Intro: Welcome to the Spoken Gospel Podcast. Spoken Gospel is a nonprofit dedicated to the idea that every part of the Bible, Old Testament and New, is about Jesus. And this podcast is our experiment to publicly test that belief. Every episode, hosts David Bowden and Seth Stewart work through a biblical text to see how it helps us see and savor Jesus.
David: Let's jump in. Well, welcome everyone to the Spoken Gospel podcast and the last episode in the Torah series.
Seth: The final episode.
David: Yeah.
Seth: I think it's 75 episodes.
David: Is it?
Seth: It took us. I think so.
David: That's a lot. I know we had a few little specials in there.
Seth: We did. So we were still talking about the Torah. Yeah, that's true. It was all like Torah related.
David: Yeah, we did a couple Psalm episodes. Oh, we did.
Seth: You're right.
David: But still. Probably like 70 though.
Seth: It's crazy.
David: A lot of—
Seth: I think I was trying to add up all the hours that I spent doing this. I think it's like at least 200. Wow.
David: Like, I mean, because studying, studying, talking about it. Yeah, 200 hours at least processing the Torah. And we've talked like it has radically changed the way we read our whole Bibles.
Seth: Yeah.
David: Even as you were praying before we started, you know, you mentioned as we wrap up the Torah, which is the foundation of the whole Bible, which it is. And like, I think that's just like a really helpful way to see it is like it's not this thing to sludge through at the beginning of your Bible before you get to the juicy stuff. It's the foundation.
Seth: What would you hope for yourself and for our listeners as we end the Torah? Like, hey, you've walked with us through the Torah for this long. What would you hope would be true? What are you praying would be true, like, of our listeners and for yourself and for your family?
David: And like, yeah, I think I would, I would hope that you have a renewed love for the Old Testament, that walking through this has made you go like, man, I really want to spend more time in these parts of the Bible, that you've just found them beautiful and you want to continue to find them beautiful, to continue to use them as meditative literature to see Jesus. Yeah. And then I also like kind of just hope that it creates a longing for Jesus in people. That it's like, man, I'm really glad that I'm not under Leviticus anymore, you know? And like that, yeah, I don't— like, I don't need the law to tell me what's right and wrong because I have the Holy Spirit. That it makes us long for and appreciate and worship Jesus.
Seth: I keep thinking, like, the good news that the Torah gives us, um, I mean, obviously sacrifice in Leviticus, but like, especially as we round out Deuteronomy, it's like that the law of God would like live in our hearts. It's like God himself would be with us and we would know how to obey him. Yeah, which sounds like— I mean, like, classic Christians want to obey God more, but like, like we talked about, I think about last week, just like intuitively understanding what God wants us to do in new situations. I'm like, man, like, I can't tell how many situations there are right now that the Bible never addresses, right? So the Torah doesn't address a ton of issues that need to be addressed in order to govern a society. But scripture doesn't address, right, thousands of issues in my life, hundreds of decisions. I mean, I think somebody said like we make a decision every 7 minutes. Like, you know what I mean? Like, so like, I could— God could have given us a law book for every single one of those possible decisions.
David: Yep.
Seth: But he didn't.
David: Nope.
Seth: And he promises in the Torah a Holy Spirit to guide us to make those decisions intuitively. It's like, man, I really want that. Like, I really want a Holy Spirit, that the good news of an indwelling God with us, the cloud of fire, the pillar of smoke living inside me, directing me when I don't have a clear revelation of what I'm supposed to do. Not that scripture is not supposed to guide me. I'm not supposed to go there for principles. Yeah, but like, I want to intuit a new situation, like the law. God's word, the ethic of Jesus's love in all situations. Like, yeah, like, I just want that. I want that.
David: Yeah. I want that for our people that are listening to this.
Seth: And I also think like, that's what the book of Deuteronomy wants you to believe in. Like, that's what it hopes for its people. The good news is that you know the law and could live long in the land. Like, and I want that. I want to have a good life here. In this land that I live in, but also the promised land to come.
David: Yeah. That's what I was going to say. I think as I was listening to you talk, I think take, if I looked at the whole Torah and thinking about where I am right now, and I think about like how I'm longing for the promised land and understanding what it means to be in the wilderness.
Seth: Yeah.
David: You know, even though we're here in Oklahoma City and, you know, we have jobs and like, this is where we live, like, you know, like this is what we do. And, um, But it's like, as you read through the Torah, you just— over your shoulder when you look back is the Garden of Eden the whole time.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And it's like we've gone on this circuitous trip and we're coming back to the Garden of Eden and we've just spent the last like, like few months, right, on the banks of the Jordan trying to figure out how can we enter into this land and do well in it. And I'm just like, it's got me longing to cross the Jordan and be back in the final Garden of Eden with God because I've just, you know, for the last 2 years of we've as we've gone through the Torah almost, you know, I've had the Garden of Eden in my rearview mirror.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And I'm like, I really just want to go there now. And so I think it's pretty annoying to be obedient now. Yeah.
Seth: Great to be like with God forever. Yeah. You know? Yeah.
David: Yeah. So anyway, well, that's, that's a good question. That's a good question. So today we're in chapter 31 and we'll go all the way to the end. All the way to the end. And which is an exciting thing to say. We've just looked last, last week at the blessings and the curses, the two mountains, the mountain of blessing, the mountain of cursing, the choice between life and death, and really the inevitability that Israel will be cursed, that she will disobey because what we've said, she doesn't have the spirit in her to intuit what is right and wrong. So she will go astray. Yeah.
Seth: So Moses has essentially ended his sermon. Yes.
David: Right.
