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1 Give ear, ye heavens, and I will speak;
And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
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2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain;
My speech shall distil as the dew,
As the small rain upon the tender grass,
And as the showers upon the herb.
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Drop as the rain – "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." (John 6:63) R1937:2
My speech – "Never man spake like this man" (John 7:46); "Grace is poured into thy lips." (Psa. 45:2)
Distil as the dew – "All bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth." (Luke 4:22) R1937:2
As the showers – "They could not take hold of his words ... before the people; and they marveled at his answers and held their peace." (Luke 20:26) R1937:2
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3 For I will proclaim the name of Jehovah:
Ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
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4 The Rock, his work is perfect;
For all his ways are justice:
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
Just and right is he.
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His work is perfect – Even though he may temporarily permit evil angels and evil men to pervert and misuse it. F17
Therefore God's law is perfect. R386:5
Therefore God is not the author of sin. R1225:2, R870:3; Q359:5
He does not do evil so that good may follow. R3145:4
The mentally, physically and morally blemished are not God's workmanship. E309; R2912:1, R2285:1, R5360:5
Adam was physically and morally perfect. E406; R2394:5, R1719:4, R386:5; Q741:2
Thus man will be perfect at the end of the Millennium. R5167:2
Satan was created perfect but fell by ambition. F612; SM95:1
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5 They have dealt corruptly with him, they are not his children, it is their blemish;
They are a perverse and crooked generation.
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6 Do ye thus requite Jehovah,
O foolish people and unwise?
Is not he thy father that hath bought thee?
He hath made thee, and established thee.
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7 Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of many generations:
Ask thy father, and he will show thee;
Thine elders, and they will tell thee.
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8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
When he separated the children of men,
He set the bounds of the peoples
According to the number of the children of Israel.
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9 For Jehovah’s portion is his people;
Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
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10 He found him in a desert land,
And in a waste howling wilderness;
He compassed him about, he cared for him,
He kept him as the apple of his eye.
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The apple of his eye – Nothing shall by any means injure these. R4462:5
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11 As an eagle that stirreth up her nest,
That fluttereth over her young,
He spread abroad his wings, he took them,
He bare them on his pinions.
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Stirreth up her nest – Mixes the thorny outside with the downy inside so the young will leave the nest and learn to fly. R3351:4*
The Lord permits trials, persecutions, etc.--for strengthening and helping his people. R4335:2
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12 Jehovah alone did lead him,
And there was no foreign god with him.
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13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth,
And he did eat the increase of the field;
And he made him to suck honey out of the rock,
And oil out of the flinty rock;
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14 Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock,
With fat of lambs,
And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats,
With the finest of the wheat;
And of the blood of the grape thou drankest wine.
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15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked:
Thou art waxed fat, thou art grown thick, thou art become sleek;
Then he forsook God who made him,
And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
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16 They moved him to jealousy with strange gods;
With abominations provoked they him to anger.
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17 They sacrificed unto demons, which were no God,
To gods that they knew not,
To new gods that came up of late,
Which your fathers dreaded not.
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Unto devils – Ritualism in the Christian church is of pagan origin. R1991:4*
Mediums of the fallen spirits. God commanded that any amongst them who became such a medium should be put to death. R5910:2; PD42/52
Not to God – To whom the ransom was paid. R685:4
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18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful,
And hast forgotten God that gave thee birth.
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19 And Jehovah saw it, and abhorred them,
Because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
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20 And he said, I will hide my face from them,
I will see what their end shall be:
For they are a very perverse generation,
Children in whom is no faithfulness.
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21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God;
They have provoked me to anger with their vanities:
And I will move them to jealousy with those that are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
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They – Paul quotes part of this prophecy and applies it to "all the house of Israel" living in his day, both in Jerusalem and scattered throughout the world. (Rom. 10:19-21) R2125:3
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22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger,
And burneth unto the lowest Sheol,
And devoureth the earth with its increase,
And setteth on fire the foundations of the mountains.
