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Day 78: The Song of Moses
Chapter 33: The Stages of the Journey from Egypt to the Plains of Moab
This chapter lists the campsites on the stages of the journey from Egypt to the Plains of Moab on the east side of the Jordan River across from the Canaanite city of Jericho. In addition to the campsites, the list includes the mention of several geographical features or landmarks along the journey and two short additions of historical information on the mission of Moses (verses 2-4) and Aaron (verses 38-39); recording that both Moses and Aaron obeyed the commands of Yahweh (verses 2 and 38). Most scholars break the list into three sections (Ashley, Numbers, page 624):
- The 12 campsites from Egypt to Sinai (verses 5-15).
- The 21 campsites from Sinai to the second visit to Kadesh (verses 16-36).
- The 9 campsites from Kadesh to the Plains of Moab (verses 37-49).
The list of the Israelites encampments, not counting the starting off point in Rameses, Egypt and the last encampment on the Plains of Moab, numbers 40 campsites on the journey; however, there are a total of 42 listed sites of the Israelite encampments beginning with Rameses and ending with the last encampment on the Plains of Moab.
The list in Chapter 33 is not, however, a complete list. Some of the encampments already mentioned in previous chapters, like Shur (Ex 15:22), Taberah (Num 11:3), Hormah (Num 14:45; 21:1) and sites mentioned in Numbers 21:11-13 and 16-19 are missing from the list. 17 other sites are only mentioned in this chapter and nowhere else.
Scholars, as far back as the time of Origen in the third century AD, have struggled with the question as to why only these campsites were named and others are missing. Christian scholar Origen of Alexandria (the famed director of the School of Christian Catechetics in Alexandria, Egypt) believed it was the inspired writer's intent to manipulate the list to yield a symbolic number of encampments.
He suggested that the list reflected an allegory of the Christian's testing in the journey from spiritual re-birth to union with God in eternity when the victorious Christian crossed over the "river" of death into the Promised Land of heaven.
Whatever the reason, it seems obvious that the inspired writer has manipulated the list naming encampments between Rameses and the Plains of Moab across from Jericho by purposely failing to list sites already mentioned and including others never mentioned again to yield a specific number of 40 or 42 sites, something he knew the careful reader would not fail to notice.
One theory is that the inspired writer wanted to represent the 40 years of wilderness wandering in the list of encampments. In Scripture the number 40 signifies testing and/or consecration (it is a multiple of 4 and 10, numbers signifying the earth and divine order). For example:
- The series of 40-day periods in the Great Flood (Gen 7:4, 12, 17; 8:6).
- The Israelites ate manna for 40 years (Ex 16:35).
- Moses was on Mt. Sinai for two 40-day periods (Ex 24:18; 34:28).
- The Israelite spies were sent to reconnoiter Canaan for 40 days (Num 13:25).
- Israel wandered for 40 years in the wilderness (Num 14:33; 32:13).
- David ruled Israel for 40 years (2 Sam 5:4).
- Jesus was tested for a 40-day period in the wilderness (Mt 4:2; Mk 1:13; Lk 4:2).
- Jesus taught the Church for 40 days before His Ascension (Acts 1:3).
42 names in St. Matthew's genealogy, yielding an intentional 42 names of campsites. 42 is a number that appears again in 2 Kings 2:23-24 and in the Book of Revelation (Rev 11:2; 13:5). The number 42 is the product of 6 times 7. 7 is one of the "perfect" numbers, signifying fullness and perfection, especially spiritual perfection, and 6 is the number of man (Gen 1:26-31) and especially signifies man's opposition to God's plan for mankind's destiny.
Examples of the symbolic nature of the number 42 can be applied to these passages:
- The 42 stages of the Israelite's journey marking their conflict with the will of God for Israel's future.
- The 42 young men who mocked God's choice after the ascension of Elijah and the transfer of his authority to Elisha (2 Kng 2:23-24).