Seth: So everything we're reading in 31 on is kind of the concluding remarks, the conclusion of the entire book. And so it opens up this way: So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. It's kind of like he continued to say stuff like this for a period of time. And he said to them— so these are the final concluding words— I'm 120 years old today. I'm no longer able to go out and come in. And the Lord has said to me, you shall not go over to this Jordan. So Moses is ending his speech by saying, I'm about to die. And that's what the rest of this book is about, the preparations for Moses's death.
David: Yes. Yeah.
Seth: The, like, the, the coronation of the new leader of Israel, Joshua. Joshua. And preparing his people for that event.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Yeah.
David: Yeah. God says like, okay, Moses, it's time to die. Let's deputize Joshua. And then he kind of gives his own eulogy. Yeah. You know, he kind of gives his parting words, his deathbed speech. These are like, what are my last words before I go to the great beyond? You know, these are his last words. And then the— like, and we'll get there, but just to give you shape for these last few chapters— and then the book ends with his death.
Seth: Yes, it does.
David: And it's over.
Seth: And it does. You're immediately supposed to go to Joshua. That's right. And hear what happens next.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Um, but yes, it ends with his death.
David: That's where it ends.
Seth: That's where it ends. And speaking of Moses' death, so one of the first things you read is, "I am 120 years old today." Yeah. So that should like trigger in you like real flashbacks to Genesis 6, where God limits the age of humanity to 120. 120 years.
David: Their years shall be 120.
Seth: And what happens after that point is that you have this long list of people, and he died, and he died, and he died, and he died.
David: Yep.
Seth: And there was Seth, and he died, and there was—
David: and he lived this many years and he died, and he lived this many years and he died.
Seth: And so what this is showing us is that Moses is still under the effect of the curse. What's fascinating is that Moses is full of vigor and His eye hasn't abated. It talks about like how healthy and strong, super healthy.
David: Yeah.
Seth: So the fact that he dies at 120 years old by God's hand is really significant because the curse still rules.
David: Yep.
Seth: Moses is the last name in that genealogy of people and he died. So Genesis 6 is supposed to— all those confusing ages we talked— go back to our Genesis 6 podcast. But like Moses is still under the curse, even on the border of the promised land. The curse still reigns. Moses, who there's been no prophet like up to this point, dies. Yeah. Like, that's like, that's a really canonically, Pentateuchally, like, like important fact.
David: Yes.
Seth: Moses cannot escape this curse. He cannot like save Israel from the death that happened in the garden.
David: That's right. He falls under it himself. And in his death, there's no, nothing good comes from his death. He deputizes someone who's not as good as him. Yep. Like we're told that, like we're told that Joshua was just not as good and no one's been as good as, as Moses. So it's like, in his death, like, nothing good comes of it, you know?
Seth: It—
David: like, everything spirals out of control after this. Joshua judges. Like, everything just goes, goes downhill.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And so, like, you know, you said, you said beforehand, um, as we were talking, you're like, you know, the last person in this genealogy—
Seth: yeah—
David: of the— and he died. Yeah, it ended in Jesus, right?
Seth: Yeah.
David: You know, it's like the last person that he died, and he died, but then when we get to Jesus, which starts in Matthew and Luke's accounts with genealogies.
Seth: Yeah, so the book of Deuteronomy ends and it says there was no prophet, has never been a prophet like Moses. And earlier on it says something very similar. And the hope is the messianic prophet. Yep. The prophet, the one who can interpret God's will perfectly, will one day come and reverse the curse, will bring people into God's land. In his name, is actually fascinatingly Joshua.
David: Yep.
Seth: So I think we talked about this before, but Jesus's name is an English translation of a Greek thing trying to translate the word Joshua.
David: Right.
Seth: And so Jesus's Hebrew name is Joshua.
David: Yeah. And like, if you've heard like Hebrew speakers or someone like that say Yeshua.
Seth: Yes.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Yes. And so where is the verse that talks about what Joshua will do when he takes over the land? Okay. Verse 23 of Deuteronomy 31. So, Mo— so, so in like actual history, Joshua succeeds Moses.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: But in like theological canonical history, you're waiting for a prophet to succeed Moses to do what he couldn't do.
David: That's right.
Seth: So in space and in time, you have this imperfect Joshua, and this was the commission given to him: Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you. This is the command that's— this is like the, the edict over Yeshua.
David: Yep.
Seth: Joshua. So I think it's amazing that Jesus comes, the final Yeshua. He is strong and courageous in the face of the enemies— sin, death, pride, Roman oppression, like whatever else. And he brings the people of Israel into the promised land that God swore to give to Moses.
David: And his name is Emmanuel.
Seth: I will be with you.
David: I will be with you.
Seth: I am like God himself comes. Yeah.
David: And what's interesting too is Joshua's, Yeshua's deputization.
Seth: Yeah.
David: Was inaugurated kind of by the crossing of the Jordan.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And so was Jesus's.
Seth: Yes. Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, by John the Baptist, and begins his ministry. He is the new Yeshua who crosses the Jordan to save, to bring people into God's promised land. Yeah, it's crazy. The book of Matthew is structured specifically to make sure you see this point. And like, it— the genealogy ends with Moses, right? Matthew's genealogy.
David: Oh, I'd have to look.
Seth: Oh, I forgot about which one. Okay, look it up real quick.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Um, so I think anyway, regardless of whether it does or not, the book of Matthew is structured so that you see Jesus like the new Moses. The Bible Project's content on that is actually super helpful, so you should You should check them out.
David: No, because Matthew— because Matthew starts with Abraham.
Seth: Okay.
David: And goes through to Jesus. So it ends in Jesus.
Seth: Got it. Got it. Yeah. Anyway. Yeah.
David: But anyway, so yeah, but what I was— I was— so you have this, you have this theological heir waiting to be named, right? And it's—
Seth: his name is Yeshua.
David: His name is going to be Yeshua, which is crazy.
Seth: I feel like there's so many prophecies that are not super specific, or they are specific, but in like different ways. Like, yeah, it's the exact name of Jesus.
