Deuteronomy 32:23 – 27 “I will heap disasters upon them; I will spend My arrows against them. They will be wasted from hunger and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them, with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust. Outside, the sword will take their children, and inside, terror will strike the young man and the young woman, the infant and the gray-haired man. I would have said that I would cut them to pieces and blot out their memory from mankind, if I had not dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest their adversaries misunderstand and say: ‘Our own hand has prevailed; it was not the LORD who did all this.’”
The Song of Moses continues as God describes what will happen to faithless Israel. Disasters will mount up – famine, plagues, attacks by wild beasts and venomous snakes, attacks by enemies and night terrors. Reading this list, you might wonder why anybody would ignore such warnings. God even goes so far as to advise the Israelites that the only reason He will not wipe them off the face of the earth and blot out the memory of them is because He has regard for His own Name. God refuses to allow the enemies of Israel to take credit for what He will do.
Were there tribes whose names were blotted out? Yes. There were several ancient groups whose existence was thought to be a myth until the rise of modern archaeology. Recent discoveries have continued to prove the accuracy of the Biblical accounts. For example, until the latter half of the nineteenth century, the only mention of the Hittites was found in the Old Testament. It was not until a number of discoveries in several different locations came to light that the Hittite Empire was proven to have existed and to have been quite powerful. (Wikipedia – The Hittites)
Eventually, ten tribes split off from Judah and Benjamin to form the Kingdom of Israel in the north, while Judah and Benjamin formed the Kingdom of Judah. Those ten tribes were Asher, Dan, Ephraim, Gad, Issachar, Manasseh, Naphtali, Reuben, Simeon, and Zebulun. These ten tribes are sometimes referred to as the “lost tribes of Israel” because they were conquered early by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. and assimilated so completely that they disappeared as recognizable entities. Only the exiles from Judah and Benjamin made it back to re – settle Israel in 586 B.C. The Kingdom of Israel embraced idolatry from its founding and received due punishment. The Kingdom of Judah held out longer due to some righteous kings who brought revival periodically.
APPLICATION: In a previous devotional, I mentioned an elderly friend whose faith was increased when she witnessed the return of the Jews to Israel as predicted in the Bible. Here in the Song of Moses God gives a preview of the disasters that eventually overtook the Israelites.
God knows the end from the beginning. The amazing aspect of this song is that God promises to preserve some of the Israelites so that their enemies cannot claim to have succeeded in wiping them off the face of the earth. God is not going to preserve the Israelites for any virtue of their own but to guard His reputation among the nations.
Why is God worried about His reputation? God’s plans were never just about the Israelites; God always had a plan for all the nations of the earth. The Israelites were to demonstrate God’s goodness and love for any people that would serve Him. There were probably a number of nations who knew the origins of the Israelites. God wanted those nations to witness the transformation of the Israelites into a holy nation for themselves. Unfortunately, there were many who thought God only wanted to bless them and even then they failed to obey His commands.
God’s plans are always more inclusive than we can imagine. John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God loves the entire world without exceptions. When Jesus died on the cross at Calvary, He died for the sins of the entire world. Saul the Pharisee who persecuted Christians changed to Paul the Apostle when he had a vision of Jesus and realized the truth of the crucifixion and resurrection. Paul spent the rest of his life reaching out to as many people as possible. We need to make sure that our vision is as comprehensive as God’s.
Those of us who claim to follow God need to make sure that we do not represent bad advertising! I remember an incident that took place during my surgical residency. We had discharged a man from a Veterans Administration hospital; however, his wife did not agree with the discharge and began screaming at me. As this lady was demanding her husband’s rights, she was literally hopping up and down in her rage. Pinned to this lady’s lapel was a rhinestone pin that proclaimed “Jesus is Lord.” By that point, I was a believer; however, had I not already been a Christian, this lady’s tirade might have convinced me to have nothing to do with Christianity!
The ancient Israelites learned the Song of Moses but never took it to heart and likely failed to teach it to their children. Sometimes God tries to warn us away from bad choices. Do we pay attention or do we try to force to get our own way? If we have chosen a plan of action only to find we have no peace, it’s time to go to God in prayer and see if we are only trying to do our will and not His.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to ask for Your directions and then follow them. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
Burunche's Blog 
January 24, 2022 at 7:01 pm
As always, well said