Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 32:34

[Is] not this laid up in store with me [and] sealed up among my treasures?

34. laid up ] Heb. kamus not found elsewhere, and probably misread for kanus, gathered, collected. In next line read treasuries.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

34 43. It is Destined for Israel’s Foes

34  Is all that not stored with me,

Sealed in my treasuries,

35  For the day of revenge and requital,

What time their foot shall slip.

Yea, near is their day of disaster,

And destiny rushes upon them.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 34. Sealed up among my treasures?] Deeds or engagements by which persons were bound at a specified time to fulfil certain conditions, were sealed and laid up in places of safety; so here God’s justice is pledged to avenge the quarrel of his broken covenant on the disobedient Jews, but the time and manner were sealed in his treasures, and known only to himself. Hence it is said:-

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

i.e. All their wickedness mentioned before. My longsuffering towards them may make them and others think that I have forgotten their sins, but I remember them punctually, they are sealed up as in a bag, Job 14:17, and as men seal up their treasures that nothing be lost; and I shall bring them to their remembrance also.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

[Is] not this laid up in store with me,…. The fruit of the degenerate vine, its bitter clusters of grapes, and poisonous wine; meaning the evil principles and practices of the apostate church, well known to God, taken notice of by him, and laid up in his mind and memory; for both she and her sins will come in remembrance before God, and will be brought to open view, and appear to have been laid up by him, in order to be exposed at a proper time; see Re 16:19; and so the Targums interpret it of evil works: or this may be understood of the punishment of the evil doctrines and practices of the antichristian church, the sentence of which God had secretly passed in his eternal mind, and which he had in reserve, and in due time would execute; it was drawn and signed by him, and, as he says,

[and] sealed up among my treasures; his treasures of wrath, denoting the secrecy of it, and the sure and certain performance of it, and the authority of Christ to execute it; to whom this sealed diploma is given, and all judgment committed; and particularly this to judge the whore of Rome; and who, is able to open the sealed book of God’s purposes and decrees, and to accomplish them; and among the rest those which relate to the utter ruin of antichrist, and the antichristian states: so the Targum of Jerusalem, interprets it of the vengeance of the Lord, laid up for the wicked;

“is not the cup of the judgment of vengeance mixed and prepared for the ungodly sealed up among my treasures, to the day of the great judgment?”

it is true of the cup of the wine of the fierceness of the wrath of God, or of the wine of the wrath of God poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, which he will make great Babylon, and all the worshippers of the beast, drink of, Re 14:9.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Verses 34-43:

“This” (verse 34) has a two-fold application: it looks toward the sins of Israel and God’s chastisement for this sin, and to God’s judgment upon their enemies.

“My treasures,” not only blessings, but instruments of judgment which He dispenses as He sees fit, cp. Deu 28:12.

Verse 35: compare with Psa 94:1; Isa 1:24; Isa 59:18; Rom 12:19; Heb 10:30.

Verse 36: compare with Psa 135:14; Heb 10:30; Psa 106:45. The meaning: God will have compassion upon His servants, every one of them.

God asserts His superiority over the gods to whom Israel turned. None is able to aid their worshipers, except God Himself. He will execute terrible judgment upon all who array themselves in opposition to Him.

Moses’ song concludes, with an affirmation of God’s mercy to His own people. He will pour out vengeance upon those who oppress them, and will restore His people to their Land.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

34. Is not this laid up in store with me? Although some explain this verse as relating to their punishments, as if God asserted that various kinds of them were laid up with Him, which He could produce whenever He pleased, it is more correct to understand it of their crimes. We are well aware that the ungodly, when God stays His severity, promise themselves impunity, as if His forbearance were a kind of connivance. Unless, therefore, He straightway lifts up His hand to chastise them, they imagine that all recollection of their crimes has vanished from before Him; and consequently the prophets often remind hypocrites of the day of visitation, in order that they may not suppose that they have gained anything by the delay. For this reason Jeremiah says that

“

the sin of Judah is written with an iron pen and with the point of a diamond,” (Jer 17:1.)

Moses employs a different figure, that, although God may not appear as an immediate avenger, still their sins are stored up in his treasures, and will be brought to light by Him at the fitting season. Hence we gather the profitable lesson, that although God may make as though He saw not (dissimulet) for a time, still He does not forget the iniquities, the memory of which wretched men foolishly imagine to be blotted out, unless they are pursued by God’s immediate vengeance.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 32:3443

561.

What does God have laid up in His treasury?

562.

How is it possible to say of God that He repents?

563.

Are we to believe God takes some type of delight in bloodshed? Cf. Deu. 32:32-41.

AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 32:3443

34 Is not this laid up in store with Me, sealed up in My treasuries?
35 Vengeance is Mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slide; for the day of their disaster is at hand, and their doom comes speedily.

