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THE SONG OF MOSES
AND THE LAMB

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part I

Knowledge Not Automatic
Commandment Not Too Hard

Part III

God Punishes His People
Why Doesn't God Cast Them Away?
"Sealed Up Treasures"
God's Declaration

Part II

The Song of Moses
The Rock
Jacob His Heritage
A Desert Land
An Eagle Stirreth Up Her Nest
Jeshurun Waxed Fat
Moved Me to Jealousy

Part IV

Ezekiel 38:18-23
The Song of the Lamb
Overcoming the Beast and Image
"It Is Your Life"

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Part II

The Song of Moses Itself

  Now we come to the song itself in Deuteronomy 32:1-3 (ESV):

"Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

"May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distil as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb.

"For I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Ascribe greatness to our God!"

 

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We have the promise that
the Lord’s Word would distil as the dew.

    What a wonderful lesson we have here. How did the Harvest Message come to us? Did Bro. Russell engage a team of brilliant Bible Students as a kind of brain trust with sledgehammer blows to forge the truths of our time? No. It did not happen that way.
   Let me quote from Reprint 2453 where Bro. Russell explains how present truth came about. He says:

"But as we claim that what we present is not our own, not new, but ‘The Old Theology,’ so old that it had been lost sight of for centuries, we must disclaim any credit even for the finding and rearrangement of the jewels of truth. ‘It is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.’ The writer wholly disclaims superior ability or qualification for the reorganization of the truth in its present solidarity. As the time had come for the bringing together of the scattered thoughts of past centuries in the marvelous inventions of our dayso the time had come for the bringing together of the fragmentary hopes and promises of God’s Word scattered through Christendom. To deny that the Lord has simply ‘poured out’ this harvest time blessing of ‘present truth’ in his own due time and in his own way, would be as wrong as to claim it is of our own invention. ‘Poured out’ exactly expresses the truth on this point, too, for he neither ‘burned the midnight oil,’ nor racked his brain, nor otherwise forged the chain of truth with heavy sledge blows of human reason on the anvil of knowledge. On the contrary, it came gradually, silently, as comes the morning dawn: the only effort necessary was to keep awake and face in the right direction. And the greatest aid in so doing was the effort put forth to awaken others of the ‘household of faith’ and point them to the light and in turn to urge upon them the necessity for serving also, if they would overcome the lethargic ‘spirit of the world,’ and be ready to go in to the marriage of the Lamb."

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Yes, the only thing softer than the dew is the morning dawn.


 
   That is indeed how the truth came to us, and that is the way the Lord said His word would come. I love his unpretentious explanation. He is simply telling it like it was.
    Yes, the truth distilled as the dew and the gentle rain, and that is the way it should be. God has not chosen the lightning bolts to strike His people nor the thunder to define His truths.
    They are finding out in our time about the miracle of the dew and the rain. Scientifically, water is much heavier than air and theoretically air should not hold water. But it does. How does it do it? Well, that is a miracle. Water simply evaporates into the air.
    If you leave a glass of water standing long enough in the open air the water will gradually disappear. Little molecules of water lift off the surface of water and into the air. The sun greatly accelerates this process. The air is miraculously made to retain molecules of water.


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As the moisture enlarges, it forms clouds and in great water storms the clouds will rise higher and higher, forming layers of clouds ascending 30,000 or 40,000 feet where the air is very thin and rare.

When the condensation takes place, it can become an awesome deluge of water.

    By way of contrast the dew forms from the moisture condensing from the air on the earth in such a gentle way that it forms droplets of water without the sound of a drop of rain.
    That is how the truth has come to us.

   

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The Rock

    We proceed to Deuteronomy 32:4, 5 (ESV):

"The Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he.

"They have dealt corruptly with Him, they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation."

 

    There are many scriptures confirming God is our Rock.

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"Look to the rock from which you were hewn."
Isaiah 51:1 (ESV)

 

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"The Lord is my rock, and my fortress,
and my deliverer, my God, my rock,
 in whom I take refuge."
Psalms 18:2

 

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"The Rock of Israel has said to me:
when one rules justly over men,
ruling in the fear of God,
he dawns on them like the morning light."
2 Samuel 23:3, 4 (ESV)

 

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Jacob His Allotted Heritage

    In Deuteronomy 32:7-9 (ESV) we quote in part:

"Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you.

"When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.

"But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage."

