The Lord Saves the Weak

The Lord will judge his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees their strength is gone. . . .

Deuteronomy 32:36_

In this final portion of the thirty-second chapter of Deuteronomy, we learn that God saves the weak. He does not save arrogant, self-righteous Pharisees; rather, he saves publicans and sinners. He provides for the poor but sends the rich away empty.

Background

Deuteronomy 32 is a hymn written in the form of a covenant. As such, it speaks about blessings for obedience and judgment for disobedience, an idea still in force today. It is a theodicy that justifies God’s dealings not only with his people but also with their enemies. When obeyed, its teachings are like showers falling upon tender plants, refreshing and renewing those who hear and obey. Israel was to love this word of God and teach her children and children’s children for generations to come to love the Lord of this covenant. Moses concluded this hymn saying that these are not just idle, empty words; they are our life. We receive eternal life only by believing and obeying God’s word.

These teachings reveal how great God is in his being, power, holiness, wisdom, and justice. Such knowledge was designed to inspire God’s people to worship and serve him alone all the days of their lives. It was also to be a witness against them whenever they wandered from his word. It foresaw the effect of prosperity upon them: “When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their forefathers, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant. . . . Jeshurun grew fat and kicked. Filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock, his Savior” (Deuteronomy 31:20; 32:15).

Israel abandoned the Lord of the covenant, their only Savior, and went whoring after worthless idols. They sacrificed to demons who permitted them to violate God’s laws with impunity, practiced cultic prostitution like that of Baal Peor, and worshiped the gods of Sodom and Gomorrah. By these actions they so angered the God of Israel that he hid his face from them.

Then God pronounced judgment on his people: “They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols. I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding. For a fire has been kindled by my wrath, one that burns to the realm of death below . . . I will heap calamities upon them . . . . I will send wasting famine against them . . .” (Deuteronomy 32:21-24). The God who saves also pours out judgment on his people. So God caused foreigners to come and punish his people mercilessly.

We must realize that the God of Israel is not one of many gods. He alone is God and Savior. He alone is Sovereign over all, whether his people or his enemies. He controls, guides, punishes, and saves. He does what he pleases for he alone is Creator and Judge.

This truth is recognized even by the enemies of the Lord: “For their rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede” (v. 31). Such acknowledgments about the omnipotence and sovereignty of the God of Israel are made by unbelievers throughout the Scriptures. For instance, Exodus 14:25 tells us, “He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, ‘Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.'” Even demons acknowledge this truth, as we read in 1 Samuel 5. After the Philistines captured the ark, they placed it in the temple of their god, Dagon. Verse 4 says, “But the following morning when they rose, there Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold.” That is the picture of all the gods of this world; their hands and heads are broken in surrender to the true and living God.

All false gods are worthless, impotent, incompetent, deaf, mute, blind creations of human imagination. In 1 Kings 18 Elijah challenged the people, saying, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him” (v. 21). But read verse 29: “Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention” (v. 29).

If you are tempted to worship idols, consider this: All idolaters shall be punished by the holy and sovereign Lord. They shall be punished in history, meaning in their personal life on earth; they shall be punished the moment they die; and they shall be punished on the last day when they are raised up only to be cast into the lake of fire. That is the destiny of everyone who abandons the true God and runs after idols.

I. The God Who Avenges

This passage gives four characteristics of the true God. First, he is the avenging God, the God who punishes. In verses 34-35 God asks, “Have I not kept this in reserve and sealed it in my vaults? It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.” In verses 41-42 he declares, “When I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood, while my sword devours flesh: the blood of the slain and the captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.”

The holy God must punish every sin of every person, for he cannot and will not tolerate any violation of his revealed laws. We may think that God will always smile and hug us, no matter what we do. But that is a false picture, a caricature of the holy, powerful God of the Scriptures. If God did not punish sin, he would not be holy. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, and I will repay. What is this vengeance? It is the zeal of God poured out in the discharge of his justice.

God judges not only his people but also their enemies. So the history of Israel speaks about God punishing the Egyptians, the Philistines, the Amorites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, among others. This just wrath of God is stored up in the vaults of heaven (v. 34), awaiting the time when it will be poured out in vengeance against evildoers. How many people think they are safe from God’s justice? They believe their kingdom is everlasting and that nothing will be able to shake them. But at the appointed time their foot shall slip, if they continue to walk in defiant arrogance and strength. In Psalm 73:18-19 Asaph exclaims, “Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!”

Our God is a God of vengeance. Exodus 17 speaks of the Amalekites, who attacked Israel because they did not fear God. But they were defeated, and in verses 14-15 we read this divine decree: “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. The Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.” If you feel so mighty that you do not need Jesus Christ, consider this: He has declared war on you, and he will win.