David: Very specific name. It is his name, which means the Lord saves.
Seth: The Lord saves.
David: Yeah. And so we're waiting, we're waiting, we're waiting. And this, this death toll drumbeat keeps going. And he died and he died and he died. The curse is still there. The curse is still there. The curse is still there. And then when Jesus dies, it's not, and he died, dot, dot, dot, continue. It's It is finished. The drumbeat is over.
Seth: Yeah.
David: Because what happened? He rose from the dead. And unlike Moses's death at the border of the Promised Land that didn't earn anything.
Seth: Yeah.
David: But only made us long to escape the curse. Jesus's death actually defeated the curse and earned for us entry into the Promised Land. Like, it's amazing.
Seth: Yeah. Like, for Christians, there is no more. And he died, right? For Christians, we enter into an eternal promised land. Like, there is no more death. For Christians.
David: For Christians, we are— our days will not be limited to 120 years.
Seth: For those who trust in the prophet that comes after, the prophet Yeshua.
David: Yeah, the prophet Yeshua.
Seth: The prophet Yeshua. There is no more death. The promised land is yours. The land that— oh, what does it say? Let me read the words of Deuteronomy itself. Let me find it. It's gonna take me a while. There's a lot of actual text in these last these last chapters.
David: There is a lot of text. Yeah.
Seth: Okay. This is Deuteronomy 32:47. Okay. Be careful to do all the words of this law. This is Moses speaking. It is no empty word for you, but your very life. And by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over to the Jordan— over the Jordan to possess. For all Christians, we will live long in the promised land of God. We will live eternally. The word of God, God himself, is our very life. Yes, our very life. Not just like hypothetical life.
David: Right.
Seth: But actual, very eternal life. Yeah.
David: He is. He is what will eternally sustain us.
Seth: Yes.
David: Like things like food and medicine and shelter and clothing sustains us now. He is our very life.
Seth: He's our very— and this should take us all the way back to Genesis 1.
David: Yep.
Seth: Where there is a tree of life.
David: It will sustain you.
Seth: You eat of it and you will live. And you will live specifically forever in the land with God. In the land with God. And over and over again, what are we— what do we see throughout Scripture is that when we eat God's word, we trust his definitions of good and bad. Yeah. When we obey his commandments, we will have life.
David: Yes.
Seth: Right here at the end of Deuteronomy, we're given the same call that Adam and Eve were given. At the tree, pass by the knowledge of tree of good and evil, pass by your predilection to define good and bad for yourself, and trust God's word alone, and it will be your eternal life.
David: Yeah.
Seth: This is also why when Jesus in the wilderness was Satan—
David: yep—
Seth: and Satan says, hey, turn these stones into bread, Jesus responds with this verse. Maybe not this verse.
David: Yeah, but it is Deuteronomy.
Seth: But the Deuteronomy— but this idea, like, no, man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
David: And I always think like, well, that's live.
Seth: I take it so like weekly in that verse. But no, he's saying eternal life is only found in God.
David: Jesus turned away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the new serpent. The serpent was on the tree again to make bread for himself, to provide for himself, to define what the good sustenance is for himself. No, I'm going to turn to the source of life itself, right? To God. And he is going to sustain me with his word.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And like, The word of God. I mean, it's interesting to say this now. I'm like spiraling, but it's like the word of God is living and active. Like, like that's what the New Testament says. And it's like the word of God is more than just words.
Seth: Yeah.
David: Like it— he actually sustains us with it. It's something substantive and spiritual.
Seth: What does the word made flesh do? He makes 5,000 loaves and several thousand or feeds 5,000 people with loaves and fishes.
David: Never ending. Yeah, never-ending, never-ending food. Never-ending food is what the, the, the, like, that is what the multiplication of bread and fish was.
Seth: What is give us this day our daily bread? Like, there is like, there is a real— so it should also reframe for you what Satan was offering Jesus.
David: Yes. He is just not offering, hey, you are hungry, you are hungry, you should do this.
Seth: Like, it is not wrong for Jesus to use his miraculous powers to make bread. What Satan is actually offering him is saying, God is not providing for you in this moment. He's not providing for your happiness or your satisfaction. Trust in yourself. Trust in yourself. Trust in your ability to provide. And he says, no, I will trust in God alone to provide for me. Which is why Psalm 1, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, Torah, the Torah of the Lord. And when he does that, He's like a tree.
David: Yep. A tree of life planted by streams of water. And so, like, he's being fed by the word of God.
Seth: Yes.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Yes.
David: Yeah. The word of God is the stream in this picture. And the man who abides by it is the tree planted by it. And he's being nourished. Its roots are being nourished by the word of God. It's the same image of man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Seth: Right.
David: This is like living by the mouth of God is living by the stream. Yeah, yeah, it's amazing.
Seth: Exactly right.
David: And so like when Jesus in John 6 then says, come and eat me, yeah, he is claiming to be— and John says in John 1 that he is the Word made flesh. He's like, come and eat my flesh. He's saying eat the Word. He's saying the same thing here, the bread.
Seth: He's in a way like he said, I am the tree of life in the Garden of Eden.
David: Come and trust me. Don't trust in yourself.
Seth: That—
David: because they were asking him in John 6, what, what must we do to inherit Eternal, forever life. Yeah, we want to live forever in the land.
Seth: We want the very life that Deuteronomy promised right here.
David: Do this. And he says, eat me. What does he mean by that? He means, trust me. I am the word that you must now trust. That offering that was given to you at the end of Deuteronomy is now in me. Put your faith in me and not in yourself. Don't provide for yourself. Don't try to save yourself. Don't try to do good works to make yourself right with God. Put your trust in me. I am the deputized prophet Yeshua that came after Moses. Like, that's so cool.
Seth: So good.
