Nothing Is Beyond God's Purposes for His People

Moses was deliverer, law-giver and prophet. And in Deuteronomy 32 he delivers for the people the prototypical prophecy with the same themes found throughout the later day Old Testament prophets. Where did they learn to see calamity and distress as signs of God's wrath for abandoning the covenant? They saw it first here in Moses. Reading through Deuteronomy 32 is like reading a passage in Jeremiah or Isaiah. It is a clear lesson for us still today. Those who would claim to speak for God must already know what God has said in the past.

Deuteronomy 32:39 (ESV) “‘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.

One of the key themes for Israel in this song filled with dark themes is the fact that nothing will happen to them beyond the purposes of their God.

God had blessed them:
Deuteronomy 32:13 (ESV) He made him ride on the high places of the land, and he ate the produce of the field, and he suckled him with honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock.

God would punish them:

Deuteronomy 32:21 (ESV) They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

God would use the punishment to teach them when they were hard of hearing:
Deuteronomy 32:29–30 (ESV) If they were wise, they would understand this; they would discern their latter end! 30 How could one have chased a thousand, and two have put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had given them up?

Afterward, He will restore and deliver them once again:
Deuteronomy 32:35–36 (ESV) Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’ 36 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.

Finally, He will cleanse and purify them:

Deuteronomy 32:43 (ESV) “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.”

What we need to see clearly is that God is teaching His people how to read their (future) history. If God had not put this in the book of Deuteronomy, they would have had to guess when plagues and terror came upon them. Perhaps they would have abandoned God altogether for lack of the witness found here. Fortunately, they had a clear guide on how to interpret their times. In every season of their history, God was working - whether by blessing, punishing, reproving or restoring. What a way for Israel to survive and ultimately thrive human history even when things were terrible for them. 

This is important for God's people today. We are not ignorant of the times or the age. We can understand what the world is experiencing through the words of Jesus (Matthew 24) and others (Paul, Peter, John). We do not have to guess at the historical arc of humankind. We know that God's people will be treated lovingly and caringly by Him who loved them. No, not every season will be pretty. Israel's history is speckled and spotted. But every season comes with the salvific assurance - this is for your ultimate good, He is with us.

For that, we can rejoice and give thanks in ALL circumstances.