Goal:

To review the importance of the Song of Moses.

Objectives:

1. Children will be able to understand the importance of the Song of Moses.

2. Children will identify the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32 and also in Exodus 15.

3. Children will understand that the Song of Moses should be spoken or sung at the Feasts.

4. Children will be exposed to some interesting points in the Song of Moses.

5. Children will understand the Song of Moses is part of God’s system of restoration.

Resources:

The Ten Commandments (CB17)

The Law of God (CB25)

Moses and the Israelites Move to Sinai (CB40)

Lesson: First Commandment (No. CB70)

Text of Deuteronomy 32 (NASV) with modifications at Appendix A.

Cantillation of the Song of Moses if available.

Also see the paper The Song of Moses in Exodus 15 (No. 179).

Relevant Scriptures:

Revelation 15:3; Deuteronomy 32; and Exodus 15.

Memory Verses:

Revelation 15:3:

And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous [are] thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true [are] thy ways, thou King of saints. (NASV)

Deuteronomy 32:47:

"For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess." (NASV)

Format:

Open with prayer.

Ask the Children what they think the Song of Moses is and why he wrote it.

Lesson on the Song of Moses.

Activity associated with the Song of Moses.

Listen to the Cantillation audio of the Song of Moses if available.

Close with prayer.

Lesson:

God established His Law and His system under faithful servants. When Moses had done all that God had asked of him, God then told Moses that it was time for him to die. By this time Moses was about 120 years old. Moses and Joshua were in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the Lord appeared to them. He told them that he knew the people would break the Covenant, and that He would be angry, and many evils would fall upon them. At the end of Moses' life he was commanded to review the Law with the Israelites and write and teach the Israelites this song. The Israelites were to learn and sing this song.

It should be noted here that, “The Song of Moses” appears first in Exodus 15 and a second time in Deuteronomy 32. Both of these texts are the Song of Moses and they both stand as a testimony to Israel regarding the Law of God and His actions. For this lesson we will focus on the text of Deuteronomy 32.

Introduction and History to the Song of Moses

Question and Answer: (Children’s questions are in bold.)

Q1. Is the Song of Moses to be taught to Israel?

A. Yes. Revelation 15:3 says: "and they sang the Song of Moses the bond servant of God and the Song of the Lamb"… If we are to sing a song we have to learn it and know it.

Q2. Is the song of Moses a witness?

A. Yes. We know from Deuteronomy 31:19 that the song is a witness. Deuteronomy 31: "Now therefore, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it on their lips, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel."

Q3. What does it mean to have a witness?

A. Webster’s 1977 Dictionary states that a witness is: "literally one who knows, one who personally sees or observes anything; that which furnishes evidence or proof; attestation or stating of a fact or event; testimony." So we see the Song of Moses is to act as a witness or a reminder to the sons of Israel, forever.

Q4. Does God know everything, even before it happens?

A. Yes, (Ps. 147:5; Isa. 46:10; Mat. 24:36). Deuteronomy 31:20 indicates that God knows what things will happen before they happen: "For when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and are satisfied and become prosperous, then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and spurn Me and break My covenant."

Q5. Will the Song of Moses always be remembered by some of the Israelites, even years later?

A. Yes. Deuteronomy 31:21 tells us: "Then it shall come about, when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify before them as a witness (for it shall not be forgotten from the lips of their descendants); for I know their intent which they are developing today, before I have brought them into the land which I swore."

Q6. Was the Song written and taught by Moses?

A. Yes. Deuteronomy 31:22: So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the sons of Israel.

Joshua is Commissioned

²³Then He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, "be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land, which I swore to them, and I will be with you."

²⁴It came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete,

²⁵that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,

²⁶"Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may remain there as a witness against you.

²⁷"For I know your rebellion and your stubbornness; behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the LORD; how much more, then, after my death?

²⁸"Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them.

²⁹"For I know that after my death you will act corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days, for you will do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands."

³⁰Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were complete.

Q7. Why do we learn the Song of Moses?

A. Because God said that no descendant, or son of Israel, is to forget the song (Deut. 31:21). Moses was told to write and teach the song to the Israelites so they would not forget what they were taught.

Q8. Revelation 15:3 states the saints will sing the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb. Who are the saints?

A. The saints are those in the First Resurrection who have kept the Commandments of God and the Testimony of Jesus the Christ (Rev. 12:17; 14:12; 22:14).

At the end of every seven years we know the Law is to be read (Deut. 15:1,2; 31:9, 10). Therefore all Israel would be gathered to read the Law and read/sing the Song of Moses so as to fear and learn how to worship Eloah.

