Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 32:39
See now that I, [even] I, [am] he, and [there is] no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither [is there any] that can deliver out of my hand.
39 See now that I, I am He,
And never a god beside me.
I do to death and revive,
I shattered and I shall heal.
[With none to save from my hand.]
40 For I lift to heaven mine hand,
And say, ‘As I live for ever,
41 I will whet my lightning sword,
And on judgement my hand shall close,
Vengeance I wreak on my foes,
And recompense them that hate me.
42 I drench mine arrows in blood,
And my sword shall feed upon flesh;
With the blood of the slain and the captive,
With the long-haired heads of the foe.’
39. I am he ] The only God, Deu 4:35. Cp. Isa 41:4; Isa 43:10; Isa 43:13; Isa 48:12.
And there is none, etc.] This line is out of place both for the rhythm and the sense, and is apparently borrowed from Isa 43:13 in a similar context. Cp. Hos 5:14 b.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Deu 32:39-41
See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no God with Me.
The royal prerogative
I. None but the Lord can would or heal.
1. The Lord alone can spiritually wound. It is the Holy Spirits work to convince of sin, and until He puts forth His power the preacher may preach himself dumb with weariness and blind with weeping, but no result can possibly follow.
2. None but the Lord can heal. Gospel truth is sufficient in itself to comfort all that mourn, but it will comfort nobody so long as the natural unbelief of the heart remains. Get a hold of a lacerated spirit, torn with unbelief, and try what you can do. Say, Trust in the Lord, my friend, and he replies, I cannot trust. Tell him Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; and he says he knows that, but he cannot get hold of it. Do your duty with him, for whether you can heal him or not you are bound to set the Gospel before him: but you shall find that you have worked in vain if you have gone in your own strength. God can use you to heal a broken heart, but you cannot do it yourself.
II. The Lord can wound and He can heal.
1. The Lord can wound. He can pierce the most unlikely heart. Therefore, despair of none. The wretch who is the nearest approach to an incarnate devil may yet become as an angel of God.
2. What a very sweet side of the truth is the second part of it–namely, that He can heal. There are some awful cases of bleeding wounds! I have known the heart bleed as though it would bleed to death beneath the sword of conviction. Some are driven to despair, and have been ready to lay violent hands upon themselves in the bitterness of their souls. Let it ring out like a trumpet, that these poor despairing ones may hear it,–the Lord can heal. There is no case so desperate but what Jehovah-Jesus can recover it. Despair! thou must let thy Captive go. Despondency! thou must open thy prison house when Jesus comes.
III. The Lord does wound and does heal.
1. I have a bundle of arrows which I have seen shot at different times from the bow of God so as to wound men.
(1) The arrow of continual gentleness. Augustine tells of one to whom God was so wonderfully kind, and the man was so wonderfully bad, that at last he grew astonished at Gods goodness, and since the Lord continued to load him with benefits, he turned round and cried, Most benignant God, I am ashamed of being Thine enemy any longer. I confess my sin and repent of it.
(2) God is angry with the wicked every day. Surely this should cut you to the quick.
(3) He that believeth not is condemned already.
(4) The wicked shall be turned into hell, etc.
(5) Thou hast destroyed thyself
(6) You are dead in sin. You have destroyed yourself, but you cannot save yourself.
2. Now, I will hold up before you the bottle of balm. When a soul is wounded, the Lord applies His sacred surgery to the heart. He has healed some of us.
(1) The particular bottle of balm which He used in healing me is one which I know well, and shall never forget. This was the label, Look unto Me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth, for I am God, and beside Me there is none else. Why, do you know? I was afraid of God until I heard that God was in Christ, and that I was to look to God in Christ, and that the very God whom I dreaded would save me. That revelation came home with Divine power to my soul! The preacher said, Look. This is all that is wanted. There, he said, a fool can look; a little child can look; a half idiot can look; a dying man can look Look said he and it is done. Did I really understand him–that I was only to look to Christ dying on the Cross for me, and see God making an atonement for my sin in the person of His Son–that I was only to look, and I should live at once? It was even so, and I did look. My burden passed away.