- St. Matthew's manipulated list of 42 names in Jesus' genealogy (Mt 1:1-17).
- In the Book of Revelation, the number 42 signifies the conflict of the Beast together with his offspring, the seed of the serpent, that stand in opposition to Christ and the Church for a symbolic 42 months (Rev 11:2; 13:5).
Therefore, in Scripture the number 42 appears to symbolize a connection/conflict between man and the Spirit of God. For Israel this number can be seen as the significance of working out Israel's opposition to the destiny God willed for Israel in His plan for man's salvation as they journeyed from Egypt to the Plains of Moab.
Numbers 33:1-49 The Stages of the Exodus
Ever since Exodus Chapter 24, we have been told that Moses recorded the events of the Exodus experience (Ex 24:4; 34:27). This passage provides evidence that Moses' record of events had continued after the covenant formation at Mt. Sinai. Since the information that Moses wrote down the stages of the journey is recorded in the third person, it may have been added by another inspired writer, possible Joshua.
This is information that sets a definite date to the events in Exodus 12:29-36 and 13:17. The Israelites left Egypt on the day after the Passover sacrifice, on the 15th of Abib (the first morning what became the Feast of Unleavened Bread), as the Egyptians were burying those who died in the tenth plague. On the 15th of Abib/Nisan, 30 AD, the morning after the sacred meal of the Passover victim (Last Supper), Jesus was condemned by Pilate and was crucified that morning about 9 AM (Mk 15:25).
The Israelites began their journey at Rameses and marched toward Succoth with about six hundred thousand fighting men (Ex 12:37). Most Scholars identify Rameses as the Egyptian city Pi-Rameses that was built on top of the ruins of Avaris, the old Hyksos capital. Avaris was destroyed when the Egyptians drove out the Hyksos, in c. 1550 BC. The Egyptians built a large storage facility and military compound on the site Avaris and called it Pi-Rameses, an Egyptian name meaning the "city/place of the god Ra who is born". It was located on the eastern delta of the Nile near where the Israelites lived Goshen. This site, which was also a region of the delta, is mentioned in Genesis 47:11, in Exodus 1:11 and in Exodus 12:37. The campsite of Succoth is Sukkot in Hebrew and means "tents", as in the Feast of Tabernacles which is called in Hebrew "Sukkot".
The same information is recorded in Exodus 13:20. Etham is the Egyptian name for the Hebrew "Shur" (Ex 15:22); in Hebrew and in Egyptian the place-name means "wall" or "formation".
The same information is recorded in Exodus 14:2. Instead of marching northeast in the quickest route out of Egypt, the Israelites apparently turned southward before the Egyptians caught up with them. Baal-Zephon was a shrine dedicated to the Canaanite god Baal. The literal translation is "Lord-winter (north)". Migdol is the Hebrew word for "watchtower".
The same information is recorded in Exodus 15:22-23, but here there is only a brief mention of the miracle of the Red Sea crossing. It was at Pi-Hahiroth ("mouth-of-the-gorge" or "mouth of the canal") that God parted the sea for the Israelites to cross, and it was at Marah, a Hebrew word meaning "bitter", that the miracle of the bitter water turned sweet took place (Ex 15:23-26).
Question: When did the Israelites enter the wilderness of Sin? See Ex 16:1.
Answer: They entered the desert of Sin exactly one month after leaving Egypt, on the 15th of the second month.
This camp may have been where the Israelites tested God and the first miracle of the quail and manna took place (Ex 16:2-36), which is omitted from the Numbers narrative.
Question: What two significant events happened at Rephidim? See Ex 17:1-16).
Answer: It was at Rephidim that the Amalekites attacked the Israelites and were defeated. At Rephidim the people complained because of their thirst, and God sent Moses and the elders ahead to Mt. Sinai where Moses, according to God's command, struck the Rock and life-giving water poured out.
It was at the camp at Mt. Sinai that Jethro brought Moses his wife and children (Ex 18), and it was at Mt. Sinai that the Israelites encamped from the third month after leaving Egypt (Ex 19:1) until the 20th day of the second month of the second year after leaving Egypt (Num 10:11).
