Joshua's Farewell Address and Death

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Joshua 23:1) And it came to pass a long time after that the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old, stricken in age.

Israel had divided the land of Canaan among the tribes, and the people lived in peace and rest from all their enemies surrounding them.  Several years had passed, and Joshua had become very old.

(2) And Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them, "I am old, stricken in age."

Joshua called to him all the elders and chief people in Israel, including heads of the tribes, judges, and officers.  He began by telling them that he had become very old.

(3) "And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the Lord your God is He who has fought for you."

He reminded them that they had seen all that the Lord had done to the nations of Canaan for His people Israel.  He had fought for His people and had brought them to this point of peace and rest.

(4) "Behold, I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even to the Great Sea westward."

I believe Joshua's point was that all of Canaan had been divided by lot to them, even the nations that remained unconquered.  Those unconquered parts, along with all the nations Joshua had cut off with the sword, all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, had been divided as an inheritance to the tribes.

(5) "And the Lord your God, He shall expel them from before you and drive them from out of your sight, and you shall possess their land, as the Lord your God has promised you."

Joshua encouraged the leaders of Israel that the Lord willed that they should inherit all of the land of Canaan, and He would drive the rest of the Canaanites out of their land, and they would be able to possess all of it, as their Lord had promised them.  It has been discussed before that they never did fully possess all the land that God had promised them because they were not obedient to the Lord to hold up their side of the covenant.  However, God said they would possess their land, and a passage in the book of the prophet Amos confirms that they eventually will possess it (Amos 9:15).

(6) "Be therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left."

Joshua was giving the leaders of Israel the same words he had received from the Lord when the reins were handed over to him after the death of Moses (Joshua 1:7).  He cautioned them to be courageous in keeping the commandments of the law, that they not turn aside from it.

(7) "That you do not come among these nations, these that remain among you, neither make mention of the name of their gods nor cause to swear, neither serve them nor bow yourselves to them."

Specifically, Joshua cautioned them against going among the pagan nations of people that remained and acknowledging their gods.  They were not to even speak their names, much less swear by them, serve them, or bow down to them.

(8) "But cleave to the Lord your God as you have done to this day."

They were to cleave only to their Lord God through their obedience, service, and worship of Him alone, as they had done since their time in Canaan to that point.  It can't be said that they were always so faithful while in the wilderness.

(9) "For the Lord has driven out from before you great nations and strong, but you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day."

The reason Joshua gave for them always cleaving to their Lord was because of the good things He had done for them.  He had driven out great and strong nations from before them so that no man was able to stand before them even to that day.

(10) "One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you."

One man of them would be able to chase a thousand of his enemies only because it was their Lord who fought for them as He had promised He would (Leviticus 26:8, Deuteronomy 1:30).

(11) "Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God."

Joshua impressed upon them the need to be careful and on guard that they always love, honor, and obey their Lord God.

(12) "Else if you do in any way go back and cleave to the remnant of these nations, these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them and go in to them and they to you, (13) Know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out these nations from before you, but they shall be snares and traps to you and scourges in your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you."

For if they turned away from their Lord and attached themselves to the remnant of the pagan nations in their land and made and consummated marriages with them, they could know for absolute certain that their Lord would no longer go before them to drive out those remaining nations.  They would remain as snares and traps to them, very troublesome and distressing, drawing them into idolatry and immorality.

(14) "Behold this day, I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you; all have come to pass to you, and not one thing of it has failed."

Joshua told them that he was going to die just as all living things eventually do.  He was about to leave them without a human leader, but he reiterated why they should put all their love and faith and trust in their Lord God to lead them.  They knew in their hearts that He had not failed to give them any good thing He had promised.  All He had promised had come to pass; therefore, they should continue to have total faith in Him.

(15) "Therefore it shall come to pass, as all good things have come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you, so shall the Lord bring upon you evil things until He has destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you. (16) When you have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God which He commanded you and have gone and served other gods and bowed yourselves to them, then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land which He has given to you."

However, Joshua warned them, just as the Lord had given them all good things as He had promised, He also most assuredly would bring bad things to them until they were destroyed off that good land if they turned away from Him and their covenant with Him to serve idols.  If they did that, His anger would burn against them, and they would perish quickly from off their good land that He had given them.  Just because they had all good things at that time, didn't mean they could keep them always if they chose to turn from their Lord.

I take note here that the number one sin that will always kindle God's anger against His people is idolatry.  It is just one of ten big commandments of the Lord, yet it is the one He always mentions that will cause Him to turn away from His people.  However, is not every sin rooted in idolatry?  It may be idolatry of money or power or even self, but there is always something that we choose to make more important than God and His commandments when we sin.  And when we choose something else over God, He may let us have our way, and He will turn away from us.  He will never force Himself on us; He gives us a choice.  However, we must live with the consequence of our choice.  When we begin to see all good things in our lives as blessings from Him, we naturally want to love and follow Him.  Why would we want to follow after some empty idol that can never give us more than some brief pleasure?  In God there is a lifetime of joy and fulfillment and eternal life.  Money and power or anything that we build of ourselves can never do that.

Joshua's farewell address continued in the next and last chapter of Joshua:

(Joshua 24:1) And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and they presented themselves before God.

Joshua then gathered all the tribes, and especially the leaders of Israel, the elders, the judges, the officers, and the heads of the tribes, to Shechem, and they presented themselves before God.  Shechem was a significant place in Israel's history as it was the place where the Lord made His promise to Abraham that He would give his descendants that land, and he built an altar there (Genesis 12:6-7).  Jacob had also built an altar there (Genesis 33:18-20).  Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, where they shouted blessings and cursings (Joshua 8:33), were at Shechem.

(2) And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel, 'Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nachor, and they served other gods.'"

Joshua spoke prophetically to the people the words of the Lord.  He began by telling them about their ancestors on the other side of the flood, or rather river, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nachor, who served other gods.  The original word translated as "flood" most often meant "river" and was most of the time transcribed that way by the KJV translators, but for some reason they translated it as "flood" this time.  Perhaps the meaning might be that the people's ancestors since the flood had served other gods.  It was understood that before the flood all people except Noah and his family had served other gods, but for their fathers more recently to have turned to false gods would be a very grievous thing.  However, most Biblical scholars believe the meaning should be river rather than flood, and that Joshua spoke of their ancestors who had lived on the other side of the Euphrates River.

Some Biblical scholars think that the verse should read that their fathers, Terah, Abraham, and Nahor, served other gods.  Of course, it is possible that Abram served other gods as he saw his father do until God called him away from his family, but I saw no actual example of his serving other gods.  I read the verse as your fathers, including Terah, served other gods.  "The father of Abraham and Nachor" just described who Terah was.

(3) "'And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.'"

The Lord took Abraham out of that idolatrous family and place, telling him to get out of his country and away from his family and his father's house (Genesis 12:1).  He took him through the land of Canaan and told him He would give his descendants that land (Genesis 12:7).  The Lord indeed gave Abraham many descendants, and he had given him his son Isaac.

(4) "'And I gave to Isaac, Jacob and Esau, and I gave to Esau Mount Seir to possess it, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.'"

Isaac had two sons, twins, Jacob and Esau, who had been "two nations" in their mother's womb (Genesis 25:23).  God gave Esau an inheritance in Mount Seir, leaving the promised land of Canaan to Jacob's descendants alone.  However, first Jacob and his children went to Egypt.

(5) "'I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them, and afterward I brought you out.'"

God sent Moses and Aaron to Egypt also to demand the release of His people who were in bondage in Egypt.  He plagued Egypt with ten plagues because they refused to let His people go, and then He brought them out.

(6) "'And I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.'"

The Lord brought His people out of Egypt, and the Egyptians chased them with chariots and horsemen which would suggest they would soon be able to overtake the people on foot.  They chased them to the Red Sea.

(7) "'And when they cried to the Lord, He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them, and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt, and you dwelt in the wilderness a long time.'"

The people cried out in distress at the Red Sea.  The pillar of cloud that led them then went behind them and was a cloud of darkness to the Egyptians and light to the Israelites.  He then parted the sea and after His people crossed the Red Sea on dry land, He then let the waters back down to cover the Egyptians.  Many of the people who had been children at the time had seen what their Lord had done in Egypt.  They had been in the wilderness a long time, forty years, because of the unbelief of their fathers, and until those fathers had died in the wilderness.

(8) "'And I brought you into the land of the Amorites who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, and they fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you.'"

The Lord brought His people to the kingdoms of Sihon and Og on the eastern side of the Jordan River.  Those nations fought with them, but the Lord had delivered their enemies into their hand and destroyed them so that they might possess that land.

(9) "'Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.'"

