Deuteronomy 33:1-7

The Blessing of Moses

33 Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the sons of Israel before his death. He said,

“The Lord came from Sinai,
And [a]dawned on them from Seir;
He shone forth from Mount Paran,
And He came from the [b]midst of ten thousand holy ones;
At His right hand there was [c]flashing lightning for them.
“Indeed, He loves [d]the people;
All [e]Your holy ones are in Your hand,
And they [f]followed in Your steps;
Everyone receives of Your words.
“Moses charged us with a law,
A possession for the assembly of Jacob.
“And He was king in Jeshurun,
When the heads of the people were gathered,
The tribes of Israel together.

“May Reuben live and not die,
Nor his men be few.”

And this regarding Judah; so he said,

“Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah,
And bring him to his people.
With his hands he contended for [g]them,
And may You be a help against his adversaries.”

Moses mentions something here that is interesting, “And He was king…” At first glance, it’s kind of ambiguous, was Moses talking about himself, or one of the tribes, perhaps Reuben?

But then we realize that “He” is capitalized which always meant God Himself. So God is their king, which is an interesting contrast to the peoples around them, and even the later inclinations of the Israelites.

With God as their King, He is the one they are to follow, He is their leader, no matter what earthly man might be “in charge”. And as we saw with Moses, the man can only lead properly if he is following God as well. It seemed they always needed someone to remind them to follow God, to keep them on point, and focused on who they were, and who had chosen them.

We can often struggle with this also, we look to our earthly leaders far too often for guidance in life. Yes, God has put them in leadership for a reason, but we must keep our focus on Him, so that we know when/if they are leading us down the wrong path. When we lose sight of God and His word, trouble awaits, lay person and leader alike.

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