Moses is teaching a song to Israel, a song the people can sing when they are residing in the promised land and realize they have turned from the Lord to the idols of the other nations. The Lord is providing this song now because He knows all things and knows the day is coming when the song will prove His faithfulness and prove the people's unfaithfulness. But He also knows a day is coming when they will return to Him and He will restore their prosperity.
We closed our last study with the Lord encouraging the people to think back on how their forefathers served Him. Because the patriarchs served the Lord, the Lord called their descendants (the nation of Israel) to be His special covenant people. "When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided all mankind, He set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. For the Lord's portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance." (Deuteronomy 32:8-9)
In our next segment the one referred to as "him" is Israel/Jacob. In the Bible we often find the words "Israel" and "Jacob" used interchangeably as the name of the nation. "In a desert land He found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; He guarded him as the apple of His eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft. The Lord alone led him; no foreign god was with him." (Deuteronomy 32:10-12) Who led Israel through the wilderness? Who protected and provided for Israel in the wilderness? It was God alone. No god of any pagan nation did any of these things.
Who will cause Israel to flourish in the promised land? God alone. The following verses are written in the future tense in the original language. In the English version these verses are provided in the past tense, like things that have already taken place, but there's nothing theologically wrong with that since anything God says He is going to do is as good as done. He intends to bless Israel in the promised land and He can speak of these blessings either as things that are going to happen or as things that have already happened; it is all one and the same to Him. "He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields. He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag, with curds and milk from herd and flock and with fattened lambs and goats, with choice rams of Bashan and the finest kernels of wheat. You drank the foaming blood of the grape." (Deuteronomy 32:13-14)
The Lord can speak of deeds He intends to accomplish as if they are already done. Because He knows the future, He can speak of Israel's rebellion in the promised land as if it has already happened, which is what He will do momentarily. After the people take over the land and begin to prosper in it, many of them will allow themselves to neglect their relationship with the Lord. Prosperity, as we've discussed before, has the potential to make anyone lazy in their faith. Good times can cause a person to neglect prayer and to neglect studying God's word. The Lord wants to make His people prosper but the people have a responsibility not to allow prosperity to come between them and God. Like any loving father, the Lord enjoys giving good things to His children but it is the responsibility of all who belong to the Lord to be respectful children. We must not ignore Him when times are good and call upon Him only when things go wrong.
Think of it this way: Do we treat our earthly fathers like that? Do we call them only when we need help or do we call them just because we enjoy talking with them? Do we visit them only to ask for something or do we visit them because we love them and enjoy their company? Those who have good fathers are interested in maintaining their relationships with them at all times---in the good times and in the bad times. Those who love their fathers spend time with them when they aren't asking for a thing and when they aren't expecting a thing.
When we became adults we started asking our fathers what we could do for them, didn't we? This is another facet of our relationship with our heavenly Father. The Lord wants us to come to Him with our prayer requests but He also wants us to ask, "What can I do for You, Lord? How can I serve You?"
The word "Jeshurun" in this next verse means "the upright one" and the Lord is using this word as a symbol for Israel. "Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, they became heavy and sleek. They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior." (Deuteronomy 32:15) The Lord compares the nation to a fat and lazy farm animal that stubbornly refuses to obey its master. This is not a flattering description. It depicts an animal that sought its master when it was hungry but ignores its master when it's full and comfortable. This is a condition that can come upon any person or any nation, not just ancient Israel. If we allow a comfortable season in life to make us spiritually lazy, any of us can drift from a close relationship with the Lord. If that happens, and if we ignore the warning of the Holy Spirit that we're drifting, the Lord is willing to take us through a difficult season in order to get us back on track. He is a good Father. A good and loving parent does not sit back and allow his child to walk over a cliff; no matter what it takes, that parent will try to turn the child around and get him going back in the right direction. Sometimes the only way the Lord can get our attention as we walk stubbornly toward the cliff is to bring hardship into our lives. What has the ability to drive us to our knees in a hurry? It's hardship, isn't it? It's unpleasant circumstances. It's a situation we want the Lord to turn around. It's a problem we want the Lord to fix.
I think we could avoid some hardships in life by making certain we're daily maintaining our relationship with the Lord. Many of the hardships of my life have been the result of spiritual laziness. The Lord has had to resort to getting my attention any way He could. When I didn't respond to spoken warnings (the ministry of the Holy Spirit who communes with my spirit), He had to take action. At times I've been like a small child who keeps reaching for a boiling pot of water on the stove. I didn't respond to the Lord's instructions not to touch it so He had to smack my hand to startle me enough to get me to stop. A good parent does not allow his child to pull a pot of boiling water over himself and the Lord is a good parent. If He has to smack our hand away, He will.
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