And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
Moses stands at the end of his life and of his book, and his last act is to bless. Here he is first called "the man of God" — so what makes a man of God, and why does a book full of warning end in blessing?
One writer traces the phrase across the Old Testament and finds its meaning fixed by this first use:
Seventy times we read of "the man of God" in the Old Testament, and twenty-two of those passages refer to Elisha. What are we to understand by the title? Is it the equivalent of "Saint," and therefore true of everyone born of the Spirit? The Spirit's sparing use of the term forbids the thought. It is first applied to Moses in Deuteronomy 33:1. This gives us the key to its meaning. Moses cut himself adrift from the world. He gave up all its honours and advantages so that he might be wholly for God. Only people of this stamp can rightly be called men of God. In a time of general ruin and departure, the man of God is God's emergency instrument. It is open to us all to be in this blessed position, if our hearts desire it.
The title also marks a change of voice. Moses has spoken as lawgiver and as prophet; here he speaks in a different capacity:
In both the songs Moses spoke as the prophet and apostle of the age of law. In the blessing and the prayer he speaks more simply as the man of God... As the man of God, called to be mediator of the old covenant, he passes the blessing from God to man, and the prayer from man to God.
Moses has preached, warned, and sung of judgment. His closing note is different.
It is full of interest and comfort to find that the last words of the lawgiver were words of unmixed blessing. We have dwelt on his various talks, those solemn, searching and moving addresses to the people of Israel. We have thought over that marvellous song with its mixed notes of grace and government. But now come words of the richest blessing, words of the sweetest comfort. They flow from the very heart of the God of Israel, giving His own loving thoughts about them and His outlook on their glorious future.
The man who handed Israel the law is the same man who now pronounces good over them.
His last message was the blessing. This faithful servant of Jehovah carried the ministry of the law, and that ministry can do nothing but curse. Yet he ends his earthly testimony by speaking a blessing. That blessing will still come on the sons of Jacob, and all nations will rejoice in days to come, when God brings His people back and fulfils all His promises.
Jacob also blessed his sons before his death. One writer explains why the two accounts differ without clashing:
Jacob gives the history of what his sons did, some of it, sadly, deeply sad and humiliating. Moses, in contrast, presents the workings of divine grace, whether in them or towards them... The evil deeds of Reuben, of Simeon, and of Levi are recorded by Jacob, but left out entirely by Moses. Is this a contradiction? No, it is divine harmony. Jacob views his sons in their personal history. Moses views them in their covenant relationship with Jehovah. Jacob gives us human failure, weakness and sin. Moses gives us divine faithfulness, goodness and loving-kindness.
Where the book's warnings stop, its blessing begins.
Deuteronomy is largely a book of warning. But all the warning ends at chapter 32:47. Chapter 33 then closes God's message for Israel by pronouncing blessing that is high above all the demands of law.
The comfort in this blessing has not stayed within Israel's history:
There is scarcely a passage in the Old Testament that has been more richly used for comfort. In every age weak believers — weary ones on sick-beds — have taken it for themselves, led, we do not doubt, by the Spirit of God. It has upheld and comforted them with the sweet assurance that "the everlasting arms" are underneath them, holding them, as it were, in a divine embrace.
- The man. Scripture uses "man of God" sparingly, and Moses wears the title first. Its mark is a life cut loose from the world's honours to be wholly God's.
- The moment. As mediator he stands between God and the people, and passes God's blessing down to them. This is his last act, not his first.
- The source. Jacob's farewell recorded what his sons had done. Moses' farewell records what God is towards them: faithfulness instead of failure.
- The scope. His ministry of law could only curse. Yet he ends by speaking blessing that stands higher than the law's demands, and that blessing still waits for Israel and the nations.
- The shelter. The same blessing has held up weary and sick believers ever since. Underneath them are arms that never give way.
And he said, Jehovah came from Sinai, And rose up from Seir unto them; He shone forth from mount Paran, And he came from the myriads of the sanctuary; From his right hand [went forth] a law of fire for them.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Yea, he loveth the peoples, All his saints are in thy hand, And they sit down at thy feet; Each receiveth of thy words.
Moses opens his final blessing by looking back to the mountain where God gave the law, and the picture is one of terror and tenderness at once. The people are gathered around a God whose right hand holds fire, yet the reason they are gathered is love.
The Lord is there in majesty, with the terror of the law in His right hand. But He loves the people — that is to say, His saints there surrounding Him to receive His words.
The verse gives a cause before it gives a result. One writer takes the clauses one at a time. He traces the people's security back to God's love.
"Yes, he loved his people" — precious, unfailing source of all their future blessing! — "all his holy ones were in his hand" — true secret of their perfect security!
Commentators differ on the identity of the holy ones in God's hand. One writer applies the word to angels in verse 2 and to Israel here. He also notes that Israel held the title on different ground from believers today.