36 For the Lord will pass sentence for His people, and relent for His servants sake, when He sees that their power is gone, and none remain, whether bond or free.
37 And He will say, Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge.
38 Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you, let them be your protection.
39 See now that I, I am He, and there is no god beside Me; I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; and there is none who can deliver out of My hand.
40 For I lift up My hand to Heaven, and swear, As I live for ever,
41 If I whet My lightning sword, and My hand takes hold on judgment, I will wreak vengeance on My foes, and recompense those who hate Me.
42 I will make My arrows drunk with blood, and My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the long-haired heads of the foe.
43 Rejoice with His people, O you nations, for He avenges the blood of His servants, and vengeance He inflicts on His foes, and clears guilt from the land of His people.

COMMENT 32:3443

MY TREASURES (Deu. 32:34)The Hebrew word otsar, according to Tregelles, means properly, what is laid up, a store, stock. Thus God has reserved in his treasure such items as vengeance (Deu. 32:35) and judgment (Deu. 32:36).

FOR JEHOVAH WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE . . . AND REPENT HIMSELF (Deu. 32:36)Better, as in the R.S.V. and others, For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, etc.

Ferrar Fenton has,

Then the LORD will redress His

People;

For His servants He deeply grieves,
When he sees their power departing,
And fail, and fade, and decay.
Then He asks, Where now are

their godlings?

The power upon whom they

trust

In Israels despair and desperation, they would come to realize the uselessness and worthlessness of their heathen gods. Finally, the living God would rescue his chosen nation (Deu. 32:39-43). Again and again this is Israels history, especially in the period of the Judges, between the death of Joshua and the anointing of Saul.

44 And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Hoshea the son of Nun. 45 And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel; 46 and he said unto them, Set your heart unto all the words which I testify unto you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, even all the words of this law. 47 For it is no vain thing for you; because it is your life, and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over the Jordan to possess it.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(34) Is not this laid up?This is generally taken to refer to what follows, but it is not clear. It may refer to the fact that He looked for grapes, and the vine brought forth wild grapes.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

34. Is not this laid up in store with me The thought designed to be expressed is, that God’s time for punishment is decided upon, but not yet revealed. It is hidden in his treasure-chambers, for so the words translated treasures in our version might better be rendered.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Rather Than Seeking Vengeance Yahweh Will Have Mercy On Them ( Deu 32:34-36 ).

Deu 32:34-35

“Is not this stored up with me,

Sealed up among my treasures?

Vengeance is mine, and recompense,

At the time when their foot shall slip.

For the day of their calamity is at hand,

And the things that are to come on them will do so speedily.”

Yahweh again takes up the narrative. The wicked will not finally triumph, whether they be the unfaithful in Israel or their adversaries. Within His treasure house Yahweh has stored up what the wicked are and what they have done, and will take vengeance on His enemies (compare Deu 32:42-43). For ‘Vengeance is His’, and He will recompense. This is a general statement applied to this particular situation. One day their foot will slip and calamity will come on them, and what is to come on them will come on them speedily. While He may for a time make use of peoples who are equally sinful, yet in the end they too must face judgment (compare Isa 10:5-12). Note that vengeance is connected with recompense. It is not arbitrary vengeance, but vengeance on those deserving of it.

Paul reminds us that God is not mocked. He may nor reveal His anger immediately but we can be sure that those who sow to the flesh will reap corruption Gal 6:7-8). What we set our hearts on will determine our future.

Deu 32:36

“For Yahweh will judge (or ‘vindicate’) his people,

And repent himself for his servants,

When he sees that their strength is gone,

And there is none, whether prisoner or free.”

Once again the narrative is taken up by the singer. The parallel shows that the judging here is positive, as with the judges in Judges. It signifies ruling over them as righteous Overlord. Because Yahweh sees that the strength of His people has gone, and that all whether prisoner or free are weak and helpless, He will step in on their behalf and act as their vindicator. He will pass a right judgment concerning them, having a change of mind on their behalf. He will again be their Overlord.

What a good thing it is for us that God is so merciful. For even when we have failed Him so badly He comes to seek to restore us to what we should be.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Ver. 34. Is not this laid up in store with me We have here a remarkable instance of that change of persons of which we spoke in the note on ver. 5. From the 29th to the 33rd verse, Moses speaks in his own person: here again the Lord is introduced as speaking; and this and the next verse contain the second reason of the final punishment of the Jews, a reason taken from the decrees of God, as the first was taken from their extreme depravity, figuratively expressed in the 32nd and 33rd verses. “This,” says God, (by which we are to understand, as the learned Cocceius has well observed, not what precedes but what follows,) “This my vengeance, the time destined for the overthrow of a republic whose citizens are so depraved; this time, is it not laid up in store with me? Let not, therefore, these obstinate Jews think that my justice will suffer them to pass unpunished, and that, because the sentence against their iniquities is deferred, therefore it never will be executed.” The phrase, sealed up among my treasures, is an allusion to deeds which are signed and sealed, though not immediately executed, but kept safely and secretly in a cabinet. See Job 14:17 and the meaning is, that the time of God’s future vengeance, though fixed and determined in his own mind, is yet preserved with him as a profound secret known only to himself.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

DISCOURSE: 235
JUDGMENT NEAR AT HAND

Deu 32:34-35. Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? To me belongeth vengeance and recompence: their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.