David: Hey, friends, it's David with a quick reminder. Spoken Gospel is 100% donor supported. If you love the show, please consider becoming one of those donors, unless you already are, in which case Thank you. If you want to become a donor or see all of our other free resources that we make, you can head over to SpokenGospel.com. Okay, interruption over.
Seth: Okay, so chapter 32 begins a section called the Song of Moses.
David: It's like poetry.
Seth: It's a long section of poetry, and God gave Moses this song.
David: Yes. And Moses and Joshua, both in his presence whenever he gave him this song.
Seth: Good.
David: Yep.
Seth: And the purpose of the song is to— I was trying to figure out a way to say it, but it's like an eternal witness.
David: Yes.
Seth: Like prosecution. It is. It's like this song is supposed to be, I don't know, like a prosecuting attorney.
David: A witness against them.
Seth: That's the phrase they use.
David: A witness against Israel. So like you can think of it like— so God says that like, you're going to go into the land, you're going to betray me. So I know we talked last episode about like, it seems like there's hints here.
Seth: Yeah.
David: That, that the people are going to fall away. God just says it now. You're going to, you're going to go after other gods. You're going to betray me and you're going to be kicked out of the land.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And when you're out of the land, you're going to think this thought. And the thought you're going to think is, man, God just wasn't strong enough, or God abandoned us, or God lied, you know, and you're going to start blaming me.
Seth: Disbelieving.
David: And you're going to start blaming me, disbelieving and not seeing that this is your fault. And so here's what I want you to do, Moses. I want you to sing this little catchy tune, which maybe not—
Seth: maybe doesn't seem too catchy to us in English. I want to like know that.
David: I know Hebrew, but this is a catchy little song and I want you to, I want you to sing it to the people and they're going to sing it to their kids and their kids' kids and their kids' kids so that whenever they're in exile, their kids are going to be singing the song because it's like ring around the rosie, pocket full of posy, ashes, ashes, we all fall down. I don't know what that means. You know, there's like 100.
Seth: You know what it means?
David: So I've looked it up and there are like multiple different theories about where this actually came from. Megan, my wife and I got in this conversation.
Seth: I thought it was about cholera.
David: So some people say cholera, other people say like new nuclear war. Some people say the Black Plague. It's a, it's a whole thing.
Seth: Yeah. There's a pocket full of posies or flowers.
David: Yeah. There was like these things to keep ashes.
Seth: Ashes could be the nuclear holocaust.
David: Exactly. Yeah.
Seth: It could be the burning bodies from—
David: it could be like flaking of skin falling.
Seth: Yeah.
David: There's a whole thing anyway, but it's like this, right? This is like Ring Around the Rosie. That's what this is.
Seth: Okay.
David: And so the kids are singing it and what you're supposed to imagine is imagine this mom, right? Sitting in, the kitchen, like dad's at work, mom's in the kitchen, and she's just angry at God. And she's like, why are we in exile? We're not— we're away from our homeland. Everything we had was taken from us. And she's just like, God, you did this to us. Why did this happen? And her kid runs in, skipping into the kitchen, singing this song, Ring Around the Rosie, pocketful of— and what it does is it tells her, this was your fault. I told you this was going to happen. This is because of your sin. Yahweh is bringing justice.
Seth: This is—
David: but he'll also bring you back into the land. And like, it's this song and you're supposed to get this picture of the kids rebuking the parents through this eternal witness of this song.
Seth: And like what? Like it's, it's an ironic reversal of what the parents were supposed to do. They were supposed to teach their children God's law.
David: Oh, dang.
Seth: Teach this to your children as you walk on the way and as you lie down, when you rise. But in exile, the children will teach the parents the way back into the promised land.
David: Which is then a smaller picture of the bigger picture of what we saw in Numbers, where the younger generation fulfilled what the older generation was supposed to do. And that's who these people are.
Seth: Fascinating.
David: Which is then a smaller picture of the biggest picture of the Bible, which is every one of the older generation. Everyone fails. Everyone fails. We're always waiting for some new recipient, some new Yeshua. Yeah, to do this thing, to reverse everything that's happened. And that happens in Jesus. You know, it's just— it's interesting that like the whole of the biblical narrative is pointing through genealogical lines to a new generation who will finally do it right.
Seth: Fascinating.
David: And that's what Jesus does. Jesus comes and he stands as a witness against Israel in the past, but also redeems Israel in the past. Like, it's amazing. He fulfills this song in a way.
Seth: Yeah, I keep thinking now, like, how, like, young people are always like, "They don't know what they're talking about. Boomers. OK boomer." "OK boomer." You know what I mean? There's like this inherent pride to being younger and more, like, in tune with the times. It's like this disparaging of the older generation.
David: Right. Yeah, sure, you, uh, you are a professor of biology, but you don't know what TikTok is. Yeah.
Seth: Or yeah, there's that version of it, but even like the good versions, like the world's changed, right?
David: The world's moved on.
Seth: We're more globalized. We're whatever it is.
David: Yeah.
Seth: So like how to— some just think maybe this is immaterial, but like how would this prevent the younger generation from not looking at the older generation in pride? Do you know what I mean? So like there does seem to be something God is doing with the younger generation that the older generation needs to be humbled by. You need to recognize that God will use a new generation to rebuke and redeem the old generation.
David: Right.
Seth: So is that— is that— is the clue there that the younger generation is actually the older generation as well? Like, we're not as, like, smart, intelligent, savvy as we think we are. Like, we're just as prone to be like the old people. The new guard will be the old guard one day again.
David: Right. Yeah.
Seth: Kind of like— I don't know.
David: Yeah, it's very cyclical.
Seth: Right.
David: Which is the Hebrew conception of time. Is cyclical. And so, yeah, I mean, the, the old generation messes up, the new generation judges them, they rise up to be the new old generation, they mess up, and the new generation comes along to judge them. And then it just keeps happening, which is just—
Seth: that's the cycle of human life.