Saints, or holy ones, are spoken of often in the Word of God. The angels God chose are described this way (Deut. 33:2; Job 15:15; Dan. 8:13; Jude 14). The people of Israel are called this too (Deut. 33:3). But Israelites held that name in a relative sense, by natural birth. Christians are saints by calling.
Another writer keeps the angels in view through the whole verse. He reads them as servants in God's hand, there for the good of His people.
Yes, it is He, the God of all, who loves the peoples. In His hand His angels are ministering spirits for them, sitting at His feet, and each one receiving of His words.
Read as a whole, the verse sketches a position: held, seated, listening.
This presents a lovely picture of the true position of God's people. They are held in the hand of the Lord, sitting at the feet of the Lord, and listening to the words of the Lord. Secure in His hand, at rest at His feet, and learning His mind. May we, then, choose this good part, and in due course do the good work.
The same posture shows up again in the New Testament.
In Deuteronomy 33 we read that at Sinai the people sat at God's feet. "Every one shall receive of your words." This is the right way. It reminds us of one in the New Testament who sat at His feet and heard His word.
Sitting at His feet is not idleness. Those who sit there receive something, and its worth beats anything people chase.
"Every one shall receive of your words" — blessed gift! Precious treasure! Every word that comes out of the mouth of the Lord is worth far more than thousands of gold and silver. It is sweeter than honey from the comb.
Receiving His words also shapes what a church does when Scripture condemns something.
God's saints receive His words (Deut. 33:3; John 10:27). So whenever a true church or assembly faces something that Scripture condemns, its conscience gives a verdict that is both quick and firm.
One writer draws a line from God's love for Israel to the Christian's place today.
We can take up what God says of Israel and enjoy it fully. If God loved His people then, we can be sure the church is well beloved now, and every member of that holy body. If we see how truly the Lord loved the Jew as such, we should not doubt but believe that the Christian is loved yet more.
- Loved first. His love is the unfailing source of every blessing that follows — the cause, not the reward.
- Held safely. Being in His hand is the secret of their perfect security; the grip is His, not theirs.
- Seated low. Sitting at His feet is the right way — the same place as the one in the New Testament who sat and heard His word.
- Taught daily. Each one receives His words. That treasure outvalues gold and silver, and it shapes how His people judge what Scripture condemns.
- Still loved. If He loved His people under the law given at Sinai, His love toward believers now is surer still.
Moses commanded us a law, The inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.
Moses is at the end of his life, blessing the twelve tribes, and he names what he had given them: a law that belongs to the whole assembly of Jacob. So how can a law be an inheritance, and why does the next line call Moses a king?
Verse 4 does not stand alone. The blessings of this chapter rest on relationships, and this verse names one of them.
The Lord is there in majesty, with the terror of the law in His right hand. But He loves the people — that is, His saints standing around Him to receive His words. The people receive a law, through the mediation of Moses, which is the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. This Moses is there as king. These, then, are the relationships on which these blessings are based.
Moses says nothing here about Israel's failures. Jacob, speaking of the same sons, had named their sins openly.
Jacob gives the history of what his sons did, and some of it is sad and humiliating. Moses, by contrast, presents the actions of divine grace, whether in them or towards them. This alone accounts for the difference. Jacob records the evil deeds of Reuben, Simeon and Levi. Moses leaves them out completely… Jacob views his sons in their personal history. Moses views them in their covenant relationship with the Lord.
The law was not only commanded to Israel. It was also theirs to own.
The song then names the special place of Moses. He commands a law, the possession of the congregation of Jacob. He is king in Jeshurun when the heads of the people, the tribes of Israel, gathered together.
The next line gives Moses a surprising title — and calls Israel by a name few readers will know.
Calling Moses a king may seem unusual, yet God's inspired Word here calls him king in Jeshurun, and earlier, the man of God. Jeshurun, meaning "the upright people," is a term God uses to designate His people Israel. We read repeatedly how the people and their heads came to Moses to find out God's will. God's ideal king would rule God's people according to the mind of God.
The title also points past Moses himself.
Verse 4 recalls the giving of the law by Moses, the law being a heritage in which Israel should have rejoiced. But Moses is called "king in Jeshurun." He did hold the place of authority, yet it is most unusual to call him "king." The answer lies in the prophetic character of the blessing. Moses was a picture of Christ. Christ will hold the place of King in the coming day, when all Israel is gathered in a unity it has never shown before.
Moses held the office, but the throne was God's. That difference came to light when Israel later asked Samuel for a king.
Up to this time the government of Israel had been a pure theocracy. God was their King. He might act through Moses at one time — Moses in this sense is called king in Jeshurun (see Deut. 33:4) — or through Joshua at another… And the Lord said to Samuel, "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them" (1 Sam. 8:7).
