Deuteronomy 33:27

_THE ETERNAL GOD IS THY REFUGE, AND UNDERNEATH ARE THE EVERLASTING ARMS: AND HE SHALL THRUST OUT THE ENEMY FROM BEFORE THEE; AND SHALL SAY, DESTROY THEM._ No JFB commentary on this verse....

27._The eternal God is thy refuge. _This is just as if he had said that the Israelites were protected from above by the help of God, and also based, as it were, upon Him. The beginning of the prayer corresponds with that other in Psalms 90:1, “Lord_, _thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.” The sum is, that although the Israelites might be exposed to many injuries, still there was secure repose for them under the shadow of God’s wings; and assuredly unless the hand of God had been like a roof to protect them, they would have perished a thousand times over. But, inasmuch as it would not be sufficient for our heads to be in safety, the other point is also added, viz., that God’s arms should be stretched forth to sustain them from beneath. He calls them “everlasting,” because the security of the pious, who rely upon God, is never shaken: it is, therefore, just as thou

26-29 None had such a God as Israel. There is no people like the Israel of God. What is here said of the church of Israel is to be applied to the spiritual church. Never were people so well seated and sheltered. Those who make God their habitation, shall have all the comforts and benefits of a habitation in him, Psalms 91:1. Never were people so well supported and borne up. How low soever the people of God are at any time brought, everlasting arms are underneath them, to keep the spirit from sinking, from fainting, and their faith from failing. Divine grace is sufficient for them, 2 Corinthians 12:9. Never were people so well commanded. Thus believers are more than conquerors over their spiritual enemies, through Christ that loved them. Never were people so well secured and protected. Israel shall dwell i...

Verse Deuteronomy 33:27. _THE ETERNAL GOD_] אלהי קדם _elohey kedem_, the _former_ God; HE who was of _old_. Not like the gods which were _lately_ come up. HE who ever was and ever will be; and HE who _was_, _is_, and _will be_ unchangeably holy, wise, just, and merciful. Genesis 21:33. _EVERLASTING ARMS_] As the _arm_ is the emblem of _power_, and of power in a state of _exertion_, the words here state that an unlimited and unconquerable power shall be eternally exerted in the defence of God's _Church_, and in the behalf of all those who trust in Him. _THRUST OUT THE ENEMY_] He will expel all the ancient inhabitants, and put thee in possession of their land....

THY REFUGE - Rather, “dwellingplace.” Compare Psalms 90:1; Psalms 91:9....

EXPOSITION MOSES' BLESSING. Before ascending Mount Nebo, to take a view of the land he was not permitted to cuter and then to die, Moses took farewell of the people he had so long guided and ruled, by pronouncing on them a blessing in their several tribes. This blessing was probably spoken on the same day as the song recorded in the preceding chapter, and to the same assembly. The one may be regarded as the counterpart of the other. In the song, Moses dwells chiefly on the calamities that were to befall the people because of their apostasy; in the blessing, he depicts the benefits that were to be enjoyed by them through the Divine favor. The tone of the one is somber and minatory; the tone of the other is serene and cheering. The one presents the darker side, the other the brighter side, of Israel's fortunes. Both were fitting utterances for the occasion: the one the farewell warning, t...

THE ETERNAL GOD [IS THY] REFUGE,.... God is eternal, from everlasting to everlasting; the Ancient of days, before all things, and all time; which is, and was, and is to come: the same is true of Christ, who is the everlasting Father, or Father of eternity, the true God, and eternal life; as appears from his nature, having the whole fulness, all the perfections of deity in him; from his office, as Mediator, in which he was set up from everlasting; from his concern in eternal election, in the everlasting covenant, and in the creation of all things out of nothing: and he is the refuge of his people, the antitype of the cities of refuge, to whom sinners, under a sense of sin, flee for refuge; and where they are safe from avenging justice, the wrath of God, the condemnation of the law, everlasting ruin and destruction, or the second death; or their "mansion", or "dwelling place" k; which he h...

3. THE BLESSING OF MOSES Chapter S 32:44-33:29 _ 1. Introduction (Deuteronomy 32:44)_ 2. Jehovah's manifestation (Deuteronomy 33:1) 3. The blessing of Reuben, Judah and Levi (Deuteronomy 33:6) 4. The blessing of Benjamin and Joseph (Deuteronomy 33:12) 5. The blessing of Zebulon and Issachar (Deuteronomy 33:18) 6. The blessing of Gad, Dan, Nephtali and Asher ...

DEUTERONOMY 33. THE BLESSING OF MOSES. Of this poem (quite unconnected with the context) the following statements may be made: (_a)_ It was composed during the prosperous reign of Jeroboam II (786- 746 B.C.) A date after the disruption is required by Deuteronomy 33:7; a period of prosperity by Deuteronomy 33:13. Prior to 786 B.C. Israel had been ruled by petty kings, and after 746 B.C. the Northern Kingdom had a long and disastrous struggle with Damascus. (_b)_ The writer belonged to the Northern Kingdom, and therefore gives far more prominence to Israel (Joseph) than to Judah. (_c)_ He was a member of the priestly class (Deuteronomy 33:8). Accepting the above conclusions, it follo

REFUGE. abode. Psalms 90:1; Psalms 91:9. Or, "Above is the everlasting God And beneath are His everlasting arms. " ARMS. Put by Figure of speech _Metonymy_ (of Subject), App-6, for the strength which is in them. Also Figure of speech _Anthropopatheia._ App-6....