The Song of Moses

Audio Teaching

Notes

Text: Deut. 31:19-22 and Deut. 32:1-52 NASB95

Kehot Chumash Introduction

“[T]he purpose of this poem is not just to review the contractual terms of our covenant with God, but, as Moses says immediately after the poem: “Pay close attention to all of the words that I testify to you today.” We are bidden to consider all these things, take them to heart, and draw the proper conclusions. This poem and its message—that God takes our commitment to Him seriously and that our behavior can determine the course of history—are meant to infuse our lives and our relationship with God with enthusiasm, focus, and yes, even joy. This becomes even clearer when we note that the finale of the poem is God’s promise of messianic Redemption. From this perspective, all our turbulent history can be seen as leading toward our ultimate radiant destiny. The fact that this review of past failings and prophetic admonition for the future ends on this positive, hopeful note transforms the entire poem from a dirge into an exultant, joyful hymn.

šWhat remains to be explained is why the recitation of the poem was spread over specifically six weeks, resulting in the division of the poem into six sections. The primary significance of the number six is its being the number of weekdays, so we may infer that the six divisions of the poem for the Sabbath Temple ritual were meant to correspond to the six different psalms that were recited for the daily Temple ritual. Sunday’s psalm corresponds to the first of the six sections of Ha’azinu, Monday’s psalm to the second section of Ha’azinu, and so on.

The psalms sung to accompany the daily sacrifice described the various facets of God’s relationship to creation, as reflected in the events that occurred on the six days of the Creation week. The Ha’azinu poem, in contrast, describes God’s relationship with the Jewish people and their connection to the Torah, as reflected in their collective history. The psalms and their corresponding segments of Ha’azinu thus describe, respectively, the corresponding facets of God’s relationship with creation, on the one hand, and with the Jewish people, on the other.

Thus, just as the various steps in creation were stages in the process of bringing the world to its completion, which in turn was the prerequisite for the world’s fulfilling its purpose of becoming God’s ultimate home, so are the various epochs in Jewish history—even the blemished ones—stages in the process leading toward the ultimate Redemption, in which the world will once again become God’s ultimate home.

The same applies to our own personal histories: we learn from Ha’azinu that we should consider all phases of our life, even those marked by embarrassing failures or suffering, as necessary stages in personal growth, all leading to our eventual maturation as human beings fully devoted to our Divine mission and equipped to fulfill it.”

Deut. 32:1-27

• v. 2 – This is a teaching (in the form of a warning) and a prophecy (as we will see toward the end of the chapter).
• v. 7 – Remember the days of old: both the sins of the forefathers and their obedience. Sin brings the curse, and obedience brings the blessing (see 27:1-28:67)
• vv. 9-10 – The LORD’s portion is His people.
  • The sins they committed did not nullify the eternal covenant.
  • Deut. 30:19-20 “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, 20 by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
  • Jer. 31:35-40 – This fixed order will not cease, so Israel will not cease to be a nation.
  • Isa. 66:8-24 – Even though Israel has been scattered throughout history, the promise of the land remained (Israel became a nation again in 1948), and God has been regathering the Jews to Israel since that moment.
  • Isa. 41:8-16

Deut. 32:29-47

v. 29 – The end of days is being prophesied.

v. 39 – All nations will recognize the God of Israel

Kehot Chumash Commentary (vv. 43, 47):

“When the messianic Redemption occurs it will become clear to the whole world why God chose the Jews to be His people. Our role [the Jewish people] as the priests and teachers of humanity will finally be universally acknowledged, and our redeeming contributions to human civilization will be fully appreciated. The nations of the world will do whatever they can to aid the Jews in their Divine mission of bringing the world to its fullest potential. Educating the world to appreciate not only God but God’s people is therefore an integral part of preparing the world for the Redemption and hastening it.”

“The Torah contains all the instrctions and lessons that every individual needs in order to live his or her life in accordance with God’s expectation. This is as it should be, for the Torah is the “blueprint” that God used to create the world. If for some reason we are not sure what the Torah requires in a specific situation, we are bidden to consult with qualified Torah Scholars, who have learned from their own teachers, how to correctly apply Torah’s wisdom to our lives.”

• Micah ch. 4

Closing

This is why I teach the Jewish roots of the Christian faith; this is why I stand with Israel – Because everything began with a man named Abraham, whom people called a Hebrew, and his lineage of Issac and Jacob became known as the Jewish people. I teach from a Hebraic perspective and consult Jewish wisdom in my studies because the New Testament begins with the words, “The record of the geneology of Jesus (Yeshua) the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” As it turns out, the New Testament isn’t as new as most of us think.