Then Balak, the king of Moab, warred against the Israelites.  He called for the prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites.

(10) "'But I would not hearken to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still, so I delivered you out of his hand.'"

However, the Lord would not allow Balaam to speak curses to Israel, and he instead blessed them; thus the Lord had delivered His people out of the hand of Balaam and likewise, Balak.

(11) "'And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I delivered them into your hand.'"

Then the Israelites crossed over the Jordan River and came into their promised land where the men of Jericho fought against them, but the Lord delivered their enemies into their hand.

(12) "'And I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites, not with your sword nor with your bow.'"

The Lord sent hornets before them to drive out the Canaanites including two kings of the Amorites.  I'm not sure if these were actual hornets or figurative speech about how the Lord drove out their enemies, not by the Israelites' swords or bows, but by the Lord's power only.  Twice the Lord spoke prophetically about sending hornets to drive out their enemies (Exodus 23:28, Deuteronomy 7:20), and here the Lord through Joshua said that He had done just that.  However, in the actual battles, it doesn't say that the Lord sent hornets.  Joshua 10:10 told how the Lord discomfited their enemies and chased them, but it said nothing about Him sending hornets.  However, it did say that He then sent hailstones.  Again in Joshua 11:8 it says the Lord chased their enemies, but it doesn't say it was with hornets.  Of course, that might be an ideal way to chase soldiers and kings, but I think if actual hornets were sent, scripture would have specifically said so.  In many other places in the Bible, scripture said specifically what sort of pest was being sent, and immediately after Joshua 10:10, scripture was specific about sending hailstones, so I just believe it would have been specific about sending hornets, as well, if He had sent them.  I truly believe this was figurative speech or perhaps a word that the translators were not familiar with, and it just meant that God Himself chased and drove out the enemy by His own power.

(13) "'And I have given you a land for which you did not labor and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which you did not plant, you do eat.'"

The Lord had given His people a ready-made land that they did not have to dig and cultivate, and He had given them cities they did not have to build, and He had given them fruits of the land that they did not plant.  He had given them, as He had promised, a land flowing with milk and honey and many good things.

(14) "Now therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt, and serve the Lord."

Having concluded the words of the Lord in verse 13, these are the words of Joshua telling the people that because of their Lord's mercies and goodness in all that He had done for them, they should reverence Him and serve only Him in sincerity with no hypocrisy and in the truth found only in His word.  He had told them in verse 2 about how their fathers since the flood had served other gods, and he urged them to put away those false gods and serve their Lord God.

(15) "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Joshua challenged the people that if it seemed evil, or say just burdensome and unpleasant, to serve the Lord, then they should choose whom they would rather serve.  Did they wish to serve the gods of their fathers or the gods of the Amorites who had been in their land before them?  Let their choice be whatever they wished, but as for Joshua, he was resolute in the fact that he and his house would serve the Lord.

(16) And the people answered and said, "God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods."

The people answered that they would never think of forsaking their Lord to serve other gods.

(17) "For the Lord our God, He who brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way in which we went and among all the people through whom we passed, (18) And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, even the Amorites who dwelt in the land; we will also serve the Lord for He is our God."

The people went on to explain why they would never think of forsaking their Lord, because of all the great things He had done for them.  He had freed them from bondage, preserved them wherever they went among enemies, and then drove out the enemies who had dwelt in the land He was giving them.  They declared their choice was to also serve the Lord their God.

(19) And Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the Lord for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. (20) If you forsake the Lord and serve strange gods, then He will turn and do you hurt and consume you after He has done you good."

I believe both verses should be taken as one sentence.  I think Joshua's point was that the people would not be able to serve a holy God jealous that His people be only His and serve only Him, if they continued in sin.  As Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, "no man can serve two masters..."  They must wholeheartedly choose to serve their Lord or they would be forsaking Him, choosing another master, and then the Lord would turn away from them and that in itself would destroy them.  The Lord God is our only choice for life.  Since the beginning of time, since Adam and Eve brought sin on man, we sinful creatures are unable to stand before such a holy God.  It is only by His love and mercy that He gave us a way to be acceptable in His presence, but if we choose not to go that way, then we are doomed to be left in our sin, and in the righteous judgment of God, we have chosen to accept the consequences of sin, which is death.  God has set before each of us two choices, life and death, and He urges that we choose life if we want to live (Deuteronomy 30:19).  The other choice leads only to death.

(21) And the people said to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the Lord."

The people declared that they would not serve other gods but would serve their Lord God only.

(22) And Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for you the Lord, to serve Him." And they said, "Witnesses!"

Joshua declared that they would be witnesses against themselves if they should turn away from their Lord after their testimony that day.  They would be self-condemned by their own words.  The people agreed that they were indeed witnesses to that truth.

(23) "Now therefore put away the strange gods which are among you and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel."

Joshua told them therefore they were to put away the strange gods among them.  There may have been actual physical small idols of worship that had been kept from their fathers before them, or it might rather be that Joshua spoke of idols of the heart, secret sentiments they had toward some idol.  Whatever the idol that took their hearts away from their Lord, they were to put away, and they were to incline their hearts toward the Lord God of Israel only.

(24) And the people said to Joshua, "The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey."

The people confirmed that they would serve and obey their Lord God.

(25) So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

Joshua established that covenant with the people and made it a permanent law that they and their descendants would always bind themselves to God only.

(26) And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.

Joshua wrote the words of their covenant established that day in the book of the law that would have been in the ark of the covenant which must have been with him at Shechem that day.  He took a great stone and set it up under an oak tree that was by that holy place of the Lord.  I don't believe this was meant to have been at the actual sanctuary.  The word that was translated as "sanctuary" also means "a consecrated thing or place, holy place."  Joshua had brought the people to Shechem to a holy place of their fathers, and there he placed a memorial stone which wouldn't have been necessary if they were at the actual sanctuary.

(27) And Joshua said to all the people, "Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us; it shall be therefore a witness to you, lest you deny your God."

Joshua told the people that that stone would act as a witness of the covenant they had made, as it was a symbolic reminder of the words of the Lord that had been spoken there that day and of the witness against the people should they turn from Him.

(28) So Joshua let the people depart, every man to his inheritance.

With that, Joshua let the people go back to their lands that they possessed as their inheritance from God.

(29) And it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died a hundred and ten years old.

It was shortly after this that Joshua died at 110 years of age.  I think now is a good time to reflect on the reason why Joshua is always identified as the son of Nun.  Joshua is such an important figure in the Bible in his own right, and Nun is never mentioned other than being the father of Joshua.  As studied previously, I found that the original words were "Joshua bin Nun" rather than "Joshua ben Nun," which would have meant Joshua was the son of Nun.  "Bin Nun" or "binnun" meant the "understanding one."  From the beginning, Joshua was an excellent student of Moses and wouldn't leave the tabernacle even after Moses did (Exodus 33:11).  Additionally, he always demonstrated complete faith in God when others failed in their faith.  Perhaps this moniker of "Joshua the understanding one" did demonstrate that Joshua was a man in his own right.  

This time, in my study, I reflected on just the word "nun" which means "perpetuity."  The name Joshua, "yehoshua," means "Jehovah-saved."  Jehovah, the name of the Lord, the self-existent eternal God, which is what Jehovah means, saves eternally.  Was Joshua Jehovah-saved in perpetuity?  Biblical scholars often speak of Joshua being an Old Testament type of Jesus.  Actually, their names are the same in Hebrew, but in Greek in the New Testament, Jesus (in English) became Ieous.  Joshua was the one who brought the people into their promised land on earth, but Jesus brings them into the heavenly promised land.  Joshua succeeded Moses who represented the law, and Jesus's gospel succeeded the law.  Joshua made a new covenant with the people before he died, and Jesus brought a New Covenant of grace.  While names are very important in the Bible, and Joshua being eternally saved by Jehovah who saves, and being an Old Testament type of Jesus who was the one who ultimately fulfilled that salvation through His death and resurrection, I have to note that according to the genealogy in 1 Chronicles 7:27, Joshua was indeed the son of Nun.  Perhaps Joshua was always referred to as the son of Nun because all the symbology in both those names was the very essence of who he was.

(30) And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath Serah, which is in Mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.

The people buried Joshua in his own inheritance in the mountains of Ephraim in the city which he built, Timnath Serah, on the north side of Mount Gaash in the mountainous region.

(31) And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and who had known all the works of the Lord that He had done for Israel.

The Israelites kept their covenant and served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who had lived during the time of Joshua and beyond, men who had known all the things the Lord had done for His people.

