncompromisingly righteous, but simple and practical way that makes one able to apply it to daily life. This article is another fine example of his bullet pointing steps from your mess, back to God’s message.