Deuteronomy 32:39

_SEE NOW THAT I, EVEN I, AM HE, AND THERE IS NO GOD WITH ME: I KILL, AND I MAKE ALIVE; I WOUND, AND I HEAL: NEITHER IS THERE ANY THAT CAN DELIVER OUT OF MY HAND._ See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me. Profit by the lessons of dear-bought experience, and retain an abiding conviction henceforth of the impotence of idols, and at the same time of the being and absolute perfections of the great God who, as sovereign ruler of men, will show mercy and favour to His people, but will inflict upon those who oppose Him judicial vengeance, which no power can avert or escape....

39_See now that 1, even I, am he. _Those who attribute the preceding verses to the unbelievers, now introduce God speaking, as it were, abruptly, and asserting His glory, in rebuke of their blasphemies. But it is rather a confirmation of that holy boasting which He has just dictated to the believers, when God not only bids His people lift up their voices against the idols, but Himself comes forward to condemn the senselessness of the Gentiles; although the context clearly shows that He addresses Himself to the faithful, After, therefore, He has exhorted His people to despise the idols, He now adds that He supplies them with ample grounds of confidence in Himself. For when He bids them “look,” He signifies that no obscure manifestation of His power is before their eyes, if they will only pay attention to it. The repetition of the pronoun I is emphatic, both to arouse the people from their...

39-43 This conclusion of the song speaks, 1. Glory to God. No escape can be made from his power. 2. It speaks terror to his enemies. Terror indeed to those who hate him. The wrath of God is here revealed from heaven against them. 3. It speaks comfort to his own people. The song concludes with words of joy. Whatever judgments are brought upon sinners, it shall go well with the people of God....

Verse 39. _SEE NOW THAT I _- AM _HE_] Be convinced that God alone can save, and God alone can destroy, and that your idols can neither _hurt_ nor _help_ you. _I KILL, AND I MAKE ALIVE, C._] My mercy is as great as my justice, for I am as ready to save the penitent as I was to punish the rebellious....

SONG OF MOSES If Deuteronomy 32:1 be regarded as the introduction, and Deuteronomy 32:43 as the conclusion, the main contents of the song may be grouped under three heads, namely, (1) Deuteronomy 32:4, the faithfulness of God, the faithlessness of Israel; (2) Deuteronomy 32:19, the chastisement and the need of its infliction by God; (3) Deuteronomy 32:34, God’

EXPOSITION SONG OF MOSES AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF HIS DEATH. In accordance with the Divine injunction, Moses composed an ode, which he recited in the hearing of the people, and committed to writing, to remain with them as a witness for God against them. With this end in view, the ode is directed principally to a contrasting of the unchanging faithfulness of the Almighty with the anticipated perversity and unfaithfulness of his people. The poem may be divided into six parts. 1. An introduction (Deuteronomy 32:1), in which the importance of the doctrine to be delivered is announced. 2. The blamelessness and excellency of Jehovah are placed in contrast with the corruptness and perversity of

SEE NOW THAT I, [EVEN] I, [AM] HE,.... Which words are directed to the people of God in their low estate, to look to Christ, and expect deliverance and salvation from him; or to their enemies that insult them, to the despisers, to look, and wonder, and perish, as they will, when the witnesses slain by them shall arise, and go up to heaven in their sight, Revelation 11:11; they are spoken by the Word and Son of God, to whom the Father has committed all judgment, and who will now rise up and execute it; so the Targum of Jonathan, "when the Word of the Lord shall reveal himself to redeem his people, he will say to all people, see now, c.'' and who will declare himself to be the great Jehovah, the self-existent Being, the eternal and immutable I AM for this phrase is expressive of his existence, eternity, immutability, and sovereignty; and which the above Targum

2. THE SONG OF MOSES CHAPTER 32:1-43 _ 1. The introduction and the theme (Deuteronomy 32:1)_ 2. The foolish people (Deuteronomy 32:5) 3. How Jehovah loved them (Deuteronomy 32:7) 4. Their apostasy (Deuteronomy 32:15) 5. The results of the apostasy (Deuteronomy 32:19) 6. Jehovah's final dealing with Israel (Deuteronomy 32:34) 7. The glorious consummatio

Moses'song is a didactic poem, a theodicy in which Yahweh's ways are vindicated. In its sentiments and artistic form it is unsurpassed in the poetry of the OT. Its dominant theme is Yahweh's justice and lovingkindness to Israel notwithstanding the nation's sinfulness. It is impossible to fix the date of this poem with any confidence. But points of contact with Jer., Isaiah 40-55, Ezek., and the Wisdom literature suggest the closing years of the Exile (say 550 B.C.). Moses is certainly not the author, for to the latter the Exodus belongs to his distant past (Deuteronomy 32:7), and the Israelites are already in Canaan (Deuteronomy 32:13 f.). The words translated doctrine (Deuteronomy 32:2), abominations ...

I, EVEN I, AM HE. Compare Isaiah 44:8. I KILL. Compare 1 Samuel 2:6; 2 Kings 5:7. I WOUND. Compare Job 5:18; Hosea 6:1....