Deuteronomy chapter 32

vs 21

If God means what I think he means, it is that in the same way God has made them envious and angry by worshipping idols, he will make them envious and angry of nations that have no concept of God and are not even considered a people. That is a threat worthy of "I'm going to hit you so hard your grandchildren will come out with bruises."

vs 22

Where would we be without pictures of wrath like that? I mean, when your dad gets angry at you, he can't say things like that - it's just way too grandiose. But when God says it, you actually have to ask the question, "Wow, will he really do that? Or is it just a metaphor?" That's one of the things i love about God. He can make poetry come alive, if he wants to.

vs 23

While arrows flying down from the clouds would be totally scary, I don't think it's literal. God can of course claim the arrows of all nations as his own, and fire them wherever he likes. So it could be a combination of calamity and war. But I think it is more likely an idiom - to spend ones arrows against someone, to fight against them.

vs 24

Famine, plague, pestilence, things that bite you (bears?) and snakes to poison you. They all just exist in this world, but to have them marshalled against you would just be bone-achingly wearisome, to the point of just giving up. Well, that's how I would feel.

vs 25

The link to the sword here means no doubt that not only will people die in war, but since women, children and the elderly will die, that means they will also lose those wars.

vs 26

How many times did he say that? Too many to count. Well, actually, I'm sure we could easily count them, but that he would say it at all is horrid. Not of God, though - he has the right. Of people, that we would treat him that way.

vs 27

The (T)NIV tradition translate adversary in singular, and don't link it to the people. The KJV and NASB do. Can I be bothered going to the Hebrew? It would probably make it clear. I might get Penny to look at it.

Obviously someone might misinterpret God's handiwork in crushing Israel. Either the enemies of Israel will think they just crushed them with military might, or Satan perhaps will think that he was able to take them out.

vs 28

Ouch! Not only does God just flat out say this, he puts it in a song for them to memorise!

vs 29

Dude, seriously, they're singing the song about how unwise they are. And yet I'll bet that sang this song all the way through Judges while the Phillistines were wailing on them.

vs 30

Normally, it would be Israel's ones and twos putting thousands to flight. But now, the tables will turn, and it will be Israel's thousands fleeing. Either way, God says, that is a sign that he is at work.