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Texts -- Deuteronomy 32:26-38 (NET)

Context
The Weakness of Other Gods
32:26 “I said , ‘I want to cut them in pieces . I want to make people forget they ever existed. 32:27 But I fear the reaction of their enemies , for their adversaries would misunderstand and say , “Our power is great , and the Lord has not done all this !”’ 32:28 They are a nation devoid of wisdom , and there is no understanding among them. 32:29 I wish that they were wise and could understand this , and that they could comprehend what will happen to them.” 32:30 How can one man chase a thousand of them, and two pursue ten thousand ; unless their Rock had delivered them up , and the Lord had handed them over ? 32:31 For our enemies’ rock is not like our Rock , as even our enemies concede . 32:32 For their vine is from the stock of Sodom , and from the fields of Gomorrah . Their grapes contain venom , their clusters of grapes are bitter . 32:33 Their wine is snakes ’ poison , the deadly venom of cobras . 32:34 “Is this not stored up with me ?” says the Lord, “Is it not sealed up in my storehouses ? 32:35 I will get revenge and pay them back at the time their foot slips ; for the day of their disaster is near , and the impending judgment is rushing upon them!” 32:36 The Lord will judge his people , and will change his plans concerning his servants ; when he sees that their power has disappeared , and that no one is left, whether confined or set free . 32:37 He will say , “Where are their gods , the rock in whom they sought security , 32:38 who ate the best of their sacrifices , and drank the wine of their drink offerings ? Let them rise and help you; let them be your refuge !

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Unpardonable Sin; Deuteronomy 32:9-29; Plan Your Departure!; Plan Your Departure!

