God's Blessing and Our Victory

Okay. Okay. You ready? Okay. Okay. Okay. You sure? I think so. Okay. Okay. Deuteronomy chapter 33. Moses is going to bless the people before he dies. So I'm going to have some coffee. We'll pray and we'll get into God's word. Do you want coffee? You're a loss. You're a loss. All right, let's go ahead and pray. God, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word and we pray, God, that you would please help us to understand it this morning. Please teach us, Lord, in Jesus's name. Amen.
All right. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to go paragraph by paragraph because we're going to go through the different tribes and he's going to bless these people. So I'll read the first paragraph, then you'll read the second. We'll go back and forth. Actually, it's just going to be kind of tribe by tribe. We'll read, okay? And we'll just talk about it as we go. Does that sound fair? All right.
Now, this is the blessing which Moses, the man of God, first time that's said in the Bible, Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death. And he said, the Lord came from Sinai and dawned on them from Mount Seir. He shone forth from Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints. From his right hand came a fiery law for them. Yes, he loves the people, and his saints are in your hand. They sit down at your feet. Everyone receives your words.
Moses commanded a law for us, a heritage of the congregation of Jacob. And he was king in Jeshurun. So Jezreel means like the righteous ones. He was king in the righteous ones when the leaders of the people were gathered and all the tribes of Israel together. You want to read verse six?
Let Reuben live and not die, nor let his men be few. So what's Reuben about? Let him live. Good, right? Good. Let him live and not die. So this is a blessing he's got for him. Pretty good blessing, huh? Alright. Judah. And this he said of Judah. Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him to his people. Let his hands be sufficient for him, and may you be a help against his enemies. Alright, what's he saying about Judah? let him win in war. Good, good.
All right, you want to read about Levi? And of Levi he said, let your Thummim and your Urim be with your Holy One whom you tested at Massa and with whom you contented at the waters of Meribah, who says of his father and mother, I have not seen them, nor did he acknowledge his brothers or know his children, for they have observed your word and kept your covenant.
They shall teach Jacob your judgments and Israel your law. They shall put incense before you and a whole burnt sacrifice on your altar. Bless his substance, Lord, and accept the work of his hands. Strike the loins of those who rise against him and of those who hate him that they rise not again. Alright, so he brings up some things about them, right? They got the Urim and the Thummim, that's how they're going to kind of cast lots before the Lord for finding out what's the will of God on certain things. But they tried Him and tested Him before, both at Massa as well as at Meribah.
But then notice in verse 10 through 11, they get to teach, they get to have the incense, the sacrifice, blessings, and they get to protect God's worship. So, that's a blessing for the Levites. So, Benjamin is going to be of safety and of war and protection. Can you read verse 13?
And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord is his land, with the precious things of heaven, with the dew and the deep lying beneath, with the precious fruits of the sun, with the precious produce of the months, with the best things of the ancient mountains, with the precious things of the everlasting hills, with the precious things of the earth in its fullness, in the favor of him who dwelt in the bush. Let blessing come upon the head of Joseph and a crown on the head of him who was separate from his brothers. His glory is like a firstborn bull and his horns like the horns of a wild ox.
Together with them he shall push peoples to the end of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim. They are the thousands of Manasseh. All right. So remember, Joseph has two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and Jacob adopts them as his own at the end of his life. And so there are two different tribes, but Moses is blessing them all at once. And what are some of the things you remember about the blessing that they have?
That they'll be a bull and an ox. Oh, okay. His glory is like a firstborn bull and his horn like the horns of the wild ox. That's talking about his power and his strength and his honor, right? So, Manasseh and Ephraim are going to be really important tribes, right? They're going to be strong tribes. They have the best and the most precious, right?
The best and precious, best and precious, best and precious, again and again is what we saw in verse 14, 15, and 16. Alright, so Zebulun, verse 18. Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, and Issachar in your tents. That's it for Zebulun and Issachar. Oh no, I'm sorry, verse 19.
