Deuteronomy 33:1-29


The parting words of Moses to his people are words of love and encouragement.  He has instructed them, warned them and now he simply wants to demonstrate his love to them.  This is a beautiful picture of God’s love being wonderfully illustrated through the life of His servant Moses.  God has taught us His will through His Word, He has disciplined us because of our sin; but above all, He has loved us through the person of Christ.  God is holy and just and will never treat sin lightly.  However, His great love has moved Him to pay the price for our sin through His own Son.  We must always seek to view God completely, not ignoring either His love and mercy or His justice and holiness.  Moses has been faithful to demonstrate the holiness of God and to warn the children of Israel of God’s coming judgments; but he closes His messaged to the children of Israel with tender words of encouragement. 

GOD HAS CALLED: Moses begins this final word of encouragement by reminding the people that the Lord had called them from out of all the other nations of the world.  God had set them apart and determined to make them His own people.  He has planned to bless all of the nations of the world through Israel and has chosen them to be different from all of the other nations.  He has chosen to reveal Himself to this nation in a special way so that they would be able to reveal Him to the nations that were surrounding them.  As believes, we too have been set apart by God so that others might see God through us.  It is a wonderful thing to be used of God and be a part of what He is doing in this world.

GOD HAS BLESSED: Moses goes through each of the tribes of Israel and blesses them individually.  He has a word of love and encouragement that he wants to leave with every tribe.  Some of the tribes were given a position of prominence and their blessings were longer, but there was a blessing for every tribe.  God loves to bless His people; in fact, I believe that God longs to bless His people in ways that would confound our imagination.  He will demonstrate and fulfill this longing to bless when we get to heaven in a way that will demonstrate just how intent He is about loving and blessing us.  Today our sinfulness prevents us from experiencing the full blessings of God in our lives, but He continues to love and bless us in ways that far exceed our merits.  God loves us individually and relates with us as individuals as well as corporately as members of His body.  It is a wonderful thing to be loved and blessed by God.

GOD HAS PROTECTED: Moses finishes his words by pointing to God’s loving care through His constant protection.  He uses the figure of a bird that covers her children with her wings.  God is gentle, kind and sacrificially gives of Himself to protect us from the dangers and enemies of this world.  Israel would face enemies that were larger and stronger than they were, but God would always be there to protect them.  We will often face circumstances and trials that are greater than our ability to withstand, but God is faithful and able to protect us from these difficult days.  There is no circumstance or enemy that is stronger than God.  He may allow difficulties in our lives that we might grow and become stronger, but He will never allow trials that are above the strength that He provides to stand firm.  No matter what happens in this life, it is a blessing to Know that God is our protector and has given Himself in order to save us.

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