Chapter 33 of Deuteronomy contains the last recorded words of a truly great man, Moses, "whom the Lord knew face to face" (34:10). Many times Moses had addressed the people of Israel with mixed blessing and warning, listing conditions for blessing and the inevitable results of rejecting God's plan. But here, as he prepared for his impending death (32:48-52), Moses spoke only of God's majestic character and the privileges of those who serve Him.
The God of Jeshurun (literally "upright," here a symbolic name for Israel) is an active God, for He rides in His excellency across the heaven to help us, as we see in our text. He strongly acts on our behalf. "The eternal God is [our] refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (33:27). He is not like the gods of the heathen, who do nothing.
Next, He is a God of grandeur. Here He rides across the sky and the heaven; elsewhere we are told that He "rideth upon the heaven of heavens" (Psalm 68:33). He walks (104:3) and flies (18:10) "upon the wings of the wind." "The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet" (Nahum 1:3).
Finally, God is eternal. The "eternal God" with "everlasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33:27) assures us of eternal victory. "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death" (Revelation 1:18).
Such was Moses' God and the God whom we serve today--the One who showers us with incomparable blessings. Indeed, "who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord" (Deuteronomy 33:29) to have such a One as our God? JDM