Numbers 31:1 also speaks of God’s vengeance: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites.'” Verse 3: “So Moses said to the people, ‘Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites and to carry out the Lord’s vengeance on them.'” The Lord whom we worship and serve, the Lord who died for our salvation, is also the Lord who takes vengeance upon the arrogant, complacent, and self-righteous.

God judges his church as well as the world of unbelievers. First Peter 4:17-18 tells us, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, ‘If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?'”

What about you? Are you an idolater who has turned away from the only true God? Have you put your trust in God, or in your beauty, money, power, brilliance, education, health, or friends? If the latter is so, even now God has placed your foot on slippery ground, and in due time you shall fall. “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men” (Romans 1:18).

II. The Unique God

In Deuteronomy 32:39 God declares, “See now that I myself am he; there is no God besides me.” The word “See” commands us to apply our minds to reading, studying, and understanding God’s revelation so that we can grasp who God truly is. When we do this, we will realize that all idolatry is a lie and a waste. The Lord himself declares there is no God besides him. The true and living God is unique.

Our God is not just one in a pantheon of gods; he is the only sovereign God and Savior and the God with whom we must all deal. God himself speaks of his uniqueness in Isaiah 43:10-13: “‘You are my witness,’ declares the Lord, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed-I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?'”

There is no other God than the self-existing, self-sufficient One who revealed himself to Moses, saying, “I AM WHO I AM.” In Deuteronomy 32:39 he says, “I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal.” Here we see the sovereignty of our unique God. In justice he kills and in mercy he makes alive; in justice he wounds and in mercy he heals; in justice he metes out vengeance on his foes, and in mercy he vindicates his elect people, the remnant.

Look at verse 39 again: “See now that I myself am he!” God is saying, “Open your mind! Expand your rational capabilities! Exercise your reasoning powers! Read my revelation so you can understand who I am!” We find this idea also in 1 Samuel 24:10-11, where David told Saul, “This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lift my hand against my master, because he is the Lord’s anointed. See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. Now understand and recognize that I am not guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion.”

So I challenge you: See! God in his great mercy has given us a Book wherein we see him as the unique, holy, mighty, compassionate One. People are free to worship as many gods as they desire, but we must realize that such gods are lies, mere products of human imagination. Dumb, mute, and deaf, they can only be carried about by men. They are impotent to save anyone from his troubles. And because these gods are worthless, those who worship them become worthless.

The God of Israel is the only true God. He alone is the Judge who vindicates and shows compassion to his people (v. 36). As we read in Isaiah 40:1, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” Only the true and living God can comfort us and save us from our sins. Verse 39 says that he alone is the Savior who makes us alive, and he alone is our healer. Verse 40 tells us that he alone makes and keeps his promises, and in verses 41-42 we read that he alone is the victorious warrior whose flashing sword kills and whose arrows are drunk with blood. This is our unique God.

III. The God Who Saves

Not only is our God an avenging, unique God, but he is also one who saves. The God of Israel is not obliged to save anyone, for all have sinned and come short of his glory. Yet he saves some people; yea, he saves all who come to him to be saved. But notice verse 36: The Lord saves “when he sees their strength is gone.”

How many people are not saved because their strength is not gone! A person can “receive Christ,” but that does not mean that God has saved that person. The pastor may even declare that someone is a Christian, but that does not make him one. God saves us only when he sees that our strength is gone-clean gone-and we are left with only our misery, weakness, guilt and sin.

The God of Israel waits for our strength to be gone before he saves us. God saves only the weak, not those who are strong, arrogant, and self-righteous. He saves only those who have stopped trusting in their worthless idols. Look at verses 37-38: “He will say: ‘Now where are their gods, the rock they took refuge in, the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise to help you! Let them give you shelter!'” God is waiting, and he will save those who repent of their sins and turn to him in saving faith.

While God waits, he may afflict us until we acknowledge our weakness and we cry out to him to save us. He passes by the proud, but he saves the humble. We see this principle in Hosea 5, where God says, “I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah” (v. 12). God functions as moth and rot to destroy the strength of his people. But that was not enough: “When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria and sent to the great king for help. But he is not able to cure you, not able to heal your sores” (v. 13). Even though moth and rot did their work, these people still had too much strength left, for they did not turn to God. So God says, “I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces and go away, I will carry them off with no one to rescue them” (v. 14).

How many modern people picture God as moth and rot, let alone as a lion that tears and goes away! But then God says, “Then I will go back to my place. . . .” Notice, he is waiting. What is he waiting for? “I will go back . . . until they admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery, they will earnestly seek me.” God knows how to make us weak. He knows how to cast an arrogant person down until he eats dust. Never think he cannot make us poor in spirit. And when our strength is gone, God will save us.

