Deuteronomy 32:23-43 Bible Study | Episode 957

June 10, 2025

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

Deuteronomy 32:23-43  Bible Study | Episode #957

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

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Transcript

This is Chad Harrison, and you're listening to Hope Applying God's word to your daily life.

Hi, this is Chad Harrison and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and have been serving as a pastor for 25 years.

I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life.

I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open up.

His word to you and allow you.

To see him and to know him and to know his will, that you might glorify him and that you might walk in faith and power each and every day, especially today in Jesus name.

Well, good morning. Welcome to Lake Community Church's morning Bible study. We are In Deuteronomy, chapter 20,

I mean, chapter 32 and, and starting with verse 23,

getting the verses and the chapters mixed up this morning.

But as we study through this,

one of the things that,

you know, gets talked about a little bit in church circles, but not a lot. And there's not a lot of understanding of this as far as scripture is concerned, as far as the regular people and listening and hearing all the talk about, you know,

why is the United States Israel's best and why do we support Israel in this conflict?

And really the truth about the conflict of Israel being a nation in the Middle East. And so if you don't know the history,

you really need to do a deep dive and understand Israel's history.

And by the way, we're reading the books of history. We're reading the five books of the Pentateuch that were written 3,500 years ago when Israel entered into the land that was promised him, a land that was possessed by their forefathers.

Another 500 years before that, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, five to 600 years before that. So we're not really even talking about 3,500 years. We're talking about 4,000 years of the people that are the generations after Abraham,

called the Jews, have existed in what is today Israel for 4,000.

And there has been a presence of them,

maybe a small presence at times because they've been taken into captivity and empires have attacked them and destroyed them based off of the prophecy of God. God said these things would happen because of their unfaithfulness.

That being said,

God is pretty clear about how he treats nations that go against his people.

And understanding that,

and understanding that God is that way about his nation and his people,

his children,

the nation of Israel,

the descendants of Abraham,

those who were to be the light and to carry his word, his message to the world, which, by the way, they have done Moses and.

And those to follow after him do carry a message not only to Israel, but to the world.

A message of light, a city on a hill.

Were they really perfect at it? No. And did God predict, obviously in the chat in last Bible study, God predict that they would wander away?

Absolutely he did. Was Moses pessimistic about them?

Sure he was. He calls them stiff necked, hard hearted people.

But that being said, that does not change the fact of God's love for them and the position he places them in as far as his plan for the world. And so understanding that as a nation,

we, as a nation that is separated from them, however, we have as many,

about as many Jews live in the United States as there are in Israel,

somewhere around 8 million apiece.

And then that makes up well over 90% of the population of the Jewish people in the world.

So the United States is not only a friend to Israel, it's a home to Israel.

And so our position as their ally is not only a natural one, but it's a spiritual one. And so understanding how God feels about people who attack his nation is very important.

And understanding how that tends to lead toward disaster for those who do that is very important.

And so we see here where Moses is kind of talking about that. He says, I will heap disaster on them. This is verse 33. I'll spin my arrows on them.

They shall be wasted with hunger, devoured with pestilence and bitter destruction.

I also send against them the teeth of the beast,

with poisons of serpents, of the dust the sword shall destroy outside, there shall be terror within for the young man and the virgin, the nursing child, the man of gray hairs.

I would have said, I will dash them in pieces. I will make them a memory to them to cease from among. Them had not feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversary should misunderstand, lest they should say, our hand is high and it is not the Lord who has done all this.

What he's saying is they're not going to be able to talk about how God didn't handle them. For they are a nation void of counsel. Nor is there any understanding in them.

Them, oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end. How could one chase a thousand and two, put 10,000 to flight, unless their rock had sold them?

What he's saying is God can make a small nation powerful. And by the way, he's done that.

And the Lord had surrendered them for their rock. Is not like Iraq, Meaning a people who,

who come against Israel do not have a God like their God.

And they don't.

They just flat out don't.

Even our enemies themselves being judged.

For their vine is of the vine of Sodom and the field of Gomorrah. Their grapes are the grapes of gall,

their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the poison of serpents and cruel venom of cobras.

This is pretty negative. I don't know if you're noticing that.

Is it not laid up in store with me, sealed with me among my treasures?

Vengeance is mine and recompense. And that's a good thing for you to remember as a believer.

Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord,

is something that's said several times in scripture.

And so I don't have to avenge myself.

It's not necessary that I avenge myself.

God is pretty clear here about how he's going to avenge himself on these people that come against his people. I mean, we've got 10, 12 verses that are pretty stark and pretty strong that God will binge himself.

And then he comes down here and says.

He says,

I'm going to take my vengeance. I am the one who.

Vengeance is mine. And recompense. He. He's gonna. He's gonna set the.

Set the.

The accounts even.

He's gonna recompense himself to them. Their foot shall slip in due time. Notice God says, I'm gonna take care of it in due time for the day of their calamities at hand and all things to come to hasten upon them.

We don't. We don't have to. We don't have to avenge ourselves. God. God's in the business of avenging himself because of us and because of Israel also.

And He. He has mightily, has he not?

And so knowing that's really, really important,

he says, for the Lord will judge his people and have compassion on his servant. And he said, God's going to handle his people with his. In his own way, by his own will,

and he's going to give us compassion. He says when he sees their power is gone and there's no one,

no one remaining, bound or free, he will say, where are their gods,

the rock which they sought refuge? What he's going to say is, why don't you go chasing after other gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings?

Let him rise and help you and be your refuge. And he's saying, you know, don't seek after other gods, because you're going to end up with nothing.

And God's going to have passion on it, on you. But you're God's also going to say, how's this worked out for you? And that's really what he says in verse 37, 38 how's this working out for you?

You chasing after these other gods.

He says, now see that I, even I am he and there's no God beside me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal.

These are good words. And you see Solomon kind of repeating these thought patterns.

And Ecclesiastes, he says, now see that I,

I, even I am he and there's no God beside me. I kill and my I make alive, I wound and I heal. Nor is there anyone who can deliver from my hand, meaning once I've decided to do something, it can't be changed.

For I raise my hand to heavens and I say, as I live forever,

if I wet my glittering sword and make and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance on my enemies and repay those who hate me.

I'll make my arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives from the heads of the leaders of the enemy.

He's saying,

I am the one who is the judge.

I judge these things.

And understanding that God is God, and that's really a very, very important. And I've talked about this in church recently a lot.

It's a very, very important understanding to have not in your head but in your heart for it to come all the way down to your heart that the Lord God is the Lord God.

He is the author of all things.

He is omnipresent, meaning he's present in all time and space.

All space and time.

He's all powerful.

He know he has all the power.

He's all knowing. He knows everything.

And understanding that, that, that, that, that definition of God. And by the way, he's good too.

He's all good.

And that understanding and definition of God is a comfort for those who trust in that.

Then he says, rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.

I really believe this has to do with us.

It's a promise for the hope of the future. And it is for he will avenge his blood of his servants and render vengeance to his adversaries.

He will provide atonement for his land and his people. So God's going to atone for his land and his people. And he tells the Gentiles to rejoice with him because that atonement is going to be provided through the Jews to us by way of Jesus Christ.

And so God is a guide with a plan.

And that plan's been being carried out for,

like I said, 3,500 years. And really 4,000 years when you go back all the way to Abraham.

And that plan is a good plan, it's a righteous plan.

And it's a plan of hope for us too.

As you go today, I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you and that he will give you hope and peace today in Jesus name.