While in the camp at Sinai, the Israelites witnessed the Theophany of God, received the Ten Commandments, ratified the Sinai Covenant, built the Sanctuary, and received the commands and prohibitions of the Law.
Here the list skips Taberah (Num 11:1-3) and jumps to the campsite where the Israelites rejected the gift of the manna, complained that there was no meat and longed for the foods of Egypt (Num 11:4-6). It was at this site that God ordered the selection of the seventy elders to assist Moses (Num 11:16-30), gave the second miracle of the quail and manna together, and the people experienced God's plague of judgment for their ingratitude and for challenging Moses and Aaron's leadership (Num 11:31-35). The Hebrew name of the campsite means "grave of longing/craving".
Hazeroth was where Miriam and Aaron challenged Moses' authority (Num 12:1-16). Hazeroth means "stockade" and made have been the site of an old military outpost.
Rithmah means "juniper tree". None of the stations in verses 18-29 is mentioned elsewhere in Scripture and none have been identified.
19 They left Rithmah and encamped at Rimmon-Perez.
In Hebrew the word rimmon means "pomegranate"; therefore, Rimmon-Perez means "pomegranate spring".
20 They left Rimmon-Perez and encamped at Libnah.
The name of the campsite means "white tree".
21 They left Libnah and encamped at Rissah.
In Hebrew rissah means "ruin."
22 They left Rissah and encamped at Kehelathah.
Hebrew root of this place-name is kahal means "called out" as in an assembly and kehelath means "gathering place".
23 They left Kehelathah and encamped at Mount Shepher.
Shepher/Sepher means "beautiful"; Har-Seper means "beautiful mountain".
24 They left Mount Shepher and encamped at Haradah.
Haradah means "trembling". It is possible the name of the campsite may represent the same type of symbolic name commemorating an historic event at Kibroth-ha-Taavah in Numbers 33:16-17.
25 They left Haradah and encamped at Makheloth.
26 They left Makheloth and encamped at Tahath.
In Hebrew Tahath/Tahat means "the foot of a mountain" as in betahtit hahar "at the foot of the mountain" in Exodus 19:17.
27 The left Tahath and encamped at Terah.
Both these sites appear elsewhere in Scripture as personal names. Terah was the name of Abraham's father (Gen 11:24-32). Origen writes that the name means "contemplation".
28 They left Terah and encamped at Mithkah.
Levine says Mithkah means "sweet/sweetness" and probably means they named the campsite for a well with good water (as opposed to the bitter brackish water they found at Marah).
29 They left Mithkah and encamped at Hashmonah.
Levine found no clear meaning for this Hebrew name, but Origen wrote that it means "bones" (Homilies on Numbers 27.12).
30 They left Hashmonah and encamped at Moseroth.
The location of the sites mentioned in verses 30-34 are unidentified, but Bene-Jaakan and Jotbthah are identical with sites mentioned in Deuteronomy 10:6-7. Moseroth means "reins, straps" and it is possibly the same site as Moserah in Deuteronomy 10:6-7.
31 They left Moseroth and encamped at Bene-Jaakan.
Bene-Jaakan (son of Ya'aqan/Ya'akan) is also in the list of sites in Deuteronomy 10:6-7 where it occurs as Be'erot Bene Ya'aqan, "the wells of the sons of Ya'aqan".
32 They left Bene-Jaakan and encamped at Hor-Gidgad.
This site may be rendered as Gudgod in Deuteronomy 10:6-7. The Septuagint and St. Jerome's Vulgate identify this site name with a mountain as Har-Gidgad.
33 They left Hor-Gidgad and encamped at Jotbathah.
Jotbathah is a campsite listed in Deuteronomy 10:6.
