Deuteronomy 33:26 - Meaning and Application

These are the last words that Moses, that great writer and leader, ever wrote himself or had written by his command. They are very important, and we should learn much from them. Moses, the man of God, who knew both God and Israel as fully as any mere man could, uses his last breath to praise both the God of Israel and the Israel of God. In his eyes, both are beyond comparison, and his judgment was still clear to the end.

There is no God like the God of Israel. None of the gods of the nations could do for their worshipers what the Lord did for his people. So Moses says, "There is none like the God of Jeshurun" (Deuteronomy 33:26). Jeshurun is a name for Israel, meaning the upright people of God. When we look for God to bless us by doing good for us, we should bless him by speaking well of him. One of the most solemn ways to praise God is to say that no one is like him.

This was Israel’s honor. Every nation boasted about its own god, but none had such a God to boast about as Israel did. It was also their great happiness that they had been brought into covenant, a binding relationship, with such a God. Moses points to two things that show the clear greatness of the God of Jeshurun above all other gods.

First, his sovereign power and authority. He rides on the heavens, and in majesty on the skies. This means he shows his greatness and glory above the world, and he uses the powers of heaven, the clouds, and all they produce to carry out his purposes in this world below. He directs them as a man guides the horse he rides. When he has anything to do for his people, he rides on the heavens to do it, swiftly and strongly. No enemy can get ahead of him or block his way.

Second, his endless eternity. He is the eternal God, and his arms are everlasting (Deuteronomy 33:27). The gods of the nations had only recently been made up, and they would soon disappear. But the God of Jeshurun is eternal. He was before all worlds, and he will remain when time itself is over (Habakkuk 1:12).

There is also no people like the Israel of God. Moses had already called each tribe happy, and here at the end he declares them all happy together. They are so blessed in every way that no nation under the sun can be compared with them (Deuteronomy 33:29). "Happy are you, O Israel, who is like you?" Their true happiness is that the Lord is their God. If Israel honors God as a God without equal, he will favor them and make them a people without equal, the envy of their neighbors and the joy of all who love them.

Who is like you, O people? Christ speaks this way of his bride, saying, "Behold, you are beautiful, my love." She answers, "Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved." What other nation, yes, not even all nations together, is like your people Israel? (2 Samuel 7:23). What is said here about Israel’s church and its honors and privileges surely belongs also to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. The Christian church is the Israel of God, as the apostle calls it (Galatians 6:16). Peace belongs to it, and it is honored above all the societies in the world, just as Israel was.

Never were people so well placed and sheltered. "The eternal God is your refuge" (Deuteronomy 33:27). The word can also mean "your dwelling place," a home where you are safe, settled, and at rest. Every true Israelite is at home in God. The soul returns to him and rests in him as its refuge (Psalm 116:7), its hiding place (Psalm 32:7). Those who make him their dwelling place will have all the comfort and benefit of living in him (Psalm 91:1). Moses had already thought of God as Israel’s home when they were wandering in the wilderness: "Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations" (Psalm 90:1). Even when they entered Canaan, they must not change their dwelling place. They would still need the eternal God, and they would still have him. Without him, Canaan itself would become a wilderness and a land of darkness.

Never were people so well supported. "Underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33:27). This means that the almighty power of God is committed to protect and comfort all who trust in him, especially in their hardest troubles and heaviest burdens. These everlasting arms support the church as a whole, so that it will not sink or be crushed. Beneath the church is that rock of ages on which it is built, and the gates of hell will never defeat it (Matthew 16:18). These same arms also support each believer, so that although they may be oppressed, they will not be overwhelmed. No matter how low God’s people are brought, those everlasting arms are beneath them, keeping their spirit from sinking, from fainting, and their faith from failing, even when they are pressed beyond measure. The everlasting covenant and the everlasting comfort that flow from it are truly everlasting arms. Believers have been wonderfully sustained by them, and kept cheerful in the worst times. God’s grace is enough for them (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Never were people so well commanded and led into battle. "He will thrust out the enemy before you" by his almighty power, which will make room for you, and by his command, which will support you, "Destroy them." Israel was about to enter a land fully occupied by a strong and dangerous people, who thought they were the rightful owners because they had settled it first. How then could Israel justly and successfully drive them out? God would give them a commission to destroy the Canaanites, and that would justify them before the world. As the sovereign Lord of all life and all land, he not only allowed it, but clearly commanded and appointed Israel to take Canaan and to put the sword to its people. Being authorized by him, they could do this lawfully and honorably, without the least charge of theft in taking the land or murder in striking the people. God would also give them the strength to do it. In effect, he would do it for them. He would thrust out the enemy before them, for even fear of Israel would put them to flight. God drove out the nations to plant his people (Psalm 44:2). In the same way, believers are more than conquerors over their spiritual enemies through Christ who loved them. The captain of our salvation thrust out the enemy before us when he overcame the world and stripped the powers and rulers of their strength at the cross. His command to us is, "Destroy them." Follow the victory, and you will divide the spoil.

