Introduction.
Deuteronomy 33 is a wonderful piece of Hebrew poetry in which Moses addresses each one of the twelve tribes of Israel and gives each one a particular blessing, a blessing to sustain them as they experienced Canaan’s great benefits and bounty. After devoting a separate stanza to each tribe he concludes with a summary of the entire faith and hope of Israel concentrated and encapsualted in a few short words. In verses 24 - 29 we have words that are not only beautiful, but also words of real brevity and simplicity that sum up the help and hope experieced by Moses himself from his own relationship with God and also that help that he would pass on in final blessing to the people. This is Moses’ final leave-taking, his last will and testament, his fianl blessing on the twelve tribes of Israel as the leader of the people.
1. God as our Refuge.
Listen to the testimony of this great man of God :
The eternal God is your refuge ...
The word "refuge" here normally refers to the den or lair of a wild animal of the desert, and for that animal it is a place of protection :
- protection from the heat of the sun;
- protection from the sudden flash floods of the desert;
- protection from the constant dangers of other predators.
It was a haven. It is what we would call a home.
For many years Moses was homeless. He was out in the desert trying to bring a multitude of people safely through to the land of Canaan. That desert was no picnic area :
- with its searing heat in the day time;
- and its freezing temperatures at night.
Now, where could Moses find a home in the desert? Well, he didn’t find a place, he found a Person. A Person who was everything to him that we would describe as home being to us. Jehovah, the God of Israel, was his home. Moses is saying that God was his dwelling place, his home, his protection, his haven, his refuge.
Now, how was this true? Well, the presence of God in the camp of Israel was revealed :
- by a cloud by day;
- and a pillar of fire by night.
And that wasn’t to provide some sort of celestial firework display! No, that was intensely practical :
- the cloud kept away the sweltering heat of the sun during the day;
the pillar of fire provided warmth at night from the freezing cold.
God was ministering to His people. Where did Moses find food and water for such an enormous number of people? Well, God led then to different oases and God miraculously brought streams of water out of the rock both at the beginning of the journey and at the end of the journey to make it clear that He was the One who provided for them every step of the way. God gave then the essentials of life. He caused a strange substance to appear in the morning when the dew dried. It tasted like wafers and honey. The people called it manna. They lived on it for forty years. Obviously it was more nutritional than any health pills or vitamins that we have today. It must have been good stuff! God was to Moses a refuge - a place where all needs are met.
What is even more amazing is that this experience of God was not for a day or week or month or even a year. It spanned the end of one generation and the beginning of another. In fact, God was the same refuge from one generation to the next. He was the one reality that lasted beyond death, and Moses had experienced more of death than most. If there were two million people coming out of Egypt, and one generation died in the desert and another grew up to take its place, then in the space of almost forty years Moses must have seen at least eighty people die every day!
Men came. Women came. They went. they passed away. But the refuge, the help, the home that Moses is talking about is one that you can cling to even in the face of death. The eternal God is there for the child of God all the time. A dwelling place for the Christian. An eternal refuge for every believer.
2. The ground of our Refuge.
Notice that Moses points out the twin pillars of creation and covenant as the foundation of this truth :
"There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to help you, and in His excellency on the clouds." (verse 26)
Now, Moses is writing as Israel was on the verge of entering Canaan. Their economy was based entirely on farming and raising sheep. The one essential element was rain. They needed rain :
- not enough rain meant drought and death;
- too much rain meant floods and death.
For that reason the Canaanites worshipped the idol-god Baal. They believed Baal to be the rain god and if they could keep him happy they could control the rain and enjoy the good life. But Baal was no god! Israel’s God is the Creator- God. Moses says :
- it’s not Baal;
- it’s Israel’s God who rides the clouds. He’s the One who made everything. He’s the Giver of life and only He can guarantee the good life for you.