34 They left Jotbathah and encamped at Abronah.
35 They left Abronah and encamped at Ezion-Geber.
Abronah has been identified with Tell el-Kheleifeh at modern Elath and Ezion-geber is identified with nearby Akaba (JPS Torah Commentary: Numbers, page 281). Ezion-geber is mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:8 and 1 Kings 9:26 where it is recorded that King Solomon's fleet was anchored at a port by this name, located near Eloth on the shore of the Yam Suph (which has to be the Gulf of Aqaba).
36 They left Ezion-Geber and encamped in the desert of Zin, that is, at Kadesh.
The Israelites camped at the oasis of Kadesh, which was probably the same Kadesh-Barnea where the Exodus generation was condemned to forty years of wandering. It was at this encampment that Miriam died (Num 20:1); see the discussion concerning the location of Kadesh in Lesson 9.
See Numbers 20:22-29 for the account of Aaron's death and 21:1-3 for the account of the surprise attack by the Canaanites and their defeat by the Israelites, which is missing from this part of the narrative. This part of the narrative provides information not found in Numbers chapter 20:
- Aaron's death was in the 40th year after leaving Egypt
- He died in the 5th month, which probably means the month of Ab in July/August of the liturgical calendar (see the Liturgical and Civil Calendar in the Charts/Pentateuch section).
- He was 123 years old
Deuteronomy 10:6 places Aaron's death and Eleazar's ordination at Moserah instead of Mt. Hor as it is in Numbers 20:23 and 33:38, but Moserah may be the name of the campsite at the base of the mountain.
40 The king of Arad, the Canaanite who lived in the Negeb of Canaan, heard of the Israelites' arrival.
This verse is almost a verbatim beginning of the story of the Israelites' battle with the Canaanites in Numbers 21:1-3, but the Canaanite surprise attack, capture of Israelites, and ultimate defeat is missing.
41 They left Mount Hor and encamped at Zalmonah.
42 They left Zalmonah and encamped at Punon.
Numbers 21:4 records that they skirted the land of Edom, probably via these two sites. In antiquity, Punon was a center for the mining and smelting of copper. It was probably the site of the attack of the snakes and the image of the copper snake (Num 21:4-9).
43 They left Punon and encamped at Oboth.
Numbers 21:10 recorded that they encamped at Oboth and then encamped at Iye-abarim in the wilderness bordering on Moab to the east (Num 21:11).
44 They left Oboth and encamped in Moabite territory at Iye-Abarim.
Iye-Abarim means "the ruin of Abarim" or perhaps "the ruins of the passes". Verses 41-49 and Deuteronomy 2:2-13, 29 give the impression that the Israelites began to go around Edom but then cut through Edom and Moab on their march to their last camp on the Plains of Moab across from Jericho. According to Numbers 21:12-13, the Israelites' next encampment was at the wadi of Zered (Num 21:10-13), and from there they set out and encamped beyond the Arnon river gorge in the wilderness on the border of Moab in territory they conquered from the Amorites (Num 21:13-16, 21-35).
45 They left Iyim and encamped at Dibon-Gad.
The left the "ruins" (-im is a plural ending in Hebrew) and then set up camp at Dibon-Gad, another name for the Moabite city of Dibon (Num 21:30; 32:3).
46 They left Dibon-Gad and encamped at Almon-Diblathaim.
This site is likely the Beth-Diblathaim mentioned in Jeremiah 48:22; it is a site that is also named in the Mesha stela.
47 They left Almon-Diblathaim and encamped in the Abarim mountains facing Nebo.
See Numbers 27:12 and 32:38. The Hebrew word almon means "hidden", perhaps suggesting something about the topography or location. This site is named in an oracle against Moab (Jer 48:22). From this site the Israelites marched to the mountains of Abarim "facing Nebo" (lipne Nebo). Mt. Nebo is identified as a specific peak of this mountain chain in Deuteronomy 32:47. The mountain is 2,740 feet high (843 meters) and affords a spectacular view of the land on the west side of the Jordan River (see Num 27:12; 32:3).
