There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, Who rideth upon the heavens to thy help, And in his majesty, upon the clouds.
Moses ends his blessing on the twelve tribes by turning the eye from the tribes to God Himself. He points to a God no one can match — a God who rides the heavens to come to His people's help.
Deuteronomy is a book of warnings, and this closing burst of blessing comes after all of them.
Nothing can exceed the preciousness of the grace that breathes in the closing lines of our book... It is refreshing and comforting beyond expression to listen to such words as these. They come at the close of all the appeals, all the exhortations, all the solemn warnings, all the faithful declarations, all the prophetic records of failure and sin, judgment and governmental wrath. Grace and glory shine out with uncommon brightness. God will yet be glorified in Israel, and Israel fully and forever blessed in God. Nothing can hinder this.
God does not call the nation by its usual name here. Commentators differ over what the title means:
This is a name given to Israel. It probably means "upright ones," though others prefer "beloved of Jehovah." Jehovah was the "God of Jeshurun," and Moses was "king in Jeshurun."
The name describes a character Israel did not yet have. It points forward:
Jeshurun means "the righteous one." God will call Israel "the righteous one" in that day, because He will then count her faith as righteousness. What a contrast to the condition she was in when she rejected Christ! From the height of heaven this great God will work in the hearts of the people to produce a marvellous change.
The picture of riding says something about authority. Clouds mark the place from which the Lord rules.
The clouds are the seat of heavenly authority — faithfulness and blessing. They are the place where the Lord rides and exercises power, the visible seat of authority.
The same writer identifies the Rider. The One who held that authority over Israel in the wilderness has not changed:
Adonai — the Lord Jesus — is the same Elohim, the same God, who rode on the heavens. He exercised that earlier authority in the wilderness. The Person who exercised authority over the Jews is the same Person who now rules in the heavens over that same acknowledged Israel. And this is Adonai Jesus.
An enemy army once surrounded the prophet Elisha. His servant was terrified; Elisha was not:
Elisha knew that the God of Jeshurun rode on the heavens to help Jeshurun. In that hour of danger, he wanted his servant's thoughts full of the same sense of divine security. These chariots and horses of fire that fill the mountain were, I have no doubt, a host of angels. They are heavenly creatures who excel in strength. They stand in the presence of God, or go out to serve for the sake of those who are heirs of salvation.
Moses is describing something still ahead. Law was not God's last word to Israel.
Nothing can exceed the grandeur of the closing words of Moses. God will surely fulfil them in the future brightness and glory of a restored Israel. He has dealt with His people according to the fiery law in His right hand, but He has not used up the resources of His tender mercy. No — the best wine is kept to the last. The One they did not know in His humiliation will bring it in, and in the end they will own Him with great joy when He returns in glory.
God gave this promise to Israel. Christians may still draw from it, but with care:
The Lord's people now can draw instruction, comfort and refreshment from the blessings pronounced on Israel... We too can say, "The eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." The great mistake of professing Christians is applying to the church exclusively what plainly applies to God's earthly people. You need not fear losing any of your own blessing by leaving Abraham's descendants the place and the portion God assigned to them.
- Grace closes. After every warning in Deuteronomy, the book ends in blessing — and nothing can hinder it.
- Grace names. "Jeshurun" means the upright one — a title God gives before Israel earns it. He will count their faith as righteousness.
- Grace rides. The clouds are His seat of authority, and the Rider is the same Person who led Israel through the wilderness.
- Grace reaches. Elisha knew this God rides the heavens to help His people. Chariots of fire filled the mountain while his servant saw only the enemy.
- Grace finishes. God keeps the best wine for last, and the One they did not know in His humiliation will bring it in.
[Thy] refuge is the God of old, And underneath are the eternal arms; And he shall drive out the enemy from before thee, And shall say, Destroy [them]!
Moses ends his final blessing over Israel with God Himself. Two questions run through the verse: what does "eternal God" mean, and what do the arms underneath promise?
These are the closing lines of Deuteronomy, after long chapters of warning and judgment. One writer points out where these blessings begin and end.
The blessings of this chapter… begin and end with God and His marvellous ways with Israel. It is refreshing and comforting beyond expression. It comes after all the appeals, all the warnings… all the prophetic records about failure and sin, judgment and wrath. After all these, we get to listen to words like these.
The word behind "eternal" means ancient — what comes before everything else:
qedem, 'ancient, that which is before.' "The eternal God is your refuge." Deut. 33:27. "Are you not from everlasting?" Hab. 1:12. "God is my King of old." Ps. 74:12.
Israel will one day meet this God face to face, and the discovery will be a personal one.
How wonderful a revelation to their hearts that the Lord Jesus whom they crucified is the eternal God! His arms of eternal strength will uphold them.
The writers quoted here use an older translation, which reads "refuge" where the ESV has "dwelling place." Moses knew that shelter himself before he spoke these words over Israel.