David: Yeah.
Seth: All lifelong, every generation that comes up and is the one that's finally in the workforce and wants creating culture always looks back to their childhood as that was the better time.
David: Yep.
Seth: Like that was the good time to be, be alive. And now we're just messed up.
David: And they also look ahead and they say like, oh man, the boomers aren't doing it right. We're going to go into the workforce. And once we have, once we have, once we put a millennial president in the White House, everything's going to be right.
Seth: Right. And it's like Gen Z is going to come along and be like, you guys are idiots. Yeah. Right.
David: And then, and then their grandkids are going to look at them and say they're idiots. It's yeah, this is the cycle of life. And like it has. And what's cool about Jesus is he sits at the center of history and he, he has fixed every older generation in himself and retroactively, like both correctly judged and saved. But then from now on, we are his offspring and we cannot look back at our older brother Jesus now and say, ah, Jesus didn't do it right. Like, you know, it's like, no, we want to be like our big brother, right? We want to be like the older generation Jesus. And so he's the only one in all of history who is both the younger who doesn't incorrectly judge and condemn, but takes the burden of the older generation and actually does it right. And he's also the only older generation who doesn't fail and leave the failures to be cleaned up by the younger generation. He actually fixes the younger too. Like, it's just— he sits at the center of history and breaks the cycle.
Seth: There's like a utopianism in younger people that says, hey, if we're allowed to rule, everything's going to be fine. And there's this nostalgia in older generations that say, if we could just go back to what we were previously— and this is universally, it's happening in our politics right now, it happens everywhere all the time. The book of Deuteronomy would say to like that constant cycle of utopianism and nostalgia and reaching for the past and reaching for the future is like, all of you have the wrong centers of history. Jesus Christ sits as the newest, the perfect generation. Yeah, whom we need to emulate, pattern our lives off of. And if you don't, you'll repeat this cycle all the time, right? You'll find yourself in exile wishing you were back home. I feel like a lot of older people right now feel that way in the States. Uh, and then for all the new people, you'll rebuke the younger generation— the older generation— only to find that same thing happening to you. If you don't have Jesus as the center of your history, the new Yeshua, bring us into a promised land by his perfect example and blood, we don't have an escape from like the political turmoil and that nostalgia versus like utopianism, like divide in society. Anyway. Yeah, it's interesting. So not really the main point of the text.
David: No, but, but it is, it is like a, it is a cycle and like this is meant to show you that this cycle is going to come.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And then the, but the song itself is very interesting. Because it, you know, it talks about like it tells them their history. It tells them why they went wrong and that God knew they were going to be wrong and why they are now in exile. And it provides theological categories for that. And I just think from like a, like from our standpoint today is like this is like the word of God does this for us today.
Seth: Like, it's the, it's the song of Moses.
David: It's the song of Moses. It's the song of Moses that says, man, why are things as bad as they are? This is God's fault, right? No, look at the word of God. Read Job and you'll see like the real answer to your question, you know, like, man, I just, I just couldn't believe in a God like that. It's like, right, you know, you have a false conception. He— the song of the Bible always comes and rebukes our incorrect perceptions about what's going on in the world. Yeah. And also offers us a way to life. And so I just think it's interesting to think of the whole Bible as this song that's been repeated for thousands and thousands of years that comes against us as our perennial accuser.
Seth: So think about that then as you read the Song of Moses. Think about the Song of Moses as— if you're an old— if you're an older person reading Scripture, think about it as a rebuke to the sinful ways that we try to hold on to the past. If you're a younger generation, realize it's calling you to faithfulness to Scripture, right? To the law that gives life, not your— what you believe will bring about the best possible future. And I think that word 'believe' is pretty important here.
David: It is.
Seth: So the first real word of the psalm— of the song is in verse 4. The first 3 verses are kind of introduction. Hear my song, Israel. Hear my song.
David: Oh yes. Yep.
Seth: The first words is the rock.
David: Yeah.
Seth: His work is perfect. Fascinating. Yeah. At the very end of the psalm, it will reiterate the fact that Moses is about to die.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: And it gives the reason, right? And it describes what happened at the rock of Meribah, where Moses strikes the rock instead of speaking to it. Yeah, and we don't quite know what went wrong there, but Numbers 20:12 tells us that the reason Moses dies before entering the Promised Land is because he did not believe.
David: Yep.
Seth: And so I think it's really interesting that that's at the end of this book here, but it's also the first word— the end of this chapter, but also the first word of the song, of the song, because Moses failed to believe, and he's calling Israel not to be like him.
David: He's like, believe the rock, believe the rock.
Seth: Like, I didn't that at that, at that time. I trust him now. Like, well, look at me and how I've changed and what happened to me. Look at my life as I disbelieve the rock and I'm not inheriting eternal life. Like, trust the rock.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And, and, and like, and, and in case you think we're making too big of a deal out of this, God is called the rock all throughout this song.
Seth: Yes. I think 6 or 7 times he's called the rock. And then believing in other gods.
David: Yep.
Seth: Other gods. Gods are called rocks as well.
David: So like dead things, in a way that they are dead things. They are not a foundational rock, you know, like a cornerstone, a foundation. Yeah, the, the, you know, like the world is held up on the stones, you know, like that kind of thing. That's the god rock.
Seth: It's, uh, verse 36, uh, for the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free. So this is like when God's calling his people back after their disobedience. And then the people will say, where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, who ate of the fat of their sacrifices? So it's like their gods, their rocks didn't provide for them. But my rock is bringing me back into my land. Like, so trust the rock. The rock provided you water in the wilderness. He will provide you a new land again when you like go out of it.
David: Yeah, definitely. And like we have the same call in our life today to trust the rock. And is it 1 Corinthians or is it Romans that tells us that rock?
