Deuteronomy 32:26-39 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 32:26-39. Let’s go!
Deuteronomy 32:26-39 (NIV)
26 I said I would scatter them and blot out their memory from mankind,
27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest the adversary misunderstand and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed; the LORD has not done all this.'”
28 They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them.
29 If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be!
30 How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
31 For their rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede.
32 Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are filled with poison, and their clusters with bitterness.
33 Their wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras.
34 “Have I not kept this in reserve and sealed it in my vaults?
35 It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”
36 The LORD will judge his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free.
37 He will say: “Now where are their gods, the rock they took refuge in,
38 the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up to help you! Let them give you shelter!
39 “See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.
On verses 26-39: Moses turns his attention to the enemies of Israel. He foresees that when Israel is defeated by their enemies as a consequence of disobeying God, their enemies will think that they were victorious because of their own strength and power, rather than giving the credit to God. God wishes that they would all have the discernment to know that without Him there is no way they could have been successful. Knowing that this is how Israel’s enemies will respond, Moses says that God in His sovereignty will deal with Israel’s enemies in His own time, such that not just Israel but other nations will see that the LORD is God.
What can we learn from all this? God wants us to live with discernment. God wants us to acknowledge the role that He plays in the victories we experience and even in the pain He allows us to go through. How can you and I live with more discernment? Based on this passage, here are four ways:
1. When you experience a victory, be humble and acknowledge that such victory would not have been possible without God.
2. When you go through painful experiences, remember that God is allowing that painful experience for a greater purpose: to refine you (make you stronger), to remind you (that life on earth is not all there is, but that heaven is waiting), and to reveal His power to you and through you.
3. When you see injustice in this world, remember God’s promise in verse 35 where He says “It is mine to avenge; I will repay”. When you see people who seem happy, healthy and without a care even though they do not acknowledge the Lord, remember that their days are numbered and that their revelry is only temporary. Pray that their eyes would become open and discerning to see who it is they really need.
4. Remember that in all things, whether joyful or painful, God is at work, writing a greater story than we could write ourselves.
Holy Spirit, I pray that I and those around me would have discernment to see that You alone are God. Give us eyes to see that chasing after anything else is worthless if we don’t have You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