This reality is illustrated in the life of Jacob. In Genesis 32 we read that a man wrestled with Jacob one night when he was alone, with no one to help. The man touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh and wrenched it. God knew how to make Jacob limp and lean and trust in him. Finally Jacob realized he needed God’s blessing and prayed, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And God blessed Jacob.

First God humbles us until we cry out to him with all earnestness: “Lord, I need you. Have mercy on me!” When we do so, he will help us, bless us, and meet our every need. Our God will abound his grace toward us and make us competent to do all that he requires.

David was only a shepherd when God elevated him to rule Israel. But after some time as king, he became complacent, arrogant, and self-sufficient. In 2 Samuel 11 we read that he did not go to war at the normal time and his laxity led to great sin. But read David’s confession in Psalm 32. Never think that God does not know how to humble us. He causes us repent and pray earnestly, that we may limp in due time.

David writes, “For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer” (v. 4). Not every trouble is due to sin. There are various reasons why God brings suffering into the lives of his people. (PGM) But sin is one reason, and it was the reason David was suffering: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long” (v. 3). “When I kept silent” means when he arrogantly refused to repent, confess, and forsake his evil. No doubt David justified himself, saying, “I am king! Can’t I do whatever I want?” But Proverbs 28:13 tells us, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

At first David did not confess his sin. It is amazing how some people can persist in a condition of intense suffering yet not repent. “For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer” (v. 4). This was the work of the mighty hand of God. But just like in the case of Jacob, God prevailed. David prayed, “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’-and you forgave the guilt of my sin” (v. 5).

As strange as it seems, the purpose of God’s heavy hand upon us is to bring blessing to us: “In their misery they will earnestly seek me.” He performs his destructive work as a moth and rot and a lion and a great lion until we admit our guilt, seek him, and reconciled to him. Isaiah counsels us, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon” (Isaiah 55:5-7).

Second Chronicles 33 speaks about King Manasseh, whom God permitted to reign for fifty-five years. During that time, “Manasseh led Judah and the people and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites” (v. 9). Manasseh practiced every form of wickedness: “He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced sorcery, divination and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists” (v. 6). As king, Manasseh possessed a copy of the Scriptures that he was supposed to read daily so that he could govern his people in accordance with it. But in his arrogance he discarded God’s word and followed the practices of the surrounding heathen nations.

Manasseh was probably the most wicked king in the history of Judah. Could God deal with him? “The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. So the Lord brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon” (vv. 10-11). Here again we see the moth, the rot, the lion, and the great lion. The Creator, Sovereign, almighty, all-wise God is able to humble the even the most wicked, proud person.

In Manasseh’s case this discipline brought repentance and salvation: “In his distress, he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.” The serious, godly repentance of Manasseh should give us great hope. If God could save wicked Manasseh, he can save us.

“In his distress” Manasseh called out to God. We find this idea throughout the Bible: “In their distress they called upon the Lord,” “they cried out to God,” and so on. God hears and delivers those who earnestly cry out to him. “In his distress, he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God” (vv. 12-13). When Manasseh acknowledged his sin, he began living a life pleasing to God.

Luke 15 speaks about the prodigal son, who collected his share of the inheritance, walked out of his father’s house, and went to a far country that he might sin to his heart’s content. But God was able to deal with him as well. God ordained a great famine and this man could not only not find a job, but he also could not find anything to eat. Beginning with verse 17 we read, “When he came to his senses . . .” Notice, sin is irrational, and the man who sins is a fool. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!'” God’s hand was heavy upon him. “‘I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.'” This is correct understanding of reality. This is also godly repentance, not a phony one that does not result in obedience. How many people say they repent but never forsake their evil! But godly repentance, which is a gift from the Holy Spirit, always issues in godliness, holiness, obedience, and total surrender to the will of God.

See the great humility of the prodigal! Determining to tell his father, “‘I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men’ . . . he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him.” Remember, God waits for his people to repent. But, notice, he is also full of compassion, as demonstrated by the father: “He ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'” And the prodigal was saved and blessed.

God deals with us until our strength is clean gone. Even then he may not help us. Deuteronomy 32:36-37 says, “When he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, he will say: ‘Now where are their gods, the rock they took refuge in, the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up to help you! Let them give you shelter!” God challenges his people to call on their idols: “Let them rise up to help you”! But they cannot, for they are mute, deaf, worthless lies. Isaiah 50:7, 9 tells us that only the Sovereign Lord can help us. God wants us to confess and forsake our sin of apostasy and idolatry, and cry out to him alone for salvation.

