Deuteronomy chapter 32

vs 31

So already I think I couldn't remember this song unless it had a mega snappy tune.

Wow, I'm also very easily distracted.

Israel should remind themselves that their God is like no other, and that even other nations recognise that.

vs 32

If ever there was a description of bad wine, this is it. So if a viniculturist ever expresses that a wine is a bit "Deut 32:32", then avoid it like the plague. I wonder if the wine is symbolic of something, or whether they're just literally saying the wine of other countries isn't as good as Israel's because God makes theirs better. For example, it could be a way of saying that the way they drink their wine leads to wickedness and bad things happening.

vs 33

More on their wine. Now it just sounds nasty. But again, the idea of the wine being poison might mean that in drinking it, you are dooming yourself to death.

vs 34

Kept what, exactly? I suppose he means kept his wrath as expressed in 26-27.

vs 35

This doom seems to be aimed at the people who speak against God, not God's own people. Perhaps they drink themselves into judgment, and God is just waiting for the right time, for them to slip in their drunkenness, before he strikes.

vs 36

So that is once the punishment has been fully born out and they've suffered pretty much totally.

vs 37

The things of stone, rather than the metaphorical foundation stone of God. They are nowhere of course - because they never had power.

vs 38

There's just a touch of spite in these words. Spite and gloating. God knows full well that these gods are nowhere to be seen, that they are worthless. But he wants to make the mistake painfully clear.

vs 39

This statement is almost comforting, until the last clause. That there is no other gods atually makes things much more comfortable, in my estimation. Yes he kills, but he also brings life. Yes he wounds, but he also heals. And yet none can be delivered out of his hand - great if you're being healed, but not so lovely a promise for those to be wounded.

vs 40

If God is going to take an oath, he can take it on himself, because there is none greater. Another great little verse for showing the eternal nature of God, too.