Deuteronomy 32:41
when I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me.
when I sharpen
The phrase "when I sharpen" suggests a deliberate and intentional preparation for action. In the Hebrew context, the word for "sharpen" (חָדַד, chadad) implies making something ready for use, particularly in a military or judicial sense. This preparation signifies God's readiness to execute justice. The imagery of sharpening a sword is a powerful metaphor for divine judgment, emphasizing precision and decisiveness.

My flashing sword
The "flashing sword" is a vivid image of divine power and authority. The Hebrew word for "flashing" (בָּרָק, barak) can also mean "lightning," suggesting a sword that is not only sharp but also dazzling and fearsome. This symbolizes the unstoppable and awe-inspiring nature of God's judgment. Historically, swords were symbols of power and authority, and in this context, it represents God's ultimate authority over creation.

and My hand grasps it in judgment
The phrase "and My hand grasps it in judgment" conveys the personal involvement of God in the act of judgment. The Hebrew word for "grasps" (תָּפַשׂ, taphas) implies a firm and controlled hold, indicating that God's judgment is neither haphazard nor arbitrary. It is a deliberate act of justice. The imagery of God's hand emphasizes His sovereignty and the certainty of His righteous judgment.

I will take vengeance
"I will take vengeance" reflects God's role as the ultimate judge who rights wrongs and punishes evil. The Hebrew word for "vengeance" (נָקָם, naqam) is often associated with retribution and justice. In the biblical context, vengeance is not about personal vendetta but about restoring divine order and justice. It reassures believers that God will address injustices and that His timing and methods are perfect.

on My adversaries
The term "adversaries" refers to those who oppose God and His purposes. In Hebrew, the word (צָרַר, tsarar) can mean enemies or those who cause distress. This highlights the spiritual battle between good and evil, and God's commitment to overcoming those who stand against His will. It serves as a reminder of the ultimate triumph of God's righteousness over wickedness.

and repay those who hate Me
The phrase "and repay those who hate Me" underscores the principle of divine retribution. The Hebrew word for "repay" (שָׁלַם, shalam) implies making whole or restoring balance. This reflects the biblical concept of justice, where actions have consequences. Those who "hate" God, in this context, are those who reject His authority and commandments. This serves as a warning and a call to repentance, emphasizing God's desire for people to turn back to Him.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Moses
The speaker of the song in Deuteronomy 32, delivering God's message to the Israelites.

2. God
The one who speaks of His judgment and vengeance against His adversaries.

3. Israelites
The primary audience of Moses' song, who are reminded of God's power and justice.

4. Adversaries
Those who oppose God and His people, against whom God promises to execute judgment.

5. Promised Land
The context of the Israelites' journey, where they are reminded of God's covenant and justice.
Teaching Points
God's Justice and Righteousness
God's judgment is a reflection of His perfect justice and righteousness. He does not act out of malice but out of a commitment to uphold His holy standards.

The Certainty of Divine Judgment
The imagery of God sharpening His sword signifies the certainty and readiness of His judgment. Believers can trust that God will address all wrongs in His perfect timing.

Vengeance Belongs to the Lord
As believers, we are called to leave vengeance to God. Our role is to trust in His justice and focus on living righteously.

The Call to Repentance
The warning of judgment serves as a call to repentance. It is an opportunity for individuals to turn back to God and seek His mercy.

Hope in God's Deliverance
For the faithful, God's judgment is not a cause for fear but a source of hope, as it assures the ultimate defeat of evil and the vindication of His people.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the imagery of God sharpening His sword in Deuteronomy 32:41 impact your understanding of His justice?

2. In what ways can we apply the principle of leaving vengeance to God in our daily lives, as seen in Romans 12:19?

3. How does the certainty of God's judgment provide comfort and hope to believers today?

4. What steps can we take to ensure we are living in a way that aligns with God's righteousness, in light of His impending judgment?

5. How do the themes of judgment and repentance in Deuteronomy 32:41 relate to the message of the Gospel?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Psalm 7:12-13
This passage also speaks of God preparing His weapons for judgment, emphasizing His readiness to act against the wicked.

Isaiah 34:5-6
Describes God's sword being filled with blood, symbolizing His judgment against nations, similar to the imagery in Deuteronomy 32:41.