(32) And the bones of Joseph which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, they buried in Shechem in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of silver, and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

The Israelites had brought the bones of Joseph out of Egypt as he had requested (Genesis 50:25) and as Moses directed (Exodus 13:19).  They buried them in Shechem in a parcel of ground that Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of silver (Genesis 33:19), in the land that became the inheritance of the sons of Joseph, specifically Ephraim.

(33) And Eleazor the son of Aaron died, and they buried him in a hill of Phinehas his son which was given him in Mount Ephraim.

Eleazar the priest, the son of Aaron, also died, and they buried him in a hill of Phinehas, Eleazar's son, which had been given to him in Mount Ephraim.  The priests had no land of their own but were given cities in which to live, so the Ephraimites had undoubtedly given this piece of land to either Eleazar or his son, Phinehas.

So ends the book of Joshua.  Obviously, the last five verses couldn't have been written by him but were added after his death.  Once again, I can't help but reflect on what a great man Joshua was and how like Jesus he was, the perfect illustration of the Christ to come.  In addition to the similarities before mentioned, it doesn't appear that Joshua ever married or had any children.  He devoted his entire life to the service of God, from his time as a young man learning from Moses up until his death.  Of course, Joshua was only human and must have sinned sometime in his life, but I don't recall any such thing being recorded thus far in the Bible.  Joshua never worked to provide for himself and never asked for much.  Even the inheritance he had apparently once asked for (Joshua 19:50), he didn't ask for when the time came to divide up the inheritance, but the people gave it to him.  And it wasn't even a choice land but rather a rough mountainous region where he built the city of Timnath Serah.  He lived as a servant of the people and most importantly of his God, and he led his people to their rest in their promised land.  Jesus, about 1400 years later, would bring people to that true eternal rest.

Also notable in the last chapter of Joshua is the retelling of history and of the marvelous things the Lord had done for His people.  Throughout the Bible, the people were retold history so that they would never forget the goodness of the Lord, and so should we always reflect on the good things the Lord has done for us.  No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, we can always be thankful for the greatest gift of all, eternal salvation in Him that was only possible through the sacrifice and death of Jesus Christ.

The Earth Trembles at the Presence of the Lord

I am following a chronological Bible study that was ordered by Skip Andrews.  Although this psalm may or may not have been written at this time in chronology, it does speak of the miracle at the Jordan River which was detailed in Joshua 3 in the last post.  God dried up the Jordan River for His people to cross over it into their promised land.  Continuing with the chronological study:

(Psalm 114:1) When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, (2) Judah was his sanctuary, Israel His dominion.

The psalmist began by telling of God's people Israel, the house of Jacob, coming out of Egypt, out of a foreign country of people of foreign language and customs, into Judah, or Israel, their promised land, their sanctuary given them by the Lord.  Because the King James Version never used capital letters when describing Him, the Lord, it's hard to know whether "his" in verse 2 above means Israel or the Lord.  Different translations of the Bible translated it different ways.  Certainly their promised land was the Israelites' sanctuary and a country of their own dominion, not under the control of another country.  However, it could also be considered the Lord's sanctuary where His temple would stand, and His people Israel were certainly under His dominion.

(3) The sea saw and fled; Jordan was driven back.

Describing the Red Sea as having human characteristics, that it saw the will of God and fled, demonstrated how all things were and are subject to the will of God.  The Jordan River was also driven back by the will of God to allow His people to cross over into their promised land.

(4) The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs.

Even the mountains moved according to God's will and quaked at His presence as Mount Sinai did when the Lord descended upon it to give the law in Exodus 19:18.  As the mountains were described as moving greatly like great skipping rams, the smaller hills were described as moving in smaller skips as smaller lambs.

(5) What ailed you, O sea, that you fled? You Jordan, that you were driven back?

The psalmist asked what could have been the matter with the sea that it fled in such haste.  What caused the Jordan River to be driven back?

(6) You mountains, that you skipped like rams, you little hills like lambs?

What caused mountains and hills to skip like rams and lambs?  

(7) Tremble, you earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, (8) Who turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters!

All the people of the earth and the earth itself should tremble at the presence of so almighty a God as the God of Israel!  The God who could part the seas and make mountains quake, also turned rocks into fountains of water, a continual supply of water (Exodus 17:6).  How awesome and terrible to His enemies, the inhabitants of Canaan, was Israel's God, that even the earth itself quaked at His presence and did as He commanded?

Praise the Lord!

I have been following a chronological Bible study proposed by Skip Andrews.  About this and the past few psalms, Mr. Andrews wrote, "Although we may not be able to precisely date these Psalms at this time, their general themes fit the topics we have just read in Deuteronomy."  Continuing with Psalm 135:

(Psalm 135:1) Praise the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord, praise, O you servants of the Lord!

The author of this psalm, as well as the occasion on which it was written, is unknown.  Some commentators believe that the first short sentence was meant to be the title of the psalm--Praise the Lord.  The psalmist indeed began his psalm by exhorting the people, God's own people, meant to be His servants, to praise their Lord.  

(2) You who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God, (3) Praise the Lord for the Lord is good; sing praises to His name for it is pleasant.

Those who stood in the house of the Lord, the priests and Levites, as well as the people who stood in the courts outside the temple, were exhorted to praise the Lord because He was so good.  They were exhorted to sing praises to His name because it was pleasant.  His very name was delightful to His people and cause for praise, but also it was pleasant to sing praises to Him.  Singing songs of praise very definitely lifts the spirit.  

(4) For the Lord has chosen Jacob to Himself, Israel for His special treasure.

The people were to praise the Lord because He was good, and also because He chose Jacob (Israel) to be His own special treasure, His chosen people.

(5) For I know that the Lord is great, and our Lord is above all gods.

The psalmist professed his knowledge that the Lord was great and above all other gods, that is, those who were falsely worshiped as gods, as there is really only one true God.  

(6) Whatever the Lord pleased, He did in heaven and in earth, in the seas and all deep places.

The Lord did and does whatever He pleases in the heavens, all the universe, and in the earth, in the seas and all the deep places of the earth.

(7) He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasures.

The Lord causes the "nasi" to ascend from all over the earth.  As this verse speaks of weather-related things, "vapor" is the best translation here.  The Lord causes the mist to rise from the earth to water it.  However, interestingly, the word means more generally something raised or exalted and is literally 126 times out of 130 used in the Bible to mean a prince or some other type of ruler.  The Lord raises up all sorts of things and people for His purposes.  The Lord makes the rain and the lightning and the wind.

(8) Who destroyed the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast.

The Lord who raises up also brings down or destroys, as He did the firstborn of men and animals in Egypt.

(9) He sent tokens and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh and upon all his servants.

The Lord sent many signs and wonders, the miracles and plagues, in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his people.

(10) Who destroyed great nations and killed mighty kings, (11) Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan, (12) And gave their land a heritage, a heritage to Israel His people.

Their Lord was the one who destroyed great nations and mighty kings, including Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan, and all the nations and kings in the land of Canaan, and He gave their lands to His own people as an inheritance to them.

(13) Your name, O Lord, forever; Your memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations.

The Lord's name and His fame endures forever, throughout all generations, to the present when we still read of His glory and that will continue forever.

(14) For the Lord will judge His people, and He will repent Himself concerning His servants.

I believe the sense of "judge" here means that the Lord will rule and govern His people, more specifically, protect and defend them, because the verse went on to say the Lord would repent, which means to turn away, change Himself concerning His people who deserved complete destruction because of their many sins.  However, the Lord always repented from His plan to completely destroy them for their wickedness and always saved at least a remnant.

(15) The idols of the heathen, silver and gold, the work of men's hands.

The idols of the heathen nations were but silver and gold, something mere men fashioned with their hands.

(16) They have mouths, but they do not speak; eyes they have, but they do not see; (17) They have ears, but they do not hear; neither is there breath in their mouths.

Those manmade idols had mouths, but they couldn't speak; they had eyes and ears, but they couldn't see or hear.  They had no living breath in them; they were only objects made by man.

(18) They who make them are like them, and everyone who trusts in them.

Those who made those idols, as well as everyone who trusted in them, were as blind and stupid as those lifeless idols were.

(19) Bless the Lord, O house of Israel; bless the Lord, O house of Aaron.

The psalmist exhorted God's chosen people, Israel, to bless the Lord, and also the house of Aaron, the Levites and the priests, should also bless Him.  I often wonder how mere people can bless the Lord, as it is He who blesses us.  However, we can bless Him with our praise and worship and our adherence to His word.

(20) Bless the Lord, O house of Levi; you who fear the Lord, bless the Lord.

The psalmist indeed included the Levites among those who should bless the Lord, as well as all people who feared the Lord, those who respected and reverenced Him as Lord.