Never were people so well secured and protected. Israel would then dwell in safety, alone.

Those who live in God and make his name their strong tower dwell in safety. Their place of defense is the fortress of rocks (Isaiah 33:16). They “dwell in safety alone.” This means, first, that they are safe even when they are alone. They do not need alliances with nearby nations, and they have no reason to expect help from them, yet they still live securely. They are truly safe, and they know they are safe.

It also means they are safe because they are alone, in the sense of being set apart. As long as they stayed pure and did not mix with the nations around them, they remained a special and distinct people. That difference from other nations made them stand out like a speckled bird (Jeremiah 12:9), and it brought the dislike of their neighbors. Yet that same difference protected them from the harm their neighbors wanted to do, because it kept them under God’s care. All who stay close to God will be kept safe by him. The kingdom of Christ promises that Israel will dwell safely (Jeremiah 23:6).

Never was a people so well provided for. The fountain of Jacob, meaning the present generation of that people, which was the source from which later generations would come, would be placed on a good land. The “eye of Jacob,” since the same word can mean both fountain and eye, was on a land of grain and wine. While they were camped where they were, Canaan was right before them, across the river, and they would soon have it in their hands and under their feet. The land they had their eye on was blessed with rich soil and with the dew of heaven. It was a land of grain and wine, the kinds of produce people truly need. Even the heavens above were to drop dew for it, for without that dew, even good soil would soon fail. Every true Israelite has the eye of faith on a better country, the heavenly Canaan, which is full of better things than grain and wine.

Never was a people so well helped. If they were in trouble, God himself rode on the heavens to help them (Deuteronomy 33:26). They were a people saved by the Lord (Deuteronomy 33:29). If they faced danger or lacked anything good, they had an eternal God to go to and almighty power to trust. Nothing could truly harm those whom God helped, and it was impossible for the people saved by the Lord to perish. Those added to gospel Israel are those who will be saved (Acts 2:47).

Never was a people so well armed. God himself was the shield of their help, so he armed them for defense and protected them from every attacker. He was also the sword of their excellence, so he armed them for attack and made them strong and successful in battle. God is called the sword of their excellence because, in fighting for them, he made them greater than other peoples. Or it may mean that, in all he did for them, he kept his eye on his sanctuary among them, which is called the excellence of Jacob (Psalm 47:4; Ezekiel 24:21; Amos 6:8). Those in whose hearts holiness is the true glory have God himself as both shield and sword. They are defended with the whole armor of God. His word is their sword, and faith in his word is their shield (Ephesians 6:16, 17).

Never was a people so sure of victory over their enemies. Their enemies would be found liars to them. That is, the enemies would have to submit, though against their will, so that their surrender would be only pretended. Still, the victory would be real, for Israel would tread on their necks, as the Septuagint says, and as we see done in Joshua 10:24. They would tread down their strongholds, no matter how high, and trample on their palaces and temples, even if those were thought sacred. If their enemies were found liars to them, then they would tread on their high places. If the enemies would not be held by treaties and agreements, they would be broken by the force of war. So the God of peace will crush Satan under the feet of all believers, and will do it soon (Romans 16:20).

When you put all this together, you must say, “Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, O people!” Truly blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.