(2) Here is another drop of balm,–When a man is wounded he feels that he cannot help himself; but then there comes in this precious truth–that the Spirit of God can do it. O you wounded ones, may the great Spirit show you at this time the person of the dear Son of God–God and man. (C H. Spurgeon.)
Neither is there any that can deliver out of My hand.
The undeliverableness of man from the hand of God
1. The continuance of every mans existence rests entirely upon the Divine will.
2. The preservation of every sinners existence must be ascribed to Divine forbearance.
3. The well-being of a moral intelligence is impossible apart from supreme sympathy with God. All moral hells and heavens are in the loathing or the loving. What then is our duty and interest? To cherish supreme love for the Absolute. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 39. See now that I – am he] Be convinced that God alone can save, and God alone can destroy, and that your idols can neither hurt nor help you.
I kill, and I make alive, &c.] My mercy is as great as my justice, for I am as ready to save the penitent as I was to punish the rebellious.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
See now; learn now by your own sad experience what vain and impotent things idols are, and what a silly thing it was in you to put your trust in them, as they did Deu 32:37.
I am he, i.e. the only true, and omnipotent, and irresistible God, as it here follows.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
See now that I, [even] I, [am] he,…. Which words are directed to the people of God in their low estate, to look to Christ, and expect deliverance and salvation from him; or to their enemies that insult them, to the despisers, to look, and wonder, and perish, as they will, when the witnesses slain by them shall arise, and go up to heaven in their sight, Re 11:11; they are spoken by the Word and Son of God, to whom the Father has committed all judgment, and who will now rise up and execute it; so the Targum of Jonathan,
“when the Word of the Lord shall reveal himself to redeem his people, he will say to all people, see now, c.”
and who will declare himself to be the great Jehovah, the self-existent Being, the eternal and immutable I AM for this phrase is expressive of his existence, eternity, immutability, and sovereignty; and which the above Targum paraphrases thus,
“see now that I am he that have been, and am, and I am he that shall be,”
which, as it is a deciphering the word “Jehovah”, is what is applied to Christ, Re 1:8. The repeating the word “I”, as it may denote the strong affection of the speaker, and the certainty of what he would do, so it may have respect to both sorts of persons the words are directed to, and to the several sorts of things to be done, hereafter related; signifying that it is the same I, that does the one, does also the other, kills and makes alive, c.
and [there is] no god with me this the Redeemer and Saviour says elsewhere, Isa 44:6; see De 32:12; there is but one God, and Christ the Word, with the Father and the Spirit, are that one God, 1Jo 5:7; and there is no other with him; he is the true God, in opposition to all factitious and fictitious gods; he is not a made god, nor a god by office, nor by name and title only, but by nature the one, true, only, and living God; and so it may be most truly believed of him, that he is able to do, and will do, what he next says:
I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: Christ is the sovereign disposer of life and death, of sickness and health, in a temporal sense; and in a spiritual sense he wounds and kills, by the law in the hand of his Spirit; and he heals and makes alive by his Gospel, as it is accompanied by his Spirit and grace also: this is by some referred to the resurrection from the dead, which will be by Christ the resurrection and the life, the earnest, exemplar, and efficient cause of it; so the Targum of Jerusalem,
“I am he that kills the living in this world, and quickens the dead in the world to come:”
but it refers to another resurrection previous to that, namely, the reviving of the witnesses after they have been slain three days; who, as they will be killed in a civil sense, in the same sense they will be quickened by the Spirit of life from Christ; that is, they will be raised from that very low estate into which they will be brought, into a glorious one, signified by their ascending up into heaven; which will be done by Christ when he takes to himself his great power, and reigns; then as he suffered his witnesses and people to be wounded and killed, he will make them alive, and heal them, and restore comforts and happiness to them, see Re 11:11;
neither [is there any] that can deliver out of my hand; for, at the same time that he saves his people, he will take their enemies into his hands, out of which there will be no escape; at this time seven thousand names of men, or men of name, will be slain,
[See comments on Re 11:13].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. 40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever. 41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. 42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy. 43 Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.