Romans 12:19
Paul reminds believers that vengeance belongs to God, echoing the theme of divine retribution found in Deuteronomy 32:41.

Revelation 19:15
Describes Christ wielding a sharp sword to strike down the nations, reflecting the ultimate fulfillment of God's judgment.
Vengeance and RecompenseR.M. Edgar Deuteronomy 32:19-47
RetributionJ. Orr Deuteronomy 32:34-43
The Final Revelation of God's SupremacyD. Davies Deuteronomy 32:36-43
The Royal PrerogativeC H. Spurgeon.Deuteronomy 32:39-41
The Undeliverableness of Man from the Hand of GodHomilistDeuteronomy 32:39-41
People
Aaron, Adam, Hoshea, Israelites, Jacob, Joshua, Moses, Nun
Places
Abarim, Bashan, Canaan, Gomorrah, Jericho, Jordan River, Meribah-kadesh, Moab, Mount Hor, Mount Nebo, Sodom, Zin
Topics
Adversaries, Brightness, Enemies, Flashing, Gleaming, Glittering, Grasps, Hate, Haters, Hating, Hold, Judging, Judgment, Justice, Lay, Outstretched, Punishment, Recompense, Render, Repay, Requite, Reward, Sharp, Sharpen, Sharpened, Shining, Sword, Takes, Turn, Vengeance, Whet
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Deuteronomy 32:41

     5875   hatred

Deuteronomy 32:40-41

     1265   hand of God

Deuteronomy 32:41-43

     5493   retribution
     9210   judgment, God's

Library
The Eagle and Its Brood
'As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings.'--DEUT. xxxii. 11. This is an incomplete sentence in the Authorised Version, but really it should be rendered as a complete one; the description of the eagle's action including only the two first clauses, and (the figure being still retained) the person spoken of in the last clauses being God Himself. That is to say, it should read thus, 'As an eagle stirreth up his nest,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Their Rock and Our Rock
'Their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being Judges.' DEUT. xxxii. 31. Moses is about to leave the people whom he had led so long, and his last words are words of solemn warning. He exhorts them to cleave to God. The words of the text simply mean that the history of the nation had sufficiently proved that God, their God, was 'above all gods.' The Canaanites and all the enemies whom Israel had fought had been beaten, and in their awe of this warrior people acknowledged that their
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Memento Mori
I propose this morning, as God shall help me, to lead you to consider your latter end. May the Holy Spirit bend your thoughts downward to the tomb. May he guide you to the grave, that you may there see the end of all earthly hopes, of all worldly pomp and show. In doing this, I shall thus divide my subject. First, let us consider Death, secondly, let us push on the consideration by considering the warnings which Death has given us already; and then, further, let us picture ourselves as dying,--bringing
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860

Religion --A Reality
Now we will grant you this morning that much of the religion which is abroad in the world is a vain thing. The religion of ceremonies is vain. If a man shall trust in the gorgeous pomp of uncommanded mysteries, if he shall consider that there resides some mystic efficacy in a priest, and that by uttering certain words a blessing is infallibly received, we tell him that his religion is a vain thing. You might as well go to the Witch of Endor for grace as to a priest; and if you rely upon words, the
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 8: 1863

At a Public Fast in July, First Sabbath, 1650. (257)
At A Public Fast In July, First Sabbath, 1650.(257) Deut. xxxii. 4-7.--"He is the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment," &c. There are two things which may comprehend all religion,--the knowledge of God and of ourselves. These are the principles of religion, and are so nearly conjoined together, that the one cannot be truly without the other, much less savingly. It is no wonder that Moses craved attention, and that, to the end he may attain it from an hard hearted deaf people,
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Jeremy Taylor -- Christ's Advent to Judgment
Jeremy Taylor, born in Cambridge, England, in 1613, was the son of a barber. By his talents he obtained an entrance into Caius College, where his exceptional progress obtained for him admission to the ministry in his twenty-first year, two years before the canonical age. He was appointed in succession fellow of All Souls, Oxford, through the influence of Laud, chaplain to the King, and rector of Uppingham. During the Commonwealth he was expelled from his living and opened a school in Wales, employing
Various—The World's Great Sermons, Vol. 2