48 The left the Abarim mountains and encamped on the Plains of Moab, near the Jordan opposite Jericho. They encamped near the Jordan between Beth-ha-Jeshimoth and Abel-ha-Shittim, on the Plains of Moab.
Beth-ha-Jeshimoth, "place of the wasteland" (the Hebrew word yesimon means "wasteland/wilderness"), is mentioned in Joshua 12:3, 13:20, and Ezekiel 25:9.
According to Bishop Eusebius' 4th century AD travelogue, Onomasticon, the site is located by the Dead Sea, 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Jericho (JPS Torah Commentary: Numbers, page 282).
Numbers 33:50-56 God's Commands Concerning the Conquest of Canaan
The etymology of the Hebrew word maskiyotam is unknown and the translation as "painted images/figured objects/carved stones" is an educated guess by scholars (The JPS Commentary: Numbers, page 283; Gray, Numbers, page 450). The same word is found in Lev 26:1; Ez 8:12; Prov 25:11. "High places" refers to sites of pagan worship that were often located on hills or higher elevations, as in the story of Balaam and King Balak's pagan altar sites (Num 22:41-23:2, 14, 27-30).
Numbers 33:50-34:29 is a complete section in which God gives divine instruction on conquering the land of Canaan (Num 33:50-56) and the Israelite's future lives there (Num 34:1-29). The division of this section includes divine legislation on:
- The warning to drive out all the inhabitants and to destroy their cult objects and places of worship (Num 33:51-52a).
- The command to distribute the land according to lot and population (Num 33:53-56).
- The borders for the nine and a half tribes on the west side of the Jordan River (Num 34:1-12).
- The territory of the two and a half tribes on the east side of the Jordan River (Num 34:13-15).
- The Ecclesiastical authority and the civil leaders appointed to allot the land (Num 34:16-29).
Question: What did God promise was to be Israel's reward for obedience in verses 52-53?
Answer: If the Israelites conquer and evict the inhabitants of Canaan (vs. 52a) and destroy their cult objects and worship sites (vs. 52b), Israel will possess and settle the land (vs. 53a) according to God's promise (vs. 53b).
Question: Is our faith in God, like the Old Covenant Church, demonstrated by our obedience to His commands? What did St. Paul write about the obedience of faith in Romans 1:3-7; 16:26? See CCC 143, 494, 2087.
Answer: Yes. St. Paul wrote that obedience is implicit in the virtue of faith. In faith we should commit ourselves to living out the commands of God and in submitting ourselves completely to Him, an example given to us by the Virgin Mary. Obedience of faith is our first obligation.
God gave His assurance that Israel was to enjoy the fruits of their labor in the conquest of Canaan if they remain obedient to God. But He repeatedly gave them the warning that they were to remain a holy people and they were not to adopt the sinful practices of the inhabitants of Canaan if God was to dwell among them.
Question: If the Israelites were God's "chosen people", why did God threaten to punish the Israelites and to take the Promised Land from them if they adopted the practices of the heathen Gentiles they were to drive out of the Holy Land where God was to dwell with His people?
Answer: God is just and He could not tolerate sins in the Israelites for which He passed judgment on the occupants of Canaan.
Question: In spite of their many failures, God never abandoned the Israelites, even though He disciplined them for their unfaithfulness (Mal 3:6-21). How is God's perseverance with Israel an encouragement to us? What Bible verses can you recall that promise such faithfulness on God's part despite our failures?
Answer: God's consistent faithfulness to Israel is our encouragement to persevere in righteousness. Even when our spiritual failures threaten to engulf us and we become separated from peace and fellowship with God, He is not willing that any of us should be lost to Him. He constantly calls all of us to repentance and salvation (1 Tim 2:3-4; 2 Tim 2:13; 1 Pt 3:9).
Deuteronomy 32:1-44
The Song of Witness/Song of Moses
Question: What two witnesses are called to give evidence in this covenant lawsuit, according the regulations of the Law? See Dt 31:28 and 32:1.