This is what Manasseh and the prodigal son did, and it is what the Samaritan woman did also (John 4). When she asked Jesus for living water, he said he would give it to her. Then he added, “Go, call your husband and come back.” She said, “I have no husband.” Jesus agreed, saying, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have jut said is quite true” (vv.16-18). Notice, the woman did not argue with Jesus, and she was saved. When we repent, confess, forsake, and turn to God, he will save us.

IV. The God Who Atones

Finally, our God is an atoning God. The last verse in this hymn begins with a command: “Rejoice!” (v. 43) We could also translate it: “Shout for joy!” Then God gives two reasons for his people to shout for joy: first, “for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies,” and, second, he will “make atonement for his land and people.” Only God could do these great things for his people.

The first reason the people of God can rejoice is that God will judge his enemies and mete out vengeance on them. How many people hear the gospel, but refuse to have anything to do with it! But God will deal with them-in history, at death, and at the end of history. No one can escape God’s control nor be delivered out of his hand. The Lord has placed his foes on slippery ground and their foot shall surely slip in due time. God’s wrath is stored up in his vault to be poured out at his command.

We see such rejoicing throughout the book of Revelation, especially at the end where Jesus Christ triumphs over all his enemies. Babylon will fall and the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of Christ. God will either judge us or save us; no one can escape him. In his justice he puts some to death, and in his mercy he makes others alive; in his justice he wounds, and in his mercy he heals.

What is the second reason for rejoicing? He will “make atonement for his land and people.” Without atonement (kaphar) we are doomed to perish. But when the Lord makes atonement for our sins, we are saved; thus, we can shout for joy. How can a just and holy God forgive our sins? The answer is in the atonement, which is revealed in the sacrificial system in the Old Testament.

In Leviticus 1:2 God says, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any of you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.'” And in verse 4 he instructs, “He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.” Without a propitiatory sacrifice, our sin is not atoned for and we cannot be saved.

The whole chapter of Leviticus 16 deals with this idea of atonement. For example, verse 21 says the priest “is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites- all their sins-and put them on the goat’s head.” In Leviticus 17:11 God tells us, “For the life of a creature is in the blood and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar. It is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”

In the Old Testament atonement was made by substituting the life of a sacrificial animal for that of the offending sinner. This substitutionary atonement is the glory of the gospel: an innocent being bears our sins. So the person would put his hands on the animal’s head and confess his sins, symbolizing the transfer of sin from him to the animal. Then the animal would be killed and its blood shed. God accepted such atoning sacrifices and the sinner would be declared guiltless.

But the truth is, the blood of bulls or goats cannot atone for our sins. The entire sacrificial system was pointing to the true substitute-the Lord Jesus Christ, who is very God and very man. Christ died for our sins and was raised for our justification. That is why the Bible tells us we must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Because he became our kaphar, he will save us when we trust in him. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). There is no other savior, no other atonement, no other propitiation, no other sacrifice accepted by the Father.

Romans 3 says, “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. He did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus Christ” (vv. 25-26). Jesus Christ is our perfect substitute. When we trust in him, he saves us instantly.

John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world!” and now we say, “Behold the Lamb of God, who has taken away the sin of the world!” That is why it says, “Rejoice, O nations, with his people!” Not only the Jewish people, but all the peoples of the world are welcome to come to this Lamb. Rejoice, for God has offered for us atonement in his Son! Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Christ’s blood was shed on the cross for us. But only sinners need to come, not self-righteous Pharisees, for Jesus saves only sinners.

The writer to the Hebrews says Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many. So the Holy Spirit tells us in verse 43, “Rejoice!” If you are a Christian, shout for joy! We have all the reasons in the world to do so. The Lord has made atonement for our sins and he shall take vengeance on all his enemies. Their foot shall slip in due time.

Notice, he made atonement for his people. Are you his people? Deuteronomy 32 says that we are his portion (v. 9); his servants (v. 36); his people (v. 43); and his sons and daughters (v. 19). This command to shout for joy is limited to God’s people. Who, then, are his people? They are the weak, who have no strength of their own and who freely confess and forsake their sins. They are those who trust in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation. They are God’s portion and his inheritance, the people who give pleasure to his very heart. He saved them, is saving them, and will save them to the very end. That is why God’s people can rejoice and shout for joy!

Has God Saved You?

Those who are strong and have no need for God will be judged by him. He has placed them on slippery ground and in due time their foot shall surely slip. They will be judged in this life, and at the moment of their death, they will enter into torment. On the last day, he will raise them up and judge them, and everyone whose name is not found in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire. This God is the Judge of the whole world.

But to his people, he is the Savior who forgives, saves, heals, comforts, protects, and provides for them. Jesus declared that the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

God’s kingdom work shall always be financed by God’s people from his abundant provision to them. Nothing has changed. It was true in the Old Testament and it is true today.