(21) Blessed be the Lord out of Zion who dwells at Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!

The Lord of Zion, representative of the kingdom of the Lord, also the physical city of Jerusalem, where He dwelt among His people, was to be blessed and praised.

This psalm briefly addressed the history of the Israelites but was mainly a psalm of praise.  It both began and ended with an exhortation to praise the Lord.  Matthew Henry called it one of the Hallelujah Psalms that praised the Lord.

Praise the Lord for His Wonderful Works

Following a chronologically ordered Bible study set forth by Skip Andrews, who admits, "Although we may not be able to precisely date these Psalms at this time, their general themes fit the topics we have just read in Deuteronomy," I continue with Psalm 105:

(Psalm 105:1) O give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the people!

Although this psalm is thought to be made by David, it could have just as easily been made by Moses.  It speaks of the time of Israel from Abraham through the exodus from Egypt.  The psalmist exhorts the people to give thanks to their Lord, call upon Him in prayer, and proclaim His works among the people.

(2) Sing to Him; sing psalms to Him; talk of all His wondrous works.

He encouraged the people to sing to the Lord and play music for Him.  The original word "zamar" that was transcribed as "psalms" has a fuller meaning of making music and song.  They were to talk and sing about all their Lord's wonderful works.

(3) Glory in His holy name; let the heart of them rejoice who seek the Lord.

They were to rejoice in the Lord, those who sought the Lord with all their hearts and souls (Deuteronomy 4:29).

(4) Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face evermore.

The people were encouraged to always seek the Lord, seeking strength and mercy and favor from Him.

(5) Remember His marvelous works that He has done, His wonders and the judgments of His mouth.

The psalmist exhorted the people to remember all the wonderful things the Lord had done, His miracles and His judgments and commandments.

(6) O seed of Abraham, His servant, children of Jacob, His chosen!

He reminds the people that they are the descendants of God's servant, Abraham, descendants of Jacob, His chosen people.

(7) He, the Lord our God, His judgments in all the earth.

The God of Abraham and Jacob, the one true God, was their Lord God.  And as the one true God, His judgments were executed all over the earth.

(8) He has remembered His covenant forever, the word He commanded to a thousand generations.

The Lord had kept His covenant and promise to His people forever, up to that point and to future generations, even though His people often defaulted on their end.

(9) Which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac, (10) And confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, to Israel an everlasting covenant.

The Lord had kept that covenant He had made with Abraham, reiterated with Isaac, and confirmed with Jacob, and promised it to be an everlasting covenant.

(11) Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance," (12) When they were few men in number, yes, very few, and strangers in it.

The Lord's part of the covenant He had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was to give them and their descendants the land of Canaan as an inheritance.  He made that promise when His people were small in number and strangers in their promised land.

(13) When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people, (14) He allowed no man to do them wrong; yes, He reproved kings for their sakes; (15) "Do not touch My anointed and do My prophets no harm."

Before they inhabited their promised land, the people wandered from one nation to another with no permanent place to call their home.  While they wandered about, the Lord protected them and even reproved kings for their sakes, telling them not to touch His anointed ones, also called His prophets, to do them any harm.

(16) Moreover He called for a famine on the land; He broke the whole staff of bread.

The Lord called for a famine in the land in the time of Jacob, which was the reason he migrated to Egypt.  The Lord had cut off their supply of food.

(17) He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold for a servant, (18) Whose feet they hurt with fetters; he was laid in iron, (19) Until the time that his word came; the word of the Lord tried him.

The Lord had sent Joseph before Jacob and Jacob's sons, Joseph's brothers.  His brothers had sold him into slavery, and he was imprisoned until the time that his vision came to pass that he would be exalted above his brothers.  That vision, that word of the Lord, tried Joseph's faith and patience before it was accomplished.

(20) The king sent and loosed him, the ruler of the people let him go free.

At that point, the king of Egypt had Joseph released from prison.

(21) He made him lord of his house and ruler of all his substance, (22) To bind his princes at his pleasure and teach his senators wisdom.

The king of Egypt made Joseph the lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions and affairs.  Even his princes would be under Joseph's command to learn from him.

(23) Israel also came into Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

Jacob (Israel) and Joseph's brothers also came to Egypt when they learned that Joseph was alive, and they all dwelt there in the land of Ham, the father of the Egyptians.

(24) And He increased His people greatly and made them stronger than their enemies.

God increased the people of Israel greatly in the land of Egypt.  He also made them stronger than the Egyptians who would become their enemies.

(25) He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal treacherously with His servants.

Whereas the Egyptians had once highly esteemed Joseph's family, the Lord allowed their hearts to be turned against them.  He may have actively turned them against His people in order to fulfill His will to lead them away and into their promised land.  However, I believe He just allowed it to happen naturally.  By enlarging and blessing His people, the Egyptians would naturally become jealous, and God allowed that to happen for His purposes.  The Egyptians made them slaves and put them to hard labor.

(26) He sent Moses, His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen.

The Lord then sent Moses as His servant and Aaron, Moses's brother, chosen to be his spokesman (Exodus 4:16).

(27) They showed His signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.

Moses and Aaron showed the Lord's signs and miracles in the land of Egypt.

(28) He sent darkness and made it dark, and they did not rebel against His word.

The Lord commanded Moses to stretch forth his hand toward heaven to make a darkness fall upon Egypt, and he and Aaron did just as He commanded (Exodus 10:22).

(29) He turned their waters into blood and killed their fish.

Continuing to describe the signs and wonders from verse 27, the psalmist tells how the Lord turned the Egyptians' waters into blood which killed all the fish (Exodus 7:19).

(30) Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings.

The Lord caused a plague of an abundance of frogs that covered the land, even in the bedchambers of their kings (Exodus 8:3).

(31) He spoke and there came diverse sorts of flies and lice in all their territory.

The Lord spoke and brought a swarm of flies that corrupted the land of Egypt (Exodus 8:24), and He brought forth lice from the dust of the land (Exodus 8:16).

(32) He gave them hail for rain and flaming fire in their land.

The Lord caused it to rain hail on Egypt and caused lightning to run along the ground (Exodus 9:23).

(33) He struck their vines also and their fig trees and broke the trees of their territory.

The hail struck "every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field" (Exodus 9:25).

(34) He spoke and the locusts came, and caterpillars, and those without number, (35) And ate up all the herbs in the land and devoured the fruit of their ground.

The Lord told Moses to stretch out his hand over the land of Egypt to bring locusts to eat up every herb the hail may had left (Exodus 10:12).  They were so numerous that they could not be numbered, and they darkened the sky (Exodus 10:15).  Again we are told of caterpillars that were not mentioned among the plagues in Exodus.  I believe these must refer to young locust nymphs.

(36) He killed also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength.

The Lord killed all the firstborn of both man and beast in the land of Egypt (Exodus 11:5).  The firstborn were called the first or beginning of all their strength (Genesis 49:3).

(37) He brought them forth also with silver and gold, and not one feeble among their tribes.

God brought the Israelites out of Egypt with silver and gold from the Egyptians (Exodus 12:35), and there was not one person feeble and unable to travel.

(38) Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them fell upon them.

The Egyptians were glad when the Israelites left them because they were afraid of what plague might be next.

(39) He spread a cloud for a covering and fire to give light in the night.

The Lord spread a cloud over the Israelites by day (Numbers 10:34) and a pillar of fire over them at night (Exodus 13:21).

(40) They asked and He brought quails and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

This refers to the first time that the people asked for meat (Exodus 16:13), and the Lord brought the quails to them and satisfied them with manna the next morning.

(41) He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.

The Lord opened the rock to bring forth water (Exodus 17:6), and it ran like a river through their dry places.

(42) For He remembered His holy promise and Abraham, His servant.

The Lord did these marvelous things for His people because of the promise He had made to their forefather, Abraham.

(43) And He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen with gladness, (44) And gave them the lands of the heathen, and they inherited the labor of the people.

It pleased the Lord to bring His people out of Egypt to lead them to their promised land, but this may refer more to the joy of the people when they were led out and how they gladly sang praises to their Lord for bringing them out (Exodus 15:1).  The Lord gave His people lands of the heathens in righteous judgment against those countries so that His people were able to dwell in houses already built and fields already worked and wells already dug, etc.

(45) That they might observe His statutes and keep His laws. Praise the Lord!

The Lord did all these things for His people as His part of His covenant with them.  All that was asked of His people was that they should be obedient to the One from whom all blessings flow.  Praise the Lord!  That was the full intent of this psalm.  It is similar to Psalm 78 in that it recited a history of God's people.  However, the 78th psalm pointed out the sins of the people and God's just punishment for those sins, whereas this psalm only pointed to the goodness of God, exciting the people to thanksgiving and praise to and for Him.