Answer: Heaven and earth.
Question: In the introduction, how does Moses describe the words of his teaching on the Law?
Answer: The words of Moses are compared to rain, dew, and fresh showers /droplets that nourish the grass like Moses' teaching of the Law (the Torah) nourishes and fosters spiritual growth among the covenant people.
Moses' teaching not only fosters faith among the present generation, but the Torah of Moses will also refresh the souls of future generations by telling them of the greatness of Yahweh their God.
The poem begins with Israel's divine election when Yahweh "fathered" His covenant people. The word "rock" (tzur) is found eight times in the poem (each word will be underlined in the biblical text). In Hebrew tzur is a word that refers to a mountain or cliff. In reference to Yahweh the word projects the imagery of a rock fortress on high ground in which one may find safety.
The word "rock" is a title for God and also a metaphor used for God that is found repeatedly in the Old Testament(1). It is also:
- A metaphor applied to Abraham: Consider the rock from which you were hewn, the quarry from which you were dug. Consider Abraham your father ... (Is 51:1-2).
- A title Jesus assigned to St. Peter when He first met Simon near the Jordan River: Jesus looked at him and said, 'You are Simon son of John; you are to be called Cephas-which means Rock (Jn 1:42). It is a title Jesus assigned to Simon a second time at Caesarea Philippi: Jesus replied, 'Simon son of Jonah, you are a blessed man! Because it was no human agency that reveled this to you but my Father in heaven, So I now say to you: You are Peter [petros = rock masculine] and on this rock I will build my community (Mt 16:17-18)(2).
- A title that St. Paul applied to Christ ... and all drank the same spiritual drink, since they drank from the spiritual rock which followed them, and that rock was Christ (1 Cor 10:4).
Question: How is the word "Rock" used in a description of Yahweh in verse 4? What are Yahweh's qualities in the Hebrew text?
Answer: Five adjectives are used to describe God's complete perfection:
- He is just
- He is faithful
- He is not false
- He is righteous
- He is upright
Question: What is Israel's behavior in contrast to the perfections of Yahweh?
Answer:
- They are corrupt
- They do not act as His children
- They are defective
- They are a corrupt generation
- They are crooked
Question: When did Yahweh accuse the Israelites of being a corrupt/evil generation previously? See Num 14:27-35.
Answer: When they failed to believe God would give them victory over the Canaanites at Kadesh-Barnea. It was this failure that led to the additional 38 years of wandering in the wilderness until every member of that generation over 20 years of age died.
Question: What does the song ask the people to do in verses 6-9?
Answer:
- To acknowledge that He redeemed and established them as a people (verse 6)
- To remember their history (verse 7)
- To acknowledge that God gave them special status among the world's nations as His people (verses 8-9)
Verses 8-9 offer a description of Israel's divine election. The poem reminds the Israelites that God ordered the world with the foreknowledge that He would establish the nation of Israel to be "His portion" and the "measure of His inheritance" (verse 9). The "inheritance" language means that God chose to "dwell" among Israel.
Verse 10 recounts God's protection over the people from the time of the Exodus, and verses 12-14 describe the tender mercy God showed to Israel when they were lost and wandering in the wilderness.
The poem uses two similes to describe God's protection of Israel: He rescued Israel and guided her as the "pupil of His eye" (see the same imagery in Zech 2:8). It is a reflex action to guard one's eye; therefore the pupil is an effective simile for Israel as the object of God's protective care (verse 10).
Yahweh also cared for Israel like a mother eagle caring for her young (verse 11). The simile of an eagle caring for its young and teaching them to fly is especially descriptive. Mother eagles "stir" the nest, rousing their babies to get them to jump out of the nest to learn to fly. As the eaglet attempts to fly and begin to fail, the mother eagle swoops beneath her baby and supports the fledgling on her own wings, just as God led Israel out of Egypt and guided and protected her on the journey.
