Scripture Daily

Context No. 3138 of 4322 · Deuteronomy

Context · Reflection

Deuteronomy 33:1-6: in context

1This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2He said, “The LORD came from Sinai, and rose from Seir to them. He shone from Mount Paran. He came from the ten thousands of holy ones. At his right hand was a fiery law for them. 3Yes, he loves the people. All his saints are in your hand. They sat down at your feet. Each receives your words. 4Moses commanded us a law, an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob. 5He was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together. 6“Let Reuben live, and not die; Nor let his men be few.”

This is the blessing Moses spoke over Israel before his death. He recalls the LORD coming from Sinai in blazing glory, and then he says something remarkable about God's posture toward the people: yes, he loves the peoples; all his holy ones are in your hand. Moses gave them a law, an inheritance, and then he begins to bless the tribes: let Reuben live and not die.

At the very end of his life, Moses turns to bless, not to complain. And the heart of it is that stunning line: he loves the peoples; all his holy ones are in your hand. After forty years of a stubborn, grumbling people, Moses' parting word about them, and about God's heart toward them, is love, they are held safe in God's hand. The dying leader looks past all the failures to declare that God loves this people and keeps them. To be in God's hand is the truest security there is. Moses ends not with a curse on their faults but a blessing rooted in God's love.

Do I believe that I am held "in God's hand," loved by him, and can I bless rather than curse those whose failures I have long borne?

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