TENDERNESS and fidelity are by no means incompatible. Nothing could exceed the tenderness of our blessed Lord, who wept over those who were just about to imbrue their hands in his blood. Yet, when occasion called for it, he spoke with great severity: Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how shall ye escape the damnation of hell [Note: Mat 23:33.]? In like manner, Jehovah, in the chapter before us, whilst he declares that a fire was kindled in his anger against his people, and that it should burn to the lowest hell [Note: ver. 22.], takes up this lamentation over them: O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up? For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges [Note: ver. 2931]. But as, notwithstanding all his remonstrances, they still continued to bring forth nothing but grapes of gall and clusters of Gomorrha, he warns them, that their iniquities were remembered by him in order to a future judgment, and that their merited calamities were near at hand.

But to us, also, are the words no less applicable than to them: for we, also, are a disobedient people, and have but too much reason to expect the judgments of God upon us. I observe, then,

I.

That our sins are treasured up before God in order to a future judgment

[This is stated to us in way of appeal: Is not your iniquity laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? We cannot doubt but that God notes all our wickedness, and records it in the book of his remembrance [Note: Mal 3:16.]. Of this Job was well convinced, when he said, My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity [Note: Job 14:17.]. And oh! what a mass of iniquity is there contained! Call to mind the sins of early infancy: for not one of them is overlooked by God. Then view the evils of childhood and of youth: alas, how numerous! even as the sands upon the sea-shore for multitude. Then go on to the period of maturer age, when, instead of improving our enlarged faculties in the service of our God, we have debased them the more in the service of sin and Satan. Go on to the present hour. Take all the actions, words, and thoughts of every successive day, and try them by the standard of Gods holy Law; and then see what loads of guilt we have contracted, and what volumes of indictment are ready at any hour to be brought forth against us: especially if we bear in remembrance our impenitence, which so greatly provokes God to anger; and our contempt of his Gospel, that stupendous effort of his love and mercy for the saving of our souls from death: if we reflect on these, I say, we cannot but see what a fearful account we have to give to our offended God. How soon we shall have filled up the measure of our iniquities, God alone knows: but this accumulation of our guilt none of us can deny; and this certainty of retribution none of us can doubt.]

In addition to this, I must say,

II.

That the appointed time for giving up our account is hastening on apace

[Our foot, we are told, shall slide in due time, and the day of our calamity is at hand. Truly we are set in slippery places; and are liable to be cast down into destruction in a moment [Note: Psa 73:18-19.]. Persons walking upon the ice, or on the glaciers of mountainous countries, feel the force of this observation, and endeavour to guard with all possible care against their danger. But we see not our danger, notwithstanding it is in fact not less imminent than theirs. Millions of dangers encompass us around; and numerous instances occur of persons summoned into eternity without a moments warning. The time for every mans departure is fixed by God: and how near it may be at hand, no one can divine. But the instant it is arrived, whether we be prepared or unprepared, away we are hurried to the judgment-seat of Christ; and, if unprepared, we are cast into the very depths of hell. I know that persons are ready to say, But God is merciful. True; but I answer, that To him belongeth vengeance also; yea, and this is as essential to his character as mercy. Hence, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, my text is cited with peculiar emphasis: We know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me: I will recompense, saith the Lord. And to this it is added, It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God [Note: Heb 10:30-31.]. Now, I ask, Shall this perfection of the Deity be dispensed with, in order to give us safety in our sins? It cannot be. An hatred of sin, and a determination to punish it, are essential to the nature of Jehovah; and he can as soon cease to exist, as he can cease to act worthy of his proper character. You cannot but know. Brethren, that multitudes are hurried daily into the presence of their God, without any regard to their state of preparation to meet him: and there is no reason why you should not be taken just as they were. They were saying, Peace and safety; and then came sudden destruction upon them, as travail upon a woman with child [Note: 1Th 5:3.]. And the more secure you are in your own apprehension, the more reason there is to fear that you shall be called away in like manner, and that that awful day shall overtake you as a thief [Note: 1Th 5:4.]. This consideration is very particularly urged upon you by the Prophet Hosea: The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid. The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him [Note: Hos 13:12-13.]. It matters not whether you be young or old, or whether in health or sickness, the Judge standeth at the door; and at the instant ordained by him, into his presence must you go, to give an account of all that you have ever done, whether it be good or evil.]