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For a fire – The fire of God's jealousy. E357
And shall burn – "They shall be burnt with hunger." (vs. 24) E357
The lowest hell – Sheol, oblivion, the tomb, the state of death--a figurative representation of the utter ruin of Israel as a nation. R2599:3; E357; R5154:2
Sheol, admitted by Pastor L. S. White simply to denote the world of departed spirits and not of itself to teach anything about the punishment of the wicked. HG209:3*
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23 I will heap evils upon them;
I will spend mine arrows upon them:
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24 They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat
And bitter destruction;
And the teeth of beasts will I send upon them,
With the poison of crawling things of the dust.
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25 Without shall the sword bereave,
And in the chambers terror;
It shall destroy both young man and virgin,
The suckling with the man of gray hairs.
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26 I said, I would scatter them afar,
I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men;
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Scatter them – The whole house of Israel. R2125:2
The remembrance – The same Hebrew word is rendered "scent" in Hos. 14:7 and "memorial" in Esther 9: R2125:2
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27 Were it not that I feared a provocation of the enemy,
Lest their adversaries should judge amiss,
Lest they should say, Our hand is exalted,
And Jehovah hath not done all this.
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28 For they are a nation void of counsel,
And there is no understanding in them.
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29 Oh that they were wise, that they understood this,
That they would consider their latter end!
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30 How should one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Except their Rock had sold them,
And Jehovah had delivered them up?
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One chase a thousand – Harvest laborers, though few in number, accomplish the harvest work. R1349:5, R6023:1
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31 For their rock is not as our Rock,
Even our enemies themselves being judges.
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32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom,
And of the fields of Gomorrah:
Their grapes are grapes of gall,
Their clusters are bitter:
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33 Their wine is the poison of serpents,
And the cruel venom of asps.
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34 Is not this laid up in store with me,
Sealed up among my treasures?
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35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
At the time when their foot shall slide:
For the day of their calamity is at hand,
And the things that are to come upon thee shall make haste.
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Vengeance – The time of trouble. D73, D549
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36 For Jehovah will judge his people,
And repent himself for his servants;
When he seeth that their power is gone,
And there is none remaining, shut up or left at large.
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The LORD shall judge – Jehovah himself is the supreme Judge, yet the "Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." (John 5:22) F396
Punish--perhaps chasten an individual with business reverses or with physical disease. R5957:2
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37 And he will say, Where are their gods,
The rock in which they took refuge;
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38 Which did eat 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.
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39 See now that I, even I, am he,
And there are no gods with me:
I kill, and I make alive;
I wound, and I heal;
And there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
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No god with me – Not triune. R1052:5*
I wound, and I heal – It is the wounded heart that is ready to be bound up and to be healed and to be transformed. HG270:3
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40 For I lift up my hand to heaven,
And say, As I live for ever,
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41 If I whet my glittering sword,
And my hand take hold on judgment;
I will render vengeance to mine adversaries,
And will recompense them that hate me.
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42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood,
And my sword shall devour flesh;
With the blood of the slain and the captives,
From the head of the leaders of the enemy.
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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 make expiation for his land, for his people. |
Rejoice – These victories shall ultimately be attained by all the Israel of God--the Jew first and also the Gentile, during the Millennial age. R3078:2
O ye nations – All the true Israel of God, all who shall become Israelites according to the faith and obedience of Abraham. R3078:3
And to his people – --after divine wrath has burned out their national transgression the Lord will speak peaceably toward Israel. E357
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| 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. |
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| 45 And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel; |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 48 And Jehovah spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying, |
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| 49 Get thee up into this mountain of Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession; |
Mount Nebo – It is quite possible that Elijah was taken from this same mountain. R3416:3
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| 50 and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people: |
Die in the mount – Mount Nebo. PD37/48
If the meekest man in all the earth was overcome by the circumstances of his position, it should not surprise us if we find that in spiritual Israel some who start out meek and humble become more or less arrogant. R3866:4
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| 51 because ye trespassed against me in the midst of the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel. |
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| 52 For thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither into the land which I give the children of Israel. |
Thou shalt not go – Although usually a type of Christ-in the one instance of disobediently smiting the rock Moses became a type of Christ's followers who put him to open shame and who, in consequence, will die the Second Death. (Heb. 10:29) R4058:1, R3077:4, R5333:3
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