a survey of the third and closing discourse of the prophet
We shall now, in conclusion, give a survey of the third and closing discourse of the prophet. After an introduction in vi. 1, 2, where the mountains serve only to give greater solemnity to the scene (in the fundamental passages Deut. xxxii. 1, and in Is. 1, 2, "heaven and earth" are mentioned for the same purposes, inasmuch as they are the most venerable parts of creation; "contend with the mountains" by taking them in and applying to [Pg 522] them as hearers), the prophet reminds the people of
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Appendix xvi. On the Jewish views About Demons' and the Demonised,' Together with Some Notes on the Intercourse Between Jews and Jewish Christians in the First Centuries.
IT is not, of course, our purpose here to attempt an exhaustive account of the Jewish views on demons' and the demonised.' A few preliminary strictures were, however, necessary on a work upon which writers on this subject have too implictly relied. I refer to Gfrörer's Jahrhundert des Heils (especially vol. i. pp. 378-424). Gfrörer sets out by quoting a passage in the Book of Enoch on which he lays great stress, but which critical inquiries of Dillmann and other scholars have shown to be
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Justice of God
The next attribute is God's justice. All God's attributes are identical, and are the same with his essence. Though he has several attributes whereby he is made known to us, yet he has but one essence. A cedar tree may have several branches, yet it is but one cedar. So there are several attributes of God whereby we conceive of him, but only one entire essence. Well, then, concerning God's justice. Deut 32:4. Just and right is he.' Job 37:23. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Truth of God
The next attribute is God's truth. A God of truth and without iniquity; just and right is he.' Deut 32:4. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.' Psa 57:10. Plenteous in truth.' Psa 86:15. I. God is the truth. He is true in a physical sense; true in his being: he has a real subsistence, and gives a being to others. He is true in a moral sense; he is true sine errore, without errors; et sine fallacia, without deceit. God is prima veritas, the pattern and prototype
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Finding
Heinrich Suso Deut. xxxii. 10 Now have I seen Thee and found Thee, For Thou hast found Thy sheep; I fled, but Thy love would follow-- I strayed, but Thy grace would keep. Thou hast granted my heart's desire-- Most blest of the blessed is he Who findeth no rest and no sweetness Till he rests, O Lord, in Thee. O Lord, Thou seest, Thou knowest, That to none my heart can tell The joy and the love and the sorrow, The tale that my heart knows well. But to Thee, O my God, I can tell it-- To Thee, and
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

viii
We have not treated the Latin Church after that fashion. There is not a hymn of real merit in the Latin which has not been translated, and in not a few cases oftener than once, with the result that the gems of Latin hymnody are the valued possession of the Christian Church in all English-speaking lands. One does not proceed far without making some discoveries which may account, to a certain extent, for the neglect of Greek hymnody by those men who are best qualified to pursue the study of it. The
John Brownlie—Hymns of the Holy Eastern Church

The Call of Moses
There is a great deal more room given in Scripture to the call of men to God's work than there is to their end. For instance, we don't know where Isaiah died, or how he died, but we know a great deal about the call God gave him, when he saw God on high and lifted up on His throne. I suppose that it is true to-day that hundreds of young men and women who are listening for a call and really want to know what their life's mission is, perhaps find it the greatest problem they ever had. Some don't
Dwight L. Moody—Men of the Bible

Perhaps There is no Book Within the Whole Canon of Scripture So Perplexing and Anomalous...
Perhaps there is no book within the whole canon of Scripture so perplexing and anomalous, at first sight, as that entitled "Ecclesiastes." Its terrible hopelessness, its bold expression of those difficulties with which man is surrounded on every side, the apparent fruitlessness of its quest after good, the unsatisfactory character, from a Christian standpoint, of its conclusion: all these points have made it, at one and the same time, an enigma to the superficial student of the Word, and the arsenal
F. C. Jennings—Old Groans and New Songs

Epistle cxxvii. From S. Columbanus to Pope Gregory .
From S. Columbanus to Pope Gregory [89] . To the holy lord, and father in Christ, the Roman [pope], most fair ornament of the Church, a certain most august flower, as it were, of the whole of withering Europe, distinguished speculator, as enjoying a divine contemplation of purity (?) [90] . I, Bargoma [91] , poor dove in Christ, send greeting. Grace to thee and peace from God the Father [and] our [Lord] Jesus Christ. I am pleased to think, O holy pope, that it will seem to thee nothing extravagant
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