A Historical Lesson of Israel from Egypt to the Time of David

I am following a chronologically ordered Bible study set forth by Skip Andrews.  Again, he says, "Although we may not be able to precisely date these Psalms at this time, their general themes fit the topics we have just read in Deuteronomy."  I covered Psalm 91 in the last post.  Now, continuing with a chronological Bible study:

(Psalm 78:1) [Maschil of Asaph.] Give ear, O my people, to my law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

Because Asaph penned this psalm, we know this wasn't recited at the time of Moses; however, it does speak to the times of Moses, and for that reason, it is suited to this position in a chronological study.  Asaph was a minister of song of David's.  A maschil was a psalm to give instruction.  Asaph started the words of his psalm by exhorting God's people Israel to really listen to the words of his psalm and of the law that he was about to give.

(2) I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, (3) Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

Asaph would be speaking in what he called a parable, which in this sense meant a statement by analogy or comparison drawn from the ancient history of the people, which the people of his day had heard passed down from their forefathers and they knew.

(4) We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He has done.

Those people of that generation as of Asaph, would not hide these sayings of old from the children and ongoing generations of the Jewish fathers.  They would continue to show future generations all the wonderful works and strength of their Lord God.

(5) For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children.

The Lord had established a testimony, a covenant between God and men, in Jacob, and enacted a law in Israel, which He had commanded their fathers to make known and teach to their children.

(6) That the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born should arise and declare them to their children.

Their forefathers had been commanded to teach the law to their children who would in turn teach it to their children, and that would continue through the generations.

(7) That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.

By teaching future generations about God's law and His wonderful works, those generations to come would be able to have hope in God because of the wonderful things He had done, and they would desire to keep His commandments.

(8) And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set its heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God.

The hope and purpose of the psalmist in continuing to teach God's law and their fathers' history, they might learn not to be as their fathers had been, stubborn and rebellious, and not in harmony with God's Spirit and will.

(9) The children of Ephraim, armed, carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.

This is one of the times when I am not satisfied with this particular chronological order of the Bible, as I have not yet studied the event which the psalmist speaks of.  This psalm, it seems to me, belongs properly in the time of David, but as I began with this chronological study, I cannot change now, as I might miss something.  The psalmist speaks of a time when the tribe of Ephraim, as one of the largest tribes, was the chief tribe in a rebellion.  The commentators I study are not in agreement as to what rebellion this might be, and since I have not yet studied any such rebellion, I can't offer any opinion.  However, by reading the end of this psalm, together with the words of Albert Barnes in his Notes on the Bible, I have come to the conclusion that Ephraim, probably meaning his tribe and the nine other tribes with him, with Ephraim being the largest, "had turned away from the worship of the true God."  Ten tribes, excluding Judah and Benjamin, would eventually make up the Kingdom of Israel and Judah and Benjamin would make up the Kingdom of Judah.  In consequence of Ephraim's (the ten tribes') "apostasy, the government had been transferred to another tribe - the tribe of Judah" (verses 67-68).  Whether they were literally armed with weapons and turned back from a battle, or whether it meant they were armed with the truth and knowledge of God and turned away, I can't be certain; however, in light of the next verses, I imagine it was the latter, if not both.

(10) They kept not the covenant of God and refused to walk in His law, (11) And forgot His works and His wonders that He had showed them.

Those ten tribes (actually probably all of Israel at this point) did not keep the covenant of God and would not walk in His law.  They had forgotten all the wonderful things He had done and shown them.

(12) Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, the field of Zoan.

They had forgotten all the wondrous things He had done when they were in bondage in Egypt, in the territory of Zoan, an ancient city of Egypt.

(13) He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; and He made the waters to stand as a heap.

They had forgotten how the Lord had divided the Red Sea by a strong east wind that was raised, which caused the sea to go back, and divided the waters of it.  That allowed the Israelites to pass through the sea with the waters standing as walls on both sides of them.

(14) In the daytime also He led them with a cloud and all the night with a light of fire.

In their journey out of Egypt, the Lord led His people by a pillar of cloud in the daytime and by a pillar of fire at night.

(15) He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave drink as the great depths. (16) He brought streams also out of the rock and caused waters to run down like rivers.

The Lord provided water for His people from rocks as plentiful as if they drank from the sea.  He brought forth streams out of rock that flowed like rivers.

(17) And they sinned yet more against Him by provoking the Most High in the wilderness. (18) And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.

This stubborn and rebellious people sinned even more against their Lord with their ingratitude.  While the Lord provided for all their needs in the wilderness, they wanted more.  I like the way the 1599 Geneva Bible Translation Notes explained what tempting the Lord meant, "to require more than is necessary, and to separate God's power from his will, is to tempt God."  They had manna and water which was sufficient for their sustenance, but they craved meat for their pleasure.  The Lord knows we need food and even taught it was right to ask for it in His model prayer that is called The Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:11).  However, as James said in James 4:3, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it on your lusts."  To want more when you have all you need is to be terribly ungrateful and selfish.

(19) Yes, they spoke against God; they said, "Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? (20) Behold, He struck the rock that the waters gushed out and the streams overflowed; can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?"

The people began to speak against God, questioning His power.  They admitted that He had provided water, so could He not give them more?  Could He not provide bread and meat and a plentiful table in the wilderness?

(21) Therefore the Lord heard and was angry, so a fire was kindled against Jacob and anger also came up against Israel, (22) Because they did not believe in God and did not trust in His salvation.

The Lord heard their complaints and was angry.  His anger like a fire rose up against His people because they did not trust in His providence and salvation.

(23) Though He had commanded the clouds from above and opened the doors of heaven, (24) And had rained down manna on them to eat and had given them of the corn of heaven. (25) Man ate angels' food; He sent them food to the full.

The Lord was angry because He had literally opened the doors of heaven to rain down a perfect food for His people, giving them all the nutrition they needed, yet they were not satisfied and were ungrateful.

(26) He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven, and by His power He brought in the south wind. (27) He rained meat also on them as dust and feathered fowls like the sand of the sea, (28) And He let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.

So the Lord caused winds to blow that brought quails and He rained them upon the people as numerous as the dust or the sand of the sea.  He let them fall into their camps, two cubits thick and as far as a day's journey on every side (Numbers 11:31).  

(29) So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them their own desire. (30a) They were not estranged from their lust.

The people ate and were actually more than well filled.  The original word "meod" that was transcribed as "well" actually meant "vehemently."  The Lord gave them their own gluttonous desire.  They ravenously ate as much as they wanted or lusted after.

(30b) But while their meat was yet in their mouths, (31) The wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest of them and struck down the chosen of Israel.

While the people were still stuffing their faces, the wrath of God came upon them and killed the fattest of them.  I believe that might mean the most gluttonous of all.  With those, some of the most healthy and strong were struck down in their gluttony.  I am always struck by the thought that although God could have certainly and righteously actively killed those people, He didn't have to actively do it.  He can just let us be on our own in our own foolish lusts and we will kill ourselves.  Without the Lord's guidance, protection, and salvation, we would all perish.

(32) For all this they sinned still and did not believe in His wondrous works.

Even witnessing all that, the people continued to sin, and the Lord's wondrous works had no effect on them.

(33) Therefore their days He consumed in vanity and their years in trouble.

Because they continued to sin, God made their days full of fruitless wandering in the desert, in fact, years of wandering and trouble.

(34) When He slew them, then they sought Him, and they returned and enquired early after God.

When the Lord killed some of the people in His righteous wrath, the survivors would then seek Him first thing.

(35) And they remembered that God was their Rock and the High God their redeemer.

It was then that they remembered that God was their protection and strength and redeemer.  Even in God's anger, His actions are about bringing people back to Him, their only salvation.  Without Him, they die, so can His punishment be a bad thing if it brings us back to Him?

(36) Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, and they lied to Him with their tongues.

However, the people only honored God with their lips and apparently made promises they did not keep.

(37) For their heart was not right with Him, neither were they steadfast in His covenant.

Their hearts were not right with the Lord.  They were wavering and inconsistent in their faith and were not steadfast in their adherence to His covenant.

(38) But He, full of compassion, forgave iniquity and did not destroy; yes, many a time He turned His anger away and did not stir up all His wrath.

However, God, full of compassion and mercy for His people, forgave their iniquity and did not completely destroy them as they deserved.  Many times He turned His anger away and did not arouse all His anger, but the punishment was much less than the iniquity deserved.

(39) For He remembered that they were flesh, a wind that passes away and does not come again.

