Deuteronomy 32:8
When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
Sermons
The World Ruled for the Benefit of the ChurchJ. Orr Deuteronomy 32:8
The Fatherhood of GodR.M. Edgar Deuteronomy 32:1-14
Advantages of InquiryH. Jay.Deuteronomy 32:7-8
Particular Instances of God's KindnessHenry, MatthewDeuteronomy 32:7-8
The Nations DividedH. Jay.Deuteronomy 32:7-8
History's Testimony for GodD. Davies Deuteronomy 32:7-14














What this verse asserts is that in the providential distribution of the nations, and assignment to them of their special territories, respect was had from the beginning to the provision of a suitable dwelling-place for the chosen race. Our subject is - The government of the world conducted with a view to the interests of the Church.

I. A TRUTH FREQUENTLY TAUGHT IN SCRIPTURE. Both by facts of history, and by express statement. Israel's position brought it into contact, not only with petty neighboring states, but with the mightiest empires of East and West. These appear in Scripture only as they affect the chosen race, but it is then made manifest how entirely their movements are directed and controlled by Divine providence. And the center of God's purposes is always Israel. "For your sake," says God, "I have sent to Babylonia, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships" (Isaiah 43:14; cf. vers. 3, 4). Is Egypt visited with famines - with scarce years and good years? The design is the working out of a certain plan in the chain of God's appointments for Israel. Is a Cyrus raised up in Persia? God saith of him, "He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure," etc. (Isaiah 44:28). So is it throughout. Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Greece, Rome, appear in all their relations with Israel as ministers of the Divine will, as simple executors of the Divine purposes, and their power is strictly limited by their commission. In harmony with this prophetic teaching are the express testimonies of the Epistles (e.g. Romans 8:28; Ephesians 1:20-23; Ephesians 3:9-11).

(1) Nature,

(2) history, are ruled for the benefit Of the Church.

II. A TRUTH IN ITSELF REASONABLE. Once admit the goal of history to be the establishment on earth of a universal spiritual kingdom - a gathering together in one of all things with Christ as Head (Ephesians 1:10), and it is certain that herein must lie the key to all historical developments, the explanation of all arrangements and movements of Divine providence. The center of interest must always be that portion of the race with which for the time being the kingdom of God is identified. "Just as, in tracing the course of a stream, not the huge morasses nor the vast stagnant pools on either side would delay us: we should not, because of their extent, count them the river, but recognize that as such, though it were the slenderest thread, in which an onward movement might be discerned; so is it here. Egypt and Assyria and Babylon were but the vast stagnant morasses on either side of the river; the Man in whose seed the whole earth should be blessed, he and his family were the little stream in which the life and onward movement of the world were to be traced They belong not to history, least of all to sacred history, those Babels, those cities of confusion, those huge pens into which by force and fraud the early hunters of men, the Nimrods and Sesostrises, drove and compelled their fellows... where no faith existed but in the blind powers of nature and the brute forces of the natural man" (Archbishop Trench).

III. A TRUTH FRAUGHT TO THE CHURCH WITH COMFORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT.

1. When the powers of the world are threatening.

2. In times of internal decay.

3. Under long-continued trials. - J.O.

Remember the days of old.
1. Some were ancient; and for proof of them he appeals to the records. The authentic histories of ancient times are of singular use, especially the history of the Church in its infancy.

2. Others were more modern; and for proof of them he appeals to their fathers and elders that were now alive and with them. Parents must diligently teach their children not only the Word of God, His laws (Deuteronomy 6:7), and the meaning of His ordinances (Exodus 12:26), but His works also, and the methods of His providence (Psalm 87:3, 4, 6, 7). And children should desire the knowledge of those things which will be of use to engage them to their duty, and to direct them in it.