This conclusion of the song speaks three things:
I. Glory to God, v. 39. “See now upon the whole matter, that I, even I, am he. Learn this from the destruction of idolaters, and the inability of their idols to help them.” The great God here demands the glory, 1. Of a self-existence: I, even I, am he. Thus Moses concludes with that name of God by which he was first made to know him (Exod. iii. 14), “I am that I am. I am he that I have been, that I will be, that I have promised to be, that I have threatened to be; all shall find me true to my word.” The Targum of Uzzielides paraphrases it thus: When the Word of the Lord shall reveal himself to redeem his people, he shall say to all people, See that I now am what I am, and have been, and I am what I will be, which we know very well how to apply to him who said to John, I am he who is, and was, and is to come, Rev. i. 8. These words, I even I, am he, we meet with often in those chapters of Isaiah where God is encouraging his people to hope for their deliverance out of Babylon, Isa 41:4; Isa 43:11; Isa 43:13; Isa 43:15; Isa 43:25; Isa 46:4. 2. Of a sole supremacy. “There is no god with me. None to help with me, none to cope with me.” See Isa 43:10; Isa 43:11. 3. Of an absolute sovereignty, a universal agency: I kill, and I make alive; that is, all evil and all good come from his hand to providence; he forms both the light of life and the darkness of death, Isa 45:7; Lam 3:37; Lam 3:38. Or, He kills and wounds his enemies, but heals and makes alive his own people, kills and wounds with his judgments those that revolt from him and rebel against him; but, when they return and repent, he heals them, and makes them alive with his mercy and grace. Or it denotes his incontestable authority to dispose of all his creatures, and the beings he has given them, so as to serve his own purposes by them: Whom he will he slays, and whom he will he keeps alive, when his judgments are abroad. Or thus, Though he kill, yet he makes alive again: though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion, Lam. iii. 32. Though he have torn, he will heal us,Hos 6:1; Hos 6:2. The Jerusalem Targum reads it, I kill those that are alive in this world, and make those alive in the other world that are dead. And some of the Jewish doctors themselves have observed that death, and a life after it, that is, eternal life, is intimated in these words. 4. Of an irresistible power, which cannot be controlled: Neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand those that I have marked for destruction. As no exception can be made against the sentence of God’s justice, so no escape can be made from the executions of his power.
II. Terror to his enemies, v. 40-42. Terror indeed to those that hate him, as all those do that serve other gods, that persist in wilful disobedience to the divine law, and that malign and persecute his faithful servants. These are those to whom God will render vengeance, those his enemies that will not have him to reign over them. In order to alarm such in time to repent and return to their allegiance, the wrath of God is here revealed from heaven against them. 1. The divine sentence is ratified with an oath (v. 40): He lifts up his hand to heaven, the habitation of his holiness; this was an ancient and very significant sign used in swearing, Gen. xiv. 22. And, since he could swear by no greater, he swears by himself and his own life. Those are miserable without remedy that have the word and oath of God against them. The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, that the sin of sinners shall be their ruin if they go on in it. 2. Preparation is made for the execution: The glittering sword is whet. See Ps. vii. 12. It is a sword bathed in heaven, Isa. xxxiv. 5. While the sword is in whetting, space is given to the sinner to repent and make his peace, which, if he neglects, will render the wound the deeper. And, as the sword is whet, so the hand that is to wield it takes hold on judgment with a resolution to go through with it. 3. The execution itself will be very terrible: The sword shall devour flesh in abundance, and the arrows be made drunk with blood, such vast quantities of it shall be shed, the blood of the slain in battle, and of the captives, to whom no quarter shall be given, but who shall be put under military execution. When he begins revenge he will make an end; for in this also his work is perfect. The critics are much perplexed with the last clause, From the beginning of revenges upon the enemy. The learned bishop Patrick (that great master) thinks it may admit this reading, From the king to the slave of the enemies, Jer. l. 35-37. When the sword of God’s wrath is drawn it will make bloody work, blood to the horse-bridles, Rev. xiv. 20.