Seth: Yeah, that rock is Christ.
David: That rock is Christ. Yeah.
Seth: And you think about that, Paul. It's Paul. Yeah. Let me actually find the verse.
David: That rock is Christ. The Googles.
Seth: The Googles. Well, maybe, maybe not that one. Rick is Christ. That's Rick.
David: Rick is Christ. There's an O in there somewhere.
Seth: 1 Corinthians 10:4. So, uh, Israel drank the same, uh, spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness. So the rock is Christ in the wilderness. The rock was struck by the people of— by Moses himself. As a representative of the people of Israel.
David: Yep.
Seth: And when they should have been drinking from him, they disbelieved him. And what's fascinating is that history of striking the rock, of like disbelieving in God's revelation, in God's word, is repeated all the way through the Old Testament.
David: Yep.
Seth: And finally in Jesus. So Jesus says multiple times to the Pharisees, your fathers killed the prophets. Yep. And you will do the same to me. Yep.
David: Because you do not believe in me.
Seth: Because you do not believe in me. Like, you disbelieved in those prophets and you disbelieve in me.
David: God has spoken to you and revealed to you who I am, and you do not believe in the rock.
Seth: When Moses struck the rock, he is actually setting the pattern for the rest of the Torah. The people of Israel as a collective will continue to strike the rock. They will continue to disbelieve God's promises, disbelieve God's word, and they'll be exiled for it, disciplined for it. The Pharisees themselves strike the rock, God's ultimate messenger, and he dies because of it.
David: That's right. But the, but the strange thing that happens in the original story of the waters of Maribah is Moses disobeys, strikes the rock. But in his disobedience and through that striking, God still provides water.
Seth: He does.
David: Like something good still comes out of that, of that rock. God still answers his request with a yes.
Seth: When the Pharisees strike the rock of Jesus Christ, water pours out of his side because it is the drink that we drink and we find new life, the very life that will give us entrance into the promised land. Yeah, this is how, like, Jesus is the fulfillment of the rock of Moses' song.
David: Okay, well, as we wrap up our last pericope of the Torah—
Seth: the law—
David: it's crazy.
Seth: I feel— I just felt like suddenly a little sad.
David: I know, it's strange. There's so much here. So we have chapters 33 and 34, and these— first we have Moses blessing the people. He gives his final benediction to the people, and it's positive. Yeah, it's finally positive. It's been a lot of negative, and that can kind of feel weird for you, for a reader. Yeah, to be like, everything's bad, everything's bad, you're gonna go astray, Moses is gonna die, he's the final cursed man. And then he comes along and he blesses the tribes of Israel.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And he's like, hey, everything's gonna go well for you, and I pray God's blessing on you and a great inheritance and success. And you're like, what? Yeah, it is kind of strange. It is kind of categorically, it's kind of strange. But I think we need to, we need to see a few things happening here, right? So we parallel— there's a parallel to the end of Genesis.
Seth: Yeah. At the end of Genesis, Abraham—
David: Jacob.
Seth: Jacob. Sorry. Jacob blesses all the 12 tribes of Israel. And particularly the tribe of Judah, because the tribe of Judah is through the line through whom which the Messiah will come. Yep. And God's like, God's people will be saved.
David: Right.
Seth: And so we have the same, like, litany of blessings. Back in Genesis highlighting the specific family line of Judah that will bring about the Messiah and salvation of Israel.
David: Which, which in the broader story, like, like, like, like it did with, and he died, and he died, and he died. We're seeing a bookend with the curse motif. Yeah, right. But if you push those bookends back a bit further, yeah, there is something that came before the, and he died, and that is Genesis 3:15. Yeah, that there would be a blessed line from Eve that would ultimately end sin and death and defeat Satan and, and like bring us life forever and bring us back into the Promised Land. And so at the end of Genesis, when the people are in Egypt, they're farther from the Promised Land than they've ever been. Jacob is reminding them that the people of Israel are still that part of that blessed line.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And so that same thing is happening here today. Today, back then, back then, you know, the eternal Israel, the eternal Israel.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And so they're about to go in. They just heard that everything's going to go bad. They have this song standing against them. They have been told that they are definitely going to go astray. And it is like, so are we the blessed people of God or not? Like, yeah, is the Messiah going to come from us if we are that messed up?
Seth: Right.
David: And this is Moses telling them, yes, you are still the chosen people of God. Blessed are you, O Israel.
Seth: There is a couple of weird things in here where it will say like kind of like kind of a half blessing. It will feel a little bit strange. Yeah. But don't— worry about that too much. It's just the way that it's written.
David: It's true.
Seth: Like, I think like, let Reuben live and not die, but let his men be few. Like, Reuben's going to be great, but he's not going to be big. Like, that's the blessing. Kind of strange. What you should know though, apart from the little complexities within it, is that while this is really similar to Genesis 49, uh, there is a major difference. And it's the fact that the tribe of Levi and the tribe of Joseph are given like a lot of airtime and the types of blessings that they'll receive. And that's really important because previously the tribe of Judah was emphasized, that had the longest blessing because it was going to be the hope through which the Messiah was going to come. This is the line that's going to provide for the salvation of Israel through the Messiah. Here, as they're about to enter into the Promised Land, you have Joseph whose tribes were in the north of the country and who kind of separated by degrees from some of the other blessings within the Old Testament narrative. Do you know that? Do you know that a little more concretely? Because I'm a little fuzzy there.
David: Well, it's just the whole idea that like some of the tribes of Joseph, they were the ones that said like, you guys go ahead and take Israel, we'll stay on the other side of the Jordan.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And you know, we talked about this and Moses was like, uh oh, are you bailing out on me? And they said, no, no, we'll go fight, but then we want to come back and live here because we like this part of the land. So they would be most geographically separated from the tabernacle, like from the temple, literally not crossing this threshold of the Jordan. That's right.