What a beautiful and loving thought!  God knew His people were only flesh, weak mortal creatures, easily destroyed and unable to come back.  In His love and mercy, He always saved at least a remnant of His people, never completely destroying them.

(40) How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, grieved Him in the desert!

The people very often provoked the Lord by their rebellion and many sins against Him.  They grieved His Holy Spirit.

(41) Yes, they turned back and tempted God and limited the Holy One of Israel.

The people often turned back away from God and limited Him.  Not that anyone can truly limit God's power, but we often try to put God in a box with our mere weak mortal ideas of what He should and can do.  We can't see the larger picture and know what a much greater work the Lord is doing.  Rather than praying for our silly insignificant wants, we should always desire His will as that is always much better than anything we can imagine.

(42) They did not remember His hand, the day when He delivered them from the enemy.

They did not remember the glorious works of His hand when He so remarkably delivered them from Pharaoh.  The parting of the Red Sea is perhaps one of the greatest miracles in the Old Testament, and the people so easily dismissed and forgot about it.

(43) How He had wrought His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the field of Zoan; (44) And had turned their rivers into blood, that they could not drink.

Just as remarkably awesome were all the miracles God did against the Egyptians each time Pharaoh refused to let God's people go.  He turned their rivers and streams into blood (Exodus 7:20), actual blood, not just the color of blood, so that they were unable to drink it.  John Gill, in his Exposition of the Bible, pointed out something I had not thought of when I studied that passage in Exodus.  He wrote that that particular plague was a righteous retaliation for drowning all the boy infants of the Israelites in the river (Exodus 1:22).

(45) He sent diverse sorts of flies among them which devoured them, and frogs which destroyed them.

The Lord sent a grievous swarm of flies into Egypt (Exodus 8:24) which was said to have corrupted their land which surely destroyed some of the inhabitants because of lack of food and perhaps disease.  He also sent frogs (Exodus 8:5) which would have destroyed them in a similar fashion.

(46) He also gave their increase to the caterpillar and their labor to the locust.

The Lord sent locusts to devour all of Egypt's produce on which much labor had been expended.  In Exodus 10:13, we are told only about the locusts, not the caterpillars.  However, the meaning of the original word "chasiyl" that was translated as "caterpillar" means more completely "the ravager, that is, a locust; caterpillar."

(47) He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore trees with frost.

The Lord rained down hail (Exodus 9:23) which covered the land like frost and killed the vines and the trees, actually every herb and tree of the field (Exodus 9:25).

(48) He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.

According to the account in Exodus 9:23, the Lord sent both hail and thunder and fire that ran along upon the ground, lightning, and it killed Egypt's cattle and flocks.

(49) He cast upon them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels.

The Lord had cast upon the Egyptians the fullness of His anger, that which He held back for the rebellious Israelites (verse 38 above).  He sent angels instructed by Him to destroy the Egyptians.  The Israelites, who had seen the full anger of the Lord, did not consider what He could justly do to them because of their rebellion.

(50) He made a way for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death but gave their life over to the plague; (51) And killed all the firstborn in Egypt, the chief of strength in the tabernacles of Ham.

The Lord forged ahead in His anger and did not spare their souls from death but gave them over to the plagues He sent.  He killed all the firstborn in Egypt, the pride and glory and heirs in Egypt, the posterity of Ham.

(52) But made His own people to go forth like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

However, the Lord did not harm His own people in the plagues but led them out of Egypt and guided them through the wilderness.

(53) And He led them on safely so that they feared not, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

The Lord led His people safely through the midst of the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but the waters covered the Egyptians who were chasing them.

(54) And He brought them to the border of His sanctuary, this mountain His right hand had purchased.

The Lord brought His people to the border of the land of Canaan, the land He had promised to His people that was acquired by His own power and goodness.  The mountain is probably Mount Moriah or Zion, referring to the same mountain, the mountain on which the temple was built, as it is believed that this psalm was actually written "after it was made known to David, by the prophet Gad, the place where the temple should be built; namely, on the very mountain" (Dr. John Gill).

(55) He cast out the heathen also before them and divided them an inheritance by line and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

The Lord cast out the heathen nations from their promised land and then divided the land into exact lots as an inheritance to each tribe.  Thus the Israelites dwelt in the tents of the heathens who had once lived there.

(56) Yet they tempted and provoked the Most High God and did not keep His testimonies, (57) But turned back and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers; they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

After all the goodness and provision of their Lord, the people provoked Him to anger because of their wickedness and disobedience.  They turned away from God and were unfaithful just as their fathers had been when the Lord first brought them out of Egypt.  They were turned aside like a crooked bow, or a bow that appears that it will carry an arrow straight but does not.

(58) For they provoked Him to anger with their high places and moved Him to jealousy with their engraved images.

The people provoked God to anger with their elevated places they built for other deities.  They moved Him to jealousy because of their worship of false idols.  The Lord's jealousy is a righteous one.  He was not jealous of the false idols, but rather because of His passionate love for His people as if a bride to Him, He was jealous and zealous for the relationship and did not want them destroyed by false gods that could do nothing for them.

(59) When God heard, He was wroth and greatly abhorred Israel.

When God heard His people worshipping false gods, He was very angry.  The original word "maas" which was translated as "abhorred" does not mean that God hated them.  Rather, it means that He rejected them, cast them away from Him as if He abhorred them.  But of course, God always acted as He did because He loved His people and desired for them to return to Him which was their only place of salvation.

(60) So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He placed among men, (61) And delivered His strength into captivity and His glory into the enemy's hand.

Chronologically, this refers to a future event, when God abandoned the tabernacle that had been erected for Him in Shiloh and allowed the Ark of the Covenant, called His strength and glory, to be taken by their enemy.

(62) He gave His people over also to the sword and was wroth with His inheritance.

The Lord allowed His people to be killed by the sword, 30,000 of them according to 1 Samuel 4:10.  He was very angry and turned away from the people He had chosen for His inheritance.  Without His protection, they were killed by the enemy.

(63) The fire consumed their young men, and their maidens were not given to marriage.

As this psalm is not truly placed in proper chronological order, once again events are being mentioned which I have not yet studied.  However, I believe the fire mentioned is not a physical fire, but rather a destructive war of fiery swords or even perhaps the righteous anger of the Lord consuming them like a fire.  Because the young men had been killed, young maidens were not able to marry.

(64) Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.

Even their priests were killed by the enemy and because of the fierce invasion, their widows were unable to have proper funerals or time for mourning.

(65) Then the Lord awoke as one out of sleep, like a mighty man who shouts because of wine. (66) And He struck His enemies in the hinder parts; He put them to a perpetual reproach.

It's not as if the Lord had truly been asleep and suddenly realized what was happening to His people.  But as one who had been asleep who suddenly awoke and shouted, the Lord decided the destruction of His people up to that point was enough, and He struck their enemies, making them defeated and scattered and unable to contend with Him.

That's the way I interpreted the verses, having no knowledge of what had actually happened since chronologically, this event had not yet occurred.  However, in studying commentators on these verses, the true meaning of striking the enemy in the hinder parts meant that He "smote them that troubled them with hemorrhoids in their posteriors" (Targum of the Jewish scriptures).  That brings a whole new meaning to their perpetual reproach or disgrace.  It seems in testimony of their humiliation, they sent golden "emerods" representing the disease as an offering to the Lord (1 Samuel 6:4).

(67) Moreover He refused the tabernacle of Joseph and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, (68) But chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which He loved.

The Lord refused to have His ark abide any longer in the tabernacle at Shiloh, a city in the tribe of Ephraim, the son of Joseph, when the ark was brought back by the Philistines.  He chose the tribe of Judah, out of which He chose David to be ruler and king, and He chose Mount Zion in Jerusalem for His temple of worship where the ark was placed.  Psalm 87:2 said that the Lord loved the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.  The Lord choosing Judah fulfilled prophecy in Genesis 49:8-10 which stated that indeed his brothers would praise him, and their descendants would bow down before him.  It prophesied that the king's scepter would not depart from that tribe until the Messiah came.

(69) And He built His sanctuary like the high, like the earth which He has established forever.

The Lord built His sanctuary exalted, as if it were on a high hill, prominent and permanent, not to be moved from place to place as the tabernacle had been, but established as firmly as the earth itself.

(70) He chose David also His servant and took him from the sheepfolds, (71) From following the ewes great with young, He brought him to feed Jacob His people and Israel His inheritance.

The Lord chose David, a simple shepherd boy, to be His servant and His people's king.  From attending and nourishing to bring up young sheep, the Lord brought David up to attend and shepherd His people, His inheritance, Israel.