What they needed and what you need is an eternal refuge. And God the Creator is the only refuge who will meet your need. The Hebrew word for God here is the word "Elohim". A name that stands for might, the strength of God, the all-powerful God, God Almighty. How big is your God? The refuge of the Christian is the Almighty God, great enough to cope with every possible need of the believer.
Then we are also told that He is the God of covenant. Who is "Jeshurun"? Where does this funny word come from? "Jeshurun" is the poetical name or nick-name for Israel.
cf. Do you have a special pet name for your husband / wife?....
When God speaks as the "God of Jeshurun" He’s talking as the great, Almighty God who has entered into a relationship with His people that is intimate and close. An intimate relationship of special love, enduring loyalty and explicit trust. And the word in the Bible for that is the word "covenant".
When you came into this life your relationship with the Creator was broken and fractured because of sin. But the wondeful good news of the Bible is that God came to this world in the Person of His Son, who took upon Himself the curse of sin. Jesus Christ took upon Himself all the pain that we keep giving to each other. On the cross He took upon Himself all the punishment that our sins justly deserved. And by doing this He conquered evil and broke the power of death for by His resurrection the God of covenant began a new world. He began a new family joined to Him by faith alone through a covenant sealed by Jesus’ blood. This covenant God and all that He is becomes your refuge when you turn from your sins and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. But you cannot know God as your refuge until you come into this relationship with Him through His Son. If you are going it alone and you meet some distressing experience, you’ll try and face it in your own strength. That’s the difference between the unbeliever and the Christian. A Christian will discover that God is there with him or her and for him or her. This God of creation who made everything and who gave us life, this God of covenat love, promises the Christian :
I will never leave you nor forsake you.
By faith in Jesus Christ, God becomes your refuge.
3. The gamut of our refuge.
One quality specifically mentioned by Moses is this :
"The eternal God is your refuge, ..."
God is spoken of as "the eternal God". I wonder if Moses was thinking of himself just then. He’s an old man. He’s been the father of Israel for forty years. The people had depended upon him so much. They had been like a nation of little children. They had cried to him abd they had cried against him. They had given him problem after problem. Then God told him that his day was done. God said :
Moses, I want you to have rest. I’n going to put your body to rest up on this mountain. I’m going to be your undertaker.
And Moses knowing how petulant and trying the people had been, and wondering how Joshua would manage after he had gone, found comfort that God would still be with them. God would be for them. God never grows old. He never gets weary. He’s always the same. From everlasting to everlasting He is God. What a comfort!
When children lose parents, when a wife loses a husband or a husband loses a wife, what remains? For the Christian, the eternal God remains! When the foundations of life are shaken, when life is turned upside down, when the world is shattered, for the Christian God is there, and he is willing and able to help and deal with all the problems that cause you to fear. You need to know this comfort because uncertainty and fear assault every one of us in different ways. There are fear of the past, fears about the present, and fears about the future. Fears of sin and sickness and sorrow and death. Open fears, disguised fears, unfouded fears. So you may say :
I need a refuge. I need this God.
The only way to know this peace that God is your refuge is to trust in Jesus Christ as your own Saviour. Then you discover that the eternal God is your refuge.
4. The guarantee of our Refuge.
The eternal God who provides salvation also provides continuing care :
"The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; ..."
Whose arms? God’s arms! He is a personal God and there are some ministries for which He has no deputies because He wants to do them Himself. He is the One who cares for His people.
Illustration.
I remember coming home the first time from university. My mother came up as I was ready to go to bed and asked :
Son, are you warm enough? Do you want another blanket?
Now I was grown up! I knew where the blankets were, and she knew that I knew where they were! But it was personal care and she was not too keen to give that job up!
God is like that! he doesn’t even ask angels or archangels or cherubim to take over!
"The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms;..."
Those everlasting arms mean that you will never be in any situation, child of God, where the Lord isn’t available to you. No matter what your experience may be, however dark or deep, always, for the Christian, underneath are the everlasting arms. How safe. How blessed. How comforting.