III. Comfort to his own people (v. 43): Rejoice, O you nations, with his people. He concludes the song with words of joy; for in God’s Israel there is a remnant whose end will be peace. God’s people will rejoice at last, will rejoice everlastingly. Three things are here mentioned as the matter of joy:– 1. The enlarging of the church’s bounds. The apostle applies the first words of this verse to the conversion of the Gentiles. Rom. xv. 10, Rejoice you Gentiles with his people. See what the grace of God does in the conversion of souls, it brings them to rejoice with the people of God; for true religion brings us acquainted with true joy, so great a mistake are those under that think it tends to make men melancholy. 2. The avenging of the church’s controversies upon her adversaries. He will make inquisition for the blood of his servants, and it shall appear how precious it is to him; for those that spilt it shall have blood given them to drink. 3. The mercy God has in store for his church, and for all that belong to it: He will be merciful to his land, and to his people, that is, to all every where that fear and serve him. Whatever judgments are brought upon sinners, it shall go well with the people of God; in this let Jews and Gentiles rejoice together.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
39 See now that 1, even I, am he. Those who attribute the preceding verses to the unbelievers, now introduce God speaking, as it were, abruptly, and asserting His glory, in rebuke of their blasphemies. But it is rather a confirmation of that holy boasting which He has just dictated to the believers, when God not only bids His people lift up their voices against the idols, but Himself comes forward to condemn the senselessness of the Gentiles; although the context clearly shows that He addresses Himself to the faithful, After, therefore, He has exhorted His people to despise the idols, He now adds that He supplies them with ample grounds of confidence in Himself. For when He bids them “look,” He signifies that no obscure manifestation of His power is before their eyes, if they will only pay attention to it. The repetition of the pronoun I is emphatic, both to arouse the people from their sluggishness, and to keep their minds steadfast, lest they should waver as if in doubt. For we know that men’s minds can hardly be drawn to the true knowledge of God, because they wind about by circuitous courses, so as not to direct themselves straight to Him. And again, when they do apprehend God, we are aware how easily they are drawn away from Him; since the vicissitudes of things becloud them, so that they wander hither and thither in uncertainly. For this reason, when God has overthrown all fictitious deities, He declares that He always remains the same, whether he kills or makes alive, so that in the thick darkness of affliction believers may not cease to look to Him. Let us learn from this passage that God is defrauded of His right, unless He alone is preeminent, all idols being reduced to nothing; and also that our faith is then truly fixed in Him, and has firm roots, if, amidst the various changes which occur, it does not stagger or waver, but surmounts such obstacles, so as not to cease to hope in Him even when He seems to “slay” us, as Job says, (Job 13:15.) And surely nothing is more unreasonable than that our faith should look round upon all events so as to depend upon them; since God would have His promises to quicken us in death itself. The close of the verse may fitly be referred to their enemies, inasmuch as God declares that none can deliver them out of His hand.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(39) I, even I, am he, and there is no God with me.There are many very similar passages in Isaiah 41-46; but none of them exactly reproduces this sentence.
I kill, and I make alive.This was repeated by Hannah in her song, The Lord killeth and maketh alive (1Sa. 2:6). Comp. also Isa. 43:13, Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
39. I,
even I, am he
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ver. 39. See now that I, even I, am he As the great design of the separation of the Israelites from the rest of the world was, to preserve the knowledge of the true God; so, the end of all the divine chastisements upon Israel was, to shew them the folly and wickedness of idolatry, and to convince them that Jehovah alone was God: When this end was answered, the divine chastisements naturally ceased, and the Lord revisited his servants with mercy. When it is said, I kill, and I make alive, &c. the meaning is, I am to be acknowledged the author of life and death, the dispenser of prosperity and adversity, and especially the author of national changes and revolutions, whether in a way of mercy or of judgment. See 1Sa 2:6. Job 5:18. Hos 6:1. Isa 45:7.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 237
GOD THE ONLY AUTHOR OF GOOD AND EVIL
Deu 32:39. See now, that I, even I, am he, and there it no strange god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither it there any that can deliver out of my hand.
