Yesterday I finished reading through the book of Deuteronomy. It really gives a great detailed look through the rest of the Torah/Pentateuch as Moses teaches the next generation of Israel. In chapter 31, Moses and Joshua are in the Tent of Meeting with the Lord as Joshua is being commissioned to take the place of Moses as the leader of the Israelites. In this conversation, God reveals to these two men that despite this reiteration of the Law to the next generation, the people of Israel will fall into sin and worship other gods. It is a truly sobering moment in Scripture, knowing that not long after this takes place, the nation of Israel begins to seek to be just like the nations around it. They want a king because everyone else has one. They desert the true God for worthless idols. Even some of the priests will pervert the Law of God in their duties. Just read what God says to Moses:
Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, so that they will say in that day, 'Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?' And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods. (Deuteronomy 31:16-18)
God knows that all this will happen. You can hear the sorrow in the necessity of God to execute judgment on His people because of their unfaithfulness. Yet at the same time, there is hope in this tragedy. The people of Israel will realize that they are being judged, that evil has come upon them because they have abandoned their God. And so, to prove His faithfulness, God instructs Moses to write a song that will be a reminder for the nation when they do turn back from their wicked ways:
'Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.' So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel. (Deuteronomy 31:19-22)
The next chapter of Deuteronomy is taken up almost entirely with this song, a grand total of 43 verses. It begins by ascribing greatness and majesty to the Lord for His perfect works and faithfulness throughout the history of the nation of Israel. He sustained them for generations in the land of Egypt and brought them into a land of their own.
Many times in the song Israel is referred to as Jeshurun, which in Hebrew means "upright, just, straight." the song refers to them as such when they begin to fall away; in essence, when those who walked the straight path turned and followed down a crooked path. The Israelites failed the test of prosperity. God had blessed them with their own land, in a very fertile area that even into the time of Christ was the center of attention and contention -- everyone wanted it for trade routes. God had given this land over to the Israelites, and instead of turning around and praising Him for it, they took all the credit for themselves. (You can even see this in Joshua 7, where the Israelites suffer their first defeat after such an easy victory at Jericho.)
For this reason the Lord is justified in His anger, bringing judgment upon the nation of Israel for their faithlessness. Much of the rest of the song shows His reasoning for judgment and how He will execute His justice. Finally, He declares this to the people in the song:
See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. ... Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people's land. (Deuteronomy 32:39,43)
Despite their faithlessness, God still remains faithful. This song was a reminder for the nation of Israel, and we can still learn from it today. Never let yourself forget the faithfulness of the Lord.
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.