What is the meaning of Deuteronomy 32:15? But Jeshurun grew fat • “Jeshurun” is an affectionate name God uses for Israel, a people who had just experienced abundant blessing in the Promised Land (cf. Deuteronomy 33:5, 26). • “Grew fat” conveys material prosperity and national security. Moses had earlier warned, “When you have eaten and are satisfied… be careful that you do not forget the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:10-14). • Prosperity is never evil in itself, yet it tests the heart. Hosea 13:6 echoes the pattern: “When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud; therefore they forgot Me.” And kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged • Like an overfed animal that snaps at its owner, Israel responded to blessing with self-indulgence and resistance to God’s authority. • God had entreated, “You deserted the Rock who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth” (Deuteronomy 32:18). The kicking pictures deliberate rebellion rather than accidental drift. • Psalm 78:56-57 records the same behavior generations later: “They rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep His testimonies. Like their fathers they turned away and were faithless.” He abandoned the God who made him • Abandonment is a conscious, willful act. The people walked away from the very One who created and redeemed them (Exodus 20:2, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt”). • Jeremiah 2:13 laments the same tragedy: “They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, to dig for themselves cisterns—cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.” • Spiritual desertion invariably follows unchecked pride; the heart that credits blessings to itself soon discards the Benefactor. And scorned the Rock of his salvation • “The Rock” is a recurring title for God in this song (Deuteronomy 32:4, 15, 18, 30-31), underscoring His unchanging dependability. To scorn the Rock is to treat steadfast grace as worthless. • Psalm 95:1 calls Him “the Rock of our salvation,” urging gratitude; Israel chose contempt instead. • Acts 4:11-12 applies the image to Christ, “the stone you builders rejected… and there is salvation in no one else,” showing that rejecting the Rock ultimately rejects the only Savior. summary Moses sings of a nation blessed into prosperity yet swollen with pride, kicking against its gracious Provider, abandoning its Maker, and scorning its only Rock of salvation. The pattern warns every generation: prosperity without remembrance breeds rebellion; forgetting the Giver forfeits the gift. The antidote is continual gratitude, humble dependence, and steadfast loyalty to the unchanging Rock who alone saves. |
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