And truth compels me to declare,

III.

That it is owing to the forbearance of God alone that every one of us has not long since fallen into hell

[Who amongst us has not deserved the wrath of God? Who amongst us may not call to mind some moment, when God, so to speak, might have cut us off to advantage, to display in us his righteous indignation? And if he had summoned us hence, who could have withstood his mandate, or prolonged his life one single hour? We have been in the hands of God, hanging, as it were, over the bottomless pit, and suspended only by a single thread, which, if let loose or cut, would have transmitted us at once to everlasting misery. And many times has God been tempted, so to speak, to let go his hold: but our blessed Saviour has interceded for us, and prevailed to obtain for us a respite from our destined misery, if by any means we might be led to avert it by penitence and faith in him. All has been ready for our ruin long ago. Tophet has been prepared: it has been made deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; and the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, hath kindled it [Note: Isa 30:33.]: yes, the unquenchable fire has long since been kindled, and those cruel spirits, who have been our tempters, have long been waiting to become our tormentors. Nothing has prevented our ruin but the forbearance of our God, who, in the midst of all our provocations, has yet waited to be gracious unto us. It is to his sovereign grace alone we owe it, that we are not at this instant in the condition of millions, who never lived so long as we, or sinned so much against God as we, and were altogether as likely to live as we. But others have been taken, and we are left, if peradventure we may yet repent us of our sins, and flee for refuge to the hope that is set before us.]

I cannot conclude this awful subject without addressing a few words,
1.

To those who are yet indulging in security

[What have you been doing all your days, but treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath [Note: Rom 2:5.]? You do not design to go to hell, I know: neither did they who are already there. They designed, each in his own way, to do something that might bring them to heaven. One intended to repent, another to amend, another perhaps to embrace the Gospel. But death seized them, ere they had found leisure to carry their designs into effect And you also design to get into the way that leads to heaven. But tell me, When did you form this design? You know not the time when it did not in a careless way float upon your mind: and here have you been, years and years, without ever carrying it into effect. Tell me, then, I pray you, when do you intend to carry it into effect? As to any serious purpose and endeavour, it is still as far off as at any period of your lives: and therefore there is reason to fear that your good designs will terminate, as those of millions do, in utter abortion: and that in you will be verified what the Psalmist has said, Upon the wicked, God will rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their cup [Note: Psa 11:6.]. You may be assured, that God will not always bear with you: that, on the contrary, your judgment lingereth not, and your damnation slumbereth not [Note: 2Pe 2:3.]. The axe at this very moment lieth at the root of the tree, ready to cut you down [Note: Luk 3:9.]: and God alone knows whether another offer of mercy shall be ever made you. O that you may know, every one of you, in this your day, the things that belong unto your peace [Note: Luk 19:42.]! To-day, Brethren, while it is called to-day, harden not your hearts: but seek ye the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near [Note: Isa 55:6.]. This day, for every one of you, may be the day of salvation [Note: 2Co 6:2.]: what to-morrow may be none can tell. I pray God, it may not prove to you, as no doubt it will to many, the day of wrath, the day of everlasting damnation.]

2.

To those who are desirous of preparing for death and judgment

[Happy am I to declare unto you, that, however numerous or heinous your sins may have been, they may all this very day be blotted out of the book of Gods remembrance; yea, be blotted out as a morning cloud [Note: Isa 43:25.], never more to be seen, never to be remembered against you in judgment [Note: Heb 8:12.]. The blood of Jesus Christ, we are told, will cleanse from all sin [Note: 1Jn 1:7.]; so that though your sins have been as scarlet or as crimson, they shall in one instant become white as snow [Note: Isa 1:18.]. Yes, Brethren, if vengeance belongeth unto God, so does mercy also: with him is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption, so that he will redeem Israel from all his sins [Note: Psa 130:7-8.]. Take courage, then; and from the very forbearance you have experienced, assure yourselves that God is full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and that if only you come to him in his Sons name, you shall never perish, but shall have eternal life.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

Deu 32:34 [Is] not this laid up in store with me, [and] sealed up among my treasures?

Ver. 34. Is not this laid up in store? ] To wit, for just punishment, though for a while I forbear them. The wicked man is like a thief, which having stolen a horse, rides away well mounted, till, overtaken by hue and cry, he is apprehended, sentenced, and executed. “Your sin will find you out” as a bloodhound; Et patientia Dei erga impios quo diuturnior, eo minacior. Morae dispendium faenoris duplo pensatur; the longer God forbears, the heavier he punishes. a

a Jerome, in Jerem,

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)