Christ in all the scriptures
The goodness of God Deuteronomy 32v5-18
Moses, having established the greatness of God, proceeds to declare His goodness. It is fair to say that greatness and goodness don't always go together. With God, however, His goodness is part of His greatness, and is worthy of our praise. Goodness could be defined in relation to the unworthiness of the object, and the magnitude of the grace bestowed. The scriptures establish the goodness of God amidst the ingratitude of men. Paul spoke, in Romans 2v4, of the riches of His goodness "Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness, and forbearance, and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" Scriptures abound with references to His goodness: some examples...
Exodus 34v6 "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth".
Psalm 23v6 "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever".
Psalm 34v8 "O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him".
Psalm 145v9 "The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works".
Matthew 7v11 "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good gifts to them that ask Him?"
James 1v17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow cast by turning".
Indeed, Jesus said that God is the very essence of good, that "...there is none good but one, that is God"-Mark 10v18. He is the standard of goodness in contrast to which the relative goodness of man is vastly inferior. We could say that the term "good" and the title God are synonymous.
Nowhere is this principle illustrated more than with His dealings with Israel. The perfection and excellency of God are in sharp contrast to the perversity and treachery of Israel. These are the redeemed people of God, but they have forsaken Him, pursuing other gods. This song is prophetic in character and declares the propensity of a redeemed people to forsake the Lord; the present church is no different if we read the New Testament warnings correctly. The seven churches in Revelation 2/3 prophesy that the history of Israel will be repeated in the churches. Note what is said about Israel in these verses Deuteronomy 32v5-18, in the light of God's grace toward them:
They have gone astray "They have corrupted themselves, their spot (blemish) is not that of His children: a perverse and crooked generation"32v5
Their behaviour is such they do not act as the children of God, rendering them corrupt, perverse and crooked. This is a withering condemnation of a people who have been the object of His grace. Paul paints the picture of what should be in Philippians 2v15, "That ye might be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world". There the crooked and perverse nation is the world; the sons of God should be the opposite, not following the ways of the world. These are strong words indeed, and are a warning to the people of God in every generation.
They were ungrateful "Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not He thy father that hath bought thee? hath He not made thee, and established thee?"-32v6
Requite just means to pay back. God, as a Father, bought them out of slavery, at great cost to Himself, and this is how they pay Him back? Before we condemn them, what are we doing to, in some small way, repay His blessings? The Psalmist asks the question that should be the watchword of all the redeemed, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?"-Psalm 116v12. The New Testament adds weight to this, "Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's"-1st Cor. 6v20. Redemption means much more than deliverance from sin's bondage; it also means we are His possession
They became self-centred instead of God centred "Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered (surrounded with material benefits); then he forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation"-32v15
Jeshurun is God's term of endearment toward His people. It means the "upright ones", those whom God has made right in His sight. The New Testament equivalent is "the justified ones". It comes from a Hebrew root meaning straight, which is the meaning of justification. They were anything but straight in practice, but God has justified them and He will finish the work to perfection. The word appears 4 times in scripture-Deuteronomy 32v15; 33v5; 33v26-27; Isaiah 44v1-2. Each time it appears in a poetic setting, and always portraying His covenant promises. He uses uses this term to describe His judicially perfect, if practically imperfect people. Readers should consult these four references. They had plentiful food and clothing, but they did not ascribe it to the Lord, and they forgot Him and lightly esteemed their salvation. This led to idolatry, substituting the God of glory for lesser objects of worship. The seventh church at Laodicea fell the same way, when they pursued material riches instead of the Lord. It is an ever present danger, that we forget the Giver and focus on the gifts, and we are living in similar conditions today. It is a day of material prosperity, and of spiritual poverty. The call is to overcome even in that situation, and return to the Lord.
In contrast to the folly of His people, God's faithfulness to them remains undiminished: in the words of Paul, "If we are unfaithful, yet He abideth faithful: He cannot deny Himself!"-2 Timothy 2v13. Consider His ways with them:
"Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations..." 32v7.
At this point Israel's relationship with God now spans many centuries, From Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to Joseph, and beyond, a family of seventy persons has become a nation with several millions, even through turbulent times, God's faithfulness to them, and prosperity of them is now historical. Preservation through slavery, deliverance from Egypt's bondage, sustenance through 40 years of desert conditions, and victory over strong enemies, has been their portion.
"When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel" 32v8.
This is an astonishing revelation, that when God divided the habitation of nations (Genesis chapters 10/11), He first allocated the land to Israel, knowing their number, then gave others their portion beyond that! This land that they were about to inhabit, was allocated to them after the scattering from Babel, and the allocation was "according to the number of the children of Israel". This land, which is being disputed to this present day, is, in biblical terms, "the glory of all lands"-Exodus 3v8v17; Ezekiel 20v6v15. The land given by the Most High to Israel, is the best real estate on earth in its splendour and its abundance. Perhaps this is why it is the subject of so much contention. The Most High will have the last word on this issue.
God's portion "For the Lord's portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance" 32v9 Israel are a very special people, and through them God will have an elect people vfrom all the nations on earth. We often major on our inheritance but the bible speaks of God's inheritance through us. A major biblical subject-refer Psalm 33v12 "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance"; Ephesians 1v18, "...the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints". We think of inheritance in terms of money or land, God's inheritance is the saints, all of them for His glory.
God's pity "He found them in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; He led them about, He instructed them, He kept him as the apple of His eye" 32v10.
He bypasses the deliverance from Egypt to focus on His preservation of them in a wasteland over many years. He led them, taught them, and kept them as His special people. The term "apple of His eye" is well known to mean those cherished, and deeply regarded above others. The human eye is most sensitive to the touch, and the apple of the eye is the most sensitive of all. The Lord of hosts says through the prophet Zechariah, "After the glory hath He sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye"-Zechariah 2v8.
God's protection "As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him" 32v11/12
Witness the total care and protection over her young, so the Lord preserves His own. This care will continue well into the future, as in a day yet to come, when Israel is under threat, scripture uses the same language, "And to the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time. and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent"-Revelation 12v14. The eagle is a powerful biblical principle, portraying God's protection, and swift deliverance from danger. References are: Exodus 19v4; Job 39v27-30; Isaiah 40v31; Jeremiah 48v40; Ezekiel 17v3.
God's provision "He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and He made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan (the best of meat), and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape" 32v13-14
They FEASTED IN A WILDERNESS at the hand of a God whose goodness knew no bounds! What could they expect in the land?! This is what God did with an erring, ungrateful people; what will He do with a sanctified, glorified people? Let our song be to the goodness of the God we adore.
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