Interesting facts about the Song of Moses:

a) In Deuteronomy 31:28 heaven and earth are declared to witness the receiving the Law of God. This is one of thirteen times the heavens and earth acted as witnesses to an event. See the note in The Companion Bible to Deuteronomy 31:28. For the other texts see the note to Deuteronomy 4:26, where almost the exact same words are stated by Moses. Yet in Deuteronomy 32:1 we also see the reference to the heavens and earth. We know from Deuteronomy 31:19 the Song of Moses is a witness. In Deuteronomy 31.26 it is in reference to the giving of the Law.

b) The Rock is used 5 times in the Song of Moses per note to Deuteronomy 32:4 in The Companion Bible. The number 5 is the number of Grace. There are also 5 centralities, or things that God and His Law are made up of: holiness, righteousness, goodness, perfection and truth.

c) From Deuteronomy 31: 29 to 32:44 this Song of Moses is also mentioned 5 times.

d) Israel is sometimes also called by the name Jacob. In the Song of Moses Israel is also called Jeshurun. Jeshurun is a poetical name for the people of Israel, used in token of affection, meaning, "the dear upright people” (Deut. 32:15; 33:5,26; Isa. 44:2) per Easton’s Bible Dictionary. It is only used in the Bible in these four places. In a note to Deuteronomy 32:15 Bullinger indicates it is "upright as chosen by God".

Q9. Did Moses teach all the words of the Song to the people?

A. Yes. Deuteronomy 32:44: Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people.

Q10. What did Moses warn and caution the people of Israel about?

A. To carefully follow all of God’s Laws and teach them to their sons. In verse 46 he said to them: “Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law.”

Q11. Can we find the Song of Moses anywhere else in the Bible?

A. Yes, the first instance is in Exodus 15. Moses and the Israelites sang this song of praise and glory to the Lord after they had been taken safely through the Red Sea and saved from the Egyptians (see Ex. 14:26-31). The text in Deuteronomy and Exodus are both the Song of Moses.

Q12. Is the Law of God our life?

A. Yes, by keeping the Law we will live longer and have happier lives. Grandparents, parents and children all benefit from obeying the One True God. Deuteronomy 32:47: “For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life and by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”

Conclude with prayer.

Activities

1) Song of Moses colouring book

Supplies needed: One colouring book per child and colours. See the paper Song of Moses Colouring Book (No. CB98_2).

Procedure: Present each child with a colouring book to use and learn from. Encourage other adults also to view their work and read the Song of Moses with them. Once the colouring book is completed it could become the bedtime story read every Sabbath evening.

2) Song of Moses memory version

Supplies needed: One colouring book per child and colours or clay or construction materials.

Procedure: Hand out the first page of the Song of Moses colouring book to the children. Allow the children to colour the picture and learn the verse(s). At each session review the previous lesson's Scriptures from memory or have the children read the text together and add another picture. Therefore, each day the Song will be reinforced for the children.

If children have difficulty attending to the fine motor aspect of colouring, they could also create “clay” sculptures that fit the theme of the verses/picture.

3) Song of Moses presentation

Supplies Needed:

Song of Moses colouring book.

CD with the Cantillation of the Song of Moses.

Drawings as per the number of students that reflect parts of the Song of Moses (preferably enlarge pictures to fit large size tag board and outline drawings with black marker).

Colours, markers or coloured pencils.

Procedure: Children are each allowed to select a picture from the Song of Moses. When children begin to colour, play the Cantillation of the Song of Moses in the background so they can listen to what the original presentation of the Song was. Throughout the Feast the children each work on getting their picture coloured.

The text parts of the Song of Moses are divided to match or correspond to the pictorial parts of the song. Number the drawings on the back of the tag board to assist children to know the correct order of the Song of Moses. On the day of the presentation the children come out in order of their part. If the child is old enough he or she reads their part of the Song of Moses. If the child is unable to read the narrator reads for the child. Respective word parts to the Song of Moses can be attached to the back of tag board for the child to hold and read. If small pictures are functional, the colouring book was designed so that the text that corresponds to the picture can be attached to the back of the picture. Children read the Song Moses to the audience while they display their colouring sheets.

Appendix A: “The Song of Moses”

Deuteronomy 32:1ff.

¹"Listen, O heavens, and let me speak;

And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

²Let my teaching drop as the rain,

May my speech refresh and gently fall as the dew,

As the droplets on the fresh grass,

And as the showers on the herb.

³For I announce the name of the LORD Yahovah;

Describe and tell of the greatness to our God Elohim!

⁴The Rock! His work is perfect,

For all His ways are just;

A God of truth who is faithful and just;

Righteous and upright is He.

⁵They have rebelled against Him,

They are not His children, because of their actions

But are a purposefully disobedient and dishonest generation.

⁶Do you thus repay the LORD Yahovah,

O foolish and unwise people?

Is not He your Father who has bought you?

He has made you and established you.

⁷Remember the days of old,

Consider the years long past.

Ask your father, and he will inform you,

Your elders, and they will tell you.