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • God's recounting the news of the golden calf to Moses gives the reader the divine perspective on Israel's sin. Moses stressed three points in this pericope."These three points--idolatry of the golden calf, Israel's stiff-neck...
  • I. Introduction: the covenant setting 1:1-5II. Moses' first major address: a review of God's faithfulness 1:6-4:40A. God's past dealings with Israel 1:6-3:291. God's guidance from Sinai to Kadesh 1:6-462. The march from Kades...
  • Having completed the major addresses to the Israelites recorded to this point in Deuteronomy, Moses needed only to make a few final arrangements before Israel was ready to enter the land. The record of these events concludes ...
  • One writer called the Song of Moses "one of the most impressive religious poems in the entire Old Testament."336It contrasts the faithfulness and loyal love of God with the unfaithfulness and perversity of His people. As othe...
  • The same day Moses gave his song to the Israelites God directed him to prepare for his death (v. 48; cf. Num. 27:12-14). Mt. Nebo is one of the peaks in the Abarim range that stands to the east of the Arabah northeast of the ...
  • Adams, Jay. Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible. Phillipsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1980.Albright, William Foxwell. The Archaeology of Palestine. 1949. Revised ed. Pelican Archaeology seri...
  • 4:1-3 As long as Ehud lived he kept Israel faithful to God (v. 1). However after he died, God's people again turned from the Lord. In discipline God allowed the Canaanites in the North to gain strength and dominate the Israel...
  • The object lesson that David presented to Saul had a double application. David proved that he was not trying to kill Saul because Saul was the Lord's anointed. Furthermore he showed that it was inappropriate for Saul to seek ...
  • The combination of David's final song (ch. 22) followed by his last testament (23:1-7) recalls the similar combination of Moses' final song and his last testament (Deut. 32 and 33). This was David's final literary legacy to I...
  • The central subject of 1 and 2 Chronicles is the temple of God. Someone evidently wrote these books at the end of the Babylonian exile to encourage the Israelites to reestablish Israel's national life in the Promised Land. In...
  • Any attempt to fulfill God's desires will almost certainly draw opposition from God's enemies."The real test of a leader is how he or she faces crises and reacts to opposition. This chapter recounts several forms of oppositio...
  • The psalmist rejoiced over God's character and His blessings to him (vv. 30-45), and he vowed to continue to praise Him forever (vv. 46-50). The purpose of the psalm is praise, not boasting.18:30-31 God's way is perfect, and ...
  • David began this psalm as he did many others by asking God to give attention to his prayer. He evidently felt separated from his own people and his secure surroundings on this occasion. The rock he requested may have been a l...
  • This didactic psalm teaches present and future generations to learn from the past, and it stresses the grace of God."This could be sub-titled, in view of verses 12 and 68, From Zoan to Zion, for it reviews the turbulent adole...
  • 94:16-19 After looking everywhere for some consolation during the temporary ascendancy of the wicked, the psalmist found it only in God. If God had not strengthened him he would have died, slipped in his walk with God, and be...
  • 109:21-25 David asked the Lord to deal with him in harmony with His loyal love for the sake of God's reputation. David had sought to follow the Lord faithfully, and God had promised to bless people who did that. However, Davi...
  • There are several thematic connections between this chapter and chapter 28.298The general structure of the chapter is chiastic."AContemporary events: Egypt no help (1-7)BComing human events: the refusal of the word, the way o...
  • This oracle is similar to the one in Isaiah 15 and 16.555Other oracles against Moab appear in Ezekiel 25:8-11, Amos 2:1-3, and Zephaniah 2:9, but this is the longest one. It is very difficult to say when Jeremiah gave this or...
  • Jeremiah first viewed Jerusalem's destruction as an outsider looking in. Verses 1-7 describe the extent of the desolation and verses 8-11 its cause.1:1 Jeremiah bewailed the abandoned city of Jerusalem that had once been so g...
  • This is the first in a series of three parables designed to impress on the overly optimistic exiles that there was no possibility that Jerusalem would escape destruction (cf. chs. 16-17).15:1-2 The Lord asked Ezekiel how the ...
  • 4:15 The Lord warned the Israelites not to pollute their brethren in the Southern Kingdom with their unfaithfulness. He also warned them not to go to the pagan shrines and take an oath in His name since they did not really wo...
  • "The opening verses of Nahum form a prologue dominated by the revelation of God's eternal power and divine nature in creation (cf. Rom 1:20). As in Romans 1:18-32, this revelation is characterized preeminently by God's justic...
  • Habakkuk now changed from describing the manifestation of God and the inanimate and animate reactions to it to a description of His acts on the earth.3:8 With rhetorical questions Habakkuk affirmed that Yahweh was not angry w...
  • 5:38 Retaliation was common in the ancient Near East. Frequently it led to vendettas in which escalating vengeance continued for generations. Israel's "law of retaliation"(Lat. lex talionis) limited retaliation to no more tha...
  • 16:18 "I say to you"(cf. 5:18, 20, 22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44; 8:10) may imply that Jesus would continue the revelation the Father had begun. However the phrase occurs elsewhere where that contrast is not in view. Undoubtedly it ...
  • Jesus began His farewell address (cf. Moses, Deut. 31-33; Joshua, Josh. 23-24; Paul, Acts 20) with an object lesson....
  • This part of Jesus' private ministry has many connections with the preceding Upper Room Discourse. In the Old Testament, prayers often accompanied important farewell discourses (cf. Gen. 49; Deut. 32-33). The main theme is Je...
  • 12:14 Paul repeated Jesus' instruction here (Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:27-28). To persecute means to pursue. Blessing involves both wishing God's best on people and praying for them."The principle of nonretaliation for personal inju...
  • The point of this example is that God's people can practice idolatry, and persisting in idolatry has dire consequences. Paul stressed the similarity of experience that the church, the Corinthian church particularly, and Israe...
  • The writer turned from positive admonition to negative warning to highlight the seriousness of departing from the Lord."Between the imperatives of vv. 22-25 and 32, 35, the author describes, more fully than in 2:2f.; 6:4-6, t...
  • 2:4 Not only is Jesus Christ the source of the believer's spiritual sustenance, He is also our foundation. Peter not only changed his metaphor from growth to building, but he also changed it from an individual to a corporate ...
  • 20:11 This "And I saw"introduces something else John saw in this vision (cf. 19:11, 17, 19; 20:1, 4, 12; 21:1, 2). The continuation of chronological progression seems clear from the continued use of "And"to introduce new info...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Deut. 32:31Moses is about to leave the people whom he had led so long, and his last words are words of solemn warning. He exhorts them to cleave to God. The words of the text simply mean that the history of the nation had suf...
  • Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto wrath.' Do not take the law into your own hands, but leave God's way of retribution to work itself out. By avenging, the Apostle means a passionate redress of private wrongs...
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