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Before leaving the people he had served and led so well, he speaks these last words: "The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." In his prayer kept for us in Psalm 90, he can say: "Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations." Had not this closeness with God marked his whole life on earth, from the burning bush to the plains of Moab?
One writer asks what shoulder and heart stand for in Scripture, then looks at the high priest:
The meaning of shoulder in Scripture is strength… The heart, in the same way, always means love, and there is no need to prove it. So the high priest held up the children of Israel before the Lord, always, with strength and love.
He then applies the picture to the arms in this verse:
The everlasting arms are everlasting strength and everlasting love. With them God upholds, sustains and comforts His own, and folds them to His own heart in perfect security and rest. Or, if we prefer to carry on the thought of priesthood, it is the everlasting strength and the everlasting love with which Christ, as our Priest, upholds us before God. Both aspects are true.
Strength and love appear together again in words spoken by Jesus and by Paul:
"No one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand" (John 10:29). Here the thought is strength — the almighty power that holds us in the hand of God… We find both in that familiar passage in Romans 8… So we are entitled to this comfort: everlasting strength and everlasting love hold us secure in their embrace.
The verse does not stop at rest. It ends with the enemy driven out.
God's almighty power was engaged both for their safety and in their battles. This is just as true of the believer now. If God is for us, who can be against us?
These words were spoken over Israel. One writer urges Christians to take their comfort, while leaving Israel's own promises to Israel:
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It is true — wonderfully true — that the Lord's people now can draw instruction, comfort and refreshment from the blessings pronounced on Israel… We too can say, "The eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms."… No Christian need fear losing any of his own special blessing by leaving to Abraham's descendants the place and the portion assigned them.
Held that way, the verse stops being a doctrine and becomes something known:
It is a great moment when one realises, not as a doctrine but as a fact, that "the eternal God is your refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms." Then the fact becomes an experience, and that experience is great substance, it is a vein of pure gold.
- Everlasting first. The word for "eternal" means ancient, the One who is before all. So every promise resting on Him rests on what cannot age or end.
- Everlasting refuge. Moses gave Israel the shelter he had lived in himself, the God who had been a dwelling place in all generations.
- Everlasting arms. In Scripture the shoulder means strength and the heart means love. The arms underneath are both at once — holding and embracing.
- Everlasting reach. The same arms drive the enemy out ahead of the people — power engaged for their safety and in their conflicts.
- Everlasting hold. The same strength and love hold the believer now: no one can snatch them out of the Father's hand.
And Israel shall dwell in safety alone, The fountain of Jacob, in a land of corn and new wine; Also his heavens shall drop down dew.
Moses ends his blessing of the tribes with a picture, not a warning: the enemy gone, the nation settled by itself, the land bearing food, the sky giving dew. Readers ask when this was ever true, and why being "alone" should mean being safe.
The previous verse drives the enemy out. This verse describes the settled state that follows, and it has not yet arrived. Older translations read the second line as "the fountain of Jacob" where the ESV has "Jacob lived alone."
In that day the enemy will not be able to stand. God will thrust him out, with the solemn sentence, "Destroy." Only then will Israel at last dwell in safety, with a fountain of never failing blessing. Israel will dwell "alone," kept away from any danger of pollution (v.28), in a land of grain and new wine — the best of food and unhindered joy. The heavens will also drop dew, not a downpour of rain, but enough moisture gently provided.
Commentators read the closing lines of Deuteronomy as prophecy, not as a record of Israel's past.
Nothing can exceed the grandeur of the closing words of Moses. They will certainly come true in the future brightness and glory of restored Israel. God has dealt with His people according to the fiery law in His right hand. But He has not exhausted the resources of His tender mercy. No, He keeps the best wine until last. The One they did not know in His humiliation will bring it in. They will own Him in their own humiliation, yet in the end with great joy, when He returns in glory.
The word "alone" is not a complaint about isolation. It is the same word God had already used of this people, and it is tied directly to their security.
But further, Israel "shall dwell in safety alone." The thought of God is still this same word for His people — "alone." Israel is only safe when he dwells "alone," set apart from all that surrounds him. He is safe then. No enemy can touch him then; and why is this? We must turn to another passage for the answer.
The answer comes from Exodus.
"Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst." (Ex. 25:8.) If they are content to "dwell alone," and content not to be "counted among the nations," God Himself will come and live among them… Then they are safe from every enemy. Every enemy retreats.
Deuteronomy has traced God's government of a failing people. The last verses shift the ground.
God suited His ways to their conduct, to show His government and Himself. But He also lifted Himself above everything, to bless and to keep. He would fall back on the title of His own glory, to be for them an unfailing source of blessing and security. He would make His glory known for Israel's sake. He rode upon the heavens to help them. Where His majesty was, there was the people's help. He would also uphold them and destroy their enemies. Then Israel would dwell in safety alone.
The verse ends with dew. That image carries weight elsewhere in Scripture.