They shall call the peoples to the mountains. There they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness, for they shall partake of the abundance of the seas, and of the treasures hidden in the sand. Alright, so, they're going to be blessed in their tents. And they're going to be people who are even going to be getting stuff from the sea from maritime trade.
Alright, verse 29, or 20 of Gad. Of Gad he said, Blessed is he who enlarges Gad, he dwells as a lion, and tears the arm and crown of his head. He provided the first part for himself, because a lawgiver's portion was reserved there. He came with the heads of the people, he administered the justice of the Lord, and his judgments with Israel. Alright, so he's a man of the law. He's also a strong man. But he also got the best land of the livestock for himself, right? When they entered into the promised land on the other side of the Jordan River. Remember Gad, Manasseh, and Reuben. Half Manasseh, Gad. What's the other tribe there on the other side of the Jordan River?
Reuben, I think it's Reuben. I could be wrong there anyway, so big dad gets the best land for the livestock there verse 22 and Of Dan he said Dan is a lion's whelp He shall leap from Bation That's a little bit hard. I think that one's probably getting at that. He's more of a timid type of a tribe You want to do verse 23, but it's still strong.
I And of Naphtali, he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favor and full of the blessing of the Lord, possess the west and the south. All right, so Naphtali is going to have land, right? He's going to be a strong land holder. And of Asher, last tribe here. And of Asher he said, Asher is most blessed of sons. Let him be favored by his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil. Your sandal shall be iron and bronze, and your days, as your days, so shall your strength be. Favored, strong, living long. So that's Asher's blessing. Let's go ahead and wrap this up, because there's one last very important part, verses 26 through 29.
There is no one like the God of Jeshurun who rides the heavens to help you and in his excellency on the clouds. Who do you think that's talking about? Who rides on the clouds in his excellency? Who comes from heaven to help them? Yeah, this is talking about God.
Good. Verse 27. Eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. You will thrust out the enemy from before you and will say, Destroy. Keep going. Then Israel shall dwell in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone. In a land of grain and new wine, his heavens shall also drop 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 majesty. Your enemies shall submit to you and you shall tread down their high places. All right, so what do you think that tells us about God?
That God is Like no one he's Great. Yeah powerful guys like no one else. He's great. He's powerful and who's he for? Israel Israel, that's right. Then Israel shall dwell in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone, in the land of grain and new wine. His heavens shall also drop dew. Happy are you, O Israel, who is like you, a people saved by Jehovah, the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty. Your enemies shall submit to you and you shall tread down their high places. Why? Because they are servants of the Most High, living, gracious. and strong God who rides upon the clouds of heaven and goes and avenges his people. That's the God that we serve. That's the God that was leading Israel into the promised land. That's the God that Moses believed in, that showed himself to Moses. It's the God we still serve today.
What's this whole section about? Real quick, let's wrap it up. Blessing the tribes. Okay, good. So blessing the tribes. Great. So Moses' final blessing. I'm going to just say in my Bible, I have a whole bunch underlined, but I would say verses 26 and 27 are some of my favorite verses in almost all of Deuteronomy. So let's seek calling. What are you called to do? Great. You read all these blessings. We've got through an entire chapter. There's a long devotion. What are you called to do? How does this show you Jesus Christ? Anything from the covenant for you? Any CCC's?
I think, calls me to worship that same God. Calls me to be devoted to him. Calls me to know that he is the one who has a place and a purpose for all of his people. He knows the tribes, he defends his people, and he's shown that most of all in giving us our victory king, Jesus Christ, Lord of Lords.
Sound good? You ready for me to pray? Okay, let's pray. God, thank you so much for The time you've given us to be in your word, Lord, you have told us that we are a blessed people because you have given us your son, Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that you would please help us to follow after you and love you. Lord, we pray that you would please bless us and continue to be our victor, our king, the one who reigns in Jeshurun, in Jesus' name. Amen. May God bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ, and we'll see you next time. Bye. Bye.