Seth: Which is a special, like, significant thing. Yeah. So the fact that he's included in these blessings means, no, no, he's part of God's covenant people, which seems to be like the covenant people of God are going to spill out over the borders of Eden. Yeah.
David: Like this is going to go outside of just this geopolitical area.
Seth: Yeah.
David: It's like a promise, a down payment of the salvation of the Gentiles in the future, which is part of the Abrahamic blessing.
Seth: Yes, yes, yes. And also the tribe of Levi, who would own no land.
David: Yes.
Seth: So we keep talking about promised land, promised land, promised land over the Jordan, promised land over the Jordan.
David: And Levi's like, oh, we don't get any of that.
Seth: We don't get any land. And then all the tribes of Joseph are like, wait, wait, wait, we're not on the other side of the Jordan.
David: Uh-huh. And so these two blessings are meant to indicate for both of those tribes, whether you have no land inside or your land is outside, you are still included in the blessed people of God.
Seth: Yes. Yep.
David: That's exactly right. It's just to show the security and the breadth of God's promise and covenant.
Seth: Yeah. And at the very end of this section, it says this in verse 26. There is none like God, O Jeshurun. Do you know what that means?
David: I don't actually. I lazily did not look it up.
Seth: Oh man. Oh, do, do, lock us right now while I read this. So there is a city name, I think, Jeshurun, but that is the first time I have seen it. There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help through the skies in his majesty, which, oh man, I did not realize this That shows up in Daniel when the Son of Man comes.
David: It's a, it's a, it's a Hebrew poetic name for Israel.
Seth: Oh, yep. There's not a lot of God. Oh, Israel.
David: Yep.
Seth: He's coming on the clouds to save you. The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, destroy. So Israel lived in safety. Jacob lived alone in the land of grain and wine. Whose heavens drop down like dew. So the reason why this is significant, there's a lot of like stuff happening here. But like, think about this. The eternal God is your dwelling place. So even the land itself is not the ultimate blessing. No.
David: And he's showing that by saying, like, I mean, I'm blessing Joseph's people who live outside of it. It's not about— it's not about dirt.
Seth: It's not about dirt. It's not about dirt. It's about living with God in his presence. Right.
David: I will be with you. So be strong and courageous.
Seth: Yes, I will be with you. Emmanuel. God with us. Our hope is not that we'll be in some eternal, like, new creation or in heaven when we die. It's that we will be with God when we die.
David: Right.
Seth: Like, those are inseparable.
David: Yes.
Seth: But like, the emphasis is we will be with God. Yeah. The book of Leviticus gets us to God's presence.
David: Yes. Yeah. The emphasis is not on a where, but on a who. Yeah.
Seth: Yes. Yeah. And underneath are the everlasting arms. Think back to the book of Exodus when the arm of the Lord was outstretched and destroyed all of God's enemies. And he thrust out the enemies before you.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: That word thrust is important. Okay. Because it's actually used of Adam and Eve when he thrust them out of the garden.
David: Oh, wow.
Seth: So when God is saying, I will thrust out the enemies before you, it's a reverse of what happened in the Garden of Eden. Mm-hmm. He will thrust out the enemies and you'll enter back into the promised land. Mm-hmm. You'll enter back into, uh, the place where God's presence dwells.
David: Yeah.
Seth: All of God's enemies will be destroyed. So Israel lived in safety, like, and I think the word here is stationed, or like you will be stationed, which is safe.
David: And that's the same word used for like how he stationed the cherubim outside the garden, right?
Seth: Like, which is this permanent boundary, like you cannot come back into the Garden of Eden. But now instead of the people of God being refused access to the Garden of Eden, it's the enemies of God are not allowed access into God's kingdom. The people who want to destroy God's people are not allowed access to God's kingdom. Everything that threatens God's people won't be allowed to touch them anymore once they're in the land. Fascinating.
David: Which is why, like— oh, sorry, go ahead.
Seth: No, which is why Joshua, before he defeats Jericho, he meets a cherubim, an angel of the Lord with a flaming sword as he's about to enter into the Garden of Eden.
David: Wow. Yeah, it's like, dang. Yeah. So Yeah, that's crazy. And it's like, and this is a— and this is the picture of the new heavens, the new earth.
Seth: Yes.
David: Where the threat has been so abated by the enemy that it says the gates to this new kingdom are never shut because they don't have to be.
Seth: Right.
David: Gates are shut whenever you're afraid. Yeah. Like whenever an enemy could come in. We don't have to shut our gates because the enemy— it also reminds me of the end of Ezekiel. Where there is these— he sees the new heavens, the new earth, and this big temple, and the walls are crazy high, and not even Ezekiel is allowed to go into the Holy of Holies. And there's like not really doors into this thing. And it's, it's, it's, it's this like kind of reversal of this idea that in order to keep the dwelling place of God safe, you know, here it's like there'll be this flaming cherubim and you'll never, you'll never be kicked out again. Like, obviously this didn't happen with Israel because in Ezekiel's day, the walls are so big and it's like, we'll keep God's presence safe and secure from our unholiness by just sequestering it off and quarantining it. And it's like the great, the great news about the gospel is that God makes us like him so we actually can dwell with him forever. We can, we can be holy as he is holy. We can live in his—
Seth: protects us from the disbelief, the sin, the enemies, that threaten our ability to live in the land.
David: And those are internal.
Seth: Those are internal enemies.
David: That's the curse is that we have sin in us. Like, I think that's so important to bring up that sin is not just something that we do right, that's always outside of it.
Seth: It's not just a— it is like a physical army that comes against us. There is like suffering. There is a sin of other people. There are evil people. There are injustices that come against us. But also.