THE Jews, from the time that they became a nation, turned aside from the living God to the worship of idols: on which account, God, in righteous indignation, refused them, on some occasions, the aid which he alone could bestow; and referred them to their idols, in whom they trusted, that they might obtain from them those things of which they stood in need: Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink-offerings? Let them rise up and help you, and be your protection. But to us is the same reproach most justly due: for though we do not, like them, bow down to shocks and stones, we are far from realizing in our minds the exclusive agency of Jehovah. To us, therefore, no less than to them, may be addressed the solemn admonition before us; See now, that I, even I, am he, and there is no strange god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
Let me now entreat your attention to,
I.
Gods own description of his own character
Agreeably to what is here spoken, we see, that,
1.
His agency is universal
[There is not any thing done, whether it be good or evil, but he is the doer of it. I am the Lord, says he; and there is none else; there is no God besides me. I am the Lord; and there is none else. I form the light and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things [Note: Isa 45:5-7 with Amo 3:6.]. There is nothing so great, or so small, but it must be traced to him as its proper source and author, even to the falling of a sparrow, or the falling of a hair from our heads [Note: Mat 10:29-30.]. And God is desirous that this should be known and duly considered by us. To discover this to his ancient people, was one great reason for his marvellous interpositions for them [Note: Deu 4:34-35.], and of the no less marvellous forbearance which he exercised towards them [Note: ver. 27.]. And we, also, must bear in mind, that whether he kill or make alive, whether he wound or heal, it is He alone that does it, and there is no strange god with him.]
2.
His appointments are sovereign
[The whole Scripture bears testimony that God worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. He does so in relation to all temporal matters: He killeth, and maketh alive; he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up: he maketh poor and maketh rich; he bringeth low and lifteth up: he raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit a throne of glory [Note: 1Sa 2:6-8.]. In relation to spiritual matters, also, he exercises no less a sovereign control, having mercy on whom he will have mercy, and hardening whom he sees good to harden [Note: Rom 9:18.]. This was viewed by St. Paul in so important a light, that when he had once touched upon it, he did not know how to relinquish the subject, but insisted on it with every diversity of expression that language could furnish, and yet with such repetitions as appeared almost to be endless. Having said that God had blessed us with all spiritual blessings, he traces the gift to this as its true source: He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, having predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved; in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he had purposed in himself; that in the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him; in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory [Note: Eph 1:3-12 and again in ver. 14.]. We have often read this passage, but with so little care, as scarcely to get a glimpse of its true import: but, the more minutely and attentively we consider it, the more, shall we see the amazing importance of the subject contained in it, and of the character of God as a mighty Sovereign, that does what he will, and gives not account to us of any of his matters [Note: Job 33:13.].]
3.
His power is uncontrollable
[Forcible is that appeal of Elihu, When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation or a man only [Note: Job 34:29.]. He is a mighty Lawgiver, alike able to save or to destroy [Note: Jam 4:12.]. Hear Jehovahs own declaration respecting this: I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no Saviour. Before the day was, I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work; and who shall let it [Note: Isa 43:11; Isa 43:13.]? Does he meditate vengeance? this is his own awful asseveration, in the words immediately following my text: I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh [Note: ver. 4042.]. On the other hand, does he contemplate the exercise of mercy? this is the assurance that he gives his people: I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel: I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing-instrument, having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel [Note: Isa 41:13-16.]. In a word, He is a Potter, and we are the clay; and whether he is pleased to make, or mar, the vessel, none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou [Note: Jer 18:3-6 with Rom 9:20-21.]?]
Let us now proceed to notice,
II.
