SERIES F --- WILDERNESS WANDERINGS --- LESSON 17

MOSES’ SONG

THE SONG OF MOSES

From Deuteronomy 32

Moses spoke the words of this song to the congregation of Israel:

[Listen to what I speak, O heavens and earth! Let my teaching fall on you, as the rain drops, and as the dew forms, as gentle rain on young grass, and showers on green herbs. I will proclaim the Name of Adonai, and praise Him for His greatness. He is a Rock and His ways are Perfect; All He does is fair. Adonai is faithful, He is without sin; His ways are just and right. But Israel is stained with sin, and in the corrupt way they have dealt with Him, they have been unfaithful and are no longer His children. Is this the way to repay Adonai, O foolish people? Is He not your Father, Who created you? Has He not made you and established you? Remember the days of long ago, consider the years of other generations. Ask your father, and he will tell you; Ask the elders, and they will show you. That was the time that YHVH separated men into nations and fixed the boundaries for all peoples according to the number of the people of Israel. For Adonai’s inheritance is His people Israel, and Jacob 1s His own possession. He found His people in a desert land, in the howling waste of wilderness; He put His arms around them and cared for them as the apple of His eye. He guarded them as an eagle, spreads its wings upon its nest, protects its young, and carries them on its pinions. Adonai alone guided them, and no foreign god was with Him. He took them to the high places of the earth and gave them fruits of the fields. He gave them honey from the rock and oil from flinty rock, curds from the herd and milk from the flock, fat rams and goats of Bashan, as well as the finest wheat and richest wine. But Israel soon grew fat, and when they were plump and overfed, they rejected Elohiym who created them and mocked the Rock of their Salvation. Israel stirred up His jealousy with foreign gods. They stirred up His anger with their evil practices. They sacrificed to demons, which were not gods, to gods they never knew, and whom their fathers never feared. They ignored the Rock which made them and forgot Adonai Who gave them life. When Adonai saw this, He turned away from them, for His own sons and daughters had ignored Him. ‘I will turn My Face from them, and then what will their destiny be?’ He said. ‘For these are an unfaithful people who stir Me to jealousy with gods who are not gods. They have angered Me with their idols; Now I will stir their jealousy by showing My affection to people who do not deserve it. My anger burns like a fire reaching to the depths of Sheol, consuming the earth and its harvests, burning even the foothills of the mountains. I will send troubles upon them, shooting them down with My arrows. I will send famine to make them hungry and fever and disease to devour them; Wild beasts to tear them with their teeth and venomous snakes to bite them. When they leave their tents, the enemy’s sword will pursue them; When they come home, the plague will strike them down, bringing terror to young men and women, to nursing babies and grey-haired men. I will scatter them to distant lands, I thought; But then I realized that My enemies would boast that they had destroyed Israel by their own might instead of by Mine. Israel is a nation that will not listen to counsel and will not understand what they hear. If only they could see what will be their end! How could one enemy pursue a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight? It is because Adonai has abandoned them because Adonai has controlled their destruction. The rock of other nations is different from our Rock. Even they themselves say so, for their vine is from the vine of Sodom and the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poisonous, and their clusters bitter. Their wine is serpent venom, the poison of asps. But they are still My special people, sealed in My treasuries. I will determine the punishment of all their enemies at My own appointed time. I will see My people vindicated; I will show compassion on My servants when I see their strength vanish away. Then I will ask where their gods went, and where are they rocks they trusted for refuge? Where are the gods to whom they sacrificed fat and wine? Let them rise up and help, and let them come to offer shelter. Can’t you understand that I alone am YHVH? I alone can create life, and I alone can bestow death. It is I who wounds, and it is I who heals; And no one can take from My grasp. I lift My hand to heaven and swear by My eternity that I will sharpen My sword and punish My enemies, bringing vengeance on those who hate Me. I will stain My arrows with blood and with My sword devour the flesh and blood of every one who fights against Me.’ Praise His people, O nations, for He will avenge the blood of His servants And bring punishment to His adversaries, redeeming the land and His people.]

When Moses and Joshua had finished this song, Moses said, [Take to heart the Laws which I have given you today and teach them to your children. These Laws are not mere words; they are life itself. Obey them and you will live long in the land which you will possess when you cross the Jordan River.] That day Adonai told Moses, [Go up into Mount Nebo in the Abarim Mountains, in the land of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho. Look out across the land of Canaan, the land which I give to the people of Israel for their inheritance. You will die in that mountain and join your ancestors, just as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and joined them. Because you dishonoured Me before the people of Israel when you were at the Springs of Meribah-Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin, you will see spread out before you the land I am giving the people of Israel, but you will not be allowed to go into it.]

COMMENTARY

THE TREES OF THE SINAI DESERT

The Sinai desert gets no more than eight inches of rain each year. The land is so dry that little grows there, mostly low, thorny hushes. But some trees do grow in the Sinai and these were the hardy specimens that supplied the Israelites with timber for the tabernacle, food for themselves and even fodder for their cattle. Acacia trees, which supplied most of the wood used in the tabernacle, have especially long and firm trunks. Since the wood takes a long time to dry out, it was perfect for use in the desert. Today it is much prized for cabinetwork. Arab nomads still burn its wood for fuel. They collect its bright leaves and yellow flowers for cattle fodder. Some people think it was a burning acacia shrub or bush from which Adonai spoke to Moses. The tamarisk tree grows well in sandy, salty or dry soil. In deserts like the Sinai or the Negev or in the area of the Dead Sea, the tamarisk grows from nine to fifteen feet tall. Its green leaves and pink flowers make excellent shade. When insects puncture the leaves, they secrete a sugary substance that dries and hardens in the desert heat and falls to the ground. Some people have suggested that this substance could be the manna that fed the Israelites during the Exodus, although that doesn’t fit the description of manna given in the Bible. Even today, Arab Bedouins take the hardened drops of the tamarisk and melt them into a honey-like liquid or make them into cakes. The most familiar tree of the desert is probably the date palm. Often sixty to eighty feet tall, it is visible from a great distance -- a welcome landmark to travellers in the desert, since they grow near oases. Its hardy strong leaves are used for roofs and sides of houses, mats, baskets and even dishes. The kernel of the date, the tree’s fruit, is soaked, ground up and fed to animals. It is very nutritious. In extremely dry regions, the date is starchy, and there it is called {the bread of the desert.} The honey of the date and the bee honey of Canaan earned it the name {a land flowing with milk and honey.}