3. Three things are here enlarged upon as instances of God's kindness to His people, and strong obligations upon them never to forsake Him.(1) The early designation of the land of Canaan for their inheritance; for herein it was a type and figure of an heavenly inheritance, that it was of old ordained and prepared in the Divine counsels.(a) The wisdom of God has appointed the bounds of man's habitation, and determined both the place and time of our living in the world (Acts 17:26).(b) Infinite wisdom has a vast reach, and designs beforehand what is brought to pass long after (Acts 15:18).(c) The great God, in governing the world and ordering the affairs of states and kingdoms, has a special regard to His Church and people, and consults their good in all (2 Chronicles 16:9; Isaiah 45:4).(2) The forming of them into a people, that they might be fit to enter upon this inheritance, like an heir of age, at the time appointed. Herein also Canaan was a figure of the heavenly inheritance; for as it was from eternity proposed and designed for all God's spiritual Israel, so they are in time (and it is a work of time) fitted and made meet for it (Colossians 1:12).(3) The settling of them in a good land.

(a)Glorious victories over their enemies.

(b)Plenty of good things.

( Matthew Henry, D. D..)

Ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee
There is much truth in the proverb, He that will learn of none but himself is sure to have a fool for his master. The way to advance in knowledge is to be sensible of our own deficiencies, and willing to avail ourselves of assistance. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God," etc. There are ethers that may be subordinately consulted; they possess, and can impart a little of His judgment: for in His light they see light. The priest's lips should keep knowledge; and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts. And not only ministers, but private Christians may be useful. We were designed to live in a state of connection with, and dependence upon each other: and while the old need the strength and activeness of the young, the young need the prudence and counsel of the old. But what advantage do we derive from writing and printing! The birds and beasts are no wiser now than when they went to Noah for shelter, and to Adam for names. It is nearly the same with savage life: knowledge is not preserved, transmitted, and increased, for want of books. But in consequence of these helps, the improvements of one age flow into another, and the stream is continually enlarging by the influx of additional discoveries.

(H. Jay.)

When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance
1. God originally divided the nations their inheritance. When, after the deluge, He gave the new earth to the children of men, He did not throw it in among them, so to speak, for a kind of scramble, that each might seize what he could: but He assigned them their several portions, that the discontented might not invade the peaceful, nor the mighty prey upon the weak. God permits what He does not approve: but nothing can be more contrary to His design and pleasure than for powerful states to invade and incorporate little ones. And the crime generally punishes itself. Such unjust and forced accessions become sources of uneasiness, corruption, and revolt.

2. In the arrangement of the limits and conditions of mankind He had an especial reference to the future commonwealth of Israel. For they were by far the most important detachment of the human race. They were the depositaries of revealed religion — the heirs of the righteousness which is by faith, etc. One thing is to be observed. They were not intended to engross the Divine favour, but to be the diffusers of it. They were not only to be blessed, but to be blessings.

3. While we here see that there is nothing like chance in the government of the world, there is what may be called a peculiar providence in particular instances. And we cannot help thinking of our own country. No country on earth bears such a comparison with Judea, in privilege and design.

4. The economies of heaven on earth have always been regulated by one end — the cause of the Messiah: and could we view things as God does, we should perceive how all the revolutions of the world; the changes of empire have affected this cause — immediately or — remotely — in a way — of achievement — or preparation — of purification or — increase — of solidity or — diffusion: and that all things are going on, not only consistently with it, but conducively to it.

(H. Jay.)

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
Adam, Assigned, Borders, Boundaries, Bounds, Causing, Divided, Fixed, Groups, Heritage, Inherit, Inheritance, Keeping, Limits, Mankind, Marked, Mind, Nations, Peoples, Separated, Separating, Setteth, Sons
Outline
1. Moses' song, which sets forth God's mercy and vengeance
46. He exhorts them to set their hearts upon it
48. God sends him up to mount Nebo to see the land, and to die

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Deuteronomy 32:8

     1205   God, titles of
     1305   God, activity of
     5235   boundary
     5717   monogamy

Deuteronomy 32:3-14

     4450   fruit

Deuteronomy 32:7-9

     4945   history

Deuteronomy 32:7-12

     7135   Israel, people of God

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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