Jesus made a similar comparison of a mother bird caring for her young when He spoke of Jerusalem, saying: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I longer to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you refused! (Mt 23:37). Teaching on Psalm 91:4 and referring to both Deuteronomy 32:11 and Matthew 23:37, St. Jerome compared God spreading protection over His people to Christ's outstretched arms on the Cross: Like an eagle, the Lord spreads his wings over us, his nestlings. There the Lord is compared with the eagle guarding its young. The simile therefore is appropriate that God protects us as a father and as a hen guarding her chicks lest they be snatched away by a hawk. Nevertheless a different interpretation is also permissible. "With his pinions he will cover you": he will be lifted up on the cross; he will stretch forth his hands to shelter us. "And under his wings you shall take refuge" (Jerome, Homilies on the Psalm, 20, quoting from Ps 91:4).
Verses 12-14 describe in poetic terms how God fed the Israelites on their journey, even where food seemed scarce, and provided the prosperity they experienced living in the Promise Land, where they reaped God's promised material blessings.
After the stark contrast between Yahweh's goodness and Israel's failure to value Yahweh's goodness, the next section expresses the incredulity of Israel's ingratitude (verses 15-21a). The "goats" in verse 17 are satyrs, demons in animal forms that were believed to haunt deserts, wastelands and ruins (also see Is 13:21; 34:14; Lev 17:7). Here as in Leviticus 17:7 the word is used contemptuously for false gods.
Question: Who is "Jacob" and who is Jeshurun/Yeshurun?
Answer: These are alternate names for Israel.
Instead of being grateful, Israel grew "fat" on Yahweh's bounty, and has selfishly forgotten the source of her well-being. Israel has therefore turned to pagan gods, emulating other nations and has "kicked," meaning rebelled (verse 15), against Yahweh and His covenant.
But, as the poem points out, Israel's sin is even greater because not only have the people been ungrateful but they have denied Yahweh by turning to worshipping idols-counterfeit gods that are "non-gods." In the Decalogue, worshipping Yahweh requires a confession of His unique status as the One, the only God. Idolatry is, therefore, a denial of God as the One, true God.
Question: What will be God's response to this ultimate betrayal?
Answer: God will administer His stern punishment by withdrawing His divine protection.
Question: What does Proverbs 3:12 tell us about divine judgment?
Answer: Like a loving human father, the Divine Father reproves and corrects the children that He loves.
Question: What will be Israel's punishment? See verse 20.
Answer: God will "hide his face from them," meaning that His protective presence and provision will be removed and Israel will become venerable to her enemies and the conditions of sin in the world (famine, droughts, sickness, wars, etc).
Despite the severity of the judgment, God will not utterly destroy Israel because the pagan nations would claim that they were triumphant and that Yahweh has no power and isn't a real god. Yahweh's focus is always on man's ultimate salvation, including the salvation of the pagan nations of the earth. Israel is the vehicle God will use to bring about the birth of the Messiah and the salvation of all of mankind. He will not let their destruction be a cause for the Gentile nations to be further estranged from Him.
Question: The poem reveals that in order to establish His glory on earth, God will preserve the covenant people. What important point does the poem make concerning Israel's continued existence? Also see Is 7:13-14; 11:1-4, 10-12; Ez 36:22-23.
Answer: The primary purpose of God's faithfulness to Israel and the preservation of the descendants of Jacob-Israel is not because of Israel's importance among world nations. The primary purpose is the revelation of God's greatness to the nations and to fulfill His plan of salvation for mankind.
Question: What is the significance of God declaring: Yes, I raise my hand to heaven ...
Answer: This gesture is an act of oath swearing.
Justice for the innocent is God's primary motivation in punishing the wicked. When the Day of Vengeance comes, Yahweh swears that He will judge the nations of the earth and will bring justice to the innocent who have suffered and vengeance to His enemies who are the enemies of the righteous (also see Prov 6:34; Is 34:8; 61:2; 63:4; Jer 46:10; Lk 21:22).