Israel had seen a small version of this scene before, when Jethro — an outsider, not an Israelite — advised Moses to appoint leaders over the people.
In the language of Deuteronomy 33:5, Moses was "king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together." In that chapter we find the heads of the people being chosen, as Jethro advised under God; he only gave the advice if "God commands you so." So it seems that here we have a little sample of the coming kingdom. Moses is king; the people are subject to him; the Gentile, in the person of Jethro, comes to rejoice with him and his people.
- Given, not earned. This blessing rests on relationship with God, not on Israel's record; the sins Jacob had named are missing here.
- A law as property. The law came to the assembly of Jacob as their own possession — a heritage they should have rejoiced in.
- A mediator between. The law reached the people through Moses, who both commanded it and stood among them as the man of God.
- A king under the King. Moses ruled Israel according to the mind of God, yet God Himself was the real King. When Israel later demanded a king, God called it a rejection of Himself.
- A picture pointing on. Moses as king over the gathered tribes pictures Christ, who will reign when Israel is gathered in a unity it has never yet shown.
And he was king in Jeshurun, When the heads of the people And the tribes of Israel were gathered together.
Moses blesses the tribes, and the blessing moves from Sinai, to the law, to a king over a gathered people. Some translations make that king the Lord; the writers below read it of Moses, who held his place only on God's behalf.
The word is not a place but a pet name for the nation, and it carries a description of what God intends His people to be.
Jeshurun, meaning "the upright [people]," is a name God uses for His people Israel. Again and again we read how the people and their heads came to Moses to find out God's will. God's ideal king would rule God's people according to the mind of God.
Writers differ over what the name means. It also appears in a title of God.
Name given to Israel, probably meaning 'upright ones;' others prefer 'beloved of Jehovah.' Jehovah was the 'God of Jeshurun;' and Moses, 'king in Jeshurun.'
The kingship comes straight after the law of verse 4. Together these two verses set the footing for every tribal blessing that follows.
Jehovah is there in majesty, with the terror of the law in His right hand. But He loves the people — that is, His saints standing around Him to receive His words. The people receive a law through Moses as mediator, and that law is the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. This Moses is there as king. These, then, are the relationships that these blessings rest on.
Moses led Israel, but "king" is still a surprising word for him. Writers find the answer in what the blessing looks ahead to.
Verse 4 recalls the giving of the law by Moses, the law being a heritage in which Israel should have rejoiced. But the text calls Moses "King in Jeshurun." He did hold the place of authority, yet the title "king" is still most unusual. The answer to this is in the prophetic character of the blessing. Moses pictured Christ, who will hold the place of King in the coming day. Then all Israel will be gathered in a unity they have never yet shown.
Moses held authority, but the throne was not his. Israel had no king but God — until the people asked for one.
In the days of Samuel the people grew tired of being governed directly by God. They wanted to be like the nations around them, so they asked Samuel to make them a king. Jehovah's answer was that they had not rejected Samuel; they had rejected Him, so that He should not reign over them. Up to this time the government of Israel had been a pure theocracy. God was their King. He might act by Moses at one time, who is himself said in this sense to have been king in Jeshurun (see Deut. 33), or by Joshua at another.
Kingship is not the only office in view here. This scene holds two dignities together in one picture — a pledge Israel itself never lived out.
Here we see the kingly dignity joined with the priestly, for Moses was "king in Jeshurun" (Deut. 33)… No such joining really happened in later times. But here Jehovah pledged it in type; and it awaits its fulfilment in Christ for the earth in days rapidly approaching. "Behold, a man whose name is Branch… he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on his throne; and he shall be a priest on his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both" (Zech. 6:12-13).
The verse ties the kingship to a gathered people — heads and tribes together. Hole finds a small preview of that in the day Jethro advised Moses.
In the language of Deuteronomy 33:5, Moses was "king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together." In our chapter we find the heads of the people chosen, as Jethro advised under God; and he gave that advice only if "God command you so." So it seems that here we have a little sample of the coming kingdom. Moses is king; the people are subject to him; the Gentile, in the person of Jethro, comes to rejoice with him and his people.
- Upright — Jeshurun is a name for Israel, not a place. It means "upright ones," or by another reading "beloved of Jehovah."
- Law — the reign in verse 5 rests on verse 4. The law came through Moses and became the inheritance of the congregation. Every blessing that follows stands on those relationships.
- King — "king" is a most unusual title for Moses. Writers explain it by the prophetic character of the blessing: he pictures Christ as King.
- Throne — behind Moses stands the real ruler. Israel at this point was a pure theocracy: God Himself was their King, and asking for another king rejected Him.
- Gathered — the king reigns over a gathered people. That is a small sample of the coming kingdom, where one Man holds both throne and priesthood.