David: Yep. But also there is sin as an internal enemy that bends our inclinations, affections, desires, hopes, everything toward the wrong tree, like toward the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Seth: And so like the internal enemy is that intuition that always doesn't do God's law.
David: That's right. Yeah, that's right. And so like God will make us people who all of our internal intuitions and our affections and our desires are bent towards the tree of life and are bent towards obedience.
Seth: That's the only tree we want to eat of. Yeah.
David: And so like We will no longer want sin in this world because we will have been fully sated by the word of life. Yeah, we'll be like a tree planted by streams of water.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And like, the only thing feeding us will not be sin anymore. It will all— it will only be life. And like, that's the— that's the— that's the good news. It's like the full good news of the gospel is that sin is not just something we do that earns a legal penalty that needs to be dealt with.
Seth: That's part of it. Yeah.
David: And Jesus bore that penalty on the cross. But when he did that, that gave him the right to clean us up and send his Holy Spirit to then, like, defeat the curse within us. Yeah, that actually—
Seth: he thrusts out the enemies from our heart.
David: Yep.
Seth: So that he can dwell in us. Like, that's all that's happening.
David: Yeah. So to say it another way, if our body is this land that they're about to enter, it's full of the enemy.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And God is saying, I'm going to thrust out kick out, exile the enemies of sin from your body, and then I'm going to bring life into it.
Seth: Yeah.
David: Yeah. This is like a geographical picture of what God does to every Christian.
Seth: Yeah, it is. It's also what Jesus is doing when he casts out demons.
David: Yes. Yes.
Seth: There is like these internal enemies and these are like demonic. Like these are, these are different than like sin or the proclivity or the inclination to do God's wrong. But they're not separate from the spiritual battle. Right. That's happening in spiritual warfare. But Jesus banishes the enemy. He thrusts them out and he gives them a new heart and places in front of that heart this flaming cherubim that does not allow enemies to come back in. He places this inclination and this seal by the Holy Spirit so that people could love God's law, eat from the tree of life eternally, and live in God's promised land with him forever. Yeah.
David: Oh, that's good news.
Seth: That's the Torah.
David: That's the Torah. So Deuteronomy ends— we've talked about this, but we have to, we have to say it again just to end with it.
Seth: Yeah.
David: Is the Torah ends with Moses dying.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And there has not been another, another prophet like him who, whom God knew face to face.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And like that, that language of we're waiting for this, this prophet like Moses who knows God face to face, who speaks with God face to face, who can hear the voice of God. Convey the voice of God, obey the voice of God. And then it also says who did so many signs and wonders that he did both against Israel's enemies. Right. But also for Israel as a people, providing them in the wilderness. And like when Jesus comes, he will cross the Jordan River. Yeah.
Seth: Moses never did.
David: And he is not only a— he is not only a prophet who speaks to God face to face, like he is the face of God.
Seth: Face to face.
David: He is. We get to— we get to see God face to face in the face of Jesus. Like we actually get to encounter what Moses encountered, like we get to see what Moses saw. We don't have an intermediary. God himself is Emmanuel with us.
Seth: Yes.
David: And we see him. And he proved who he was by, by doing great acts and wonders better than Moses did, by casting out the demons and the effects of sin and the curse, by healing people. Yeah, right. Claiming new land, but not geopolitical land, but the landscape of our bodies. And our souls for him. But then he also provided for people, right? He loved them, raised them from the dead. He gave them food. He taught them. He loved them like he was the newer and better Moses.
Seth: Perfectly. He was. And what you're saying is like, he's also Joshua. He's also Yeshua.
David: Yes.
Seth: He goes over the Jordan River like Joshua wasn't, and he actually wins.
David: Yeah.
Seth: He conquers the enemies. And in his death on the cross, it is finished. Not just victory, not just rest for the land from battles for a season of time, but death itself is defeated and the Promised Land is available for all who trust in him. That's right.
David: Who trust in the rock.
Seth: Trust in the rock.
David: That's good. Well, there it is.
Seth: That's it.
David: The Torah.
Seth: Now I feel sad that it's over.
David: Yeah, but I also feel like it was a good little chapter.
Seth: It was a good chapter of our lives.
David: Well, um, how many years? How many—
Seth: what, how many years did— a year and a half?
David: Like a year and a half in the Torah, I think.
Seth: That's— I mean, that's— this has been my spiritual food.
David: Yeah.
Seth: For like the last year and a half. I've been doing other stuff, but this is what I've spent more time in than anything else.
David: Been really nice. It's been awesome. Well, we hope it's been great for you guys too, as you've worked through this. We are going to be in the Book of Esther next.
Seth: We are.
David: And Seth is actually in Oklahoma City for that.
Seth: I'm so excited.
David: And we're going to actually film it too, I think.
Seth: Yeah.
David: So if you want to see what we look like as we talk, I mean, I'm not that impressive to look at. No, but, you know, we figured, why not? Let's try it and see if people like it.
Seth: That's exactly right. So you can go on YouTube and check out our Spoken Gospel introductions, the Devo videos, as well as our podcast content coming up soon, which will be excellent. Anyway, thank you guys for staying with us. If you've loved what you've listened to and heard Jesus in Scripture, please please like us or rate us. Yep. And leave us a comment. We read them all. Yeah, we really appreciate it.
David: Super encouraging.
Seth: Uh, like, I think we're almost at 70, 80 comments. Oh man, crazy. I mean, it's amazing.
David: Yeah. Well, we really appreciate you guys. We hope this has been a fruitful journey for you. So thank you for joining us, and we will see you next time.
Outro: Thank you for listening to the Spoken Gospel podcast. Spoken Gospel is a nonprofit that gives all its resources, like this podcast, away for free because of supporters like you. To help Spoken Gospel in our mission to speak the gospel out of every corner of Scripture and view all our free resources, visit SpokenGospel.com.