After His wrath is poured out upon the nations, avenging the blood of His prophets, Yahweh will call the nations to repentance and will send His apostles (envoys) to preach the Gospel of salvation (verse 43), purifying the people and the land and calling them to worship Him. Once again, notice that salvation is offered in connection with Israel's restoration. The Song of Witness makes it clear that God's salvation is inextricably united to His covenant with Israel. Those nations of the earth who find salvation in God will do so only as they "rejoice with His (covenant) people" who are meant to be the vehicle of their salvation.
The Torah is the Source of Life
After Moses and Joshua taught the people the Song of Witness, Moses reminded the people of the importance of the Torah as the source of life and urged the people to "place upon your heart these words," an expression meaning they were to study the instructions of the Law, to memorize it, to meditate upon the meaning, and to make the instruction on the Law the guiding principle that governs their life and their relationship in God.
Finally, in verse 47, Moses says: You must not think of this as empty words [a useless word], for the Law [for it] is your life, and by its means you will live long in the country [land] which you are crossing the Jordan to possess.' The Torah is not "empty," or "without substance" or "useless;" instead it is full of life. By this Moses does not mean the Torah (instruction in the Law) is the source of life-God is the source of life. Nor is he contradicting St. Paul who will later write: So then, no human being can be found upright at the tribunal of God by keeping the Law; all that the Law of God does is to tell us what is sinful (Rom 3:20). Moses' message is that God's commandments, taught in the instructions given to Moses in the Torah, are the manner in which the people are to live in fellowship with God in the Promised Land, and by doing so they will experience the full richness of life, as God intended them to experience the blessings of life.
Deuteronomy 32:48-52
Moses is Told to View the Promised Land
The designation Meribah-Kadesh identifies the site of "water from the rock" in Numbers chapter 20 that took place at the oasis of Kadesh and distinguishes it from the incident in Exodus 17:1-7 that took place near Mt. Sinai with the water gushing forth form the rock in the presence of the elders at Mt Sinai. It was because Moses struck the rock at Meribah-Kadesh instead of "calling on the rock" to reveal God's glory as God commanded him that he was bared from crossing over the Jordan into the Promised Land (Num 27:14).
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A Daily Defense
Day 78 The Concept of Revelation
CHALLENGE: “The concept of revelation is irrational. Why should we believe something just because an alleged prophet says so?”
DEFENSE: The concept of revelation is not irrational. In fact, it’s something we use all the time. Something is revealed if it is disclosed to us by another rather than being personally verified. Sometimes this is also referred to as accepting a claim “on authority.”
C.S. Lewis writes: Believing things on authority only means believing them because you have been told them by someone you think trustworthy. Ninety-nine per cent of the things you believe are believed on authority. I believe there is such a place as New York. I have not seen it myself. I could not prove by abstract reasoning that there must be such a place. I believe it because reliable people have told me so.The ordinary man believes in the solar system, atoms, evolution, and the circulation of the blood on authority—because the scientists say so. Every historical statement in the world is believed on authority. None of us has seen the Norman Conquest or the defeat of the [Spanish] Armada. None of us could prove them by pure logic as you prove a thing in mathematics. We believe them simply because people who did see them have left writings that tell us about them: in fact, on authority. A man who jibbed at authority in other things as some people do in religion would have to be content to know nothing all his life” (Mere Christianity, chapter 2).
The concept of revelation is thus rational. The question is how it functions in a religious context. According to the Judeo-Christian view, God has given revealed information to prophets, who he authorized to communicate it to others. In doing so, he was sensitive to the question of how one would know if a prophet is reliable, and the Bible contains tests by which true prophets can be discerned. These include whether a prophet can produce a miracle to validate the claim that he is in contact with the supernatural (Deut. 18:21–22) and whether his message is consistent with prior divine revelation (Deut. 13:1–4; 1 Cor. 12:3). From a Christian point of view, the Resurrection of Jesus was a key miracle validating Jesus’ message (Acts 17:31).
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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