(72) So he fed them accordingly to the integrity of his heart and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

David fed the Lord's people according to the integrity of his heart which was upright and pure, according to the will of God.  He guided them by his counsel and defended them by his power.  

Although this psalm was placed here chronologically because it detailed much of the history of the Israelites from Egypt through their forty years in the wilderness, it was composed during the time of David or even after.  Its main purpose was to show why Ephraim, or the ten tribes, had been rejected and Judah had been chosen to be the head of the nation.  

The Death of Moses

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Deuteronomy 34:1) And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is across from Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead to Dan,

The Lord had previously told Moses he would not be able to cross into their promised land (Numbers 20:12, Deuteronomy 32:51-52), but that He would allow him to see it.  Now Moses went up from the plains of Moab where the Israelites had been for some time and went onto the mountain of Nebo to Pisgah, the highest point of Nebo.  This was across from Jericho on the other side of the Jordan River.  The Lord began to show Moses the promised land as He had promised He would.  First the Lord directed him to behold the land of Gilead on that side of the Jordan where he was, which was the possession of the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh (Numbers 32), then to Dan, which was not the possession of the tribe of Dan, but rather a city in the farthest north of the promised land as seen in this map:

(2) And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, to the utmost sea, (3) And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, to Zoar.

The Lord showed Moses the promised land from the city of Dan in the north, to the lands of the tribes as they would soon be assigned, Naphtali, down through Manasseh and Ephraim, to Judah, to the sea, and to the southernmost part of the land.  He showed him the valley of Jericho near to them on the other side of the Jordan River.  If you click to enlarge the map, you can see Jericho in the tribe of Benjamin across from Mt. Nebo.  He showed him the whole plain from Jericho, called the city of palm trees, to Zoar, which was at the southern tip of the Salt or Dead Sea, as seen in this map:

As the tribal lands had not yet been assigned in Canaan, Joshua either wrote this chapter some time after the fact, or perhaps he wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit about what was to be.

(4) And the Lord said to him, "This the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants,' I have caused you to see with your eyes, but you shall not go over there."

The Lord told Moses that He was showing him the land He had promised to his forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to their descendants.  The Lord said He "caused" Moses to see it with his eyes.  When you think about it, it would not be possible for Moses to physically see all that land without some supernatural help.  The Lord blessed and allowed Moses to see the entire promised land but told him again that he would not be crossing over into it.

(5) So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.

Then Moses died there in the land of Moab as the Lord had said he would (Deuteronomy 32:50).  

(6) And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor, but no man knows of his sepulchre to this day.

Amazingly, the Lord Himself buried Moses!  He apparently buried him in the land of Moab across from Beth Peor which may have been in the same vicinity of Mount Peor near Mount Nebo and Pisgah.  However, even at the time of the writing of Joshua, no one had ever seen Moses's grave.  Perhaps the Lord hid it so that the people would not be susceptible to idolizing it and Moses himself.  Some think that perhaps Moses was carried away like Elijah, pointing to the transfiguration of Elijah and Moses with Jesus in Mark 9:4, inferring that Moses must have been in the same state after death as Elijah.  However, the two verses above state that Moses died and the Lord buried him.  Some point to an interesting scripture in Jude 1:9 that tells about Michael the archangel contending with the devil, disputing about the body of Moses.  That does seem to suggest something extraordinary about Moses's burial place.  But as scripture states, no one really knows; however, there may be symbolism in Moses's burial place or lack thereof.  John Gill wrote in his Exposition of the Bible, "...the death and burial of Moses were an emblem of the weakness and insufficiency of the law of Moses, and the works of it, to bring any into the heavenly Canaan..."

(7) And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

Moses was 120 years old when he died, and although he was in advanced age, his eyes were still clear and good, and his mind and body were sharp and strong.

(8) And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.

The Israelites mourned and wept for Moses there in the plains of Moab for thirty days, which was the usual time of mourning for someone of high place.  After thirty days, the weeping and mourning for Moses ended.

(9) And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him, and the children of Israel hearkened to him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses.

At that point Joshua was filled with the spirit of wisdom as Moses had laid hands on him and prayed for such, and the Lord had delivered.  Therefore the people listened to him and did just as the Lord had commanded Moses, acknowledging Joshua as Moses's successor.

(10) And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.

At the time of this writing, Joshua or whoever wrote this last chapter of Deuteronomy, said that there had not arisen a prophet like Moses who had known the Lord personally and conversed with Him.  "Face to face" is not to be taken literally, because no man could see the face of God and live (Exodus 33:20), but it is meant to say that Moses had a very familiar relationship with God.

(11) In all the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, (12) And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel.

There had not arisen a prophet like Moses who had done all the signs and wonders which the Lord had sent him to do in Egypt to Pharaoh and his servants and his land.  There had not arisen a prophet with so mighty a hand as had divided the Red Sea or as had done in all the great and terrible things that the Lord enabled Moses to show in the sight of all the Israelites.

So ended the life of Moses and the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, commonly called the Law of Moses.  I believe that we might argue that there never has been another prophet like Moses even to this day.  There would arise great prophets, but I'm not sure any can compare with the long-term familiarity and friendship Moses shared with God.  Moses was probably the most highly privileged prophet in all the awesome signs and wonders that God worked through him.  Moses was allowed to see God's glory and His back only, as again, no one could see God's face and live.  That sight made Moses's face shine like the sun which terrified the people when he returned to them.  Moses was the Old Testament figure who was mentioned the most times in the New Testament.  It is probably safe to say that Moses indeed was the greatest prophet until Jesus Christ, of whom Moses himself said, "The LORD your God will raise up to you a Prophet from the midst of you, of your brethren, like me; to Him you shall listen" (Deuteronomy 18:15).  God Himself confirmed that prophecy when He said of Jesus, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear Him" (Matthew 17:5), a probable allusion to "to Him you shall listen."  Moses was an Old Testament symbol of Christ.  God sent him to save His people, and he gave them God's law to live by.  Jesus came to save people from the consequences of the law that they were unable to uphold.  Indeed, Hebrews 3 compares Moses to Jesus, but of course pronounces Jesus as superior to Moses.  However, Moses was worthy to be compared to Jesus!  That is the highest honor and privilege of all.  Moses was a faithful servant and forerunner of Christ the Son of God and God Himself.

The Blessing of Moses

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Deuteronomy 33:1) And this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.

In the last chapter, Moses had recited the Song of Moses that the Lord had directed him to write and to teach to the people.  He now offered the following blessing to the people.

(2) And he said, "The Lord came from Sinai and rose up from Seir to them; He shined forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints; from His right hand a fiery law for them."

Moses began his blessing by stating that the Lord had come from Sinai, where His first appearance to Moses was.  He showed Himself to the Israelites in Seir like the sun when it rose up and continued shining on them to Paran.  He came with tens of thousands of saints or holy angels of heaven who attended Him in His great and glorious work of delivering His fiery law which came directly from Him, a law which pierced and penetrated the consciences of men like fire.

(3) "Yea, He loved the people, all His saints in Your hand, and they sat down at Your feet and shall receive of Your words."

Moses declared that the Lord loved His people Israel, and now calls them His saints in His hands, in His care and protection.  His people sat at His feet, perhaps alluding to them being at the foot of Mount Sinai when He gave the law from the top of the mount, and they received His words.

(4) "Moses commanded us a law, the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob."

Moses spoke of himself in the third person and said he had commanded to the people the law that had been given to them by the Lord Himself, they the congregation of Jacob considered His inheritance, His own special people.

(5) "And He was king in Jeshurun when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together."

The Lord was king in Israel, Jeshurun being another name He sometimes gave Israel, when the heads and tribes of Israel were gathered at Mount Sinai to hear the law recited by Moses.

(6) "Let Reuben live and not die, nor let his men be few."

Moses's blessing was that the tribe of Reuben live and not die, although Reuben had deserved to be cut off or greatly diminished because of his sin against his father (Genesis 49:4).  

(7) And this of Judah, and he said, "Hear Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him to his people; let his hands be sufficient for him and You be a help from his enemies."

Regarding Judah, Moses asked that the Lord hear the prayers of Judah, which John Gill believes "was eminently fulfilled in David, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and other kings."  Bring him back safely and victorious to his people and make him able to defend and provide for himself with the Lord's protection and preservation from his enemies.

(8) And of Levi he said, "Your Thummim and Your Urim be with Your holy one whom You tested at Massah, with whom you strove at the waters of Meribah, (9) Who said to his father and to his mother, 'I have not seen him;' neither did he acknowledge his brothers, nor knew his own children, for they have observed Your word and kept Your covenant."