His solemn call to the consideration of it
See now, says he, that this is my unquestionable, and unchangeable character: and you are called to contemplate it,
1.
That you may give him the glory of all that you have received
[My Brethren, God is a holy and a jealous God: his very name is, Jealous [Note: Exo 34:14.]; and his glory he will not give to another [Note: Isa 42:8.]. How fearfully he will resent any interference with him in this respect, may be seen in the case of Herod, who, when he was applauded for his eloquence, gave not God the glory; and God, in righteous displeasure, caused him to be eaten up of worms, till he gave up the ghost [Note: Act 12:21-23.]. But more especially is God jealous in relation to spiritual blessings, which must be ascribed to him alone. Indeed, he has so constituted the whole work of mans salvation, that no particle of honour should be assumed by man, but all glory should be given to him, as the author and the finisher of our faith. He has treasured up for us every thing in Christ Jesus [Note: Col 1:19.]; and ordained, that we should receive every thing out of his fulness [Note: Joh 1:16.], looking to him as our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our complete redemption, that no flesh should glory in his presence, but that all should glory in him alone [Note: 1Co 1:29-31.]. Let this lesson, then, be learned by us, that God may receive from us all the glory of all that we possess; since if we differ from others in any respect, it is he who has made us to differ; and we possess nothing which we have not gratuitously received from him [Note: 1Co 4:7.].]
2.
That you may depend on him for all that you ever hope to receive
[Here, also, God asserts his claim to our entire dependence: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and that maketh flesh his arm; and whose heart departeth from the Lord his God [Note: Jer 17:5-8.]. Especially in reference to every thing that concerns our salvation, does God require our undivided affiance: Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth! for I am God; and there is none else [Note: Isa 45:22.]. Every child of man, whatever he may possess, must rely on Christ alone, saying, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength. In the Lord alone shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory [Note: Isa 45:24-25.]. To this has God a very especial respect in the words of my text. If we look to the creature, or place any dependence on an arm of flesh, we must take the consequences [Note: ver. 37, 38, 39.]. The creature cannot do good, or do evil. As to the idols on which the Jews were disposed to place their confidence, God says to them, Ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you [Note: Isa 41:23-24.]. So must it be said of every thing on which we are wont to rely; It is a broken reed, which will only pierce the hand that resteth on it [Note: 2Ki 18:21.]. Trust ye, then, in the Lord, and in him alone: yea, trust in him for ever: for with the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength [Note: Isa 26:4.].]
This subject, methinks, speaks,
1.
Comfort to the true Christian
[Respecting this glorious Being who is here described, it is your privilege to say, that he is your God. In truth, whatever you want, he describes himself as a God of that very thing, of love, of mercy, of peace, of strength, of comfort, of all grace; and in relation to that very thing will he be a God unto you [Note: Heb 8:10.]. Seek him, then, in Christ Jesus; and glory in him as your God and portion for ever.]
2.
Terror to those who have any other god
[Who is that God that shall save you in the hour of your extremity? or, Where will ye flee for succour in the day of judgment? Indeed, indeed, there is no refuge for you, but in Christ; nor any other name given under heaven but his, whereby you can be saved [Note: Act 4:12.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Observe how GOD asserts his own sovereignty. It is worthy the Reader’s observation, how Moses in the close of his day of grace, is reminded of what the LORD said to him, on the first opening of that day: “I am, that I am.” Exo 3:14 . Reader! do not overlook the person of JESUS in this. Joh 8:59 . How precious to a dying believer, the revelation, that He that was, and is, and is to come, is the eternal I am, who begun, hath carried on, and will complete his great salvation; being the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Heb 13:8 . I would have the Reader to observe in those verses, the LORD’S awful declarations upon the enemies of his people. And it is an awful thought; is not GOD, as much pledged to execute his threats, as to fulfil his promises? Doth he say, if any man love not the LORD JESUS CHRIST, let him be Anathema, Maranatha, and can it be otherwise? 1Co 16:22 . I beg the Reader to remark with me, how graciously the song concludes. It is full of joy and peace, to GOD’S people. GOD will enlarge the borders of his people: he will avenge them of all their enemies; and the glory of GOD shall be upon them. If we read those words in a gospel sense, they are still more beautiful and refreshing. In JESUS shall all the house of Israel be justified, and shall glory: the multitude of the isles shall stretch out their hands unto GOD. And while his people rejoice, their enemies shall be destroyed: the GOD of peace will bruise Satan under their feet shortly. Rom 16:20 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Deu 32:39 See now that I, [even] I, [am] he, and [there is] no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither [is there any] that can deliver out of my hand.