⁸When the Most High Elyon gave the nations their inheritance,

When He separated the sons of man,

He set the boundaries of the peoples

According to the number of the sons of God (see RSV).

⁹For the LORD'S (Yahovah’s) portion is His people;

Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.

¹⁰He found him in a desert land,

And in the howling waste of a wilderness;

He instructed and cared for him,

He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.

¹¹Like an eagle that prepares its nest,

That watches carefully over its young,

He spread His wings and caught them,

He carried them on His wings.

¹²The LORD Yahovah alone guided him,

And there was no foreign god with him.

¹³He made him ride on the high places of the earth,

And he ate the produce of the field;

And He made him suck honey from the rock,

And oil from the flinty rock,

¹⁴Curds of cows, and milk of the flock,

With fat of lambs, and rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats,

With the finest of the wheat—

And of the blood of grapes you drank wine.

¹⁵But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—

You are grown fat, thick, and sleek—

Then he abandoned Eloah who made him,

And rejected and laughed at the Rock of his salvation.

¹⁶They made Him jealous with strange gods;

With ungodly words and actions they called forth His anger.

¹⁷They sacrificed to demons who were not Eloah,

To gods whom they have not known,

New gods who came recently,

Whom your fathers did not fear or know.

¹⁸You left the Rock who created you,

And forgot the God who gave you birth.

¹⁹The LORD Yahovah saw this, and turned away from them

Because of the continual disobedience of His sons and daughters.

²⁰Then He said, 'I will hide My face from them,

I will see what their end shall be;

For they are a purposefully disobedient generation,

Sons that are not faithful to God.

²¹They have made Me jealous with what is not God;

They have stirred Me to anger with their idols

So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;

I will stir them to anger with a foolish nation,

²²For a fire is started in My anger,

And burns to the lowest part of the earth,

And fills the earth with its increase,

And sets on fire the foundations or bases of the mountains.

²³I will add misfortunes on them;

I will use My arrows on them.

²⁴They will be starved by lack of food to eat;

And overtaken by diseases.

And terrible destruction and disasters;

Wild animals I will send upon them,

With poisonous snakes and insects of the ground.

²⁵Outside the sword will destroy,

And inside terror—

Both young man and young woman,

The baby with the man of grey hair.

²⁶I would have said, I will cut them to pieces,

I will remove the memory of them from men,"

²⁷Had I not feared the wrath of the enemy,

That their enemies would misjudge,

That they would say, Our hand is victorious,

And the LORD has not done all this."'

²⁸For they are a nation without guidance and direction,

And there is no understanding in them.

²⁹If only they were wise, that they understood this,

That they would understand and know their future!

³⁰How could one run after a thousand,

And two cause ten thousand to run away,

Unless their Rock had sold them,

And the LORD Yahovah had given them up?

³¹Indeed their rock is not like our Rock,

Even our enemies themselves judge this.

³²For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,

And from the fields of Gomorrah;

Their grapes are grapes ofpoison,

Their clusters, bitter.

³³Their wine is the poison of snakes,

And the deadly poison of cobras.

³⁴Is it not laid up in store with Me,

Sealed up in My treasuries?

³⁵The righting of wrong is Mine, and the giving of blessings or cursings,

In due time their foot will slip;

For the day of their destruction is near,

And the obstacles and problems are closing in upon them.'

³⁶For the LORD Yahovah will right the wrong of His people,

And will have care and concern on His servants,

When He sees that their strength is gone,

And there is none remaining, slave or free.

³⁷And He will say, Where are their gods,

The rock in which they sought safety and protection?

³⁸Who ate the fat of their sacrifices,

And drank the wine of their drink offering?

Let them rise up and help you,

Let them be your hiding place!

³⁹See now that I, I am He,

And there is no god besides Me;

It is I who put to death and give life

I have wounded and it is I who heal,

⁴⁰Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven,

And say, as I live forever,

⁴¹If I sharpen My flashing sword,

And My hand takes hold on justice,

I will render vengeance for the actions of My enemies,

And I will repay those who hate me.

⁴²I will make My arrows drunk with blood,

And My sword will destroy flesh,

With the blood of the dead and the prisoners,

From the long-haired leaders of the enemy.'

⁴³Rejoice, O nations, with His people;

For He will take revenge for the blood of His servants,

And will render punishment on His adversaries,

And will show mercy to His land and His people."

^{**************}

⁴⁴Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he, with Joshua the son of Nun.

⁴⁵When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel,

⁴⁶he said to them, “Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law.

⁴⁷For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess."

⁴⁸The LORD Yahovah spoke to Moses that very same day, saying,

⁴⁹"Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession.

⁵⁰Then die on the mountain where you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people,

⁵¹because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel.

⁵²For you shall see the land at a distance, but you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving the sons of Israel."

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