 

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Western Wall

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Samaria

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City of Jerusalem

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Hebron
Tomb of the Patriarchs

    This is a reminder of history referring back to Genesis 10, where we find some seventy people were assigned their portions of land. This was shortly after the flood, but their fathers and elders probably remembered this bit of history.
    This was important to the children of Israel then, because they were standing at the gate of the Promised Land. It was important for them to know the land they were about to take was their God given heritage. They were not taking something that was not theirs, like some thief, but only claiming what the Lord had given them.
    In Genesis 10:25 (ESV) we read:

"To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan."

    It was in Peleg’s time the earth was divided and Peleg followed in the lineage of Shem. We think this scrap of history is very interesting even now, but then it was a reminder that they were claiming their heritage.

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"He Found Him in a Desert Land"

    We read from Deuteronomy 32:10:

"He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye."

 

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Wilderness Wanderings

God found Israel in the wilderness and placed his love upon them during the forty years of their wandering.

Because God led them,  they successfully found their way through the treacherous passes and canyons on their long journey.

 
    Without God’s guidance they would not know the right way, the hidden dangers, and could easily have been entrapped and suffered severe losses. The wilderness can be very unforgiving and harsh on travelers ignorant of the dangers. So God prepared the way before them, and they avoided all the pitfalls and dangers of traveling in that howling wilderness.
    Yes, "He kept them as the apple of His eye." It doesn’t get better than that. It is wonderful to be kept by the power of God.

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"As an Eagle Stirreth Up Her Nest"

"As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:

"So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him."
Deuteronomy 32:11-12

    The Lord uses the eagle here to illustrate His care for Israel. The eagle is a remarkable creature. It can use high winds to soar to great heights.  It has keen vision that can see a mouse from a mile high and can also look at the sun at noonday.

 

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Eagle with Young in Nest

    Here it speaks of the eagle stirring up her nest. Because eagles are big birds, they use sticks to make their nest. When the eaglets become of age to leave the nest, the mother eagle will tear out all the grass and down from within the nest and suddenly that comfortable nest begins to poke and stick the eaglets. It is time to leave the nest.
    As the eaglets spread their wings while learning to fly on their rocky ledges, the mother eagle flutters over her young. When each eaglet takes its maiden voyage, the mother eagle will spread her wings under her eaglet and bear them up, literally bearing them on eagle wings until they have sufficient strength to fly alone.
    The last thing the eaglets are taught is how to soar. Unless these young eagles learn how to set their wings and harness the opposing winds, the winds would exhaust them quickly. By setting the wings at the proper angle they can stay aloft using the high winds to give them lift just as a sailplane.
    The lesson is very clear. The Lord does not leave His people in comfortable nests for long. The day must come in every Christian's life when the Lord will stir up the nest, turning us out into the elements, but all the while fluttering over us and quickly bearing us up on eagle wings when our weak wings falter.
    Then we must learn to soar on eagle wings, using the opposing forces of life to soar to higher heights, renewing our strength as the eagle. The eagle does not fight the opposing winds, but harnesses them while renewing its strength.

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"Jeshurun Waxed Fat"

"But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covereth with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

"They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.

"They sacrificed unto devils [BBE, evil spirits], not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not."
Deuteronomy 32:15-17

    What does Jeshurun mean? It is a pet name for Israel and means the "darling upright." Can you image God calling them this? He did. God generously gives them a little more credit than they deserve.
    Still, in their early experiences Israel did put in some beautiful devotion to God. We sometimes look at all their backsliding, but God gives them credit as he does us, by counting us faithful.
    It is when they entered the land of promise and became full and fat that they forsook the Lord. How sad to read:

"He forsook God which made him, 
and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation."


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Sacrificing Children to Moloch

That is exactly what happened. This is why this song was given, because the Lord knew they would forsake him.

Not only so, but they went after strange gods (evil spirits) and entered into the abominable practices of the nations round about, sacrificing their sons and daughters to demons.

    How could this happen, we ask? I am sure they did not start out to do this. However, leaving their steadfastness to the Lord, little by little, they were beguiled until they had debased themselves to such a wretched condition. However, He did not cast them off forever, but rather he wanted to make them jealous.

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"They Moved Me to Jealousy"

"They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation."
Deuteronomy 32:21

    The mere fact that God tries to provoke them to jealousy shows He still loved His people. This verse points us to the fact that God turned His attention to the Gentiles, those who are not a people, and from these He selects a people for His name.
    Meanwhile, God hopes the Jews see His affections being extended to the Gentiles, that they would become jealous and seek Him again. As Gentiles, it is humbling to know that we really are playing second fiddle to the Jews, but to obtain God’s favor we are glad to be second fiddle or third fiddle if need be. We are not worthy of this honor, however you look upon it.

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         Topical Studies on:
The Song of Moses and the Lamb Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV

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Dedicating the Temple Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV

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