Ver. 39. I, even I am he. ] I is emphatical and exclusive.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I, even I, am He. Compare Isa 44:8.
I kill. Compare 1Sa 2:6. 2Ki 5:7.
I wound. Compare Job 5:18. Hos 6:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
even I: Psa 102:27, Isa 41:4, Isa 45:5, Isa 45:18, Isa 45:22, Isa 46:4, Isa 48:12, Heb 1:12, Rev 1:11, Rev 2:8
no god: Deu 4:35, Isa 45:5, Isa 45:18, Isa 45:22
I kill: 1Sa 2:6, 2Ki 5:7, Job 5:18, Psa 68:20, Isa 43:13, Hos 6:1, Joh 8:24, Rev 1:17, Rev 1:18
neither: Job 10:7, Psa 50:22, Isa 43:13, Mic 5:8
Reciprocal: Gen 6:17 – behold Exo 4:7 – it was turned Exo 4:8 – that they Exo 6:1 – Now shalt Exo 9:14 – send all Exo 14:17 – behold Rth 1:5 – Mahlon 1Sa 2:2 – rock 2Sa 7:22 – none 2Sa 12:15 – struck the child 2Sa 22:32 – For who 2Sa 22:47 – Lord 1Ki 17:22 – and he revived 2Ki 20:5 – I will heal 2Ch 14:12 – General Job 10:13 – I know Psa 6:2 – heal Psa 18:31 – General Psa 86:10 – God Ecc 3:3 – time to kill Isa 19:22 – he shall smite Isa 30:26 – bindeth Isa 38:9 – he had Isa 44:6 – beside Isa 44:8 – Is there Jer 17:14 – Heal Jer 23:39 – even I Jer 30:13 – hast Jer 33:6 – I will bring Eze 9:5 – Go Eze 34:11 – I Luk 7:7 – but Joh 5:21 – as Rom 3:5 – Is God Rom 11:22 – therefore 1Co 8:4 – there is 1Ti 6:13 – who quickeneth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
KILL AND CURE
I wound and I heal.
Deu 32:39
The text declares with a magnificent fulness the personality and the power of God.
I. God as healing is made visible to us in Jesus.The miracles of Jesus were mainly connected with the bodies of men. There were two great reasons for this. (1) One reason is to show the close connection of sickness with sin. One indication of this we have in a great fact of our Saviours life. He was incarnate that He might have sympathy with us. Yet He was never sick. He had no particular sickness because He had no sin. (2) Christs miracles of healing were not the luxury of a Divine good-nature. They were not random alms that cost Him nothing. A perceptible exhaustion of vital energy accompanied the exertion of His power. Here then is a second cause for our Lords miracles of healing: to teach us self-denial and thought for the sick. He took to Himself Gods motto, I heal, for one of the highest of theological and for one of the tenderest of practical reasons.
II. We now consider God as wounding.As to the wounds of suffering humanitysicknesstwo considerations practically diminish the perplexity which they bring to us when we consider them as existing under a rule of love. (1) One of these considerations is the intention of sickness as a part of the spiritual discipline of the Christian life. (2) Another moral object of sickness is to draw out the fulness of Christian sympathy, scientific and personal.
III. As we enlarge our view, the Divine pity predominates.There are, indeed, voices of anguish on every breeze; there are shadows in the foreground of the picture of the history of humanity. But these voices of anguish are only surface discords, underlying which is a wondrous harmony. All those shadows do but set off the picture that closes with the long golden distances of sunlit hills, whose atmosphere is perfect wisdom, whose magic colouring drops from the tender pencil of perfect love.
