‘There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty. The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, Destroy. So Israel lived in safety, Jacob lived alone, in a land of grain and wine, whose heavens drop down dew. Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph! Your enemies shall come fawning to you, and you shall tread upon their backs’ (Deuteronomy 33:26-29).

As Moses comes to the end of his last words to the people, his emphasis, as it was at the beginning, is on the Lord.  The subject of these last few verses (vs26-29) is Moses’ praise and worship at God’s role in redeeming His people and fulfilling His promises through all that He has done for Israel.  In all this, Moses emphasises that God is quite unique.

The language of verse 26 is interesting because, as in other parts of Deuteronomy, the terminology that is used is similar to the way the Canaanites would have believed their god Baal would have acted.  Being a god of the storm and rain, he would have been seen as having a dominion over the clouds and the sky.  But the point being made here is that Baal is a false god, whereas the Lord God of Israel was unique, and it was He not Baal who had sovereignty over all including the weather. But what is more remarkable is He is their God which is made apparent by the use of God’s nickname for Israel: ‘Jeshurun’.  

Verse 27 makes it clear that Israel would continue to find their security in the Lord and could be assured of that because He is the: ‘eternal God’, the reference to His: ‘everlasting arms’ indicating His strength.  It is said that that there are only two things that are certain in this life and that is ‘death and taxes’ but let me add a third far more encouraging one, and that is God can be trusted and when we come to Him we are secure in Him.  A major theme of Deuteronomy is there has been an assurance that God would go ahead of His people, He would fight their battles and would drive out their enemies and the second part of this verse reassures them of this.  Moses’ words paint a picture of a secure and happy nation being amply provided for due to the climate and agricultural nature of the land, but the phrase: ‘whose heavens drop dew’ (v28) reminds the people even the fruitfulness of nature is because of God’s provision.

The passage ends with the assertion that if God is unique then Israel is unique in having a God who has saved His people.  The language of verse 29 is militaristic in its nature with the language referring to the Lord as ‘the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph!’ But the nature of this warfare is spiritual as it included destruction of places of worship of the false gods and goddesses of the land.  This was victory over the false religion as such religion had led to depravity and was an affront to God, and, as such, was under God’s judgement.  Here is an emphasis on God’s working through a faithful and obedient people.  So here is a question for the church today.  Do we live in the light of God being a triumphant and we, because we worship such a God, being a triumphant people?  I will leave it those saints of yesteryear to Henry and Scott to sum up what this means.  ‘Never were people so well supported and borne up; “underneath the everlasting arms”; that is, the almighty power of God is engaged for the protection and the consolation of all who trust in him in their greatest straits and distresses, and under their heaviest burdens.  The everlasting arms shall support the interests of the church in general, that they shall not sink, or be run down.  Underneath the church is that Rock of ages on which it is built, and against which the gates of hell shall never prevail.’[1]Now that is real encouragement, and it acts as a book end to Moses’ blessing.  The blessing starts with the faithfulness of the Lord in the past and it ends with the promise of His faithfulness in the future.  The Lord God of Israel is the God of the church today.  After all, we like them, are redeemed people: ‘saved by the Lord’ (v29).  So, what choice do we have but to be encouraged!

[1] Henry and Scott, A Commentary upon the Holy Bible, Genesis to Deuteronomy (London, The Religious Tract Society, 1833) 461.