Dew was the familiar token of God's favour. It gave the land much of its fertility. Without dew the land would have been parched and barren. Isaac uses this figure when he pronounces the blessing on Jacob (Gen. 27:28). Moses repeats it in his closing blessing on the tribes (Deut. 33:28). Elijah shows God's judgment on the land by declaring that dew should not fall (1 Kings 17:1).
Christians can draw real comfort from this verse. Commentators warn about one mistake in doing so.
It is true — wonderfully true — that the Lord's people now can draw instruction, comfort and refreshment from the blessings pronounced on Israel… The grand mistake of professing Christians is to apply to the church alone what plainly applies to God's earthly people… Here is a great root principle: no one can understand or interpret Scripture without clearly seeing the grand distinction between Israel and the church of God.
- Alone, cleared — safety begins with an act of God. He thrusts the enemy out first, and only then does the nation settle.
- Alone, secure — "alone" is not abandonment. It means being kept away from anything that could corrupt, where no enemy can reach.
- Alone, inhabited — being apart is safe because God comes to live among a people willing not to be counted with the nations.
- Alone, supplied — grain, new wine and dew are the tokens of favour. Not a downpour, but enough, gently given.
- Alone, still ahead — Moses' last words point to a future restoration that rests on God's own glory. Christians can take comfort from it without claiming it as their own portion.
Happy art thou, Israel! Who is like unto thee, a people saved by Jehovah, The shield of thy help, And the sword of thine excellency? And thine enemies shall come cringing to thee; And thou shalt tread upon their high places.
Moses closes his blessing of the tribes with a shout over Israel's happiness, not a list of their duties. Every reason he gives points away from the people to their God — so what makes this nation unlike every other, and when is the happiness enjoyed?
Deuteronomy is full of warnings, conditions and predicted failure. Its closing lines sound nothing like that.
Nothing can exceed the preciousness of the grace that breathes in the closing lines of our book. The book is full of appeals, of urging, of solemn warnings, of faithful declarations, of prophetic records about failure and sin, judgment and governmental wrath. After all these, to listen to words like these is refreshing and comforting beyond expression. Grace and glory shine out with uncommon brightness. God will yet be glorified in Israel, and Israel fully and for ever blessed in God. Nothing can hinder this.
The title Moses gives the nation is not "a people who fought well" but a people saved. That name was earned at a sea, where God did the work.
They had to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Then the mighty work was done. Their enemies were all covered by the mighty sea, and they stood on the wilderness side of it. So they sang, "The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation" (Ex. 15:2). They were a saved people and in that hour of glorious triumph they knew it.
Look at the people God chose to save.
But please consider what wonderful grace this was. God took up such poor rebel slaves and redeemed them. He saved them from their cruel master, brought them so near to Himself, and filled their mouth with singing.
Moses names God twice: once for defence, once for attack. Israel supplies nothing. The verse ends with Israel treading on enemy backs; an older wording reads "tread upon their high places."
How happy Israel will be, depending on Him who is the shield of their help and the sword of their majesty. The shield is for defence, the sword for attack. By His power Israel's enemies will submit to them, cringing. Israel will tread down all their high places of false worship. They ought to have done this when they first entered the land, but sadly failed.
Older translations read "your enemies shall be found liars to you." That wording hints at lying, and some readers have thought badly of Christ's coming reign because of it. Writers answer that the word is about defeat, not deceit.
One passage I refer to is Deuteronomy 33:29, with its "found liars." "Shall submit themselves" would have conveyed no false sense. As Delitzsch says, the word is "often used of the forced submission of the defeated." "Come cringing" is how Driver and J. N. Darby render it. It describes the effect of the Lord's coming in warrior judgment.
Israel's history never matched this description. So writers read the verse forward, to a day still to come.
Nothing can exceed the grandeur of the closing words of Moses. God will surely fulfil them in the future brightness and glory of restored Israel. He has dealt with His people according to the fiery law in His right hand. But He has not exhausted the resources of His tender mercy. No, He keeps the best wine to the last. He whom they did not know in His humiliation will bring it in, and they will own Him — to their shame, yet in the end with exceeding joy — when He returns in glory.
So does any of this reach the reader today?
God's omnipotence was engaged both for their safety and in their conflicts. This is just as true of the believer now. For if God is for us, who can be against us?
But that comfort comes with a caution.
We can say all this and much more. We can say what Israel never could and never can say. The church's blessings and privileges are all heavenly and spiritual. But that does not stop us taking comfort from the promises made to Israel. The great mistake of professing Christians is to apply to the church alone what plainly applies to God's earthly people.
- Saved — Israel's happiness rests on one fact: God rescued them while they stood still, and they knew it.
- Chosen — grace took up rebel slaves, redeemed them, brought them near and filled their mouths with singing.
- Defended — God Himself is the shield for defence and the sword for attack. Israel supplies no strength of its own.
- Vindicated — enemies bow in forced submission before a victorious Lord; the word means defeat, not deceit.
- Awaited — none of this was ever true in full. God keeps the best wine until Christ returns in glory. Believers may borrow the comfort without claiming Israel's place.