Archbishop Alexander.
Illustration
(1) This is probably the noblest ode in the compass of the Bible, and the quarry from which many of the Psalmists derived materials for their grandest outbursts. We can say the greatest things of God in whispers, like the distilling of the dew, and they will refresh souls as the small rain on the tender grass. As we review life, we shall be compelled to own that Gods way has been perfect, but we shall be full of regret at the way in which we requited Him. Our portion is in God, and Gods in us. How graphic is the picture of His dealings with us, from the time when He found us in the waste howling wilderness of this world! We owe everything to His encompassing care (R.V.) and to His keeping grace. And though sometimes He has stirred up our nest, and driven us into the unwelcome air, yet we have learnt there powers of flight which have been a sacred possession for all after-days. How rich is the provision that God makes for His saints, and yet they forget Him and become unmindful of Him! Then in the very order of His love, He is compelled to act as though He were their enemy, until they return from their backslidings.
(2) Learn the terrors that follow hard on rebellion. When men wax fat and kick like a well-fed heifer, when they lightly esteem the Rock of their salvation and provoke God to jealousy, they incur terrible penalties (15, 16). They set themselves against the nature of things and the course of the universe. They become outlaws and rebels. Then the penalties pronounced in verses 2135 befall to bring them to a better mind (36). Then He makes expiation for their sins, and receives them back to Himself (43).
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Deu 32:39. See now Open your eyes and be convinced by your own sad experience what vain and impotent things idols are. I am he The only true, omnipotent, and irresistible God. There is no god with me As I have no superior, so neither have I any equal. I kill and I make alive I am the arbiter of life and death, the dispenser of prosperity and adversity, and the author of national changes and revolutions, whether in the way of mercy or judgment. We may observe that it is usual, in Scripture language, to represent extreme calamities under the notion of death, and to express happiness and prosperity by the word life.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The biblical writers also represented God frequently as a warrior hero who engaged in battle for Israel against her enemies (Deu 32:41-42; cf. Psa 7:13). Loving God indicates faithful covenant obedience (cf. Deu 5:10; Deu 6:5; Deu 7:9; Deu 10:12; Deu 11:1; Deu 11:13; Deu 11:22; Deu 13:3; Deu 19:9; Deu 30:6; Deu 30:16; Deu 30:20). Hating Him describes those who either have no covenant relationship with Him or who live in rebellion against Him (cf. Deu 5:9; Deu 7:10; 2Ch 19:2; Psa 81:15; Psa 139:20-21).
"Again it can be seen that the text portrays the Torah as God’s gift of life to his people in much the same way as the Tree of Life was put into the midst of the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:8-17). Just as obedience to the Lord’s command not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was the key to their access to the Tree of Life (Gen 2:16-17), so obedience to the Lord’s command in the Torah was to be the key to Israel’s ’living long in the land’ that God had prepared for them." [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 476.]
This song was one more instrument God used to teach His people to obey Him along with Moses’ sermons, the rituals, the monuments, etc. (Deu 32:46-47).
"It will . . . act as a mnemonic, an aid to memory, because during the intervening period it will have lived unforgotten in the mouth of the reader or hearer, ready to come to mind when the troubles arrive. Poetry is thus a kind of time bomb; it awaits its hour and then springs forward into harsh remembrance. . . . It will live in their minds and mouths, bringing them back, whether they like it or not, to the harsh memory of the desert sojourn. Once learned it will not easily be forgotten. The words will stick, they will be importunate, they will not let us alone." [Note: Harold Fisch, Poetry with a Purpose: Biblical Poetics and Interpretation, p. 51.]
The lesson this song teaches is that when God’s people forget His gracious goodness to them and turn away from Him to follow idols, they can expect discipline. When God appears to withdraw His blessings we should not question His ability or motives but examine the state of our relationship with Him.