Moses Sings
In Deuteronomy 32 Moses sings a song to the people of Israel. This song of Moses was to remind the people of who their great God was. He sang to remind them of how without God they would still be in Egypt as slaves. He sang to warn them of becoming too 'fat' with all the blessings that God had provided for them (Deuteronomy 32:15). How easy it was for them, and for us, to forget where our blessings have come from. How easy to lose our way if we don't pay attention to what is truly important.
Worshipping Other Gods
The Israelites would forget their God and run after new gods. They would worship idols. What god do we worship? Who do we give reverence, respect and awe to? Is it to God or to celebrities, to politicians, to the rich and powerful, or perhaps just to ourselves. Is it to an ideology, to science, to academics? We may not bow down in front of a statue but people can still worship other 'gods'.
God Hides His Face
What comes from forgetting God? Moses says in verses 19-25 that initially God would "hide His face" from the people. The people would not so easily sense His presence. They would not feel the burden of their sins so greatly. When that does not bring them to their senses, He says He will bring famine, pestilence, plague, wild beasts, venomous snakes and the sword to the land. It is then that the people will see their sin, then they will realize what they took for granted and then that they will call upon God to save them.
Words of Life
All of this is to remind the people of what can happen to them when they forget God. Moses tells the people to take his words to heart and he goes on to say in Deuteronomy 32: 47 (a) NIV,
"They are not just idle words for you--they are your life."
Moses emphasizes the importance of obedience. What happens when we become so satisfied with our easy lives that we forget God. That is when disaster strikes. Wouldn't the Devil like us to believe that the word of God is "just idle words"? Wouldn't he like for us to believe that whether we obey God or not is not important? Wouldn't he like for us to replace God with idols, or better yet, put ourselves on the throne of our heart?
But Moses tells us that these words are so important that they "are your life." These thoughts are reiterated in Proverbs 4: 20-23. Here Solomon tells us to pay attention to these words because in them is life. In John 6: 63 (b) Jesus (who is the Word made flesh) says,
"The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life."
Wandering Ways
In our nation today we see the problems that come as successive generations drift farther and farther away from these words of life. G.K. Chesterton once said, "When people stop believing in God, they do not believe in nothing. They believe in anything." Today too many people have replaced God with other gods. They have replaced Him with other belief systems. They don't understand who He really is. We need to pray for ourselves that we don't wander from these words of life. As Proverbs 21: 16 says,
"A man who wanders from the way of understanding Will rest in the assembly of the dead."
Return
We must pray also for our nation that it will return to the God who has blessed us so greatly and seek His face while we still can. We will pray to never forget that,
"He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he."
Deuteronomy 32:4 (NIV)
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