Regarding Levi, Moses said that the Lord's Thummim and Urim, objects used to determine God's will worn by the high priest, be with Aaron of the tribe of Levi, the same Aaron the Lord had reproved and contended with at Massah and Meribah.  I believe the sense of verse 9 is that the Levite priests had no natural affection or respect for their parents and family over the Lord.  They followed God and His command fully and kept His covenant.

(10) "They shall teach Jacob Your judgments and Israel Your law; they shall put incense before You and whole burnt sacrifice upon Your altar."

The Levite priests would teach Jacob, that is Israel, the Lord's statutes and laws, and they were the only ones who could put incense on the altar before the Lord and offer whole burnt sacrifices on His altar.

(11) "Bless, Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands; strike through the loins of them who rise against him and of those who hate him that they rise not again."

Moses asked that the Lord bless Levi's substance because the Levites had no inheritance of their own and were wholly dependent on the Lord's blessing.  He asked that the Lord accept the work of the priests' hands in their administration of their priestly duties and thoroughly destroy those who would rise up against them.

(12) Of Benjamin he said, "The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him who shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between His shoulders."

Regarding Benjamin, the temple would be built in Benjamin's lot.  Benjamin was the beloved of his father Jacob and is so called the beloved of the Lord.  His tribe would dwell in safety near the temple of the Lord who would continually protect him and support him as a father might carry his son upon his shoulders.

(13) And of Joseph he said, "Blessed of the Lord his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that lies beneath, (14) And for the precious fruits by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon, (15) And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, (16) And for the precious things of the earth and its fullness, and the good will of Him who dwelt in the bush, let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, upon the top of the head of him separated from his brothers."

Regarding the tribe of Joseph, his land was blessed by the Lord and extremely fruitful, blessed by the precious rain from heaven, by the dew, by the deep springs of water coming out of the earth, by the light and warmth of the sun, and by the coolness and moisture put forth by the moon.  He was blessed by the excellent fruits, grapes, olives, and figs, which grew in the mountains, and the precious minerals that were contained there.  He would be blessed by all the precious things of the earth, and by the good will of the Lord who dwelt in the burning bush and appeared to Moses.  Let all these blessings come upon the tribe of Joseph, he who had been separated from his brothers when they sold him into slavery in Egypt.

(17) His glory the firstling of his bullock, and his horns the horns of unicorns; with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth, and they the ten thousands of Ephraim and they the thousands of Manasseh.

Joseph's glory was like that of a firstborn bull, an emblem of power and strength.  His horn was like the horn of a unicorn.  The unicorn in the Bible is not what we picture today.  It was more likely a now extinct wild bull with a single horn, more like a rhinoceros.  Wherever it is mentioned in the Bible, it is an animal of great strength.  That is the animal that could push the people together to the ends of the earth, referring to his enemies.  The tribes of Joseph were in his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.  Although Manasseh was the eldest son of Joseph, fewer people were ascribed to him and more to the younger Ephraim, according to Jacob's prediction in Genesis 48:19.

(18) And of Zebulun he said, "Rejoice Zebulun, in your going out, and Issachar, in your tents."

Moses blessed the tribe of Zebulun as it went out to sea as it was a maritime tribe with its portion of land by the sea, also predicted by Jacob in Genesis 49:13.  He included his brother Issachar in the blessing, who would be just as blessed, but in his tents, or at home with his land and his livestock.

(19) "They shall call the people to the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness, for they shall suck the abundance of the seas and of treasures hid in the sand."

Referring again to Zebulun, his people would call people back to the mountain, to the temple of God, where they would offer sacrifices of righteousness.  They would grow rich by their traffic on the seas and by treasures hidden in the sand, but they would not forget their duty at home, and they would even call Gentiles to the true faith in the one true God.

(20) And of Gad he said, "Blessed He who enlarges Gad; he dwells as a lion and tears the arm with the crown of the head."

Regarding the tribe of Gad, Moses first acknowledged the Lord who enlarged Gad, delivering him out of his troubles mentioned in Genesis 49:19 that he would overcome at last.  He would then dwell as a lion, bold, courageous, and secure, and would destroy his enemies, both the arm of their strength and the crown, their kings and governors.

(21) "And he provided the first part for himself, because there a portion of the lawgiver, seated, and he came with the heads of the people; he executed the justice of the Lord and his judgments with Israel."

Gad provided the first part of the promised land for himself because he asked for and was given it by Moses, the lawgiver.  There he seated and secured his wives and children, while he would go with the heads of the people into war against Canaan.  He and the rest of the Israelites would execute the judgment of God against the Canaanites.

(22) And of Dan he said, "Dan, a lion's whelp; he shall leap from Bashan."

The tribe of Dan was like a young lion, bold and strong, and able to leap from Bashan, a mountain place inhabited by many lions.  This is not meant to be said of Dan himself as his tribe doesn't have any special relationship with Bashan, but with the strong lion that leapt from the mountain of Bashan upon its prey.  The tribe of Dan was courageous and strong like that lion.

(23) And of Naphtali he said, "O Naphtali, satisfied with favor and full with the blessing of the Lord; possess the west and the south."

Naphtali would have great favor, perhaps among men, but mainly with God, and he would have great blessing of the Lord.  Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, pointed out the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun enjoyed wondrous favor from the Lord as Jesus spent most of His time there in Capernaum (Matthew 4:13,15, 9:1).  Jesus called Capernaum "exalted unto heaven" (Matthew 11:23).  All the commentators I study agree that possessing the west and the south did not mean the tribe of Naphtali would inhabit the west and the south, as they did not.  The main definition of "yam" that was transcribed as "west," is more often "sea."  "Darom" transcribed as "south" also meant "south wind" and may be used here in a characteristic way here to mean warm and sunny.  Naphtali would possess a warm and sunny sea region.  Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, wrote, "The possession of Naphtali included nearly the whole west coast of the Sea of Galilee, the Lake of Merom, the modern Bahr el Hulch, and the well watered district near the springs of Jordan. It contained some of the grandest scenery and some of the most fertile land in Palestine."

(24) And of Asher he said, "Asher blessed with children, let him be acceptable to his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil."

Asher would be blessed with large numbers, in union and harmony with the other tribes, and he would have such plenty that he would be able to dip his feet in oil, meaning not only anointing his head, but his feet also.

(25) "Your shoes iron and brass, and as your days, your strength."

It is said that mines of iron and copper were in Asher's portion, but this verse might also mean that the tribe was strong and steadfast.  Their strength would continue all their days; they would not become feeble with age.

(26) "None like the God of Jeshurun, riding upon the heaven to help you, and in His excellency on the sky."

There is no god who compares to the God of Israel.  Their almighty sovereign God of the heavens and the sky was there to help His people Israel.

(27) "The eternal God your refuge, and underneath the everlasting arms; and He shall thrust out the enemy from before you, and shall say, 'Destroy!'"

The eternal God was Israel's refuge and protection.  Underneath the everlasting arms of the eternal God, they were safe and secure.  God would thrust out their enemies from before them to clear the land for them and would direct them to carry out His righteous judgment by destroying them.

(28) "Israel then shall dwell in safety alone; the fountain of Jacob upon a land of corn and wine; also His heavens shall drop down dew."

Once their enemies were destroyed, Israel would dwell in safety alone.  I found the words of Adam Clarke on this verse to be profound, "This people shall not be incorporated with any other people under heaven. A prophecy which continues to be fulfilled to the very letter. Every attempt to unite them with any other people has proved absolutely ineffectual."  Even to this day there are attempts at a two-state solution in Israel which has never worked.  The descendants of Jacob that would spring forth as from a fountain would be in a fertile land abounding in corn and wine and all good things.  The Lord would continue to drop actual dew making the land fruitful, but also drop blessings as dew from heaven.

(29) "Happy, you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help and the sword of your excellency? And your enemies shall be found liars to you, and you shall tread upon their high places."

Israel should be the happiest in the world as there are no others like her, a people chosen and saved by the Lord, the one true God who shields and protects her and destroys her enemies and lifts her to excellency.  The Israelites' enemies would be found to be liars in that when they said they would destroy Israel, they would never be able to fulfill their intent.  Israel would possess their enemies' high places.

The Song of Moses in the last chapter highlighted the calamities that would befall Israel when she turned from God, but these blessings of Moses describe the glory and greatness that in God's love and mercy He would crown her.  Every tribe was blessed with the exception of Simeon.  Jacob had cursed Levi and Simeon as "instruments of cruelty" in Genesis 49:5 and said they would be scattered in Israel (Genesis 49:7).  In His mercy God chose the Levites to be His priests, but they would not have their own inheritance in the promised land.  Simeon was given only a select number of cities within Judah's inheritance (Joshua 19:1-9).