God's True Treasure in Man
'The Lord's portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.'--DEUT, xxxii.9. 'Jesus Christ (Who) gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people.'--TITUS ii. 14. I choose these two texts because they together present us with the other side of the thought to that which I have elsewhere considered, that man's true treasure is in God. That great axiom of the religious consciousness, which pervades the whole of Scripture, is rapturously
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Gospel Feast
"When Jesus then lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him, He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?"--John vi. 5. After these words the Evangelist adds, "And this He said to prove him, for He Himself knew what He would do." Thus, you see, our Lord had secret meanings when He spoke, and did not bring forth openly all His divine sense at once. He knew what He was about to do from the first, but He wished to lead forward His disciples, and to arrest and
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

The Necessity of Regeneration, Argued from the Immutable Constitution of God.
John III. 3. John III. 3. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. WHILE the ministers of Christ are discoursing of such a subject, as I have before me in the course of these Lectures, and particularly in this branch of them which I am now entering upon, we may surely, with the utmost reason, address our hearers in those words of Moses to Israel, in the conclusion of his dying discourse: Set your hearts unto all
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

Lix. The Preacher and his Hearers.
22nd Sunday after Trinity. S. Matthew xviii. 23. "The kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants." INTRODUCTION.--I have been a good deal abroad, over the Continent of Europe, and whenever I am in a little country inn, I make a point of going into the room where the men are smoking and drinking wine or beer, and hearing their opinions on the politics of the day, and of their country. Now, my experience tells me that in country taverns in France, and
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

The Prophet Micah.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. Micah signifies: "Who is like Jehovah;" and by this name, the prophet is consecrated to the incomparable God, just as Hosea was to the helping God, and Nahum to the comforting God. He prophesied, according to the inscription, under Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. We are not, however, entitled, on this account, to dissever his prophecies, and to assign particular discourses to the reign of each of these kings. On the contrary, the entire collection forms only one whole. At
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Jewish Dispersion in the West - the Hellenists - Origin of Hellenist Literature in the Greek Translation of the Bible - Character of the Septuagint.
When we turn from the Jewish dispersion' in the East to that in the West, we seem to breathe quite a different atmosphere. Despite their intense nationalism, all unconsciously to themselves, their mental characteristics and tendencies were in the opposite direction from those of their brethren. With those of the East rested the future of Judaism; with them of the West, in a sense, that of the world. The one represented old Israel, stretching forth its hands to where the dawn of a new day was about
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Early Life of Malachy. Having Been Admitted to Holy Orders He Associates with Malchus
[Sidenote: 1095.] 1. Our Malachy, born in Ireland,[134] of a barbarous people, was brought up there, and there received his education. But from the barbarism of his birth he contracted no taint, any more than the fishes of the sea from their native salt. But how delightful to reflect, that uncultured barbarism should have produced for us so worthy[135] a fellow-citizen with the saints and member of the household of God.[136] He who brings honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock[137]
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

The Christian's God
Scripture References: Genesis 1:1; 17:1; Exodus 34:6,7; 20:3-7; Deuteronomy 32:4; 33:27; Isaiah 40:28; 45:21; Psalm 90:2; 145:17; 139:1-12; John 1:1-5; 1:18; 4:23,24; 14:6-11; Matthew 28:19,20; Revelation 4:11; 22:13. WHO IS GOD? How Shall We Think of God?--"Upon the conception that is entertained of God will depend the nature and quality of the religion of any soul or race; and in accordance with the view that is held of God, His nature, His character and His relation to other beings, the spirit
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

How those are to be Admonished who Decline the Office of Preaching Out of Too Great Humility, and those who Seize on it with Precipitate Haste.
(Admonition 26.) Differently to be admonished are those who, though able to preach worthily, are afraid by reason of excessive humility, and those whom imperfection or age forbids to preach, and yet precipitancy impells. For those who, though able to preach with profit, still shrink back through excessive humility are to be admonished to gather from consideration of a lesser matter how faulty they are in a greater one. For, if they were to hide from their indigent neighbours money which they possessed
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

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